Workday Launches Sana Self-Service Agent for HR and Finance on Microsoft 365 Copilot
Workday has launched its Sana self-service agent on Microsoft 365 Copilot, enabling employees and managers to handle HR and finance tasks without switching applications, while maintaining security, compliance, and governance.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: June 4, 2026 at 20:00
- 🔍 Collected: June 4, 2026 at 11:26
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: June 6, 2026 at 22:50 (59h 24m after Collected)
This release is a Japanese translation based on the English press release distributed by Workday Inc. on May 13, 2026 (local time). The English version takes precedence in content and interpretation.
On May 13 (US time), Workday announced the launch of a service that makes Workday's Sana self-service agent available on Microsoft 365 Copilot. This allows employees and managers to access HR and financial information and perform daily tasks on Microsoft 365 without switching applications, while maintaining security, compliance, and governance.
Previously, employees and managers had to engage in multiple rounds of communication via email, chat, portals, or help desks to get information on payroll, leave requests, expense reports, or organizational changes. This not only reduced employee efficiency but also increased the burden on HR and finance teams.
Workday's enterprise AI platform, Sana from Workday, integrates and centralizes a company's people, financial data, context, policies, and processes on Workday. This enables AI agents that automate tasks and improve business processes while incorporating human judgment. With the Sana self-service agent now available on Microsoft 365 Copilot, employees can directly leverage the agent's intelligence from within Microsoft 365 to handle a wide range of daily tasks.
Employees already working on Microsoft 365 can, for example, check their remaining paid time off and submit a leave request, check the status of an expense report, understand what needs to be addressed for their next performance review, or search for internal policies such as parental or family care leave using natural language.
When such requests require Workday data or processes, Microsoft 365 Copilot securely connects with the Sana self-service agent to complete tasks within Workday based on the company's defined approval flows, internal policies, and business rules, and then returns the results to Copilot.
Quickly Complete Daily HR and Finance Tasks
With the Sana self-service agent available on Microsoft 365 Copilot, employees and managers can process daily HR and finance tasks more quickly than ever before.
Employees: Check remaining paid time off, update personal information, view pay slips, check tax deduction information, submit leave requests, etc.
Managers: Review team goals, batch approve time-off requests, initiate employee performance reviews, submit payroll-related information, etc.
Finance staff and employees: Check expense and travel policies, verify eligibility for corporate cards, and get support for creating applications or inquiries as needed.
Customers already using Microsoft 365 Copilot can start using the Sana self-service agent with simple configuration. The Sana self-service agent is available as a single app on Microsoft Marketplace, requiring no additional login, implementation, or extra licenses.
All Daily AI Interactions Based on Workday's Security, Policies, and Guardrails
Workday, as a core platform for HR and finance, is used in areas where reliability, accuracy, and auditability are essential. Modern AI has a probabilistic nature, making inferences and suggestions based on patterns and probabilities. In contrast, Workday's business process foundation is based on a deterministic mechanism with clearly designed flows from start to finish, approvals, and governance, delivering consistent and auditable results. By closely combining Sana's agentic AI with Workday's deterministic foundation, Workday enables the secure use of AI agents in HR and finance. This allows AI agents to automate more tasks while maintaining the security, compliance, and governance that are critical to businesses.
With the Sana self-service agent available on Microsoft 365 Copilot, all tasks can be executed through Workday, allowing customers to maintain complete control over their data, policies, and processes. Responses to applications and inquiries are based on permissions set by each company's roles, and actions are executed in compliance with existing approval flows and business rules. Additionally, companies can visualize AI agent usage, allowing them to monitor adoption and verify that it is functioning as intended. Interactions with the Sana self-service agent are displayed as activity history on Microsoft 365 Copilot, while Workday data and processing remain within Workday's trusted systems.
Workday is strengthening its focus on interoperable agent orchestration solutions that drive the expanded use of AI assistants across the ecosystem. Sana from Workday provides reasoning capabilities and guardrails that enable multiple agents to collaborate across different platforms, allowing businesses to maintain data governance while enabling inter-assistant workflow collaboration.
Availability
The service making the Sana self-service agent available on Microsoft 365 Copilot began on May 13 (US time) for eligible Workday and Microsoft customers.
For more information on how Workday developed the Sana self-service agent for Microsoft 365 Copilot, please refer to this link (in English).
About Workday
Workday is used as a platform supporting core business operations in areas requiring high accuracy and reliability, such as HR, finance, and IT. Workday leverages AI as the foundational context for business.
On May 13 (US time), Workday announced the launch of a service that makes Workday's Sana self-service agent available on Microsoft 365 Copilot. This allows employees and managers to access HR and financial information and perform daily tasks on Microsoft 365 without switching applications, while maintaining security, compliance, and governance.
Previously, employees and managers had to engage in multiple rounds of communication via email, chat, portals, or help desks to get information on payroll, leave requests, expense reports, or organizational changes. This not only reduced employee efficiency but also increased the burden on HR and finance teams.
Workday's enterprise AI platform, Sana from Workday, integrates and centralizes a company's people, financial data, context, policies, and processes on Workday. This enables AI agents that automate tasks and improve business processes while incorporating human judgment. With the Sana self-service agent now available on Microsoft 365 Copilot, employees can directly leverage the agent's intelligence from within Microsoft 365 to handle a wide range of daily tasks.
Employees already working on Microsoft 365 can, for example, check their remaining paid time off and submit a leave request, check the status of an expense report, understand what needs to be addressed for their next performance review, or search for internal policies such as parental or family care leave using natural language.
When such requests require Workday data or processes, Microsoft 365 Copilot securely connects with the Sana self-service agent to complete tasks within Workday based on the company's defined approval flows, internal policies, and business rules, and then returns the results to Copilot.
Quickly Complete Daily HR and Finance Tasks
With the Sana self-service agent available on Microsoft 365 Copilot, employees and managers can process daily HR and finance tasks more quickly than ever before.
Employees: Check remaining paid time off, update personal information, view pay slips, check tax deduction information, submit leave requests, etc.
Managers: Review team goals, batch approve time-off requests, initiate employee performance reviews, submit payroll-related information, etc.
Finance staff and employees: Check expense and travel policies, verify eligibility for corporate cards, and get support for creating applications or inquiries as needed.
Customers already using Microsoft 365 Copilot can start using the Sana self-service agent with simple configuration. The Sana self-service agent is available as a single app on Microsoft Marketplace, requiring no additional login, implementation, or extra licenses.
All Daily AI Interactions Based on Workday's Security, Policies, and Guardrails
Workday, as a core platform for HR and finance, is used in areas where reliability, accuracy, and auditability are essential. Modern AI has a probabilistic nature, making inferences and suggestions based on patterns and probabilities. In contrast, Workday's business process foundation is based on a deterministic mechanism with clearly designed flows from start to finish, approvals, and governance, delivering consistent and auditable results. By closely combining Sana's agentic AI with Workday's deterministic foundation, Workday enables the secure use of AI agents in HR and finance. This allows AI agents to automate more tasks while maintaining the security, compliance, and governance that are critical to businesses.
With the Sana self-service agent available on Microsoft 365 Copilot, all tasks can be executed through Workday, allowing customers to maintain complete control over their data, policies, and processes. Responses to applications and inquiries are based on permissions set by each company's roles, and actions are executed in compliance with existing approval flows and business rules. Additionally, companies can visualize AI agent usage, allowing them to monitor adoption and verify that it is functioning as intended. Interactions with the Sana self-service agent are displayed as activity history on Microsoft 365 Copilot, while Workday data and processing remain within Workday's trusted systems.
Workday is strengthening its focus on interoperable agent orchestration solutions that drive the expanded use of AI assistants across the ecosystem. Sana from Workday provides reasoning capabilities and guardrails that enable multiple agents to collaborate across different platforms, allowing businesses to maintain data governance while enabling inter-assistant workflow collaboration.
Availability
The service making the Sana self-service agent available on Microsoft 365 Copilot began on May 13 (US time) for eligible Workday and Microsoft customers.
For more information on how Workday developed the Sana self-service agent for Microsoft 365 Copilot, please refer to this link (in English).
About Workday
Workday is used as a platform supporting core business operations in areas requiring high accuracy and reliability, such as HR, finance, and IT. Workday leverages AI as the foundational context for business.
FAQ
What is the Sana self-service agent?
It is an AI agent that automates HR and finance tasks, running on Workday's enterprise AI platform 'Sana from Workday'.
When is this service available?
It became available on May 13, 2026 (US time) for eligible Workday and Microsoft customers.
Are additional licenses required to use it?
No, it is available as a single app on Microsoft Marketplace with no additional login, implementation, or extra licenses needed.