There is one common thread in every briefing I’m taking with HR Technology vendors, and that’s hearing their AI strategy. AI is not a differentiator. Every vendor, regardless of which AI platform they are using, is trying to solve relatively similar problems for each of their specific niches. That might be payroll, benefits, recruiting, etc. The difference is in what they are choosing to focus on, their priorities, and their ability to go from whiteboard to solutions that actually help their clients. That’s the lens that I use when looking at technology suppliers, and today my mind turns to global payroll and compliance.
The minute a company opens up an office or hires someone in a foreign country they face issues with compliance, compensation management, payment delivery, and a host of other issues that compound with each new payee, region, benefit, or deduction type. So, the question is where would AI be most helpful, and how are non-AI capabilities added that don’t just look good on the vendor’s website, but solve real-life customer problems?
In a recent talk with the team from Papaya, I heard an interesting approach that made a lot of sense. Papaya is focusing AI on global compliance issues with their product Papaya One, which includes what they refer to as a “countrypedia” that updates daily information on global labor laws, regulations, and tax regulations for roughly 100 countries. Intelligent data sifting and analysis makes sense and can add a lot of value to avoid risk and ensure accuracy, especially when dealing with anywhere from single to thousands of employees spread across the globe. Organizations that have the bulk of their employees in their home country face the challenge where a single missed update based on a newly passed piece of legislation can blindside organizations could result in fines.
Payroll is in many ways a thankless job. During my recent briefing Galith Nadbornik, a Papaya executive mentioned that no one pats payroll administrators on the back when everyone gets paid flawlessly. But the minute one payment isn’t correct, fingers start pointing. Leveraging a constantly updated and easily accessible global rules source could minimize errors and risk exposure.
Plus, it has the advantage of what I like to think of as Invisible AI. Right now, there is a lot of debate over the pros and cons of AI. Every time someone uses an AI agent or chatbot they are face-to-face with either their new best friend or a threat to the world they know. The use of AI technology to do bulk information lifting is an interesting approach that can supply benefits by putting AI behind the scenes doing work that humans either can’t or don’t want to do. I hope there are more examples of Invisible AI coming from vendors. Another interesting recent release from Papaya is their BANCO digital wallet app that is integrated into their global payroll platform and aids in scenarios such as gig workers that are paid in local currencies. It’s good when solutions can offer complete end-to-end payroll solutions from comprehensive management to providing flexible payment options.
The use of AI to drive data collection, updates, and regulatory accuracy strikes me as a logical and effective area of focus in global payroll. The concern is how accurate that information is. Anyone who has worked with ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude has dealt with receiving a response that is outdated or just makes no sense. I’m sure the QA departments of technology vendors are working hard to find the challenges of using AI for mission dependent and mission critical tasks. In this case the proof won’t be in the pudding, but in the payments. I’m looking forward to talking to companies using these technologies in the wild and seeing how effective and accurate they are.
If you have any stories of how AI is being used either ineffectively or well in your organization, I would love to hear about it; conversations like these help fuel my research