Payroll paradox | Payroll professionals braced for sweeping AI changes, yet manual data processing on the rise

Payroll is on the brink of its biggest transformation in decades with nearly three-quarters (73%) of payroll professionals expecting artificial intelligence (AI) to shape the function the most in the next 12 months, according to new research from MHR, a specialist provider of HR, payroll and finance software.

MHR’s 2025 report, ‘The Future Is Payroll’, released to mark National Payroll Week (1-5 September), reveals that optimism about AI is growing fast, but so are the risks of falling behind. Over half (52%) of professionals say AI has already had a significant impact on their work over the last year.