Recent fourth quarter fiscal year 2026 earnings results from Workday and Salesforce indicate enterprise software growth is increasingly tied to production-grade AI adoption, platform expansion, and measurable automation outcomes. Workday reported sustained double-digit subscription growth and rising margins, while Salesforce reported a record year highlighted by large-scale agent deployment, strong backlog expansion, and AI-driven deal activity.
Workday Earnings
Workday reported FY26 Q4 revenue of $2.532 billion, up 14.5% year over year, with subscription revenue of $2.360 billion, up 15.7%. Operating income rose to $174 million, or 6.9% of revenue, versus $75 million a year earlier. Non-GAAP operating income reached $774 million, or 30.6% of revenue.
For the full year, revenue totaled $9.552 billion, up 13.1%, and subscription revenue reached $8.833 billion, up 14.5%. Operating income increased to $721 million, or 7.5% of revenue, despite $303 million in restructuring expenses. Non-GAAP operating income climbed to $2.824 billion, or 29.6% of revenue. Operating cash flow rose 19.4% to $2.939 billion and free cash flow increased 26.7% to $2.777 billion.
Subscription backlog reflected continued demand, with 12-month backlog at $8.833 billion, up 15.8%, and total backlog at $28.101 billion, up 12.2%. Workday delivered 1.7 billion AI actions across its platform during fiscal 2026 and emphasized investment in its agentic AI roadmap. It released Sana Core and Sana Enterprise, acquired Pipedream with more than 3,000 pre-built connectors, launched the Workday EU Sovereign Cloud, and expanded Workday GO for midsize firms with global payroll and an AI-powered Deployment Agent.
Salesforce Earnings
Salesforce reported FY26 Q4 revenue of $11.2 billion, up 12% year over year, and subscription and support revenue of $10.7 billion, up 13%. Full-year revenue reached $41.5 billion, up 10%. Remaining performance obligation totaled $72.4 billion, up 14%, with current RPO at $35.1 billion, up 16%. Operating cash flow reached $15 billion, up 15%, and free cash flow rose 16% to $14.4 billion.
Salesforce emphasized production-scale AI metrics. It has processed more than 19 trillion tokens and delivered over 2.4 billion agentic work units. Agentforce and Data 360 ARR exceeded $2.9 billion, up more than 200% year over year, including $800 million from Agentforce ARR, which grew 169%. The company closed more than 29,000 Agentforce deals since launch, up 50% quarter over quarter, and nearly half again as many accounts entered production sequentially. More than 60% of related Q4 bookings came from existing customers.
Salesforce introduced Agentforce 360 for ISVs and AWS, added Google and Anthropic integrations, and launched tools such as MuleSoft Agent Scanners to catalog agents across platforms. Internal deployment also expanded, with Agentforce in Slack reportedly saving employees more than 500,000 hours in a year and Service Agent handling over 2.8 million support requests. The company authorized a new $50 billion share repurchase program and raised its quarterly dividend 5.8% to $0.44 per share.
What This Means for ERP Insiders
AI output metrics are becoming enterprise KPIs. Salesforce’s reporting of tokens processed, agentic work units delivered, and agent ARR alongside traditional financial metrics signals that vendors now treat AI production throughput as a core business KPI. Platform teams will increasingly be measured on operational AI utilization rather than feature releases alone.
Integration depth may be a decisive factor in platform selection. Workday’s acquisition of an integration platform with thousands of connectors and Salesforce’s agent registries and cross-platform tooling both point to orchestration and interoperability as key platform priorities. Vendors and partners that simplify multi-system coordination will gain advantage as agent ecosystems expand.
Recurring revenue visibility remains a market stabilizer. Workday’s $28.1 billion subscription backlog and Salesforce’s $72.4 billion RPO show long-term contracted revenue remains central to enterprise platform valuation even as vendors accelerate AI investment. Financial durability continues to anchor enterprise buyer confidence during technology transitions.
