Payroll: The Most Important System
Nobody Talks About
EX3's HR Connect 2026 Breakout Session
Thank you for being part of our breakout session at HR Connect London. It was a genuinely energising conversation — and one that, based on the room, landed at exactly the right moment.
If you left thinking differently about payroll's place in your organisation's strategy, that was the point. Below, you'll find a summary of the key themes we explored, a little more about our panellists, and some resources to help you take the conversation further.
Three things to take away:
- Payroll is a strategic foundation, not a back-office function.For too long, payroll has been treated like operational plumbing — invisible until something breaks. But payroll sits at the intersection of finance, compliance, and workforce data. Organisations that recognise this are building on a foundation that everything else — AI, automation, workforce planning — depends on. Those that don't are compounding risk with every passing quarter.
- The cost of waiting is real and measurable.Whether you're mid-transformation like Renesas, or post-go-live like Rathbones, the message from the panel was consistent: the organisations that acted are now operating with better data, greater confidence, and capabilities that simply weren't available before. Waiting isn't a neutral decision — it's a choice to let the gap widen.
- The next generation of payroll is already here.As Dan Beck put it: "Hyper-personalised experiences. Lightning-fast. Information at your fingertips — not just about your comp, but your entire journey."— Dan Beck, CPO & General Manager, SAP SuccessFactors. The evolving workforce isn't waiting. They expect personalisation, speed, and visibility across their entire career journey — and the organisations building for that reality are the ones that will win.
Connect with the panel
- Radinka Mufti — 2nd Year Graduate Consultant, EX3Radinka hosted the session, bringing the perspective of a generation entering a workforce that expects instant data, total transparency, and seamless digital experiences — and demanding more from the systems that underpin it.
- Dan Beck — CPO & General Manager, SAP SuccessFactorsThe visionary behind SAP's payroll product — Dan shared where the platform is heading and made a compelling case for why this moment in payroll technology is one worth being excited about.
- Ned McEvoy — Chief Practice Officer, EX3With deep experience leading payroll transformations across complex global organisations, Ned brought the practitioner's lens: what actually works, what doesn't, and why the time to act is now.
- Ruth Hayes — HR Technology Director, RenesasRuth offered an honest, grounded account of what a global payroll transformation looks like from the inside — the drivers, the decisions, and the early realities of getting it right.
- Craig Dunn — Head of People Operations & Delivery, RathbonesA couple of years on from going live with a UK HR & Payroll transformation, Craig spoke to the tangible shifts that followed — better data, greater operational confidence, and a fundamentally different way of thinking about payroll across the business.
