Who Owns Peakon?
Peakon is owned by Workday, Inc. (NASDAQ: WDAY), a publicly traded enterprise software company headquartered in Pleasanton, California. Founded in 2014 in Copenhagen, Denmark, Peakon built a continuous employee listening and engagement analytics platform. Workday acquired it in January 2021 for approximately $700 million and markets it as Workday Peakon Employee Voice.
Peakon Timeline
GlobalOfficial Website
Who Owns Peakon?
- Parent Company: Workday, Inc.
- Ownership Type: Wholly owned
- Company Type: Publicly Traded
- Stock Ticker: Nasdaq: WDAY
| Brand | Parent Company | Ownership Type |
|---|---|---|
| Peakon | Workday, Inc. | Wholly owned |
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History of Peakon
- Founded: 2014
- Founders: Phil Chambers, Kasper Hulthin, Christian Holm, Dan Rogers
Phil Chambers, Kasper Hulthin, Christian Holm, and Dan Rogers founded Peakon in Copenhagen in 2014, part of a wave of Danish software startups. The product replaced annual engagement surveys with continuous listening: frequent short pulses analyzed in real time rather than yearly snapshot reports.
The company raised venture funding and grew across Europe and the US, landing enterprise clients drawn to its analytics and benchmark datasets built on hundreds of millions of employee survey responses.
Workday acquired Peakon in January 2021, its largest deal since Adaptive Insights, to add employee experience data to the HCM core. Under Workday the product kept its Copenhagen R&D base and standalone brand while gaining distribution through the Workday sales force.
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About Workday, Inc.
Is Workday publicly traded?
Yes. It trades on Nasdaq under ticker WDAY and is in the S&P 500.
Who founded Workday?
Dave Duffield and Aneel Bhusri in 2005, after Oracle's takeover of PeopleSoft.
Who is the CEO of Workday?
Aneel Bhusri, who returned to the role in February 2026 after Carl Eschenbach's tenure.
What does Workday sell?
Cloud software for human capital management, financial management, and planning, plus AI agents across those domains.
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What companies has Workday acquired recently?
HiredScore and Evisort in 2024, and Flowise, Paradox, Sana, and Pipedream during fiscal 2026.
Is Workday part of Oracle?
No. Workday was founded specifically because Oracle acquired PeopleSoft; it remains an independent competitor to Oracle.
- Founded: 2005
- Headquarters: Pleasanton, California, USA
- Company Type: Publicly Traded
- Stock: Nasdaq: WDAY
- Revenue: $9.55 billion total revenue, $8.83 billion subscription (FY2026, ended January 31, 2026)
- Employees: Approximately 20,500
Where Is Peakon Made / Based?
- Headquarters: Copenhagen, Denmark
Peakon Categories & Tags
Brands Owned by Workday, Inc.
Technology SoftwareEvisort
Owned by Workday, Inc.
Contract intelligence and document AI platform founded in 2016, acquired by Workday in 2024 to extend AI into procurement and legal workflows.
aicontract-managementdocument-ai
Technology SoftwareHiredScore
Owned by Workday, Inc.
AI recruiting and talent orchestration platform founded in 2013, acquired by Workday in 2024 to power agentic recruiting across its customer base.
airecruitinghr-software
Technology SoftwareParadox
Owned by Workday, Inc.
Conversational AI recruiting platform founded in 2016 in Scottsdale, acquired by Workday in fiscal 2026 to automate the candidate hiring journey.
airecruitingconversational-ai
Technology SoftwareSana
Owned by Workday, Inc.
Stockholm-founded AI knowledge and learning platform acquired by Workday in 2025 for about $1.1 billion, now the Workday Sana AI experience layer.
ailearningknowledge-management
Technology SoftwareVNDLY
Owned by Workday, Inc.
Cincinnati-founded vendor management system for contingent workforce, acquired by Workday in 2021 and integrated into its extended workforce platform.
vendor-managementcontingent-workforceprocurement
Technology SoftwareWorkday Adaptive Planning
Owned by Workday, Inc.
Enterprise planning and budgeting platform acquired by Workday in 2018, formerly Adaptive Insights, used for continuous financial and workforce planning.
planningbudgetingepm
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Peakon Ownership: Pros & Cons
Advantages
- +Deep engagement benchmark data across industries
- +Native HCM integration links sentiment to workforce outcomes
- +Strong European customer base and data protection posture
Considerations
- -Qualtrics dominates the enterprise experience management category
- -Standalone engagement budgets compress in HR spending slowdowns
- -Microsoft Glint bundles into existing enterprise agreements
Frequently Asked Questions About Peakon
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Sources & Further Reading
Competitors to Peakon
These competing brands operate in the same categories and provide similar products or services. Compare key attributes to understand market positioning and competitive landscape.
| Brand | Parent Company | Country | Founded | Market Position | Primary Market | Gender Target |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adp | USA | 1949 | Mass market | Global | All Genders | |
| Salesforce | USA | 2003 | Market leader | Global | All Genders | |
| Workday | USA | 2013 | Mass market | Global | All Genders | |
| Workday | USA | 2017 | Mass market | Global | All Genders | |
| Workday | USA | 2005 | Mass market | Global | All Genders |
Learn More About Competitors
Technology SoftwareADP
Owned by Automatic Data Processing, Inc.
World's leading payroll and human capital management brand, paying roughly one in six U.S. workers for more than 1.1 million clients through its RUN, Workforce Now, and TotalSource platforms.
payrollhcmhr-software
Technology SoftwareTableau
Owned by Salesforce, Inc.
Data visualization and analytics platform owned by Salesforce, Inc. (NYSE: CRM), acquired in 2019 for $15.7 billion and headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
data-visualizationanalyticsbusiness-intelligence
Technology SoftwareHiredScore
Owned by Workday, Inc.
AI recruiting and talent orchestration platform founded in 2013, acquired by Workday in 2024 to power agentic recruiting across its customer base.
airecruitinghr-software
Technology SoftwareVNDLY
Owned by Workday, Inc.
Cincinnati-founded vendor management system for contingent workforce, acquired by Workday in 2021 and integrated into its extended workforce platform.
vendor-managementcontingent-workforceprocurement
Technology SoftwareWorkday
Owned by Workday, Inc.
The flagship cloud HR and finance software brand of Workday, Inc., used by more than 11,500 organizations for HCM, payroll, and financial management.
hcmhr-softwarefinance-software
Competitive Analysis
Market Positioning: Peakon competes with 5 brands in the same categories, ranging from mass market to luxury positioning.
Geographic Distribution: Competitors are headquartered across multiple regions, indicating global competition in this market segment.
Brand Heritage: Competitor brands range from established heritage brands to newer market entrants, with founding years spanning several decades.
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Independent Alternatives to Peakon
Looking for brands with different ownership structures? These similar brands are not owned by Workday, Inc., giving you alternative choices that support different corporate structures.
Technology SoftwareCalendly
Owned by Calendly, Inc.
Scheduling automation software platform that eliminates back-and-forth emails when booking meetings.
schedulingcalendarproductivity
Privately Owned
Calendly is privately owned, unlike Peakon which is under a publicly traded parent company.
Technology SoftwareOdoo
Owned by Odoo S.A.
Belgian open-source business software suite offering integrated ERP, CRM, accounting, and e-commerce apps, valued near 10 billion euros in 2026.
erpopen-sourcebusiness-software
Privately Owned
Odoo is privately owned, unlike Peakon which is under a publicly traded parent company.
Technology SoftwarePersona
Owned by Persona Identities, Inc.
Identity verification platform used by companies like OpenAI, LinkedIn, and Reddit to verify users and fight fraud. Founded in 2018 in San Francisco, valued at $2 billion in 2025.
identity-verificationkycfraud-prevention
Privately Owned
Persona is privately owned, unlike Peakon which is under a publicly traded parent company.
Technology SoftwareRestream
Owned by Restream, Inc.
Live streaming platform that lets creators and businesses broadcast to multiple social platforms at once, owned by private company Restream, Inc.
live-streamingmultistreamingvideo-software
Privately Owned
Restream is privately owned, unlike Peakon which is under a publicly traded parent company.
Technology SoftwareWrike
Owned by Symphony Technology Group
Cloud-based collaborative work management platform for managing projects, deadlines, schedules, and workflow processes. Owned by Symphony Technology Group.
project-managementcollaborationworkflow-management
Privately Owned
Wrike is privately owned, unlike Peakon which is under a publicly traded parent company.
Technology SoftwareZeely
Owned by Zeely, Inc.
AI marketing app founded in Ukraine that lets small businesses create and launch paid ad campaigns from a phone in minutes.
ai-marketingadvertisingsaas
Privately Owned
Zeely is privately owned, unlike Peakon which is under a publicly traded parent company.
Workday, Inc. Stock Information
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Jobs at Workday, Inc.
Latest News About Peakon
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