The amount of data mines must collect to make greener and more sustainable decisions can be overwhelming – luckily, Workday has a solution.
Australia’s mining sector is working hard to lift its environmental, social and governance (ESG) game.
But while miners face stricter reporting requirements and growing stakeholder expectations, many still struggle to make sense of scattered, siloed ESG data.
That’s where Workday, a leading artificial intelligence (AI) platform for managing people, money and agents, is stepping in and shaking things up with its Supplier Sustainability solution.
Best known for its HR and finance solutions, Workday is now leveraging its powerful cloud-based technology to help mining companies gain a tighter grip on ESG performance, from emissions reporting and supply chain visibility to pay transparency and compliance.
“Workday has capabilities in the ESG space based on the management of people and finance data for its customers,” Workday Australia managing director and vice president Jo-Anne Ruhl told Australian Mining.
“Leveraging this data can provide tools to help companies measure, communicate and mitigate the emissions footprint of their cloud-based applications.”
Workday has been walking the sustainability path for years, operating a carbon-neutral cloud since 2017 and achieving a lifetime net-zero carbon footprint in 2021.
Now, the company is bringing those credentials to the mining sector as it works towards the new regulations coming into effect this year, including climate-related financial disclosures. Workday understands that ESG compliance is no longer simply ‘nice to have’ – it’s crucial.
“Workday’s Supplier Sustainability solution offers features such as mapping CSRD (corporate sustainability reporting directive) data to standards, data standardisation and calculation (including Scope 1, 2 and 3 emissions), and auditable CSRD financial controls,” Ruhl said.
What sets Workday’s solution apart is its ability to break down ESG complexity through an integrated data platform.
By unifying finance, workforce and supply chain data, Workday delivers a clear, real-time view of ESG risk across the business – a game-changer for mining companies dealing with fragmented reporting systems and legacy tools.
“Having a unified data platform aims to provide a more comprehensive and effective way to manage ESG data across the enterprise,” Ruhl said.
Workday’s Supplier Sustainability solution is designed to fix that, enabling miners to gather actual emissions data and engage with suppliers on sustainability goals.
“This solution helps organisations understand the impact of their suppliers on their total carbon footprint and engage with them on sustainability,” Ruhl said.
Workday’s platform also supports pay transparency and regulatory compliance through tailored reporting tools.
Its pay transparency reporting package, available via the Workday Marketplace, helps mining companies analyse pay data, detect disparities and stay ahead of changing workplace regulations.
But Workday isn’t doing it alone; through strategic partnerships with firms like Deloitte, the company is bringing even more depth to its ESG range.
Joint initiatives like Deloitte and Workday’s Accelerate2Zero and Climate Adapt focus on emissions planning and climate risk assessment – key areas of concern for miners facing long-term climate impacts.
“These partnerships bring specialised expertise in areas like climate scenario modelling and risk assessment, enhancing Workday’s offerings,” Ruhl said.
Workday’s other major strength is adaptability. With mining operations often located in remote, harsh and logistically complex regions, technology must work seamlessly anywhere.
“As Workday’s solutions are cloud-based and designed to work across international borders, it is an ideal solution to support remote, diverse, and operationally complex environments,” Ruhl said.
Workday has also thrown artificial intelligence (AI) into the mix, building out Agentic AI capabilities to streamline compliance and reporting – an increasingly important asset as ESG data volumes grow and global standards evolve.
“One of AI’s greatest strengths is its ability to deal with large data sets in real-time,” Ruhl said. “It’s likely that AI tools will ultimately be used in the ESG space.”
As miners grapple with net-zero targets, investor scrutiny, and evolving regulatory landscapes, Workday’s combination of cloud-based flexibility, deep data integration, and ESG-specific tools is proving to be a powerful ally.
With the company constantly looking at new ways to innovate, it’s poised to not just help the mining industry meet ESG benchmarks, but lead them.
Because in an industry where transparency and trust are becoming just as important as tonnes and ounces, having the right technology partner can make all the difference.
This feature appeared in the June 2025 issue of Australian Mining.
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