Kenyan payroll and human resource technology company FaidiHR has invested in artificial intelligence (AI) as it develops a conversational assistant to help businesses manage payroll, employee records and routine HR tasks.

The company said its AI initiative, known as MIA — My Intelligent Assistant, is being developed to allow HR administrators, finance teams, managers and employees to interact with its platform using ordinary language rather than navigating multiple menus, forms and reports.

For example, users could ask who is on leave, identify employees with missing attendance records or compare the current month's payroll with the previous month's figures.

MIA is being designed to retrieve information from FaidiHR's systems and, where authorised, initiate routine workflows subject to human confirmation and controls.

“We don't think HR administrators should have to learn our software. Our software should understand them,” said Peter Muchemi, CEO of FaidiHR.

“You ask for what you need, in your own words, and the system does the work behind the scenes. This is the biggest investment we've made in the product since we started FaidiHR.”

FaidiHR said the investment comes as AI adoption expands across business operations, including human resources.

Research by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) shows that 39 per cent of organisations have adopted AI in their HR functions, while 62 per cent are using AI somewhere in the business.

SHRM's 2026 research also found that 87 per cent of HR professionals using AI reported improved efficiency, while 75 per cent said it improved the quality of their work.

Earlier SHRM research on recruitment found that 89 per cent of HR professionals in organisations using AI said it saved time or improved efficiency, while 36 per cent reported lower recruitment, interviewing or hiring costs.

The figures do not represent guaranteed savings for FaidiHR customers, and the company said it intends to measure the gains from MIA as it is deployed.

The assistant is expected to handle routine HR queries, retrieve workforce information, identify payroll anomalies and missing information, and help administrators resolve potential issues before payroll is finalised.

It is also being developed to analyse attendance records for missing clock-ins, unusual patterns and unresolved exceptions, while providing managers and employees with information on leave balances and schedules.

For compliance teams, MIA is expected to help generate statutory reports and identify missing or inconsistent information before submission.

Employees will also be able to use the conversational interface to ask about payslips, leave balances, attendance and other employment information.

FaidiHR said activities involving payroll, employee records and statutory compliance will remain subject to permissions, human review and approval.

The development comes amid broader changes in the workplace as businesses adopt AI and seek workers with skills to use emerging technologies.

The World Economic Forum's Future of Jobs Report 2025, based on more than 1,000 employers representing more than 14 million workers, identifies technological change as one of the major forces reshaping jobs and skills through 2030.

However, AI adoption in HR remains relatively limited. McKinsey's 2025 HR Monitor found that 19 per cent of core HR processes in its survey had been enhanced with generative AI, while 32 per cent were still at the pilot stage.

FaidiHR said it sees an opportunity to apply AI to routine administrative work handled by HR and finance teams, potentially allowing professionals to devote more time to workforce planning, employee engagement and other strategic responsibilities.

“We are not building an AI that makes employment decisions behind people's backs,” Muchemi said. “We are building an assistant that helps people make better decisions, find information faster and spend less time fighting with software.”

FaidiHR said human oversight will remain part of MIA's development, particularly for sensitive employment-related functions.

The International Labour Organization has warned that AI systems used in recruitment, compensation, scheduling and performance management can create risks when they rely on poor-quality or biased data, opaque programming or poorly defined objectives.

FaidiHR said MIA will operate within defined permissions and workflows, with sensitive actions requiring human confirmation.

The company is also positioning the investment within Kenya's growing AI sector. Kenya launched its Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025–2030 in March 2025, focusing on AI digital infrastructure, data and AI governance, research, innovation and commercialisation, talent development and responsible AI adoption.

FaidiHR said it also plans to explore how payroll and employment data, with appropriate consent and safeguards, could support access to financial services for formally employed workers.

“We believe our infrastructure could eventually support partnerships with banks and other regulated financial institutions offering products such as earned wage access and salary-linked financing.”

The company said any financial products would be delivered through regulated partners and would be subject to affordability, consent, privacy and responsible-lending safeguards.

MIA is currently undergoing internal testing, with FaidiHR planning a phased rollout beginning with selected customers before wider availability.

The company is also seeking strategic investors and technology partners with expertise in AI infrastructure, financial services, embedded finance and African market expansion.

FaidiHR said businesses interested in early access, as well as investors and technology partners interested in its AI roadmap, can register their interest at faidihr.com.