You’ve all seen the news stories on Linkedin. “Block layoffs 4000, citing AI” or “Crypto.com cuts 12%, mentioning AI pivot”. Initial reactions are focused on which white-collar jobs are next on the chopping block. But are we even sure these companies are telling the truth? This type of misdirect can be referred to as AI-washing and is the consistent theme for not just layoffs, but also for propping up legacy companies.

The general sentiment today is that AI will take corporate jobs and companies, like above, are telegraphing this via headlines. Yet when peeling back the onion, you’ll read in their SEC filings their words don’t align with their actions. To find these disconnects, we used our filing analyzer to dissect these types of firms to suss out the truth.

For our latest segment, we’ll be analyzing two culprits of this AI-washing phenomenon, Salesforce and Workday.

As it relates to AI-washing, Salesforce continues to be the loudest megaphone in the room. The latest is pivoting their entire identity away from their core,CRM software, and toward Agentforce. This 180 focuses on the use of AI agents to take actions across their whole ecosystem. In theory, makes sense but at this stage, it’s a headline rather than a financial growth engine.

Yes the numbers sound promising, $800 million in ARR, up 169% year-over year. However, it’s a bit of a distraction to the over $14 billion return to shareholders in free cash flow. For context, this ARR is 1.9% of their total revenue for FY 2025.

The cherry on top is while they’re growing Agentforce quarter over quarter, they are making Agentforce free for SMB customers. Artificially juicing the adoption metrics. This makes the 1.9% of revenue effectively a non-growth engine. Instead, almost all hand waving statistics on adoption rather than impactful financials.

Our take: Salesforce is putting on a masterclass of deception. Their CEO is publicly claiming victory on CNBC with Agentforce. Meanwhile, their financials are showing their core CRM software losing seat licenses on an account basis. Simply put, the math is not mathing.

While a very different company in nature, Workday is using a similar playbook. They have had a stranglehold on the enterprise HR and Finance software space for over 10 years.

Differently, Workday is handling AI-washing in more of a stealth-mode. Because their core business is tied to corporate headcount (which is currently stagnant/shrinking globally), they have desperately slapped the AI label on their legacy platform to convince Wall Street they are a high-growth tech innovator.

The irony is if their platform was genuinely "built for enterprise AI at scale", they wouldn't need to outsource it. Yet Workday’s recent 10-K and cash flow statements reveal the truth. Spending over $2.2 billion to acquire two separate AI startups (Paradox and Sana) to bolt on conversational AI and knowledge management.

In addition, their filings show their revenue growth slowing down 17% year over year. This does not happen in a real AI super-cycle.

Lastly, the mixed messaging around cutting 8.5% of their workforce while simultaneously executing a $2.9 billion share buyback program. This combination does not happen if they were actually riding a AI growth wave.

Our take: Workday is clicking all the buttons hoping something works. Leadership is using AI to masquerade their legacy platforms are not industry-leading. Their decision making is that of a mature company. Not one benefiting from this productivity boom.

Salesforce and Workday are only a few of the obvious AI-washing culprits. They’re using a tried and a true method to convince Wall Street:

These companies are signaling SOS, not All-Aboard. Both firms having declining revenue growth (CRM -18% and WDAY -17%) and propping up growth via acquisitions.

Time will tell who is able to fool the investor longest. On the flipside, this is another signal that AI is not taking our jobs today, and may not be tomorrow too.

Analysis Platform: Plain Signal Risk Model and Filings