BetterUp was founded in 2013 with a disruptive, bold mission: to democratize coaching. Traditionally reserved only for corporate executives, the company recognized that developing the broader employee base through behavioral science offered the highest impact investment an organization could make. As the company scaled rapidly from a small startup into a global enterprise, managing its own hyper-growth meant finding a way to cultivate emotional resilience, agility, and a "whole person" developmental culture internally.
Breaking free from fragmented foundations.
As a high-growth startup, BetterUp was navigating the typical growing pains of rapid expansion. Critical data was scattered across siloed tools and disconnected systems, making it near-impossible to gain a complete picture of the global workforce. Leadership lacked a core engine to drive strategic talent strategy or manage complex international compliance.
“Our data was fragmented and spread across many different tools and systems,” says Sarah Innocenzi, Senior Vice President of Human Resources. “We needed a solution to deliver a single source of truth.” BetterUp deployed Workday in structured stages to ensure the stable foundation could backstop operations in 10 different countries. The centralized architecture transformed how back-office operations run. Instead of reacting to disconnected administrative updates, the HR team unified core compensation, benefits, payroll, and global data tracking onto one system.
Jolen Anderson, Chief People and Community Officer, underscores the importance of this early transition. “If you don't have clean data, clean systems, clean processes, you can't do culture. You can't talk about performance or business impact if you're not operating from a system that enables a foundational, smooth way.”
Creating frictionless global operations.
With the core foundation secured, BetterUp turned its focus toward building a frictionless backend for its employees and managers. The Total Rewards and HR Operations teams intentionally prioritized end-to-end automation to eliminate repetitive admin tasks. Key workflows, such as employee onboarding and seasonal open enrollment, were entirely automated. New hires can now seamlessly navigate portals and submit elections that route automatically to downstream vendors, removing manual checkpoints. The goal was to make the operational foundation frictionless, freeing up time for managers and employees to step away from administrative overhead.
This automation has flipped the HR department's position from a reactive posture to proactive operational management, enabling leaders to focus deeply on mentoring, team connection, and organizational design.
“Automating our core processes with Workday has freed up HR leadership to focus on our global rewards strategy while giving valuable time back to our managers and employees,” says Jessica Brewer, VP of Total Rewards & HR Operations.
Turning engagement data into holistic insights.
BetterUp deployed Workday Peakon Employee Voice to closely capture organizational sentiment. Instead of relying on static, annual internal surveys, HR shifted to monthly pulses. This consistent flow of real-time insights tracks employee trends across 10 distinct engagement areas, highlighting evolving operational gaps or cultural shifts.
Through dedicated manager dashboards, team leaders gain immediate visibility into active hotspots, enabling performance accountability and development paths.
This year marked a strategic tipping point as BetterUp synchronized its performance, talent investment, and promotion cycles simultaneously with Workday.
"Running both of these with our promotion cycle at the same time has allowed us to ingest an incredible amount of data,” Innocenzi says. “We can look at our top performing talent, see how they are mentioning AI in assessments, and learn what we could apply to the broader organization for upskilling and investment.”
Weaving the human-machine braid.
As an industry leader in human transformation, BetterUp views technology as an enabler meant to augment, not replace, deeply human capabilities. While many modern workplaces navigate market shifts with fear, BetterUp’s culture relies on high-performing builders who lean safely into rapid technological experimentation. The company treats itself as "Customer Zero," running internal hackathons to co-create automated workflows alongside native Workday capabilities.
The technical architecture is built to actively support this mindset. BetterUp is currently building out its operations roadmap, preparing to deploy Workday AI Assistant and establishing structures for Agent of Record integrations. By connecting its automated recruiting software directly to Workday AI, the company aims to reduce manual HR operations transactions by at least 50% by the end of the year.
For his part, CEO Alexi Robichaux is optimistic about how AI can support humanity. “AI is going to unlock more invisible technology, so that we just live our human life the way we were meant to," he says. “The best technology is the technology you don't think about.”
Looking to the future.
As BetterUp expands its global reach, its leadership views the Workday ecosystem as a long-term catalyst for scalable, high-quality growth. Equipped with clean data, transparent tracking, and automated administrative systems, the organization is positioned to quickly pivot and adopt cutting-edge market innovations without needing major foundational overhauls.
“By stripping away the manual transaction layer with automated processes, leaders can dedicate their time to the human side of management: coaching, fostering mutual trust, and steering organizational mindsets from scarcity toward abundance,” Robichaux says.