Unsafe Harbor: a podcast about Workday

About Unsafe Harbor: a podcast about Workday

A podcast about tips for your Workday tenant and your Workday Career

Publisher

Christian Delcid

Category

technology

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

5 Sept 2024

Latest episode

16 Apr 2026

Latest episodes

17 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   16 Apr 2026

   #14 - Hot Workday Takes from a Pragmatic Futurist with Michael Domingo

   Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Unsafe Harbor Podcast. In this episode, I get to sit down with Michael Domingo. If you've spent any time on Workday LinkedIn, you probably already know Michael. He has a gift for saying the quiet part out loud and in the public eye. In this conversation, we review a few of his hottest takes so see if they've stayed the same or if they've cooled down a bit. We dig into what it actually means to think like a product manager inside an HR tech org, why curiosity might matter more than your ability to configure, and where Michael stands on his bold Workday Rising 2025 claim that the Business Process Configurator may soon be obsolete. We also get into the foundational stuff: data governance, integrations, & UI. Make sure you're connecting with Michael on LinkedIn and subscribing to The Department of First Things First. Here's my conversation with Michael: Michael’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelpdomingo/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelpdomingo/) Michael’s Substack: https://www.michaelpdomingo.com/ (https://www.michaelpdomingo.com/) Christian’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/) Chapter List: 00:00 Introduction 00:50 Michael's Origin Story: From COBOL to Workday 04:35 Christian's Background & The Kitchen Table Test 07:19 The Department of First Things First 12:35 ERP UI: Quick Wins for End User Experience 17:23 Integrations: Map It, Rationalize It, Orchestrate It 22:35 Data Governance: The Unsexy Strategy 28:34 Hot Take: Think Like a Product Manager, Not an IT Leader 32:42 Hot Take: Childlike Curiosity > Configuration 35:16 Hot Take: Is the Business Process Configurator on Notice? 38:58 Hot Take: The Battle for the Employee's Front Door 41:46 Career Advice: From Wrench Turner to Blueprint Reader 46:51 Where to Find Michael

2. 

   7 Apr 2026

   #13 - Running the System vs. Engineering It with Neelan Veloo of Mando

   Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Unsafe Harbor Podcast. In this episode, we get to talk to Neelan Veloo of Mando. It's almost exactly one year after our first podcast conversation with Mando and there's SO much that has changed. We get into some of the biggest debates in this one: Is AI eating Legacy SaaS? Is AI eating the User Interface (UI)? And where should the Workday Admin actually be focusing when it comes to learning AI? Make sure you're following Mando and Neelan on LinkedIn and check out all of the resources below. Here's my conversation with Neelan: Mando Website: https://www.mando.work/ (https://www.mando.work/) Neelan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neelan-veloo/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neelan-veloo/) Adi’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaviswanathan/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaviswanathan/) Mando LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mandosystems/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/mandosystems/) Christian’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/) Chapters List: 0:00 Introduction & One Year Anniversary Check-In1:13 How Mando Has Evolved: From AI Search to a Full Platform3:25 How Christian's Relationship with AI Has Changed6:26 Why Mando Added Reasoning Models (and Why They Were Afraid To)9:02 Experimenting Practically: Don't Stop at "Wow, That's Cool"12:16 Why Great Enterprise Systems Get Bad Reputations14:03 How Much Code at Mando Is Actually Handwritten?16:21 The Workday Admin as Code Reviewer: What That Shift Looks Like18:59 Debate #1: Is AI Eating Legacy SaaS?22:51 Will Workday Stay in Its Lane or Expand?25:29 Debate #2: Is AI Eating UI?30:12 Live Demo: Mando's New Interface36:45 The Capture Layer Becomes an Execution Layer39:00 DIY vs. Vendor: What Gets Built Internally vs. Externalized?41:28 What Citizen Developers Miss About Building for the Enterprise44:43 How the Workday Admin Role Is Shifting with AI47:56 The Backlog Will Never Clear Itself — Unless You Do This54:08 Where Should Admins Focus? Skills, MCP, CLI, or Agent Swarms?58:52 Closing Thoughts & How to Connect with Neelan

3. 

   29 Jan 2026

   Can AI actually fix the worst parts of Workday M&A?

   Can AI actually fix the worst parts of Workday M&A integrations? I built two experimental Claude Skills to find out: an M&A Data Validator that checks employee lists against 19 business rules, and a Supervisory Org Builder that generates complete organizational hierarchies and Supervisory Org EIB files. In this demo, I test both workflows using fake employee data with intentional errors. Not ready for an actual M&A event yet, but it's a glimpse of what's possible when you combine Workday expertise with AI tooling. All employee data shown is AI-generated (no real PII). Connect with me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/)

4. 

   22 Jan 2026

   Workday + AI: Is this the future of Workday Admin work?

   Is this the future of Workday Admin work? I've been building this MCP integration over the last few months using Python and Workday APIs. It's slow (running locally for data security), not perfect, and it's definitely a prototype right now. But it works and it does so without having to touch the Workday UI. You don't need to be technical. You just need to start small and build something. What are your thoughts? Is this what our jobs will look like soon? What do you wish you + AI could do in Workday? Connect with me on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/ #Workday #WorkdayHCM #HRIS #AIAutomation #HRTech

5. 

   21 Jul 2025

   #12 - The Perfect Storm: How AI, Extend, and Built on Workday Are Changing the Game with Rick & Matt of Incubane

   Hi everyone, and Welcome back to the Unsafe Harbor podcast. In this episode, we’ll be talking to Rick and Matt of Incubane. We cover a ton of different topics in this one. We explore the differences between Extend and Built on Workday Marketplace, the impact of AI on HRIS processes, and the future of the Workday Admin role. Make sure you’re following Incubane, Rick, & Matt on LinkedIn. They have some of the best content (and memes). Here’s my conversation with Rick and Matt: Incubane LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/incubane/posts/?feedView=all (https://www.linkedin.com/company/incubane/posts/?feedView=all) Rick’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickleunisse/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/rickleunisse/) Matt’s LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkomendolowicz/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mkomendolowicz/) Built on Workday Marketplace - https://marketplace.workday.com/en-US/home (https://marketplace.workday.com/en-US/home)Christian’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/) Chapters List: 00:00 Introduction to Incubane and Its Vision 01:19 Evolution of Extend Apps 03:38 First Experiences with Extend 07:17 Understanding the Built on Workday Marketplace 11:44 Subscription Models for Built on Workday Apps 13:40 Favorite Extend Apps and Their Impact 18:43 Business Cases for Extend vs. Built on Workday Marketplace 24:29 Navigating Technical Debt and Integration Costs 25:05 The Evolution of Workday and Extend 25:55 The Perfect Storm: AI and Workday Marketplace 26:54 Transforming Workforce Management with AI 28:36 The Future of Workday: Speed and Strategy 30:40 AI's Impact on HR Roles and Responsibilities 32:20 Vision for Extend Apps and Built on Workday 36:40 Essential Skills for HRIS Administrators 40:47 Understanding Technology: A Path Forward 41:01 Advice for Career Advancement in HRIS

6. 

   23 May 2025

   #11 - Dani DeMaio & Scott Lawrence

   Dani DeMaio and Scott Lawrence, HR professionals, discuss mergers and acquisitions, including how to sell the benefits of Workday during the acquisition process, in an interview with Christian Delcid.

7. 

   13 Apr 2025

   Workday AI Workflow Experiment

   Check out this Workday AI Workflow that I've been experimenting with. Please note, this is just a personal experiment I'm running in my free time but I wanted to share a quick demo, what I'm learning as a result of all of this, and the principles I'm (loosely) holding onto during this AI murkiness. Here's the full video and you can also view the video on YouTube and Spotify as well. Let me know what you all think. Also, if you are building AI agents or workflows for the Workday ecosystem, I would love to connect with you about that. Enjoy!

8. 

   3 Apr 2025

   #10 - Neelan & Adi from Mando

   In this episode, we’ll be talking to Neelan Veloo and Adi Viswanathan, the co-founders of Mando, the AI Co-pilot for Workday Admins. Mando is an official Workday Partner that is using AI trained on Workday Community and knowledge contributed by a team of Workday experts. We’ll talk a lot about Mando, how it works, and how we’re preparing for all of the incoming AI innovation. Before we get into that, I did want to make sure that I shared some information. My company is a happy Mando customer. As an independent podcast, I’ve decided early on to not take any sort of sponsorship. In fact, I’m personally paying out of my own pocket for things like video editing, recording, and hosting software and subscriptions. The reason I share all of that is to say that the guests that I’m inviting to the podcast are all people and partners that I really believe in and want to highlight. Here is my conversation with Neelan and Adi from Mando. Mando Website: https://www.mando.work/ (https://www.mando.work/) Neelan’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/neelan-veloo/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/neelan-veloo/) Adi’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaviswanathan/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/adityaviswanathan/) Mando LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mandosystems/ (https://www.linkedin.com/company/mandosystems/) Christian’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/) Building Effective AI Agents by Anthropic: https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/building-effective-agents (https://www.anthropic.com/engineering/building-effective-agents)

9. 

   27 Mar 2025

   #9 - Mahdi Kafi

   In this episode, we’ll be talking to Mahdi Kafi. Mahdi is an independent consultant in the Workday ecosystem and the Founder of Turbin AI. Mahdi has been in the Workday space for 7 years and he’s been independent for almost 4 of those years. Mahdi is definitely someone to follow if you’ve ever entertained the possibility of becoming an independent consultant. He’s super open about the best and worst parts of being independent and he gives A TON of great advice for making the leap. There is a link to his company, podcast, and LinkedIn in the shownotes. Be sure to follow him and check out all of his work. Madhi’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahdikafi/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/mahdikafi/) Ask An Expert Podcast: https://cornerofficeconsultants.com/workday-salary-survey/ (https://cornerofficeconsultants.com/workday-salary-survey/) Turbin AI website: https://turbin.ai/ (https://turbin.ai/) Christian’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/)

10. 

    20 Mar 2025

    #8 - Carla Corley

    In this episode, we’ll be talking to Carla Corley. Carla is the Managing Partner at Corner Office Consultants. Carla and her team have exclusively been recruiting Workday talent for the last 12 years. The more I learn about Carla and Corner Office, the more there is to appreciate. However, the Workday Compensation & Market Guide that they make available is one of the many things that sets them apart. If you don’t know about the Compensation & Market guide, you need to check it out. I’ll have a link in the show notes that you can use to request a copy of the most recent guide. Carla and I cover a lot of the key findings from the most recent guide and we discuss some key factors/trends we’re watching for in the ecosystem this year. Compensation & Market Guide: https://cornerofficeconsultants.com/workday-salary-survey/ (https://cornerofficeconsultants.com/workday-salary-survey/) Career Cheat Sheet - https://cornerofficeconsultants.com/tips-impact-your-workday-career/ (https://cornerofficeconsultants.com/tips-impact-your-workday-career/) Carla’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlacorley/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlacorley/) Corner Office LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/corner-office-consultants/posts/?feedView=all (https://www.linkedin.com/company/corner-office-consultants/posts/?feedView=all) Christian’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/)

11. 

    26 Feb 2025

    #7 - Dana Nairn

    In this episode, we’ll talk to the one and only, Dana Nairn. Dana is a Principal Advisor on Kognitiv's Implementation Services team. She’s been in the ecosystem for almost 11 years. Let’s be real, you have probably already heard of Dana or have seen one of her posts on LinkedIn. I mean, she’s the #WorkdayWoman after all. This was a really fun conversation. We cover some of the recent changes to the Workday Pro Certifications, Public GMS tenants going away, what it’s like working for a WD Partner versus a customer, and more. With all of that out of the way, here is my conversation with Dana Nairn Dana's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/dananairnworkdaywoman/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/dananairnworkdaywoman/) Christian's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/)

12. 

    13 Feb 2025

    #6 - Dani DeMaio

    In this episode, we’ll be talking to Dani DeMaio. Dani is the Global Director of People Technology & Systems for a customer in the Tech industry. She has been in the ecosystem for almost 7 years and is a regular attendee at the Houston Regional User Group. Dani’s experience is really interesting. She’s definitely played a player-coach role within the ecosystem and she’s able to almost effortlessly go from talking about detailed Workday configuration to then talking about how to strategically deploy features. I think her perspective and experience has fully prepared her for navigating the world of Mergers & Acquisitions, which is a lot of what we cover in this conversation. Here's my conversation with Dani. Dani's LinkedIn -https://www.linkedin.com/in/danijdemaio/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/danijdemaio/) Christian's LinkedIn -⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/⁠ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/)

13. 

    16 Jan 2025

    #5 - Greg Higgins

    Happy New Year and welcome back to the Unsafe Harbor podcast! In this episode, we’ll be talking to Greg Higgins, Manager of HRIS Solutions & Analytics for a pretty big customer. He has been in the ecosystem for almost 10 years and is a regular speaker at Workday events like Rising and Regional User Groups. I’m super excited for this episode because we get to talk about one of my favorite things in Workday: Discovery Boards. We’ll cover the good, the bad, the ugly, and we even talk through how Discovery Boards could improve.

14. 

    8 Nov 2024

    #4 - Joshua Alexander

    In this episode, we’ll be talking to Joshua Alexander. Joshua is an Account Executive at Syssero. I initially met Joshua while he was a recruiter for Syssero and he’s easily become one of my favorite people in the ecosystem. Since Joshua gets to connect with both hiring managers & candidates, he has such a fascinating perspective of the current state of the Workday world. On this episode, we talk recent shifts in the ecosystem, seasonal trends, and skills that are growing in demand. Here’s my conversation with Joshua. Connect with Joshua: Joshua's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-l-alexander-a9a39123a/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshua-l-alexander-a9a39123a/) Connect with Christian: Christian's LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/ (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/) Christian's Twitter/X - https://x.com/cdelcid21 (https://x.com/cdelcid21)

15. 

    4 Oct 2024

    #3 - Shannon Whitley

    In this episode, we’ll be talking to Shannon Whitley. Shannon is a Director of People Operations & Systems in the Tech space. He has been in the ecosystem for 10+ years and has been part of multiple Workday implementations. I initially learned about Shannon through his Boomerang integration and WOW, am I glad that I found out about his LinkedIn & Github pages. Shannon might be one of the best when it comes to creating contributed solutions. Be sure to check out Shannon’s LinkedIn & Github pages. Just as a heads up, this conversation happened before Workday Rising this year. We do talk about technical tools and AI but obviously, we don’t cover anything that was announced at Rising. Connect with Shannon: Shannon's LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/swhitley/) Shannon's GitHub (https://github.com/swhitley) Connect with Christian: Christian's LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/) Christian's Twitter (https://x.com/cdelcid21)

16. 

    12 Sept 2024

    #2 - Keith Bitikofer

    In this episode, we’ll be talking to Keith Bitikofer. Keith is a wealth of Workday knowledge and insight. He is the author of the book “Workday Gold: Software Support Model Edition”, he’s been a regular speaker at Workday Rising & DevCon, and he’s personally coached dozens of people across the ecosystem. With his 30+ years of IT experience and his experience being Early Adopters to functionality like Workday Learning, Prism, & Extend, Keith has a developed unique perspective on where the ecosystem has been and where it could potentially go. I’m so thrilled to share my conversation with Keith. Be sure to connect with Keith: Website - https://keithbitikofer.com/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/keith-bitikofer/ Keith's Book - https://books2read.com/keith-bitikofer Keith's Presentations - https://keithbitikofer.com/presentations/ Connect with Christian: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/ Twitter/X: https://x.com/cdelcid21

17. 

    5 Sept 2024

    #1 - Scott Lawrence

    In this episode, we’ll be talking to Scott Lawrence, who is an HRIS Supervisor supporting a fast-growing customer in the waste management space. If you spend any time on LinkedIn, you’ve probably seen one of his posts or solutions ranging from topics like Workday Worksheets to Security Reports. Scott holds Workday Certifications in HCM & Security but he’s also a master documenter and teacher. Scott has quickly become one of my favorite follows on LinkedIn. If you haven’t yet connected with him on LinkedIn, I would highly, highly recommend it. Use the links to connect with him and view some of his other work: Scott's LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/scott-lawrence-mba-37676190/?lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_messaging_conversation_detail%3BhdxRHmVZQ2Kx9Y4bW8Ct1g%3D%3D) Scott's Website (https://www.linkedin.com/safety/go?url=https%3A%2F%2Fslawrwnce7.wixsite.com%2Fsenior-hris-analyst%2Fgeneral-7&trk=flagship-messaging-web&messageThreadUrn=urn%3Ali%3AmessagingThread%3A2-MzMzMWY1MTItZDUwYy00OWU5LTgzOTgtYjI5MGZhMmM2NTdiXzAxMg%3D%3D&lipi=urn%3Ali%3Apage%3Ad_flagship3_messaging_conversation_detail%3BhdxRHmVZQ2Kx9Y4bW8Ct1g%3D%3D) Be sure to connect with me on LinkedIn & Twitter/X as well: Christian's LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/christiandelcid/) Christian's Twitter (https://x.com/cdelcid21)

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

11 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 36 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

60

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

32

Contact Unsafe Harbor: a podcast about Workday

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.