Moving from Workday Assistant to Self-Service Agent (WSSA)¶
Product Comparison¶
| Feature | Workday Assistant | Self-Service Agent (WSSA) |
|---|---|---|
| Supports simple queries, actions, and navigation | ✓ | ✓ |
| Ability to reason and suggest | ✗ | ✓ |
| Multi-turn conversational support | ✗ | ✓ |
| Powered by an LLM | ✗ | ✓ |
| Extensible to 3rd party platforms (coming soon) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Supports 3rd party policy intelligence (coming soon) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Compatible with Sana | ✗ | ✓ |
UX Differences¶
Workday Assistant (Guide model) - Returns deeplinks to tasks/reports - Does not reason or synthesize - Example: "View W-4" → returns link to Withholding Elections
Self-Service Agent (Conversational model) - Retrieves data, reasons, and responds in natural language - Supports multi-turn intent and action confirmation - Example: "I want to take a day off in Feb to maximize time away" → checks holiday calendar, suggests adjacent dates, checks balances, submits request on confirm
Transition Timeline¶
- Workday Assistant will NOT be fully removed until 2027R2 (September 2027)
- Provides ample time to assess value and plan transition
- Assistant chat is automatically disabled for users who have access to the Self-Service Agent
- Prevents two chat bubbles from appearing simultaneously
- Assistant-powered search results remain active in search even after chat is disabled
Historical Context¶
| Product | Launch | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Workday Assistant | March 2020 | First-generation natural language chatbot (guide model) |
| WSSA | 2025+ | AI-powered LLM conversational assistant; replaces and extends original chatbot |