When an employee asks the Applaud assistant for help that requires live Workday data or an HR action, the assistant can use a Workday tool during the conversation.
Employees don't choose a tool or interact with Workday directly. They describe what they need in natural language, and the assistant uses an available Workday capability when it's appropriate. The assistant retrieves information or completes the requested action and continues the conversation with the result.
What happens in a conversation
A Workday tool run typically follows these steps:
- An employee asks for help. For example, "How much annual leave do I have left?" or "I need to hire a payroll analyst."
- The assistant determines whether a Workday tool is needed. It uses an available tool that matches the request.
- The assistant collects any missing information. This is more common for requests that create or update information in Workday.
- The assistant runs the tool. The tool retrieves information from Workday or completes the requested action.
- The assistant returns the result. The conversation continues with an answer, confirmation, or next step.
If a request doesn't require Workday, the assistant can use knowledge or another available capability instead.
Lookups and guided requests
Workday tools can support two common types of interaction:
| Type | What happens | Examples |
| Lookup | The assistant retrieves live information from Workday and returns it in the conversation. | Check a leave balance, find a job title, or list people in a team. |
| Guided request | The assistant collects and confirms the required information before completing an action in Workday. | Submit a time-off request, create a job requisition, or create a position. |
Lookups can often be completed in a single response. Guided requests may take several turns while the assistant collects and confirms the required information.
What employees see
Employees stay in the conversation while the assistant works with Workday.
A short activity message can show that the request is being processed, such as:
- Checking your leave balance...
- Creating your job requisition...
The employee doesn't need to know how the assistant accessed Workday or which tool it used. They simply receive the result in the conversation.
If a request can't be completed, the assistant provides an appropriate response, such as asking the employee to try again or contact HR.
Where Workday tools can run
The same Workday capability can be used wherever it's assigned, including:
- AI Assistant conversations for employee and manager self-service.
- Case conversations when Workday tools are available to Case AI.
- Guided workflows that use Workday tools as part of a longer process.
The experience may differ depending on where the assistant runs, but Workday remains the system of record for the data and actions.
What administrators control
Administrators and Experience Designers decide which Workday capabilities are available to each assistant or workflow. This keeps the conversation simple for employees and managers while giving administrators control over which Workday actions the assistant can perform.