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Workday Rising 2026 arrives at a time when higher education institutions and government agencies are balancing growing expectations, limited resources, and increasing pressure to modernize. While the event will showcase the latest developments in AI, analytics, finance, and human resources, the most valuable conversations will focus on how organizations can turn technology investments into meaningful outcomes. 

As organizations continue to navigate transformation, leaders are focused on more than implementing new systems. They are looking for ways to improve experiences, strengthen decision-making, increase efficiency, and prepare their organizations for the future. With those priorities in mind, here are five areas worth watching at Workday Rising 2026. 

1. Practical Applications of Workday AI 

AI will be one of the most talked-about topics at Workday Rising 2026, but the most valuable conversations will focus on practical application rather than possibility alone. 

For higher education and government leaders, the question is not simply what Workday AI can do. It is how AI can help teams work more effectively, strengthen decision-making, reduce administrative burden, and improve service delivery. The most valuable sessions will likely connect AI innovation to measurable outcomes, responsible adoption, governance, and workforce readiness. 

As organizations evaluate AI, leaders should look for examples that show how technology can support people, not replace the strategy, judgment, and institutional knowledge that make transformation successful. 

2. Data, Analytics, and Decision-Making 

AI and automation are only as strong as the data behind them. That makes data strategy one of the most important themes for higher education and government organizations attending Workday Rising 2026. 

Many institutions and agencies have made significant progress in modernizing core systems, but still face challenges with disconnected data, manual reporting, and limited visibility across departments. Workday analytics, enterprise reporting, and connected data strategies will remain important areas of focus as leaders look for ways to turn operational data into actionable insight. 

Across higher education and government, leaders are relying on trusted data to support priorities such as: 

  • Student success and retention 
  • Workforce planning and talent management 
  • Financial performance and budget planning 
  • Constituent and service delivery outcomes 
  • Future AI and analytics initiatives 

Trusted data is increasingly becoming the foundation for organizational agility, operational visibility, and long-term decision-making. 

3. From Workday Implementation to Continuous Improvement 

For many organizations, digital transformation does not end at go-live. The next phase is often where the greatest opportunities emerge through continuous improvement, stronger adoption, more effective governance, and ongoing optimization. 

Workday Rising 2026 will be an opportunity to learn how organizations are extending the value of their Workday investment long after implementation. The most successful organizations are not asking, “Did we go live?” They are asking, “How do we continue to improve, adapt, and create value?” 

4. Learning from Peer Organizations 

One of the most valuable aspects of Workday Rising is the opportunity to learn from organizations that have already navigated similar transformation efforts. 

Peer-led discussions often offer practical insights into organizational change, stakeholder alignment, lessons learned, and the realities of transformation in practice. The best ideas frequently come from organizations willing to share not only what worked, but what they would do differently. 

5. Preparing for the Future of Digital Transformation 

The most successful organizations are building adaptable foundations that allow them to evolve as new opportunities emerge.  

For leaders attending Workday Rising 2026, the opportunity is to connect what they learn at the event to a broader vision for the future. Common priorities include: 

  • Strengthening operational efficiency 
  • Modernizing finance and HR processes 
  • Improving employee and student experiences 
  • Advancing analytics and decision-making capabilities 
  • Building readiness for emerging technologies such as AI 

Organizations that pair innovation with strong governance, clear objectives, and intentional change management are often best positioned for long-term success. 

Key Questions to Ask Before Workday Rising 2026 

Before arriving in Las Vegas, leaders may want to consider the following questions: 

  1. How can AI support our organization’s mission and priorities? 
  1. Where can we improve reporting, analytics, and data-driven decision-making? 
  1. How are peer organizations maximizing the value of Workday? 
  1. What opportunities exist to improve adoption, efficiency, and user experience? 
  1. How should our technology roadmap evolve over the next three to five years? 

Making the Most of Workday Rising 2026 

Workday Rising 2026 will undoubtedly introduce new ideas and technologies. But the organizations that realize the greatest value will be those that use the event as an opportunity to evaluate their long-term strategy, learn from peers, and identify practical steps that move their mission forward. 

Ultimately, success will not be defined by adopting every new innovation. For higher education institutions and government agencies, it will be defined by making thoughtful investments that advance their mission, strengthen decision-making, and deliver lasting value for the people and communities they serve. 

Heading to Workday Rising 2026? Schedule time to connect with the Avaap team and discuss your priorities for the year ahead.

Schedule Time to Connect

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Twice a year, Workday delivers feature releases designed to enhance functionality, improve user experience, and help organizations get more value from their technology investment. While these updates bring exciting opportunities, they also require planning, testing, and coordination to ensure a smooth transition. 

The Workday 2026 R2 release is quickly approaching, with preview tenants refreshing in August and production deployment scheduled for September. Organizations that start planning early can reduce risk, streamline testing efforts, and take advantage of new features with greater confidence. 

Whether you’re responsible for Workday HCM, Financials, Payroll, Reporting, Security, or Integrations, now is the time to assess your readiness for the upcoming release. 

Workday 2026 R2 Release Dates: Key Milestones You Can’t Afford to Miss 

A successful Workday release starts with understanding the timeline. The 2026 R2 release includes several important milestones that should be on every administrator’s radar: 

  • August 7, 2026: Feature release documentation becomes available 
  • August 15, 2026: Preview tenant refresh 
  • August 15 – September 19, 2026: Release preparation and testing window 
  • September 19, 2026: Production release 

These dates provide a valuable opportunity to review upcoming changes, validate critical business processes, and ensure your organization is ready before the production release arrives. 

How to Prepare for the Workday 2026 R2 Release Before Your Preview Tenant Refresh 

The most effective Workday release strategies begin long before the preview tenant is updated. Early preparation gives teams more time to identify potential impacts, assign responsibilities, and build a structured testing plan. 

Consider these questions: 

  • Which areas of Workday are most critical to your organization? 
  • Which teams should participate in testing? 
  • Are there key business processes, reports, or integrations that require special attention? 
  • What communications and change management activities may be necessary? 

Answering these questions upfront can help create a smoother release experience and reduce last-minute surprises. 

What to Review Before Workday 2026 R2 Arrives 

When release documentation becomes available, focus on understanding what matters most to your organization. 

1. Review Potential Impacts Early 

One of the first priorities in any Workday release cycle is understanding which changes matter most to your organization. 

When release information becomes available, take time to understand: 

  • Which features may affect your organization 
  • Whether new functionality requires configuration decisions 
  • Potential impacts to reporting, security, or integrations 
  • Change management and communication needs 

Early visibility allows teams to prioritize testing efforts and allocate resources appropriately. 

2. Make Preview Testing a Priority 

Your preview tenant is the best opportunity to validate critical business processes before production deployment. 

Testing should focus on areas such as: 

  • Core business processes 
  • Security configurations 
  • Reporting and analytics 
  • Integrations 
  • Functional workflows used by key stakeholders 

A structured testing strategy can help identify issues before they affect end users. 

3. Don’t Overlook Existing Configuration Issues 

Many release-related challenges aren’t caused by new features at all. They’re often tied to existing configuration, reporting, or security issues that surface during the release process. 

Before production deployment, organizations should review critical areas of their tenant and address any outstanding exceptions or inconsistencies. 

Common Workday Release Preparation Mistakes That Lead to Last-Minute Issues 

Even experienced Workday teams can run into challenges when release preparation takes a back seat to day-to-day priorities. 

Some of the most common mistakes include: 

  • Treating testing as a last-minute activity instead of an ongoing process 
  • Focusing exclusively on new features instead of overall release readiness 
  • Not involving key stakeholders in the testing process 
  • Underestimating the impact on reports and integrations 
  • Delaying change management and user communication efforts 

Avoiding these pitfalls can significantly reduce stress as release day approaches. 

Workday Release Readiness Starts with the Right Checklist 

Successful release preparation relies on consistency. Rather than approaching each release from scratch, leading organizations use a repeatable process that includes planning, testing, validation, communication, and post-release review. 

Having a comprehensive Workday release checklist helps ensure critical tasks aren’t missed and provides a clear roadmap for administrators, functional teams, and business stakeholders. 

The challenge isn’t knowing that preparation matters. It’s knowing exactly what should happen before preview, during testing, and after production deployment. 

What’s Included in Avaap’s Workday 2026 R2 Release Preparation Guide? 

To help organizations navigate the upcoming release, Avaap has created a comprehensive Workday 2026 R2 Release Preparation Guide. 

Inside, you’ll find: 

  • Key release milestones and planning dates 
  • Production readiness recommendations 
  • Preview testing guidance 
  • Administrator audit checkpoints 
  • Post-release best practices 
  • Actionable checklists to support your release planning process 

Whether this is your first Workday release or your tenth, the guide provides practical recommendations to help your team prepare with confidence. 

Download the Complete Workday 2026 R2 Release Preparation Guide 

The Workday 2026 R2 release is coming quickly. The organizations that achieve the smoothest deployments are often the ones that begin planning early, test thoroughly, and follow a structured readiness process. 

Download Avaap’s Workday 2026 R2 Release Preparation Guide to help your team plan ahead, reduce risk, and approach the September release with confidence.

Download the Guide 

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Student transcripts are one of the most visible academic records an institution produces. They carry institutional brand, academic policy, student history, transfer work, GPA, credits, and degree progress in a format that must be accurate, professional, and trusted. 

But as institutions add programs, campuses, policies, and student populations, maintaining transcript formats can become increasingly complex. Registrar teams need flexibility to meet unique institutional requirements without adding manual effort or creating long-term maintenance challenges. 

For institutions using Workday Student, transcript generation plays an important role in student service, academic record management, and registrar operations. 

Why Transcript Requirements Continue to Evolve in Higher Education 

Transcript requirements vary widely across institutions. Some institutions need transcripts that reflect unique academic structures, while others require specific formatting standards, branding elements, transfer credit presentations, or policy-driven academic record displays. As institutions grow and adapt, transcript formats often need to support new programs, campuses, and student populations. 

As institutions balance student service expectations, administrative efficiency, and evolving academic requirements, transcript flexibility has become an important consideration within broader student records and registrar operations. 

Supporting Institution-Specific Transcript Design in Workday Student 

Official transcripts represent more than academic data. They are institution-facing and student-facing documents that communicate academic achievement and reflect institutional standards. 

Many institutions require transcripts that support:

  • Institution-specific branding 
  • Academic history presentation 
  • GPA and credit information 
  • Transfer coursework details 
  • Program-specific requirements 
  • Policy-driven formatting standards 

One approach institutions may consider is separating transcript data, design, and generation logic rather than tightly coupling transcript formatting to development activities. This allows transcript layouts and formatting to be maintained independently from the underlying student data, providing greater flexibility to support official transcript formats while reducing the need for extensive redevelopment over time. 

Transcript Design Is Not a One-Time Decision 

Transcript formats are not static. As institutions add programs, update academic policies, expand campuses, adjust transfer credit rules, or refine branding standards, official transcript requirements may need to evolve as well. 

For Registrar and student records teams, the challenge is not only creating to evolve as well. 

For Registrar and student records teams, the challenge is not only creating an accurate transcript today. It is maintaining a transcript format that can adapt over time without creating unnecessary manual effort, technical dependency, or redevelopment burden. 

A more flexible transcript generation approach gives institutions a better foundation for long-term transcript governance, helping ensure official academic records remain accurate, professional, and aligned with institutional standards as requirements change. 

What Institutions Need from Modern Transcript Generation in Workday Student 

Transcript generation is about more than producing a document. It is part of a broader process that includes: 

  • Flexibility to support institution-specific transcript designs  
  • Consistent, official-quality PDF output  
  • Clear separation between transcript data and transcript layout  
  • Reduced manual formatting and review  
  • Easier updates as policies, programs, and requirements change  
  • A Workday-aligned approach that preserves Workday as the source of truth 
  • A coordinated approach to transcript generation can help institutions support consistency across transcript output while creating processes that are easier to maintain as requirements evolve. 

Creating Professional, Official Transcript PDFs 

Official transcript PDFs play an important role in how students, alumni, employers, and academic institutions interact with academic records. 

Transcript formats often need to balance accuracy, consistency, readability, institutional branding, and academic record integrity while presenting information clearly and professionally. 

Improving Registrar Efficiency Through Streamlined Transcript Processes 

Registrar teams manage a wide range of responsibilities that directly impact the student experience. Transcript requests, transcript preparation, and transcript oversight represent important components of that work. 

Institutions frequently look for opportunities to reduce time spent on: 

  • Manual transcript formatting 
  • Transcript preparation activities 
  • Document review processes 
  • Administrative transcript management 

Creating more streamlined transcript processes can help registrar teams focus on high-value student service activities while supporting consistent transcript output across the institution. 

Supporting a Better Student and Alumni Experience 

Transcript requests are an important service provided by registrar offices. Students and alumni expect efficient access to academic records and a consistent experience throughout the request process. 

A modern transcript experience should help support: 

  • Clear request processes 
  • Timely document delivery 
  • Consistent communication 
  • Visibility into request status 
  • Reliable access to academic records 

By creating more streamlined transcript workflows, institutions can support efficient service delivery while improving the overall experience for students and alumni. 

How Workday Extend Supports Flexible Transcript Generation 

Workday Extend allows institutions to build targeted solutions that work within the Workday ecosystem while keeping Workday as the system of record. 

For transcript generation, this creates an opportunity to support institution-specific transcript design without relying solely on heavy custom report development. A Workday Extend-based approach can help institutions separate transcript data from transcript layout and generation logic, making it easier to maintain official transcript formats as requirements evolve. 

This approach can support: 

  • Academic data sourced from Workday  
  • Tailored transcript layouts and formatting  
  • Consistent, professional PDF generation  
  • Greater flexibility as institutional policies, programs, and branding needs change  
  • A Workday-aligned framework for registrar and student records teams  

By using Workday Extend, institutions can preserve the integrity of Workday data while gaining additional flexibility to create transcript outputs that reflect their unique academic structure and standards. 

For institutions using Workday Student, the goal is not simply to generate a transcript. The goal is to create an official, professional document that reflects institutional requirements, is easier for Registrar teams to maintain, and supports a consistent experience for students and alumni as needs evolve. 

A Flexible Framework for Transcript Generation in Workday Student 

Avaap’s Transcript Manager was developed to help institutions create professional, institution-specific transcript PDFs using academic data from Workday. 

Built on Workday Extend, the solution separates transcript data, design, and generation logic so institutions can maintain official transcript formats with greater flexibility and less reliance on heavy custom redevelopment. 

For Registrar teams, this means less manual formatting and review. For students and alumni, it supports faster, more consistent service. For institutions, it provides a scalable way to meet unique transcript requirements while staying aligned with Workday. 

Looking for a more flexible approach to transcript design and generation in Workday Student? Connect with Avaap to learn more about Transcript Manager.

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Modernizing data and analytics is a priority for state and local agencies. As organizations look to reduce operational burden, improve security, and scale analytics, Tableau Cloud migration is becoming a key initiative. 

Many agencies and even entire states are evaluating how to migrate Server to Tableau Cloud while maintaining access to critical data and minimizing disruption. 

This guide provides a clear, practical overview of what the migration process looks like, along with the benefits and considerations for public sector teams. 

What is Tableau Cloud Migration and What Does it Involve? 

Tableau Cloud migration is the process of moving analytics assets from an on-premises Tableau Server environment to a fully managed cloud platform. 

This includes: 

  • Dashboards and workbooks 
  • Data sources and connections 
  • Users and permissions 
  • Governance and security configurations 

The goal is not just to move content, but to modernize how analytics are managed, accessed, and scaled across the organization. 

Why State and Local Agencies Are Moving to Tableau Cloud 

For public sector organizations, maintaining legacy analytics infrastructure can limit scalability and efficiency. 

Tableau Cloud offers a modern alternative by enabling agencies to: 

  • Scale analytics without infrastructure constraints 
  • Reduce the burden of system maintenance and upgrades 
  • Enable secure data sharing across departments 
  • Provide broader access to data for decision makers 

By shifting to a cloud-based analytics platform, agencies can focus less on managing systems and more on delivering insights that support mission outcomes. 

Common Challenges in Tableau Cloud Migration 

While the benefits are clear, migration from Tableau Server to Tableau Cloud requires careful planning. 

Common challenges include: 

  • Identifying and organizing existing dashboards, users, and data sources that NEED to be migrated 
  • Cleaning up Tableau content that is no longer necessary 
  • Configuring source data connections in the most effective and secure manner 
  • Managing the migration process without disrupting users 
  • Proper user communication messaging and timing 
  • Ensuring embedded external content is properly repointed after migration 
  • Validating that dashboards function properly after migration 

For larger or more complex environments, these steps can introduce risk if not approached in a structured way. 

A Practical Approach to Tableau Cloud Migration 

A successful Tableau Cloud migration strategy follows a structured process designed to reduce risk and maintain continuity. 

1. Assess your current environment 

Understand your existing analytics landscape, including users, dashboards, and data dependencies. Identify stale or unused content to ensure a clean start in your cloud environment. 

2. Plan the migration 

Develop a clear roadmap that defines timelines, testing strategy, communications, and cutover planning. 

3. Execute the migration 

Move users, content, and data sources in a controlled and structured way that minimizes disruption. 

4. Test and validate 

Ensure dashboards, permissions, and data connections to perform as expected. 

5. Support post go-live adoption 

Monitor performance and provide support to ensure a smooth transition for users. Maintain an open line of communication. 

This approach helps maintain access to critical data while minimizing disruption during the migration process. 

How to Minimize Risk During Cloud Migration 

For public sector teams, minimizing disruption and maintaining trust is critical. 

Best practices include: 

  • Communicating clearly with stakeholders throughout the process 
  • Establishing realistic timelines and expectations 
  • Testing thoroughly before go-live 
  • Planning for a controlled transition from server to cloud 

A structured and transparent approach ensures that users experience little to no disruption. 

Prepare for Your Tableau Cloud Migration 

If Tableau Cloud is on your roadmap, understanding what a successful migration looks like is an important next step. 

In our upcoming webinar, Avaap and Tableau will walk through: 

  • The end-to-end Tableau Cloud migration process (including timeline expectations) 
  • What to expect during each phase of migration 
  • Best practices to reduce risk and disruption 
  • Lessons learned from working with public sector organizations 
Register for the webinar 

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Snowflake’s fully elastic, consumption-based platform enables organizations to rapidly scale data, analytics, and AI. However, this same flexibility can lead to unexpected costs if governance is not intentionally designed into the platform. 

Many organizations encounter cost challenges not because Snowflake is inherently expensive, but because cost governance is introduced too late. Warehouses may run longer than necessary; workloads may compete for shared resources, and visibility into consumption may be limited across teams. As a result, organizations struggle to forecast spend, enforce budgets, and explain costs. 

Improving Snowflake cost predictability requires a deliberate approach that combines cost observability, governance, and architecture. 

Why Snowflake Costs Become Unpredictable 

Snowflake meters compute, storage, and cloud services independently, and compute resources can scale instantly. This design provides flexibility, but it also shifts responsibility for cost management to how the platform is used and structured. 

In Snowflake environments, cost variability is often driven by: 

  • Warehouses running longer than needed 
  • Shared environments supporting multiple workloads 
  • Limited visibility into usage patterns 
  • Lack of clear accountability across teams 
  • Consumption of AI and ML features without structured monitoring 

Without intentional governance, these patterns can make costs difficult to manage and predict over time. 

What Is Snowflake Cost Predictability? 

Snowflake cost predictability is the ability to make platform consumption transparent, controlled, and aligned to business needs. 

This requires: 

  • Cost observability: Visibility into usage across warehouses, roles, and workloads 
  • Governance by design: Controls embedded directly into the platform architecture 
  • Cost controls: Guardrails that prevent unintentional overspend 
  • Clear accountability: Mapping usage to teams, roles, and business functions 

Most importantly, these capabilities must be built into the platform from the start rather than added after costs become difficult to manage. 

Cost Observability: Measuring Before Managing 

The first step in governing Snowflake costs is visibility. Organizations cannot manage what they cannot see. 

Snowflake provides usage and telemetry data that can be used to track consumption, including: 

  • Credit usage by warehouse, role, and query 
  • Storage usage and growth 
  • Query runtime and activity patterns 
  • AI and advanced feature consumption 

By centralizing and structuring this data, organizations can: 

  • Identify which workloads drive costs 
  • Understand how usage changes over time 
  • Detect anomalies and unexpected spikes 
  • Provide stakeholders with clear cost insights 

Well-designed dashboards turn usage data into actionable insight and enable proactive cost management. 

Managing AI and Advanced Workload Costs 

AI and ML capabilities introduce additional cost considerations because they are event-driven and can be embedded directly within queries or applications. 

To improve cost predictability, organizations should: 

  • Separate AI usage from standard compute reporting 
  • Track usage by role, user, and application 
  • Monitor invocation frequency and cost behavior 
  • Identify repeated or unnecessary processing 
  • Apply alerts for unusual usage patterns 

Tagging AI-related resources with metadata such as cost center, environment, and application enables precise cost attribution and supports governance. 

Governance by Design: Building Predictability into the Platform 

The most effective Snowflake environments embed governance directly into the platform architecture. 

A governance-by-design approach includes: 

  • Standardized warehouse provisioning with consistent configurations 
  • Role-based access controls to prevent misuse of compute resources 
  • Mandatory tagging for cost tracking and accountability 
  • Validation during deployment to enforce standards before changes go live 

By embedding governance into how the platform is built and managed, organizations reduce manual oversight and improve consistency across environments. 

Common Snowflake Cost Anti-Patterns 

Certain patterns consistently lead to unpredictable costs in Snowflake environments: 

  • Using a single shared warehouse for multiple workloads 
  • Running oversized warehouses without usage-based sizing 
  • Lack of tagging and cost attribution 
  • Missing resource monitors or budget thresholds 
  • Embedding AI workloads into general analytics queries 
  • Relying on manual governance processes 

Addressing these patterns improves both cost control and overall platform stability. 

A More Effective Approach to Cost Control 

Improving Snowflake cost predictability requires a coordinated approach across: 

  • Observability to understand how the platform is used 
  • Native controls to enforce budgets and limits 
  • Governance embedded in architecture and processes 
  • Workload isolation to improve accountability and transparency 

When these elements are aligned, organizations can manage costs proactively rather than reacting after spend has already occurred. 

Take Control of Snowflake Costs 

Snowflake costs can be made predictable when governance, observability, and architecture work together. 

By treating cost as an architectural consideration, organizations can build a platform where consumption is transparent, controlled, and aligned to business priorities. 

Download the whitepaper to learn how to design for Snowflake cost predictability from day one. 

Download Insights 

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Higher education institutions are under increasing pressure to improve student outcomes while navigating complex data environments. 

Many assume they must complete their Workday implementation before addressing data modernization, analytics, or student retention initiatives. 

Xavier University is proving otherwise. 

By modernizing its data environment in parallel with its Workday rollout, Xavier accelerated its student success strategy and established a scalable foundation for long-term impact. 

The Challenge: Limited Visibility Slowed Proactive Student Support 

Like many institutions, Xavier University was committed to improving retention and graduation outcomes but faced challenges due to fragmented data systems. 

Before this initiative: 

  • Student data lived across multiple systems and reports 
  • Advisors lacked visibility into academic, financial, and engagement indicators 
  • Faculty and staff had to piece together a student’s full experience 
  • Leadership lacked a unified, real-time view of persistence trends 
  • Evaluating outreach effectiveness required manual analysis 

As a result, student success teams relied heavily on manual reporting processes, limiting their ability to act quickly and proactively. 

A Strategic Start: Aligning Around Data-Driven Student Success 

Xavier partnered with Avaap’s Data, Analytics, and AI team to define a shared vision for data-driven student success. 

Over two months, the team established a strong foundation through: 

  • A current-state assessment of data and reporting processes 
  • More than 40 stakeholder interviews across eight departments 
  • Documentation of institutional goals and priorities 
  • Alignment on a long-term analytics strategy 

This work ensured the solution would address immediate needs while supporting future innovation. 

The Approach: Modernizing Data in Parallel with Workday 

Rather than taking a sequential approach, Xavier advanced data modernization alongside its Workday implementation. 

This allowed the university to: 

  • Deliver insights earlier in the transformation process 
  • Avoid delays associated with waiting for a fully mature ERP 
  • Establish a strong data foundation while systems were evolving 

As Xavier CIO Sheri Thomas shared: 

“By modernizing our data in parallel with our Workday implementation, Xavier was able to accelerate our student success strategy. Using Snowflake to unify Workday data with other critical sources enabled our first student persistence analytics capabilities, delivering immediate value and empowering leaders to support students proactively.” 

The Solution: A Unified Platform for Student Retention Analytics 

Working together, Avaap helped Xavier implement a modern data environment designed to support proactive student success. 

Centralized Data Platform 

  • A Student 360 data model brings together data from across the institution 
  • Expanding Workday integrations strengthen the connection between systems and analytics 

Automated Data Processing 

  • Alteryx automates data preparation 
  • Manual reporting processes are significantly reduced 

Interactive Analytics and Dashboards 

  • Tableau dashboards provide intuitive, interactive visualization 
  • Insights are accessible to both advisors and leadership 

Supporting Advisors with Timely, Actionable Insight 

The platform enables student success teams to evaluate patterns across key indicators: 

  • Academic performance 
  • Financial indicators 
  • Student engagement signals 
  • Enrollment and progression patterns 

With frequently updated data, advisors can: 

  • Identify students who may need additional support 
  • Search and filter students by ID, major, cohort, or indicators 
  • Understand enrollment patterns and term-to-term progress 

This reduces time spent gathering information and increases time spent supporting students. 

Enabling Strategic Decision-Making for Leadership 

In addition to supporting advisors, the platform provides leadership with a strategic view of student success. 

Leaders can: 

  • Monitor persistence and enrollment trends across cohorts 
  • Identify patterns across academic, financial, and engagement indicators 
  • Evaluate the effectiveness of student success initiatives 
  • Inform institutional planning and investment decisions 

The Results: Earlier Intervention and Stronger Outcomes 

Xavier now has a modern analytics platform that enables more proactive and informed decision-making. 

Key outcomes include: 

  • Earlier student support through improved visibility into student needs 
  • More effective advisor time with less effort spent on manual reporting 
  • Institution-wide visibility into persistence trends 
  • Reduced manual reporting through automation 
  • A foundation for future innovation across admissions, student success, and planning 

What’s Next: Expanding the Impact of Analytics 

The Undergraduate Student Persistence Analytics platform represents the first step in a broader vision for data-enabled decision-making. 

Future opportunities include: 

  • Evaluating the effectiveness of student support initiatives 
  • Expanding insights for admissions and enrollment teams 
  • Supporting academic departments with program-level analytics 
  • Continuing to integrate new data sources through Workday and Snowflake 

Together, these efforts are helping Xavier create a more connected, proactive student success ecosystem. 

What Higher Ed Leaders Can Learn 

Xavier’s experience reinforces a key takeaway: 

Data modernization and Workday transformation do not need to happen sequentially. With the right approach, they can progress together to deliver faster, more meaningful results. 

Institutions can begin building retention analytics capabilities even without fully mature data environments when they focus on collaboration, practical progress, and scalable architecture. 

Join the Webinar: See the Approach in Action 

Want to learn how to apply this approach at your institution? 

In the upcoming webinar, Scaling Student Success: Advancing Snowflake and Workday in Parallel, you’ll hear directly from: 

  • Sheri Thomas, AVP and Chief Information Officer, Xavier University 
  • Kimberly Moore, VP of Student Affairs and Chief Success Officer, Xavier University 
  • Annaleah Morrow, Ph.D., VP of Customer Success, Avaap 

You’ll walk away with: 

  • Practical steps to advance student retention analytics during an active Workday transformation 
  • Guidance on structuring a collaborative data initiative 
  • Approaches for navigating data quality challenges 
  • Insights into how cloud platforms like Snowflake support scalable data foundations 

Save your spot to explore how Xavier is advancing student success with modern data. 

Register for the Webinar

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As organizations consolidate data and machine learning (ML) workloads into Snowflake, a common question arises: 

“Should we rebuild our ML pipelines to take full advantage of Snowflake’s native capabilities?” 

On paper, yes, Snowflake now offers feature stores, experiment tracking, model registry, and improved observability. But in reality, most teams aren’t starting from scratch. They’re sitting on pipelines that already work. 

The challenge isn’t building something new.  It’s understanding and safely evolving what already exists. 

The Reality of Machine Learning Pipelines in Snowflake 

A familiar pattern often emerges: 

  • Pickled XGBoost models in stages  
  • Snowflake Tasks for orchestration  
  • Custom tables tracking metrics  

These systems often work but lack standardized practices for experiment tracking, model governance, and feature reuse. Teams face a tradeoff: 

1. Rebuild everything to align with native capabilities  

    or 

    2. Maintain legacy pipelines and accrue technical debt  

    Neither option is particularly appealing. 

    Why Translating ML Pipelines in Snowflake is the Hardest Part 

    Snowflake provides the building blocks. The challenge is translating existing pipelines into that ecosystem.

    Questions quickly emerge: 

    • Where does feature logic actually live, and how do we extract it into a feature store? 
    • How do we convert loosely tracked metrics into structured experiments?  
    • What becomes of staged, pickled models in a governed model registry?  
    • Which parts of the pipeline can change safely without breaking downstream systems? 

    Understanding the current system well enough to evolve it safely is often the real bottleneck. 

    Using Cortex Code to Modernize Snowflake ML Pipelines

    This is where Snowflake Cortex Code shines. It’s more than a coding assistant. 

    Rather than starting from scratch, Cortex Code can: 

    • Parse Snowpark logic to identify feature engineering  
    • Suggest mappings to a feature store  
    • Translate metric tables into experiment tracking  
    • Highlight redundant steps and dependencies  

    Crucially, it acts as a thought partner, helping teams reason through architecture, make incremental changes safely, and balance modern best practices with existing constraints. 

    Modernizing ML Pipelines Without Disrupting Production 

    Pipelines feed dashboards, models, and operational decisions. Breaking them has real consequences. 

    A safer approach is incremental: 

    1. Understand the pipeline end-to-end  
    1. Map components to native equivalents  
    1. Introduce modern ML patterns alongside legacy ones  
    1. Phase out old components once parity is validated  

    Hybrid architectures may run temporarily. It’s messy, but it’s safe. 

    Challenges in Modernizing ML Pipelines in Snowflake

    Modernization isn’t frictionless. Key limitations include: 

    • Deeper Snowflake coupling: Leveraging native ML features often means leaning heavily into containers and GPU-backed compute. This increases costs relative to warehouse-based processing.  
    • Risk of over-engineering: Cortex Code is powerful, but it can suggest real-time or complex patterns where batch is sufficient. Smaller pipelines may not need every best practice.  
    • Incremental boundaries: Some pipelines are too inconsistent or tightly coupled for a safe incremental approach; partial redesign may still be required.  

    A Repeatable Approach to Snowflake ML Pipeline Modernization 

    Across clients, we see the same need: 

    • Existing production model pipelines  
    • Desire to adopt Snowflake-native ML capabilities  
    • Hesitation to rebuild from scratch  
    • Need for architectural guidance  

    At Avaap, this has become a repeatable approach: use Cortex Code to accelerate understanding and mapping, modernize incrementally, and maintain compatibility. Teams modernize faster, without disrupting production, and gain clarity on what the system is actually doing. 

    What This Enables for ML Pipelines in Snowflake

    AI-assisted development is often framed as productivity gains. In ML modernization, the bigger impact may be architectural: 

    The bottleneck isn’t writing code, but understanding existing systems well enough to change them safely. 

    Tools like Cortex Code accelerate that understanding, bridging the gap between legacy pipelines and modern ML platforms. Not by replacing engineers, but by helping them make better, faster architectural decisions. 

    Key Takeaways for Modernizing ML Pipelines in Snowflake

    Snowflake’s ML ecosystem is powerful, but adopting it doesn’t require starting over. 

    The path forward is evolution, not replacement. It’s often the safer, faster approach. It comes with tradeoffs, friction, and careful decisions. But with the right approach and the right tooling, it’s manageable and repeatable.

    At Avaap, we help teams navigate these transitions, modernizing pipelines safely while leveraging Cortex Code to accelerate both understanding and implementation. 

    Because the teams that move fastest aren’t the ones rebuilding everything. 

    They’re the ones who know how to evolve what they already have. 

    Connect with Avaap’s Data, Analytics, and AI team to explore how you can modernize your Snowflake ML pipelines without disrupting what already works.

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    Snowflake Summit 2026 brings together a wide range of sessions across AI, data engineering, and analytics, showcasing how the platform is being applied and extended in real-world environments. 

    For Avaap, this year’s Summit is about how organizations are putting Snowflake to work: applying AI in real workflows, enabling teams with the right tools, and doing it in a way that’s governed and sustainable. As a consulting partner focused on helping higher education, government, and nonprofit organizations turn data investments into measurable outcomes, these are the conversations we pay closest attention to.

    Below are a few sessions our team is especially looking forward to—both for what they demonstrate and the practical discussions they tend to spark.

    1. Public Sector AI in Action at Snowflake Summit: Ohio Department of Taxation

    Session: Ohio Tax: Call Center Analytics, Call Transcription and Agentic Workloads (AI230) 
    Speaker:     Budwhite Zhang, CDO and Deputy CIO, State of Ohio Department of Taxation 
    Date & Time:      Monday, June 1 | 4:00–4:45 PM PDT 

    This session offers a clear example of AI being applied within a regulated public sector environment. The Ohio Department of Taxation uses Snowflake Cortex to analyze call center transcripts, improve service consistency, and better understand taxpayer needs. 

    What stands out is how directly this connects AI capabilities to an operational workflow — turning unstructured conversations into structured, usable insight. It’s the type of implementation that often becomes a foundation for additional use cases, from service optimization to fraud detection. 

    Why we’re interested: 

    • A real-world application of AI in a government setting  
    • Practical use of unstructured data to drive outcomes  
    • A repeatable pattern that can scale across use cases  

    2. Extending Snowflake with AI Apps and Analytics Workflows

    Session: The Builder’s Guide to Sigma AI Apps: Workflows, Cortex Agents and AI Functions (BI214) 
    Speaker:     Senior Solution Engineer, Sigma 
    Date & Time:     Wednesday, June 3 | 1:00–2:30 PM PDT 

    One of the themes we expect to see across Summit is how Snowflake’s capabilities are extended through its partner ecosystem. This session is a strong example of that in practice. 

    Using Sigma alongside Snowflake Cortex, attendees will build a “Sales Pipeline Analyzer” that processes unstructured sales transcripts, extracts insights like deal health and risk, and writes structured outputs back into Snowflake. From there, workflows trigger notifications and dynamically update dashboards. 

    It’s a hands-on look at how partner technologies and Snowflake work together to move beyond analysis and into action — enabling AI applications that interact with data, systems, and users in real time. 

    Why we’re interested: 

    • Demonstrates how Snowflake is extended through partner tools like Sigma  
    • Shows how AI workflows move from insight to action  
    • Reflects the types of solutions organizations are building today, not just exploring  

    3. AI Governance and Trusted Data Foundations at Snowflake Summit

    Session: What’s New: Innovations in Data and AI Governance (WN210B)
    Speaker:     Snowflake 
    Date & Time:     Tuesday, June 2 | 3:30–4:15 PM PDT 

    As organizations expand their use of AI, governance becomes more tightly connected to day-to-day development and operations. This session focuses on how Snowflake is evolving its governance capabilities to support that shift. 

    Updates to Horizon Catalog, improvements to semantic alignment, and expanded interoperability through open standards all point toward a more unified approach to managing data and AI assets. Capabilities like automated classification, lineage, and data quality monitoring are increasingly central to how organizations maintain trust as they scale. 

    Why we’re interested: 

    • Connects governance directly to how AI is built and deployed  
    • Highlights tools that support consistency across complex environments  
    • Reinforces the importance of strong data foundations  

    Snowflake Summit Takeaways for Higher Education and Government Leaders

    Across these sessions, a consistent pattern emerges: organizations are moving from isolated AI experiments to integrated, operational solutions that are governed, scalable, and tied to real outcomes. 

    That’s where Avaap focuses. As a consulting partner for higher education and government organizations, we help teams apply these patterns in ways that align with their data, systems, and institutional priorities. If you’ll be attending Snowflake Summit, we invite you to schedule time to connect with the Avaap Data, Analytics, and AI team using our meeting request form and continue the conversation onsite.

    Schedule Time to Connect

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    As a Workday implementation partner, Avaap consultants spend their time helping organizations modernize systems and guide people through transformation. Just as importantly, our Transformation Solutions Practice, including Organizational Change Management (OCM), is central to how we help clients realize value from those investments.  

    Recently, Avaap had the opportunity to turn that expertise inward completing an internal Workday implementation. Led by our own consultants, this initiative allowed us to: 

    • Apply our expertise within Avaap, reflecting on what it truly means to lead change while simultaneously experiencing it ourselves.   
    • Intentionally design the change experience around the needs, perspectives, and day-to-day realities of our employees. 
    • Enable consultants to experience the new system through an end-user lens, deepening their understanding of the transformations we deliver for our clients. 

    In this blog, we reflect on our implementation through two distinct lenses:  

    1. The end-user’s perspective: Experiencing the transformation solely as a user 
    1. The lead’s perspective: Driving change on behalf of the organization 

    Together, these perspectives reveal lessons learned and insights gained from living the same change we so often help our clients navigate. 

    People at the Center of Our Internal Workday Implementation 

    One of the greatest strengths of Avaap’s internal Workday implementation was the intentional focus on the employee experience, recognizing our people as the end users of the new system. Throughout the implementation, we prioritized transparency, engagement, and feedback to ensure employees felt informed, supported, and heard.  

    This approach came to life in several ways: 

    • A strong change champion network established rhythm and structure through monthly meetings, clear and consistent Change Guides, and trusted peer-to-peer communication. 
    • Employees valued receiving updates from colleagues they trusted, reinforcing engagement and creating a powerful two-way feedback loop.  
    • Visible and active executive sponsorship reinforced alignment, accountability, and commitment to the change. 
    • Departmental meetings were intentionally leveraged to share updates, communicate key actions, and reinforce critical milestones and deadlines.  

    During go-live, hyper care made a meaningful and visible difference. Office hours, a dedicated Teams support channel, rapid issue resolution, and transparent public Q&A created real-time trust and confidence. Employees did not just receive answers — they learned from one another’s questions, strengthening system adoption and reinforcing confidence in the organization’s ability to support its people through change. 

    Lessons from a Compressed Workday Delivery Timeline 

    As change leads for this initiative, we experienced firsthand the realities of delivering against an ambitious timeline—challenges we often partner with our clients to navigate during a Workday transformation. 

    Here are a few of the lessons we look forward to applying in future client engagements: 

    • With a limited buffer for OCM activities, training development occurred in parallel with ongoing system configuration, extending preparation efforts, and requiring significant agility from the team.  
    • Delivery coincided with a demanding December client cycle and the holiday season, leaving little flexibility in employee schedules.  
    • To support adoption while honoring client commitments, sessions were recorded, materials were made readily accessible, and knowledge checks were implemented so employees could complete requirements between client engagements.  
    • This flexible, multi-modal approach enabled broad participation while preserving our commitment to client delivery and operational excellence.  

    As timelines compressed, change management often absorbed the shock. More importantly, the experience reinforced a critical insight we see repeatedly: while technology change is challenging, role clarity is often the harder—and more impactful—transformation. 

    Why the Internal Workday Experience Worked for Our Employees 

    From an end‑user perspective, the experience demonstrated how seamless change can feel when an organization intentionally supports its people, even amid the complexities and challenges faced by the project team. 

    “As a change management consultant, I understand the strategies that enable adoption, but experiencing a Workday implementation as an employee made the effort required feel far more tangible.” – Avaap Change Management Consultant 

    Several factors contributed to this success: 

    • Access to a centralized Learning Library. 
    • An active Teams channel. 
    • Clear FAQs made employees feel their needs were being anticipated rather than reacted to.  
    • A well‑designed matrix of communication channels, including a robust change champion network, ensured information surfaced when and where it was needed. 
    •  On-demand resources and flexible training sessions also allowed employees to engage in learning in meaningful ways, despite the demands of a busy time of year. 

    Leading Workday Change from the Inside 

    Leading change internally introduced a unique challenge: wearing two hats as both advisor and impacted stakeholder, while also supporting executive leaders as sponsors. Living this transition firsthand reinforced the responsibility that comes with advising on change 

    The experience underscored a lesson we share with clients every day: systems go live on a date, but clarity, adoption, and behavior change require sustained focus and intentional investment. 

    If you are preparing to kick off a Workday transformation, consider how Avaap can partner with you — bringing both extensive client experience and firsthand internal implementation lessons to help ensure a successful outcome. 

    Connect with us

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    Many organizations adopt Snowflake to modernize data, improve analytics, and prepare for AI. Their goals are fairly consistent: to achieve operational excellence by utilizing the organization’s data and generate positive results across its various functions.

    Across industries, leaders are asking how to move from data consolidation to clear, actionable insight. They are looking for analytics and AI initiatives that are governed, practical, and built to last. Achieving this depends not only on the platform itself, but on how data is modeled, integrated, governed, and aligned to real business priorities. 

    As a Snowflake Premier Partner, Avaap works with higher education, government, and nonprofit organizations to help close this gap. By combining deep Snowflake expertise with industry experience and proven delivery approaches, Avaap helps organizations transform Snowflake investments into measurable outcomes that support confident decision-making. Continue reading to learn how Avaap brings this approach to life through its Snowflake capabilities. 

    Avaap’s Core Snowflake Capabilities 

    Avaap’s Snowflake capabilities are designed to turn strategy into execution through secure data foundations, integration, analytics, and AI that organizations can trust and scale. 

    1. Secure and Governed Data Foundations 

    A strong Snowflake environment starts with the right architecture and governance. Avaap helps organizations design and implement Snowflake environments that support scalability, security, and long-term growth. 

    This includes: 

    • Snowflake environment setup and architecture aligned to organizational needs 
    • Role based access controls and data security best practices 
    • Data governance frameworks designed for regulated environments 
    • Logging, monitoring, and performance visibility 

    The result is a Snowflake foundation leaders can trust to support enterprise analytics and AI initiatives. 

    2. Workday and Snowflake Integration 

    A key differentiator of Avaap’s Snowflake capabilities is our combined expertise in Workday and Snowflake. 

    As a trusted Workday Services Partner, Avaap helps organizations extend Workday data into Snowflake to support enterprise analytics, reporting, and AI use cases. This integration enables deeper insight across finance, HR, and student data. 

    This integration enables: 

    • Enterprise reporting and analytics on Workday data 
    • Predictive and trend analysis using Snowflake 
    • Governed access to operational data for broader stakeholders 
    • A foundation for AI driven insights built on trusted data 

    3. Analytics and AI Built for Practical Use 

    Interest in AI continues to grow, but success depends on strong data foundations and clear use cases. Avaap helps organizations apply analytics and AI on Snowflake in ways that are practical, responsible, and aligned to business needs. 

    Rather than starting with experimentation, Avaap focuses on: 

    • Analytics use cases that support decision making 
    • AI initiatives grounded in governed, high-quality data 
    • Patterns that support adoption, trust, and long-term value 

    This approach helps organizations move from AI experimentation to execution with confidence. 

    How These Capabilities Come to Life at Snowflake Summit 

    At Snowflake Summit, data leaders come together to share how they are moving from data strategy to execution. Many of the same challenges and priorities discussed throughout this post are the focus of conversations happening across sessions, the expo floor, and partner meetings. 

    At Snowflake Summit 2026, Avaap is connecting with organizations to discuss: 

    • Building secure, governed Snowflake foundations that leaders trust 
    • Extending operational systems like Workday into enterprise analytics 
    • Applying analytics and AI in ways that support real decision making 

    For teams attending Snowflake Summit, these discussions highlight how Snowflake capabilities translate into practical outcomes across higher education and the public sector. 

    Unlock the Full Value of Snowflake with Avaap 

    Snowflake provides a powerful foundation for data and AI. Avaap helps organizations unlock their full potential through deep Snowflake expertise, industry experience, and proven delivery. 

    If you’re attending Snowflake Summit, we invite you to connect with Avaap onsite to continue the conversation.  

    Not attending Snowflake Summit? Avaap works with organizations year‑round to help transform Snowflake investments into measurable results. 

    Connect with us