Have questions?
Here’s everything you need to know about Workday Rising Call for Participation.
- Speaker Submissions
- Customer Awards
Speaker Submissions FAQ
September 15–18, 2025, in San Francisco, CA.
Speaker submissions are due April 7, 2025 by 5:00 p.m. PT.
Selected speakers will be given a complimentary Full Conference Pass to Workday Rising. Workday does not reimburse speakers for travel-related expenses. Federal government employees will receive the complimentary pass on the day/s of the presentation and must furnish written federal agency authorization.
If your company is both a Workday customer and Workday partner, we welcome your submissions providing they discuss the use of our products in running your company’s operations and are delivered by a speaker who is directly involved in the day-to-day use of our products.
Workday partners may indicate in their submissions the benefits of having a secondary speaker from the partnering company. If the review committee agrees with the outlined benefits, they may contact the submitter after Call for Participation closes to ask for more details or speaker suggestions from the partner company. A speaking invitation is extended to a partner at the discretion of the review committee.
No, Call for Participation only allows for the recommendation of customer speakers.
All sessions are in person so please make sure your organization has approved your participation before you submit. A portion of our sessions will be livestreamed and almost all will be recorded for on-demand replay and/or digital attendees.
The review committee plans to begin sending notifications to submitters in June 2025.
Unfortunately, due to the high volume of submissions we cannot accept all proposals. The review committee will select the best proposals based on the guidelines outlined on this website and the overall goals of the event.
Presenting takes a considerable amount of time and effort. Because presenters are a crucial part of the attendee experience, we want you to be aware of the commitment required in advance of being selected to speak.
We are not accepting panel proposals via Call for Participation as all panels will be curated by Workday. Proposals that describe panel discussions consisting of three or more speakers will be automatically disqualified.
If you have reviewed the guidelines on this website and have your information ready, it should take about 15 minutes or less to complete the submission process.
You should be prepared to answer the following questions as part of the submission process:
- Which category does my expertise most closely align with?
- What is your expertise/experience with regard to Workday products?
- What story do you want to share, and why is it compelling to the Workday Rising audience?
- What Workday products have you deployed?
- What are the industry/industries highlighted in your proposal, if any?
You will be able to select from several options in the submission form for some of the questions above.
Once you submit to Call for Participation you will receive a notification email confirming your submission was completed. Our review process begins even before Call for Participation closes so don’t wait until the last day to submit. From time to time, our review teams may reach out with questions before making the final decisions.
We will provide you with the placeholder title of the session you are placed into, along with the names and companies of your co-presenters in your acceptance email. You have five business days to indicate your acceptance by signing the Speaker Agreement in the Speaker Portal. If we do not receive your acceptance before the deadline, we will assume that you are declining the invitation.
No, you will not be able to access the submission form once Call for Participation closes.
Unfortunately, we are unable to accept your proposal if you change companies during the Call for Participation process. If you leave your company after being accepted, we will have to cancel your speaking engagement.
Our support team is here to help with all technical issues. Email risingspeakers@workday.events with the subject line “Workday Rising CFP Inquiry” for any questions or concerns.
Yes, you may submit your proposal to both conferences. However, we have a strong preference for customer stories that are unique to each region. You will need to complete the whole submission process for both conferences. Please note the different submission deadlines for each.
Customer Awards FAQ
- Submissions open on March 11, 2025.
- Submissions close on July 11, 2025.
- Winners announced on September 17, 2025, at Workday Rising in San Francisco.
- Any Workday customer who is using one or more Workday product(s); for example, they are live and in production.
- Partners involved in the implementation can be highlighted in the submission.
- Workday partners who are using a Workday product within their own organization can also submit an entry and are considered a Workday customer within this awards program.
Yes, Workday partners and third parties can submit an entry, but they must confirm in their entry form that they have permission from the customer to participate in the awards program.
Customers headquartered in North America, or global customers with a large presence in North America are eligible to participate.
- Round 1: A panel of Workday experts review entries and select a short list for each category.
- Round 2: The judging panel assesses and ranks the short-listed entries against each other according to the judging criteria.
Due to the volume of submissions, we are not able to follow up with every entry. If you are short-listed as a finalist, a member of the team will notify you by August. If you are not contacted, that indicates that your submission has not been selected as a finalist. If you still have questions, you can reach out to customer.awards@workday.com.
Please submit entries in English.
- A donation to a charity of their choice worth $5,000 (1 per winner)
- Main-stage recognition at Workday Rising
- Brand amplification opportunities
- A complimentary pass to Workday Rising in 2026 (1 per winner)
Note: Government and government-related entities are not eligible to receive charitable donations and Workday Rising passes. Entries for customers where the subject has an open RFP with Workday will not be eligible to receive the charitable donation or the complimentary Workday Rising pass for 2026. In the entry form, they must also confirm they’re able to accept the award, per their own policies.
Finalists will be notified 5 weeks in advance of the event date.
Please email customer.awards@workday.com.
Please review the rules for entry.
The Workday Industry Innovation Awards recognize organizations that are using Workday in innovative and inspiring ways to address issues that are particularly important to their respective industry.
Specific industries covered by the Industry Innovation Awards program include:
- Tech and media
- Financial services and insurance
- Healthcare
- Higher education
- Manufacturing
- Nonprofit
- Professional and business services
- Retail, consumer goods, and hospitality
- Public sector
Each industry listed above will determine award winners in 3 or more categories that are relevant to their industry.
Simply apply to the overall Customer Awards Competition and you will automatically be entered into the Industry Innovation Awards for your industry. We will also tag your submission for consideration in additional industry-specific categories if there is one that is a better match than the original category you chose.
For example, in past years’ competitions, additional categories included:
- Collaboration Champion, for healthcare industry customers who helped advance the Workday healthcare community by sharing their insights, best practices, and support with peers.
- Platform Rock Star, for professional and business services customers who leveraged a combination of Workday Professional Services Automation, Workday Financial Management, and/or Workday Human Capital Management to create business impact.
- Analytics Trailblazer, for financial services customers who used Workday reporting or analytics products to surface new insights.
Your submission will be judged using a panel and process that is appropriate for your respective industry based on how your submission addresses the unique challenges, opportunities, and composition of that industry.
Winners will be recognized during your industry-specific summit or user group meeting at Workday Rising in San Francisco. Details on prizes and promotional opportunities for Industry Innovation Award winners will be shared as we get closer to the judging cycle.
Please see the terms and conditions for additional information.
CONTACT US
We’re here to help.
You can email us anytime at risingspeakers@workday.events with the subject line Workday Rising CFP inquiry.