NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 25 – Kenyan HR technology company FaidiHR is investing in artificial intelligence (AI) to simplify payroll and employee management for businesses across Africa.
The cloud-based platform is developing MIA (My Intelligent Assistant), a conversational AI tool that will allow HR teams, finance officers, managers and employees to interact with the system using ordinary language instead of navigating multiple menus and reports.
For example, users will be able to ask questions such as who is on leave, which employees have missing attendance records or what changed in the latest payroll.
MIA is also being developed to retrieve information, identify payroll and attendance anomalies and initiate routine workflows where users have the necessary permissions, subject to human approval.
“We don’t think HR administrators should have to learn our software. Our software should understand them,” FaidiHR CEO Peter Muchemi said.
“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.”
The company plans to use the technology across payroll, attendance, leave management, employee records and statutory compliance.
MIA will, for instance, help identify missing clock-ins, unusual attendance patterns and payroll discrepancies before salaries are processed. Employees will also be able to use the system to check payslips, leave balances and attendance records.
FaidiHR said sensitive activities involving payroll, employee records and statutory compliance will remain subject to user permissions and human review.
The investment comes as businesses increasingly adopt AI to automate routine tasks. Research by the Society for Human Resource Management shows that 39 percent of organisations have adopted AI in their HR functions, while 62 percent are using AI somewhere in their operations.
FaidiHR said the technology could help HR and finance teams spend less time on repetitive administrative work and more time on workforce planning and employee engagement.
However, the company said it would measure the actual efficiency gains from MIA rather than make specific savings promises to customers.
The company is also positioning the AI investment within Kenya’s growing technology sector, following the launch of the country’s Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2025–2030.
Muchemi said the company was not developing the technology to make employment decisions without human involvement.
“We are not building an AI that makes employment decisions behind people’s backs. We are building an assistant that helps people make better decisions, find information faster and spend less time fighting with software,” he said.
MIA is currently undergoing internal testing, with FaidiHR planning a phased rollout to selected customers before wider availability.
The company is also seeking strategic investors and technology partners to support the development and expansion of its AI platform.
FaidiHR said it is exploring longer-term opportunities to use employment and payroll infrastructure to support financial services such as earned wage access and salary-linked financing through regulated partners.
The company currently serves hundreds of businesses across Kenya and East Africa, offering payroll processing, statutory compliance reporting, employee records, leave and attendance management, recruitment, performance management and employee self-service.
