Building the Future of Payroll: Precision, Trust, and Scale

Payroll affects every employee, every month, yet it’s rarely celebrated for the critical role it plays in business success. Once viewed as a back-office function buried beneath spreadsheets and manual processes, payroll today plays a crucial role in organizational strategy.

In a recent podcast with People Matters, Mark Samlal, APAC General Manager at Deel and a veteran with over 25 years of payroll leadership experience, shared his perspective on how the payroll industry has transformed and how Deel is helping businesses build payroll systems for the future.

In this blog, we summarize the key themes and takeaways from the podcast. This is the story of how payroll has evolved and why the next era of growth will depend on real-time data, AI-powered compliance, and human-centered trust.

From administrative to strategic: The payroll evolution

For decades, payroll operated in the shadows, often seen as a purely administrative task. Mark likens it to Harry Potter living under the stairs—invisible, underappreciated, and confined to the background. “When Harry Potter was deep under the stairs and hidden away, there was no chance for any of the magic to happen that payroll creates,” he said. “Only when he was let out could the real transformation begin.”

That “magic,” as Mark describes it, is what happens when payroll is recognized as a strategic function rather than an operational necessity. When handled strategically, payroll doesn’t just process payments; it provides real-time insights into workforce trends, cost structures, and compliance on a global scale.

Today, as businesses expand internationally, payroll has become a boardroom topic, one that directly impacts financial planning, employee satisfaction, and even brand trust.

Growing compliance complexity

In today’s borderless economy, companies are no longer hiring within zip codes; they’re hiring across time zones. That’s created unprecedented opportunities for global growth, but it has also introduced a new maze of compliance challenges.

Payroll leaders now juggle different tax laws, labor codes, and reporting standards across dozens of jurisdictions. One misstep can have serious financial or reputational consequences.

This is where trust and the right global payroll provider are essential. Organizations must trust their payroll providers to ensure compliance and maintain accuracy across borders.

Deel’s unified platform enables organizations to scale confidently by embedding compliance and automation into every transaction. Instead of outsourcing complexity to multiple consultants, Deel helps businesses reap the benefits of centralized payroll and stay compliant by design, freeing leaders to focus more on growth and innovation.

The challenge of maintaining data integrity and accuracy

Despite the buzz around digital transformation, many organizations still rely on a patchwork of outdated systems. Mark cites research by the Australian Payroll Association revealing that over 80% of payroll technologies are more than 20 years old, a staggering statistic in an era defined by automation and AI.

“That just doesn’t cut it anywhere else in the enterprise,” Mark says. “If you had engineering software that was 20 years old, you’d never compete with Apple. So why expect old payroll systems to keep up with modern business?”

The result is a payroll data integrity crisis. Companies often use five or six separate systems for HR, time tracking, accounting, and payroll, each with its own data structure. When information passes between them, details get lost or distorted, causing errors and compliance risks that negatively affect employee morale.

Integrating HR, payroll, and finance platforms into one source of truth improves data hygiene and accuracy while increasing operational efficiency. No more comparing numbers across different spreadsheets and formats.

How real-time payroll is transforming operations

Traditional payroll involves waiting days or weeks for data to process, reconcile, and report. In contrast, Deel’s technology calculates payroll in real time, speeding up gross-to-net calculations and allowing leaders to make informed decisions instantly.

Real-time payroll also leads to better payroll visibility and efficiency. Deel real-time payroll is built on our single, unified payroll engine that has been localized for 50+ countries, automatically handling gross-to-net calculations while incorporating local taxes, deductions, and withholdings.

To illustrate how transformative this is, consider Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a Deel customer who operates across seven jurisdictions in Asia Pacific. Before using Deel, each region used separate payroll systems, making it impossible to see consolidated data. “Before 2019, we had to use four vendors for six countries, and each had a different way of operating,” says Rajes Rajamorganan, SEA-payroll manager at BCG.

With Deel, BCG’s teams can now access a single, real-time view of their workforce across Asia. Additionally, employees can easily access Deel’s user-friendly platform to view payslips, request leave, update information, and more.

These aren’t just operational wins; they’re strategic shifts. Real-time payroll gives leaders the confidence to act quickly on expansion, hiring, or restructuring decisions, armed with accurate data and scalable processes.

Human and AI partnership in payroll

AI is among one of the latest technological advancements augmenting payroll processes. However, Mark emphasizes AI should be seen as a co-pilot, not a replacement.

Deel’s AI capabilities automate repetitive tasks (such as calculations, compliance checks, and anomaly detection), freeing payroll professionals to focus on strategic decision-making and maintaining a positive employee experience.

By removing “the trudgery,” as Mark calls it, AI allows payroll teams to step up as business advisors. This human-AI synergy ensures accuracy while preserving the empathy and judgment that only humans can provide.

Increasing demand for flexible pay

Payroll innovation doesn’t stop at automation. The next frontier is pay flexibility, empowering employees to choose how, when, and where they get paid.

Mark points out that in many regions, especially Europe, traditional monthly pay cycles are being questioned. Employees and unions are calling for earned wage access (EWA), the ability to withdraw wages as they’re earned rather than depending on traditional payday timelines.

“If you’re paying people monthly in arrears, you’re using their salary as your working capital,” Mark explained. “How can that be fair?”

Deel is already making flexible pay a reality. Through its platform, companies can enable on-demand payments through Anytime Pay, multi-currency options, and borderless transfers, all while maintaining compliance and pay transparency.

This flexibility is particularly crucial for Gen Z and global talent markets, where expectations around financial autonomy and instant access are rising fast. “If you’re not doing this today,” Mark said pointedly, “ask why not.”

Beyond pay frequency, global mobility is another defining feature of the future workforce. Deel’s infrastructure supports everything from international relocations to remote-first employment models, ensuring companies can retain top talent, no matter where they are.

Stay ready for the future of payroll with Deel

Modern payroll transformation isn’t just about upgrading systems. It requires rethinking the entire approach to payroll.

Mark urges founders and leaders to “put a burning lens” on their current technology. If payroll tools are outdated, siloed, or unable to support AI and real-time data, the business is already falling behind.

Deel’s rapid global growth to serving over 35,000 customers reflects a new mindset in payroll modernization. Companies are shifting to technology built to adapt to modern changes and challenges.

Deel Payroll is backed by 2,000+ in-house experts in payroll, HR, and legal, allowing you to streamline compliance and payroll calculations across 130+ countries.

Request a free, 30-minute demo today to learn more about how Deel can help your business transform payroll into resilient, future-ready processes.