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Join Keith Bitikofer in this insightful podcast as he shares his vast experience in IT, operations, and Workday solutions. With over 30 years of expertise across industries such as Higher Education, Manufacturing, Consulting, and Nonprofits, Keith dives deep into the challenges and opportunities that come with managing and supporting Workday systems. As a former project manager and director at a large global non-profit, Keith led the successful rollout and supported Workday’s HCM, Financials, Extend, and the global rollout with 40+ partners.
Tune in to explore best practices, leadership insights, and career coaching tips for IT professionals and Workday users, and learn how to thrive in an ever-evolving software landscape. Each episode will cover a chapter of his latest book Workday Gold: Software Support Model Edition, in hopes of giving more context and starting a conversation about successfully supporting Workday at your company.
Keith is a partner and consultant at EMD. Keith also does business and life coaching, helping individuals navigate their personal growth journey.
Contact Keith to schedule a discovery call for one-on-one coaching sessions and unlock your full potential in Workday and beyond! Visit https://keithbitikofer.com/coaching-packages/
51 Episodes
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Send us a text Writing reports in Workday can be frustrating, time-consuming, and counterintuitive, especially for people coming from SQL, Power BI, or other reporting tools. In this episode, Keith and Christian break down why Workday reporting feels different, what new report writers should focus on, and how to accelerate learning by leveraging standard reports, governance frameworks, and smart defaults. Along the way, they share stories from projects where reporting went right and where it ...
Send us a text What does Workday look like through the eyes of a former SpaceX integrations expert? In this episode, I sit down with Zach Ledford, co-founder of Eljun LLC, to explore how integrations quietly power the success of every Workday implementation — and why companies move toward a best-in-class tech ecosystem. Zach shares what he learned building a managed integration service, productizing solutions, and supporting organizations that need Workday to connect cleanly with dozens of do...
Send us a text Floyd Walterhouse has been shaping the Workday story since before most of us joined the conversation. As one of Workday’s earliest customers and design partners for U.S. Payroll, his insights are both historical and refreshingly practical. In this 50th episode, Floyd joins Keith Bitikofer to share lessons from nearly five decades in IT — from mainframe coding to testing the Workday AI payroll agent. They discuss how collaboration, simplicity, and continuous learning drive long-...
Send us a text In this episode, Keith sits down with Praveen Hari, Head of HR Engineering at Coinbase and a former Workday leader who helped launch Workday Extend. Praveen shares behind-the-scenes insight from building Workday solutions at massive scale across Meta, Amazon Twitch, and now Coinbase—where AI, automation, and event-based integration are redefining what HR tech teams deliver. You'll hear how the most advanced Workday shops are adopting orchestration, middleware, MCP, and low-code...
Send us a text Most Workday project failures don’t come from configuration — they come from people capacity, leadership alignment, and missing accountability. In this episode, longtime project manager and rescue specialist Craig Erhorn shares what really goes wrong behind the scenes and how to fix it before it shows up in go-live risk logs. Craig breaks down the patterns he’s seen over decades of implementations: executives who sponsor in name only, teams stretched to the limit, and timelines...
Send us a text Workday customers will eventually be required to migrate from Workday’s private cloud to a hyperscaler-hosted public cloud — but many don’t yet understand what that actually means in practice. In this episode of Workday Gold, Christian Delcid shares a firsthand look at his organization’s migration: what went smoothly, what nearly broke, and how they decided when to “rip off the band-aid.” His story reveals that the biggest lift wasn’t configuration — it was coordination a...
Send us a text In this episode of Workday Gold, Keith Bitikofer talks with Jess Wagner, HRIS Director at Deluxe, about how she led her Workday team from chaos to clarity. Jess shares the playbook she used to unify configuration and integration teams, introduce Agile structure, and bring HR and IT into alignment around shared priorities. Their conversation explores what it takes to build a proactive, sustainable support model — one where priorities are transparent, capacity is respected, and p...
Send us a text In this inspiring conversation, Keith Bitikofer sits down with Kristie Dierig, an HR and IT leader who transformed her Workday implementation experience into a thriving career in change leadership. Kristie shares how she went from database administration to leading global HR technology projects — and what she learned about the intersection of people, process, and technology along the way. Why Listen: Kristie and Keith discuss the realities of leading change, the evolving role o...
Send us a text HR is sitting at a pivotal junction, and AI is the catalyst. In this episode, Demetrio Wazar-Santana and I unpack what we learned at the Workday Rising and HR Tech conferences. We discuss creating trust so that people actually use new tools, why HR and IT must co-own enablement and governance, and ideas on increasing the usage of AI tools, such as conducting a “prompt-athon” to turn curiosity into capability. We also look at data as an ongoing feedback loop, not a one-time clea...
Send us a text In this episode of Workday Gold, I sit down with Alok Kumar, CEO and founder of ZaranTech, to talk about his journey training more than 30,000 learners in SAP, Workday, cloud, and AI. Alok shares why bespoke training — tailored to each company’s unique processes and industry — makes such a difference, and how his learners have gone on to become successful consultants and leaders across the ecosystem. We also dive into LinkedIn strategies, the role of AI in Workday, and practica...
Send us a text Keith Bitikofer talks with Carla Corley, founder of Corner Office Consultants and publisher of the Workday Compensation Guide, about navigating the noisy job market, personal branding, and how AI is reshaping the recruiting experience—for better and worse. Carla introduces WD Beacon, a new free platform for Workday professionals that combines verified jobs, real-time salary data, personal storytelling tools, and career visibility. Whether you're hiring, job-seeking, or coaching...
Send us a text What does it take to build a career in Workday? In this episode of Workday Gold, Keith sits down with Cara Carroll to unpack her journey from marketing intern to HR to recruiter to Workday support specialist — and the lessons she learned along the way. From saying “yes” to unexpected opportunities to leveraging functional HR experience in system support, Cara’s story is both inspiring and practical. Together, they explore the value of curiosity, continuous learning, and communi...
Send us a text Thinking about going independent in the Workday ecosystem? In this episode of Workday Gold, I talk with Tony Velasquez—better known as “Mr. Energy”—about his journey from partner-side consultant to independent consultant and project leader. Tony shares how independence gave him the flexibility to prioritize family while also creating opportunities to serve clients more holistically. We cover the ups and downs of independent life: building a pipeline, embracing failure, staying ...
Send us a text In this episode of Workday Gold, I speak with Alan Raftery, managing partner of Nimbeely Extend Solutions, about his unexpected transition from a reduction-in-force situation into entrepreneurship. Alan shares his journey from FinTech into Workday, his years helping customers understand Extend, and how Nimbeely became one of the first independent partners focused solely on Extend. We explore the realities of starting a Workday business — from finding the right mix of sales and ...
Send us a text In this solo episode, Keith Bitikofer shares the story behind Workday Gold- Navigating Your Career book—why he wrote it and how his own ERP and Workday journey shaped it. From manufacturing and consulting to leading a Workday implementation at a nonprofit, Keith reflects on the questions people kept asking him: How do I start a career in Workday? What paths exist? How do I grow as a leader? Keith also highlights some of the key themes from the book, including the importance of ...
Send us a text How do you take a great idea for improving Workday and turn it into an approved project on your company’s roadmap? In this episode of Workday Gold, Keith Bitikofer and co-host Christian Delcid share strategies for influencing stakeholders, making a strong business case, and building the relationships that lead to “yes.” From understanding the difference between tickets, backlogs, and roadmap projects, to managing competing priorities and protecting your team’s capacity, Keith a...
Send us a text In this episode of Workday Gold, Christian and I dive into a classic career question: Is it better to specialize deeply in a Workday module or be a generalist with broader reach? We talk through the pros and cons of both paths, share stories from our own journeys, and look at how company size, stage, and even your personality shape that decision. We also explore how AI is shifting the landscape. As tools evolve, generalists may gain new superpowers—but specialists still play a ...
Send us a text In this episode of Workday Gold, Keith Bitikofer welcomes back Steve Atnip to explore the critical (and often overlooked) topic of Workday governance. They discuss what governance really means, how to build an effective model, and why executive sponsorship is essential. They also tackle the challenges of supporting global users, balancing standardization with flexibility, and navigating complex decisions around security, compliance, and business process design. In the second ha...
Send us a text In this episode of Workday Gold, Keith sits down with Workday veteran Steve Atnip to talk about his winding career path, from accounting to HRIS manager to Workday consultant. Steve shares a pivotal elevator pitch moment that led to his first Workday implementation and how that decision shaped his career. They discuss key differences between supporting small vs. large (200,000 employees) Workday tenants, including performance issues, report optimization, and managing large volu...
Send us a text In this episode of Workday Gold, Keith Bitikofer is joined by Eric Olson, VP of Customer Operations at OneSource Virtual. Eric shares the winding path of his Workday career, from raising his hand for payroll at CPSG to navigating mergers, acquisitions, and a return to OSV. He highlights the critical role that saying "yes" plays in shaping long-term career growth and offers candid insight into how company culture, leadership mindset, and team trust evolve. They also explore OSV'...
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