For Sunil Jose, President -India of Workday, “purpose” is not a soft slogan; it is a hard operating metric. He argues that as AI automates the “what” of work, a leader’s survival depends on mastering the “why.” Here, he outlines how to transform culture into a tangible asset that drives resilience, lowers turnover, and defends against disruption.
How can leaders prove to a CEO that “purpose” is a hard business asset that drives resilience, not just a soft-sounding “nice to have”?
The business case for purpose becomes clear when you connect it to measurable gains in resilience and performance. Research has shown that purpose-driven companies often demonstrate better business outcomes, making a clear connection to the bottom line. A well-defined purpose improves workforce engagement, reduces turnover, and directly influences productivity.
Specifically, a strong purpose fosters a more engaged and resilient workforce, which can translate to a 16% decrease in staff turnover and an increased likelihood of employees thriving in the workplace. McKinsey found that employees who say they live their purpose at work are 6.5 times more likely to report higher resilience and six times more likely to stay with the company. These are not soft indicators. They are hard operating metrics that impact cost, continuity, and long-term value.
An often-underestimated element is that purpose gives teams a shared compass during periods of volatility. It helps maintain clarity, cohesion, and momentum when external conditions are unpredictable. The ability to absorb stress and continue performing through uncertainty is the very definition of business resilience.
At Workday, our mission is to power the future of work and enable organizations to manage their people, money, and agents in an evolving world. By staying focused on this customer-centric mission to help our customers thrive, we remain focused despite any external disruption.
As AI automates the “what” of many jobs, how does a leader’s role fundamentally shift to inspiring people around the “why”?
As AI automates routine, data-driven tasks the fundamental shift in a leader’s function is from managing processes to inspiring purpose. A leader’s primary focus moves from ensuring compliance and optimizing efficiency to fostering the human elements of work that AI cannot replicate: such as creativity, emotional intelligence, and complex, ethical decision-making.
This means the leader’s role becomes focused on the organization’s “why”. They must clearly articulate how individual roles, now augmented by AI, still contribute uniquely to the company’s purpose. This shift encourages employees to focus on high-value, non-routine work, and provides the psychological safety needed for experimentation, which is critical for continuous adaptation and innovation in an AI-driven world.
In an AI-driven era, people don’t follow instructions; they follow clarity of purpose. That is the new core of leadership.
What is the one non-negotiable action a leader must take personally to make a company’s stated “purpose” feel authentic to their team?
The single non-negotiable action a leader must take to ensure the company’s stated purpose feels authentic to their team, is modeling the behavior and values of that purpose in every decision and interaction.
At Workday, we have a clear set of values that guide all of our decision-making, and our number one value has always been our employees. Workmates and our unique culture are the fuel that drives us forward. We believe happy employees create happy customers, so our people are at the heart of everything we do.
In modelling these values at Workday, our leaders demonstrate unwavering trust in their team’s autonomy and judgment, and call out and reinforce behaviours and initiatives that showcase these desired values and behaviours.
When you look at the future of work, what is the single biggest threat to an organization’s purpose, and how do you build a human-centric defense against it?
A human-centric defense against this threat is built on intentional, purpose-led leadership. This defense requires leaders to treat AI not as a replacement, but as an augmentation tool, and invest consistently in developing the uniquely human skills (e.g., critical thinking, empathy, and ethical reasoning) that complement automation.
Furthermore, by adhering to an ethical AI approach and maintaining a “human in the loop,” leaders reinforce the company’s commitment to its values. Building the trust and psychological safety needed for experimentation and continuous upskilling is a must. This ensures innovation is pursued not just efficiently, but also equitably, transforming purpose into a hard defense against volatility and technological disruption.
