UKG Eliminates Day-Long Build Waits and Reduces Code Duplication with Nx Monorepo

UKG is a leading human capital management company that provides comprehensive workforce solutions to organizations worldwide. Their platform helps businesses manage everything from payroll and benefits to talent acquisition and performance management. As a technology-driven company serving diverse client needs, UKG's engineering teams must deliver robust, scalable solutions across multiple platforms and experiences.

Challenge

UKG's engineering organization faced several critical challenges as they scaled their development efforts across multiple teams and platforms:

Code Duplication Across Platforms

Feature teams consistently requested the ability to build experiences that could be deployed on both mobile and web platforms. However, without proper code sharing mechanisms, teams found themselves rewriting existing functionality:

"If they have to do the same thing they have to rewrite some of the code that we already have."

This duplication created maintenance overhead and inconsistent user experiences across platforms, while slowing down feature development velocity.

Build Time Bottlenecks

UKG was managing their own CI infrastructure, which created significant performance challenges:

Hour-long build waits – Developers were regularly waiting half a day to a full day for builds to complete
Inefficient CI maintenance – The team spent considerable time and effort trying to optimize their custom CI setup
Context switching overhead – Long build times forced developers to switch between tasks, breaking their flow and reducing productivity

Resource Allocation Inefficiencies

With so much engineering effort focused on maintaining CI infrastructure and dealing with build delays, teams had less time to focus on what truly mattered:

"We were spending a lot more time and effort to maintain that... us maintaining our own CI and like breaking down things so that it improves our build time and our test time was not really efficient."

The engineering organization needed a solution that would allow them to redirect their efforts toward customer value and developer experience improvements.

Solution

UKG adopted Nx to address their monorepo challenges and leverage Nx Cloud to eliminate their CI performance bottlenecks. Their Angular, TypeScript, and JavaScript monorepo, enhanced with NgRx for state management, became the foundation for a more efficient development workflow.

Enabling Code Reuse Across Platforms

Nx's library architecture provided the perfect solution for UKG's cross-platform development needs:

Shared libraries – Teams could now build reusable components and functionality that work across both mobile and web experiences
Reduced duplication – Instead of rewriting code, feature teams could leverage existing libraries and build on top of proven solutions
Consistent experiences – Shared code ensured consistent behavior and user experiences across all platforms

"This way it helps us use our libraries and they can build experience on top of what we already built so less code duplication."

Eliminating CI Maintenance Overhead with Nx Cloud

The transition to Nx Cloud provided immediate relief from their CI performance challenges:

Automated optimization – Nx Cloud's intelligent caching and task distribution eliminated the need for manual CI optimization
Dramatic time savings – Build times that previously took half a day to a full day were reduced to minutes
Resource reallocation – Engineering teams could redirect their efforts from CI maintenance to feature development

Strategic Partnership and Continuous Improvement

UKG established a strong partnership with the Nx team through regular check-ins and collaborative planning:

Proactive support – Regular meetings with well-prepared Nx team members who understand UKG's specific challenges
Feature roadmap alignment – Early access to new features and realistic timelines for adoption
Guided optimization – Ongoing support to help UKG scale and grow their monorepo architecture

"I really like the Nx check-ins because every time I go into those meetings the folks that come from Nx are very well prepared to how they can help our team grow scale and to help us solve some of our challenges."

Results

Eliminated Build Wait Times and Context Switching

The most immediate and impactful improvement was the dramatic reduction in build times:

From day-long waits to minutes – Developers no longer face half-day or full-day build delays
Improved productivity – Teams can stay focused on their current tasks without lengthy interruptions
Reduced context switching – Faster feedback loops keep developers in their flow state

Achieved Zero Code Duplication Across Platforms

UKG successfully eliminated the code duplication that was slowing down their feature teams:

Shared library ecosystem – Teams can now build cross-platform experiences using proven, reusable components
Faster feature development – No more rewriting existing functionality for different platforms
Consistent user experiences – Shared code ensures uniform behavior across mobile and web applications

Refocused Engineering Efforts on Customer Value

By eliminating CI maintenance overhead, UKG freed up significant engineering resources:

Strategic resource allocation – Teams now invest time in developer experience improvements and customer-facing features
Reduced operational burden – No more manual CI optimization and maintenance
Clear investment priorities – Better understanding of where to focus engineering efforts for maximum impact