PayrollOrg’s free on-demand LinkedIn Live event “Optimising Global Payroll Using AI” explores how artificial intelligence (AI) can help global payroll professionals optimise their global payroll operations. This event was initiated by PayrollOrg’s Strategic Payroll Leadership Task Force (SPLTF) Global Payroll Subcommittee. The subcommittee focuses on sharing best practices and emerging trends in global payroll with the industry and its professionals.
Mary Holland, CPP, Global Payroll Advisor, moderated the panel discussion on 12 February, which also featured Nick Day, CEO of JGA Recruitment Group and Payroll Podcast Host; Joe Ranzau, Managing Director at Grant Thornton LLP; and me – Max van der Klis-Busink, MCIPP, RPP, Owner of Passion For Payroll.
AI to Drive a Huge Paradigm Shift in Global Payroll
Day anticipates that AI will drive a significant paradigm shift in global payroll, transforming key areas such as automation, predictive analytics, employee experience, and ethical, transparent reporting. AI adoption in organisations is projected to reach 50% by the end of 2025, helping payroll evolve from a primarily transactional function to a more strategic one. Holland suggested that this shift could lead to the introduction of a new executive role, the Chief Payroll Officer (CPO), within organisations. However, Day emphasised that while AI will become an increasingly powerful and influential tool, it is not expected to replace payroll professionals but rather to enhance their capabilities.
The panel then explored payroll’s growing impact on the employee experience, highlighting the role of AI-driven intuitive dashboards and interactive payslips in empowering employees to manage their own pay-related needs. Additionally, payroll teams play a crucial role in addressing employee inquiries, and AI can support this by drafting communications, emails, and other responses. In fact, many professionals are already leveraging AI (such as ChatGPT in their workflows), even when it isn’t directly embedded in payroll platforms. Instead, AI serves as a supporting tool that automates time-consuming tasks, allowing payroll professionals to focus on more strategic initiatives.
Using AI to Ensure Compliance in End-to-End Payroll Processes
Compliance in global payroll involves adhering to social security laws, income tax requirements, and accounting principles. The challenge is how these laws and regulations translate to specific payroll process.
I examined how AI can support payroll professionals in the payroll cycle from pre-payroll to run-payroll and then to post-payroll. To avoid rubbish-in and non-compliance-out risks, I shared how AI can, for instance, validate an interface error list. AI can support resolving those errors, interpreting them and taking action on resolutions and improvements with an overall aim to improve data quality. In the run-payroll process, I suggested that AI supports detailed variance calculations and explanations to aid in better and faster payroll approval. Lastly, AI supports unlocking the potential of payroll data, identifying patterns, and unleashing AI on this data to generate actionable insights for the business.
Related to data insights, Ranzau emphasises the need for clean data first before AI can access it and advises hiring an experienced (payroll) data scientist to help analyse and clean the data. He shared that studies tell us that 8-15% of the data is actually in usable format. He then shares that while AI is truly emerging in 2025, it has been around for a long time, from machine learning to algorithms. AI is now becoming really good, usable, and operational with minimal manual intervention.
Connecting Disconnected Systems With AI
Ranzau explained how AI can proactively help identify potential payroll errors, including the risk of fraud. On average, payroll involves about 8 to 15 systems working together to produce payroll data. AI supports overcoming the challenges of the heterogeneous environment, such as reconciling master data to payroll results and avoiding incorrect or late HR data feeding into global payroll.
The panelists also discussed that the data itself will contain a degree of bias, and we need to maintain a mindful perspective on where potential AI influences exist. Ranzau connected this to Day's statement that AI will not replace payroll professionals, as the data still requires a human touch and unbiased interpretation.
The panelists concluded by confirming that AI will support the payroll professionals in their workload and how they can leverage tools such as AI if embraced. It is never too late to start exploring what AI can do for you, and global payroll professionals and leaders are encouraged to do so.
Celebrate Global Payroll Week 2025
Holland emphasised the upcoming Global Payroll Week, which runs from 28 April to 2 May. PAYO will announce the winner of the Global Payroll Titan Award, the results of the 2025 “Getting the World Paid” Survey, exclusive webinars, social media contests, and much more. Follow the event on your favourite social media and include the official event hashtag #GlobalPayWeek in all your posts during the week.
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Max van der Klis-Busink, MCIPP, RPP, is the Owner of Passion For Payroll and Vice President of Global Strategy on PayrollOrg’s Board of Directors.
