VOYA-Workday AI Partnership Tests the Bull Case and 2028 Growth Outlook

The Bull Case for Voya Financial Could Shift After AI-Powered Partnership With Workday

Workday named Voya Financial a Strategic Workday Wellness Partner for Health, integrating Voya's supplemental health and retirement solutions with Workday Wellness. The goal is clear: better benefits administration, more personalization, and fewer manual processes through AI-driven workflows.

For finance leaders and benefits owners, this means cleaner data flows, quicker eligibility and claims checks, and a tighter link between health benefits and retirement planning. The strategic upside is efficiency and stickier client relationships if execution meets expectations.

Why This Partnership Matters

• Process efficiency: AI-enabled administration can reduce errors, shorten cycle times, and lower service costs across enrollment and claims.
• Personalization: Better data integration should support smarter nudges across health, savings, and retirement choices, improving outcomes per participant.
• Distribution leverage: Embedding benefits within Workday's ecosystem can expand reach and increase cross-sell into existing employer bases.

What Hasn't Changed in the Near Term

The key drivers still hinge on client retention and participant growth. Those remain the primary levers for revenue durability and margin stability.

Two risks stay front and center: fee pressure in asset management and medical cost inflation that can drive claims volatility. The Workday collaboration improves the operating playbook, but it does not immediately offset these pressures.

Reinforcing the Retirement Platform

Voya's addition of BlackRock's LifePath Paycheck solution signals rising demand for income-focused outcomes in retirement plans. It also supports a broader narrative: employers want integrated, personalized solutions that link health events, savings behavior, and retirement income.

This combination-embedded distribution plus outcome-driven products-can improve participant engagement and increase assets over time if adoption scales.

Outlook Through 2028

Voya's outlook points to approximately $8.4 billion in revenue and $1.0 billion in earnings by 2028. Assumptions include roughly 1.8% annual revenue growth and earnings increasing by about $508 million from a current base of around $492 million.

Execution against these targets will depend on sustained plan sponsor retention, steady participant additions, and disciplined expense control as AI-enabled processes roll out.

What to Watch Next

• Adoption metrics: Number of employers and participants using AI-enabled benefits workflows within Workday.
• Unit economics: Claims accuracy, time-to-enroll, and service cost per participant as automation scales.
• Cross-sell lift: Incremental attachment rates for supplemental health and retirement products within Workday clients.
• Margin signals: Evidence that admin efficiency offsets fee compression in investment products.
• Medical cost trends: Any deviation in claims severity or frequency impacting benefits profitability.

Investment Takeaway

The partnership strengthens Voya's digital delivery and distribution, which supports the longer-term bull case. The near-term story still comes down to retention, participant growth, and cost control amid fee pressure and health-cost volatility.

If Workday-enabled adoption converts to measurable engagement and lower admin costs, the growth profile and earnings quality could improve. Until then, monitor the KPIs above to judge whether the thesis is moving from promise to performance.

Further reading for finance teams

For a practical view of AI's application in finance operations, explore a curated set of tools here: AI tools for finance.