New G2 global research shows why lean teams need unified data, trusted AI, and simpler ways to run HR, payroll, and finance.
Darren Koch
GM & VP of Solution Management
Workday
In conversations with HR, finance, payroll, and IT leaders, I often hear the same concern: “We know we need to simplify, but we are already stretched. How can we take on another major change?”
It’s a fair question. These teams are responsible for some of the business’s most important work. They ensure people are paid, books are closed, employees are supported, and leaders have the information they need to make decisions.
Yet, too often, the systems meant to support that work create more of it. Recent G2 global research, drawing on 128 in-depth interviews with HR, finance, payroll, IT, and operations leaders at midsize organizations across North America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific, confirms this sentiment. 84% of leaders say integrating HR, payroll, and finance systems, and reconciling data between them, is a major operational pain.
A leader recently described this challenge in a way that has stayed with me: “We have good people and good tools. We just spend too much time making sure the tools are telling us the same thing.”
That is the hidden cost of fragmentation.
84% of leaders say integrating HR, payroll, and finance systems is a major operational pain.
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When HR, payroll, finance, and workforce management run on disconnected systems, teams become responsible for connecting the dots. They maintain integrations, reenter data, reconcile reports, and build manual processes to make everyday work move from one application to another.
Each tool may have been selected for a good reason. But together, disconnected systems can turn routine work into a chain of handoffs and checks.
This is not simply an IT problem. It affects everyone. It is the HR leader waiting for an accurate headcount report, the payroll team validating data before a pay run, the finance team reconciling figures before close, and the IT team maintaining another integration rather than focusing on the next business priority.
Leaders are rightly excited about AI. But in my conversations, the enthusiasm usually comes with an important qualifier: “We want AI to help, but we cannot afford to get it wrong.”
That is especially true in HR, payroll, and finance, where the work involves sensitive data, compliance obligations, and decisions that affect people and the business.
AI layered over disconnected systems inherits the same challenges that people do. It is working across incomplete context, separate workflows, and data that may not align. Instead of removing complexity, it can create another answer that needs to be checked.
According to the G2 research, 80% of leaders will trust AI with HR, payroll, and finance work only with human oversight, proven accuracy, auditability, and a trusted source of underlying data.
AI creates the most value when it works from unified data, follows existing permissions and controls, and keeps people in the loop for sensitive HR, payroll, and finance decisions.
80% of leaders will trust AI with HR, payroll, and finance work only with human oversight, proven accuracy, and auditability.
The G2 research points to a clear pattern: organizations that consolidate technology on one platform are less likely to describe integration as a major operational pain. By contrast, 94% of organizations cite integration issues when their technology is spread across many systems.
The takeaway is not to add more technology. It is to simplify the work between systems so lean teams can focus on higher-value priorities.
The leaders I speak with do not want more complexity. They want confidence that their systems, data, and AI can work together.
94% of organizations cite integration issues when their technology is spread across many systems.
If you are caught in a trade-off between cost, quality, and scale, fragmentation is what makes the choice feel unavoidable. But the data points to a better way forward, guided by three strategic takeaways:
Lean teams should not have to choose between cost, quality, and scale. HR, payroll, finance, workforce management, and AI can and should work together on one trusted foundation. This helps teams reduce manual work, improve confidence, and scale smarter.
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