FaidiHR bets on AI to simplify payroll and human resource management

The company is developing an AI-powered assistant, MIA, short for My Intelligent Assistant, which will allow users to interact with its HR platform using ordinary language rather than navigating multiple menus, forms and reports.

MIA is being developed as a conversational layer over FaidiHR’s existing payroll, attendance, leave and compliance systems. Users will be able to type or speak requests such as asking which employees are on leave, generating a compliance report or seeking an explanation for a change in an employee’s payslip.

“We don’t think HR administrators should have to learn our software — our software should understand them. That’s the whole premise behind MIA: you ask for what you need in your own words, and the system does the work behind the scenes,” said Peter Muchemi, chief executive officer of FaidiHR.

Muchemi described the initiative as the company’s biggest product investment since FaidiHR was established, although the firm has not disclosed how much it plans to spend on the project.

The move comes as businesses contend with increasingly complex payroll and workforce administration, with HR platforms often requiring users to work across separate sections for leave, attendance, payroll and statutory compliance.

FaidiHR says MIA is intended to handle some of these routine tasks through a conversational interface. Where an action could affect payroll, employee records or compliance filings, the system will require human confirmation.

The planned functions include answering routine workforce queries, facilitating leave approvals, identifying attendance discrepancies and generating compliance reports.

The assistant is also being developed to flag potential payroll problems before processing, including missing timesheets, unapproved leave and unusual changes in employee pay.

FaidiHR is expanding its product and engineering teams as part of the AI initiative, with a focus on applied AI and conversational design. It is also working on the data and compliance infrastructure required to process sensitive employee and payroll information.

Beyond HR administration, the company is exploring how payroll data could support access to financial services for formally employed workers.

FaidiHR says information such as salary, employment tenure and attendance records could, subject to employee consent and appropriate safeguards, be used to support products such as earned wage access and salary-backed lending.

Under the proposed model, financial institutions could use verified employment and payroll information when assessing employees for credit, potentially addressing some of the information gaps that can make formal borrowing difficult for some workers.

The company is also seeking strategic investors and technology partners to support the development of MIA and its potential expansion into other African markets, including partnerships in embedded financial services.

MIA is currently under development and undergoing internal testing. FaidiHR plans to make it available to a limited group of customers through an early-access programme before a wider rollout.

The company says businesses interested in testing the assistant, as well as potential investors and financial-sector partners, will be able to register their interest with FaidiHR.

The initiative comes as African businesses increasingly adopt cloud-based systems for payroll and workforce administration, while technology companies explore ways of using verified employment data to deliver additional financial and business services.