AI in HR and the impact of new technologies on payroll and workforce management

It’s not easy to overstate the impact of AI and other technologies on HR and payroll software. Payroll has been utterly transformed from the days of manually printing salary cheques and messy spreadsheets. Now, digital systems integrate with HRM tools, providing us with complete oversight of the workforce.

Payroll software has come a long way. And new technologies are revolutionising it further. Read on to see what’s in store next: how AI, blockchain and deep learning tools are optimising efficiency, accuracy and security and how that could affect your bottom line.

AI and machine learning: automation and accuracy

One of the most revolutionary impacts AI and machine learning have on payroll is the automation of repetitive tasks, which are carried out with greater accuracy than before. By reducing the niggly admin tasks that hold HR teams back, AI empowers everyday human decision-making.

For example, ADP’s solutions streamline payroll services by automating data entry and data validation. This dramatically reduces time spent on manual tasks, transforming operational efficiency while minimising the risk of human errors.

AI can instantly update payroll systems with new tax rates or regulations. This means big cost savings in compliance and resources for a global enterprise.

AI and machine learning also improve the veracity of predictive analytics — that is, analysing historical data to predict future trends. In HR and payroll systems, this helps businesses make better strategic decisions when it comes to workforce planning and budgeting. For example, AI can quickly analyse historical data to forecast payroll costs, helping you plan effectively and realistically.

ADP Assist (available in the US) is leading the way for AI-driven payroll software. It streamlines report creation, enhances productivity for payroll and HR teams (e.g. by validating payroll information) and solves common HR issues.

In fact, between April 2025 and May 2025, ADP Assist saved HR workers 19,000 minutes by helping employees get answers to their policy questions.

ADP Assist won the AI 2024 Breakthrough Award for leveraging the industry’s largest and deepest HCM dataset.

HR AI in 2026: What trends can we expect?

In 2026, AI is in all areas of life — no longer a novelty or a breakthrough technology. Instead, it’s recognised as a core component of modern society. With this brave new world comes a number of workforce implications.

AI becomes a baseline skill in HR

Although AI fluency no longer requires its own hyper-specialised skillset, 2026 looks set to become the year it no longer becomes optional for most companies. As reported by Forbes, it is estimated that companies will spend around $6.5 billion on AI certification programmes in 2026.

Being able to competently use AI will be comparable to comfortably working with a computer in the early 1990s.

LinkedIn's 2026 Labour Market Report highlights that the number of jobs requiring AI literacy in the US has risen by 70% year-on-year. Within HR, these AI skills can vary from adopting AI to help streamline the payroll process to using AI to help identify new talent.

HR functions are made more efficient with AI

HR departments cover a vast range of functions, which can sometimes result in individuals or teams being overstretched. The HR Mental Wellbeing Report 2025 , as reported in HR Magazine,  highlights that half of HR professionals feel that excessive workload is a major stress at work. With the rapid inclusion of AI within the HR sphere, many HR functions can be streamlined, allowing HR resources to be used more effectively.

There are many HR functions that would previously have been done manually. However, with the help of AI, the following tasks may all be partially or fully automated:

• Crafting job descriptions
• Screening CVs
• Scheduling interviews and meetings
• Onboarding new employees
• Personalised training
• Performance reviews
• Workforce planning

AI could also integrate with payroll software by using its ability to process large and complex data sets to identify trends and anomalies in compensation, absences and staff turnover.

Additionally, AI-powered chatbots can be used to help answer common employee questions related to areas such as pay and tax queries, policies and benefits.

New HR roles to be added while existing roles change

The efficiencies and impact of HR AI will also result in the responsibilities of existing roles being altered or new roles being created.

For example, HR technologists may soon become commonplace. The role of an HR technologist, as explained by Gartner, is someone who combines HR and AI expertise to ensure that AI tools are being used to engage with real and pressing business priorities. They would also act almost as a supervisor to AI, being on hand to correct mistakes as the technology continues to evolve.

Other potential new roles include an HR product owner who is responsible for reorganising HR services to be better aligned with AI technology, and digital ethics advisors who build AI safety systems and instruct the wider team on how to use AI in their day-to-day work activities in an ethical and compliance-friendly manner.

As far as altered roles go, one of the biggest changes will be that human resources business partners will shift into strategic talent leaders. As the name suggests, this new role will focus much more on strategic alignment and planning than it did previously.

A different kind of hybrid workforce emerges

Currently, the term hybrid workforce is most associated with employees who work some of the week in the office and the rest working from home. However, 2026 heralds a different vision of hybrid working, one where the workforce is mixed between human and AI team members.

This is not to say that AI is going to replace large swathes of the human workforce. Instead, both will work together to achieve workplace goals more efficiently and to a higher standard than either could on their own. Although the seeds of such a fusion have already been sown, it will likely be in the years beyond 2026 that a true human-AI hybrid workforce comes into practice in the HR sphere.

The idea of such a change has not been universally welcomed. For example, 9% of UK workers fear that AI may replace them at work, as reported in ADP's 2025 People at Work survey.

This anxiety over increasing AI in the workplace has become a topic of fierce debate. Speaking at the annual World Economic Forum summit at Davos in 2026, JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon even warned of civil unrest if governments and companies do not support AI displaced workers.

In contrast, Nvidia Chief Executive Jensen Huang, also speaking at Davos, declared that AI would be a job creator rather than destroyer.

Beyond AI: other technologies impacting HR and payroll

AI is not the only emerging technology that looks set to change the world of HR. Cloud computing and blockchain are both bringing about transformative changes to how we do payroll.

Cloud-based technology means businesses can access payroll from anywhere in the world, knowing their data is held safely and securely. Blockchain technology, meanwhile, allows for the storage of data and assets as a transaction, thereby adding another layer of security for sensitive data.

Cloud computing: accessibility and scalability

Cloud technology refers to the delivery of computing services and data storage via the internet, rather than using fixed servers. Working in the cloud means that companies don’t need to own and manage their own internal servers and users can access services remotely. All of your data is kept in one central repository, making it quicker to use and scalable as your business grows.

Payroll companies such as ADP use cloud-based software to simplify processes in one easy platform while offering greater protection for client data. With cloud-based payroll services, your people can access their data easily using self-service portals, removing layers of bureaucracy such as having to go through HR representatives in order to access their own data.

Although cloud-based payroll does have upfront costs due to the initial price of migration from manual systems, it also quickly brings benefits such as allowing organisations to fully execute their digital strategies. These benefits are evidenced by the fact that, as of 2026, 94% of enterprises worldwide use cloud services in at least some capacity.

Switch to our automated, cloud-based payroll software

Discover ADP Payroll Software

Blockchain: security and transparency

Blockchain technology signals a revolutionary shift in payroll software.

Blockchain is a decentralised ledger system that stores data and assets as transactions. Think of these transactions as ‘blocks' in a digital ‘chain’ of a peer-to-peer network. As an asset moves from place to place or its ownership changes, the original transaction remains.

As stated by IBM, transactions are tamper-evident and effectively immutable, so blockchain can add another layer of security and accountability. In payroll, it can be used to record approvals and payment events while sensitive employee data is kept off-chain and protected with encryption and access controls—reducing the risk of undetected changes and improving auditability.

Organisations can also reduce the prospect of payroll fraud, as any unauthorised changes require full approval from the network participants before they can be made.

Real-world applications of blockchain in payroll are thin on the ground – for now. But blockchain holds incredible potential for payroll such as:

• Enabling ‘smart contracts’ that trigger payroll tasks based on pre-agreed conditions.
• Allowing enterprises to directly transfer payments to employees without intermediaries.
• Simplifying cross-border payroll by making it easier for employees to receive their salary in local currency.

All of these have the added benefit of improving efficiency and cost-effectiveness throughout your organisation.

Real-time payments and global payroll processing

High-speed broadband and 5G mobile technology have revolutionised real-time payments. With the right system and payment method, money sent in Birmingham can be received wihtin minutes in Bangalore. This is brilliant for a global workforce, as it ensures smooth efficiency across time zones and currencies. Your people are paid quickly and easily: a boon for workforce satisfaction.

Working in tandem with 5G, Internet of Things (IoT) devices will also be increasingly useful for HR teams to gather live real-time data on how well their people are working remotely, tracking attendance and performance data from a variety of devices.

However, managing complex payroll compliance across several countries, all with different regulations and reporting requirements, isn’t so easy. Handling different currencies during payroll can be a headache and can be costly if you don’t get it right. Plus, ensuring the security of your people’s data adds an extra layer of complexity when there are so many different laws to be aware of.

Organisations embracing technical solutions for real-time payments and global payroll processing enjoy greater payroll accuracy, as well as automated built-in compliance features, meaning they get it right every time.

These features include various accuracy and compliance mechanisms such as automated validations, statutory calculations for region-specific tax considerations such as National Insurance and PAYE in the UK, as well as country-specific reporting templates. The result of these features, and more solutions like them, includes fewer late payments, fewer adjustments, and a faster month-end close.

The role of data analytics in HR and payroll

Data analytics are central to good payroll management. New technologies provide an even better way to collect and analyse data, delivering actionable insights for decision-makers.

In the context of payroll, data analytics shapes decisions on everything from payroll costs to workforce trends. With the advent of generative AI, there’s a smarter and simpler way to access your people and HRMS analytics.

You can input a search query and receive detailed insights on metrics such as employee count and turnover rates. For example, if you search for "the turnover rate for the marketing team in London," AI can provide you with the yearly and monthly turnover statistics. You can jump even deeper into these figures by interacting further with AI before distributing the information to your company.

Challenges and considerations of AI in HR

The integration of new technologies, particularly AI, raises potential philosophical, ethical, and practicality issues. Some of the main concerns include:

• Complex integration: The initial investment required for integrating AI into existing HR systems can be heavy on time, resources, and finances. Many businesses lack the resources for a top-down change in their systems, despite the obvious resource savings.
• Data issues: According to the Bank of England, the top five risks associated with AI use in financial services include four that are related to data. These are data privacy and protection, data security, data quality, and data bias.
• Lack of accountability: The artificial nature of AI means that it cannot ever be held accountable to mistakes or even harm it could cause employees or consumers in the same way a human could be. As revealed in a parliamentary report, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) “acknowledged that firms have concerns about accountability for harm caused to consumers through the use of AI”.
• Job fears: One of the biggest ethical issues facing AI implementation is the loss of jobs. This fear is not without precedent, according to data from Indeed, as published by The Guardian, current UK graduates are facing the worst jobs market since 2018, with AI being used by employers to cut costs. According to the International Monetary Fund, 60% of jobs in advanced economies like the UK are exposed to AI, with half of these jobs at risk of being negatively affected.

All of this does not mean that the advent of AI is going to be mired in negativity. Instead, it means that human oversight becomes even more important. Similarly, although certain jobs may be altered or lost as a result of AI, there will be new roles coming into being centred around the aforementioned human oversight, whether that be in HR or any other area.

Get industry-leading HR and payroll expertise from ADP solutions

With over 75 years of experience, ADP is a trusted leader in payroll, HR and workforce solutions. Our expert teams have in-depth knowledge of compliance in the UK and globally, and continually innovate to deliver streamlined workflows that reduce risk. Talk to us to find out how ADP can modernise your HR and payroll operations.

Get a quote now