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What does it really take to build a career in the Workday ecosystem?

In this episode, Keith sits down with Alan Shearer to talk through a journey that began in consulting, was shaped by the 2008 financial crisis, and ultimately led to entrepreneurship and the launch of an AI-focused agency. Along the way, they unpack the decisions, risks, and mindset shifts that made the difference.

They also explore what’s changing right now, especially with AI. From the growing gap between platform capabilities and external innovation to the importance of speed over perfection, this conversation offers practical insights for anyone thinking about their next step in the Workday space.

For information on all of Keith's books and his coaching services, visit KeithBitikofer.com and https://books2read.com/keith-bitikofer

Connect with Keith and Alan on LinkedIn at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-bitikofer/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alanshr/

For more information about Sparkmind AI Agency:

sparkmindagency.ai or email Alan at info@sparkmindagency.ai

Click here to access Alan's AI Displacement Risk Prompt

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Workday Orchestrate is quickly becoming one of the most important tools in the Workday ecosystem, but many teams haven’t fully explored what it can do. In this episode, Keith sits down with Ethan Jones to walk through real-world use cases, including how his team automated a process that used to take four hours every week.

They also dive into practical lessons learned, from using WQL to improve data handling, to debugging strategies, and how AI tools like the Deployment Agent and LLMs are changing how Workday work gets done. If you’re still relying heavily on Studio or manual processes, this conversation will give you a clear path forward.

For information on all of Keith's books and his coaching services, visit KeithBitikofer.com and https://books2read.com/keith-bitikofer

Connect with Keith and Ethan on LinkedIn at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-bitikofer/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/ethanjones/

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Rebecca Yoder-Shetler came from behavioral health and education before becoming an HRIS program manager for a large Workday customer. That background, curious about why people do what they do and what they need to engage, made her a natural champion for Workday Peakon, the employee engagement survey module. They have been live on Peakon for three years, and Rebecca calls it her favorite Workday module by a wide margin.

In this episode, Keith and Rebecca walk through how Peakon works, how to structure the rollout across levels of leadership, why anonymity is the make-or-break piece, and what three years of engagement data looks like after a reduction in force. If your organization owns the module but hasn't implemented it yet, or you're just wondering what Peakon actually does, this episode is for you!

For information on all of Keith's books and his coaching services, visit KeithBitikofer.com and https://books2read.com/keith-bitikofer

Connect with Keith and Rebecca on LinkedIn at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-bitikofer/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-yoder-shetler-280112261/

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Kendria Countee didn't start out as a consultant. She started as a Workday customer, walking into an optimization project that turned into a full system relaunch. That experience, including the governance work, change management, integrations, and hard-won lessons, eventually led her to found Abnorma Logic, a firm focused on helping organizations get real value from their Workday investment.

In this conversation, Keith and Kendria dig into the challenges most Workday teams face: how to tell the difference between activity and actual progress, why job aids rarely get adopted without leadership support, what it feels like to spot organizational risks before leadership is ready to hear about them, and how cross-functional governance can make or break a team's ability to move forward. If you support Workday, lead a team that does, or are still waiting for the ROI your implementation promised, this one is worth your time.

For information on all of Keith's books and his coaching services, visit KeithBitikofer.com and https://books2read.com/keith-bitikofer

Connect with Keith and Kendria on LinkedIn at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-bitikofer/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kendria-countee/

Also, check out the Workday Gold book series on the major book platforms.

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Rebecca Yoder-Shetler did not plan to work in tech. She started as a second-grade teacher, spent years in behavioral health working with at-risk teenagers, built a nonprofit from the ground up in central Kansas, and found her way to Workday only after someone told her she would probably be good at tech. In this episode, she joins Keith to trace the full arc of a career that doesn't follow a straight line and to talk honestly about what each chapter taught her, which she now uses in the Workday ecosystem every day.

Rebecca and Keith dig into the recurring pattern she has learned to recognize in herself when the learning curve flattens, the emotional honesty her behavioral health clients demanded of her that now shapes how she manages stakeholders, the imposter syndrome that almost kept her from applying for the role she was hired for on the spot, and the mantra she returns to when things get hard: nothing is unfigurable. An honest and encouraging conversation for anyone navigating a non-traditional path into the Workday ecosystem or wondering whether their previous career chapters actually count for something.

For information on all of Keith's books and his coaching services, visit KeithBitikofer.com and https://books2read.com/keith-bitikofer

Connect with Keith and Rebecca on LinkedIn at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-bitikofer/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rebecca-yoder-shetler-280112261/

NEW BOOK- Workday Gold, Volume 3, Navigating Your Career. Now available on most book platforms.

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Dylan Johnson started his Workday journey as a college intern and landed his first professional job by walking into a regional user group event and meeting his future manager. Seven years later, he is a senior reporting analyst at a 25,000-person global company, a Carolinas RUG board member, and one of the more practical voices on Workday reporting and career development in the ecosystem. In this episode, he joins Keith for an honest conversation about what he has learned, which tools he thinks are being overlooked, and what he would tell someone just getting started.

Dylan and Keith dig into the generalist-versus-specialist divide in Workday careers, what Prism Analytics actually is, and how to use it without misleading end users, why Discovery Boards and Worksheets are two of the most underused tools in most Workday tenants, and where AI in Workday is likely to make a real difference near-term and where it is not ready yet. Practical, specific, and grounded in real experience from both sides of the career spectrum.

For information on all of Keith's books and his coaching services, visit KeithBitikofer.com and https://books2read.com/keith-bitikofer

Connect with Keith and Dylan on LinkedIn at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-bitikofer/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dylan-t-johnson/

NEW BOOK- Workday Gold, Volume 3, Navigating Your Career. Now available on most book platforms.

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The Workday job market is still strong — but it’s louder than ever. In this episode, Keith sits down with Carla Corley of Corner Office Consultants and WD Beacon to talk about what’s really happening in Workday hiring. From AI-generated resumes to certification overload, they unpack why so many professionals are struggling to stand out.

If you’re navigating your Workday career, hiring talent, or trying to differentiate yourself in a crowded ecosystem, this conversation will give you practical insight. The biggest takeaway? In a world of automation and noise, authenticity and trust are becoming the ultimate competitive advantage.

Check out Corner Office Consultant's WD Beacon site for Compensation information, currently open positions in the Workday space, and other career resources: wdbeacon.com

For information on all of Keith's books and his coaching services, visit KeithBitikofer.com and https://books2read.com/keith-bitikofer

Connect with Keith and Carla on LinkedIn at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-bitikofer/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlacorley/

NEW BOOK- Workday Gold, Volume 3, Navigating Your Career. Now available on most book platforms.

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John Bruce has spent over a decade in the Workday ecosystem, most recently as VP of People Innovation and Technology at One Digital. In 2025, they fielded 98,000 job applications across 850 open reqs. That volume, combined with the administrative burden of interview scheduling, pushed him to build a recruiting stack on top of Workday using both Paradox and HiredScore. In this episode, he gives Keith an unfiltered look at how both tools work, why he chose them, and what he did not expect going in.

JB and Keith dig into the Paradox conversational career site and text-based referral workflow, how HiredScore handles candidate grading and talent rediscovery at scale, the transparency and opt-out strategy JB built in amid the Mobley v. Workday lawsuit, and the unexpected flywheel effect that emerged from running both platforms together. Whether you are evaluating AI recruiting tools for the first time or already mid-deployment, this is a practical, honest conversation from someone who has lived it.

For information on all of Keith's books and his coaching services, visit KeithBitikofer.com and https://books2read.com/keith-bitikofer

Connect with Keith and John on LinkedIn at:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-bitikofer/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/johntbruce/

NEW BOOK- Workday Gold, Volume 3, Navigating Your Career. Now available on most book platforms.