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Work disrupted

The pay, people & data realities no one talks about

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An executive report by Payrollminds CEO Bart van der Storm, with insights from global transformation leaders across multinational organizations.

Rethinking payroll
data architecture

Current market dynamics reveal a fundamental disconnect between AI investment and organizational capability, with 72% of leading organizations identifying data management as their primary barrier to scaling AI. This challenge is particularly acute in global payroll operations, which represent 70% of organizational operating costs across multinational enterprises.

Central Question for Executive Leadership

How does payroll data architecture impact enterprise AI implementation success?

Key analysis areas

Operational risk assesment

  • Analysis of AI initiative failure rates and contributing factors.
  • Hidden operational costs in fragmented systems.
  • Vendor dependency impact on strategic control.

Strategic implementation framework

  • Diagnostic for AI readiness assessment.
  • Operational transformation methodology for payroll systems.
  • 90-day executive implementation roadmap.

Role-specific analysis

  • CEO: Strategic frameworks for workforce cost management.
  • CFO: ROI optimization and cost visibility methodologies.
  • CHRO: Talent strategy integration and employee experience metrics.

Insights from payroll
transformation leaders

“Data hygiene may be invisible work, but its ramifications are tentacular and foundational to any credible analytics effort.”
Xavier Meulemans
Xavier MeulemansFounder & HRIS Global Mobility Expert
“After two payroll errors, 50% of employees begin seeking alternative employment.”
Brian Escobar
Brian EscobarGlobal Payroll Expert
“Technology should enhance — not replace — the human judgment, regional expertise, and process governance that global payroll demands.”
Arvind Rao
Arvind RaoGlobal HR and Payroll  Project Management APAC and EMEA
“An agile and experienced payroll team working with next-generation software creates a significant competitive advantage in ensuring accurate pay and compliant processes.”
Russell Adam Webb
Russell Adam WebbGlobal Payroll Influencer
“AI can’t learn from what it can’t see. Clean, structured data doesn’t just improve compliance — it enables scale, automation, and strategic insight.”
Rahul Upasani
Rahul UpasaniDirector, Global Payroll
"AI often exposes existing organizational flaws—fragmented data, skill shortages, fuzzy decision paths—rather than fixing them."
Jay Crider
Jay CriderGlobal Payroll Director
“Everyone discusses AI in payroll, but most organizations are still determining data ownership during the payroll cycle. You can’t build AI on top of that level of fragmentation.”
Marco Pasqualin
Marco PasqualinHead of Global Payroll
“Before signing your next AI contract, make sure to loop in your information security team. Payroll data is no place to play around with poorly thought-out AI proof of concepts.”
Imran Sajid
Imran SajidHR Tech & Payroll Entrepreneur

AI is transforming business. But for most organizations, the foundation it depends on is broken.

“When payroll data is fragmented, vendor-locked, or invisible to leadership, AI investments amplify existing problems rather than solve them.”

This executive report exposes the operational infrastructure challenges undermining AI implementation success, with a specific focus on payroll systems that touch every employee and represent up to 70% of organizational costs.

Developed by Bart van der Storm, with insights from global payroll, HR, and transformation leaders, this analysis challenges conventional assumptions about AI readiness and presents a 90-day implementation mandate for executive leadership.

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Organizations that address their foundational challenges first, can transform their largest cost center into a strategic asset that drives competitive advantage.

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