What are the most significant challenges facing payroll/reward professionals today?

There’s a tension between preserving legacy ways—manual processes, compliance by rote, shifting schedules—and embracing transformative tech that demands flexibility, speed, and always‑on accuracy. We saw this at Champneys: managing over 1,100 employees across shifts with manual scheduling caused inefficiencies, errors, and delayed decisions. Now the challenge is to move forward with AI/automation without losing the human touch or compromising governance and compliance.

What excites you most about participating in Reward & Payroll Summit this year?

I’m excited to share how we transformed our role and the business by moving away from slow, error‑prone systems to a platform (Dayforce) that gives us back time—and sanity. With Champneys, payroll runs dropped from 18 a month to just two, pay‑run time went from hours to minutes, and queries plunged by 80%. Sharing that kind of impact—how tech plus vision changes people’s working lives—is what really motivates me.

Which session or theme are you most looking forward to, and why? 

The sessions around AI, real‑time data, and digital transformation are key for me, because they align with what we’ve been through (and what we’re still doing). For example, with Champneys the shift scheduling system now adjusts dynamically, gives visibility to employees in advance, improves fairness and compliance. I’m most excited by stories and panels that show both strategic thinking and real case studies—where you see the possibilities and also the practical steps.

What advice would you give to companies looking to innovate while ensuring compliance in today’s regulatory environment? 

Build with compliance in mind from day one—don’t treat it as an afterthought. At Champneys we embedded controls into Dayforce so scheduling rules, legal limits, timesheet validations couldn’t be bypassed. Also, test early, involve the people who will use the systems, measure outcomes, and iterate. Innovation gets you momentum; compliance gives you credibility and longevity.

What role does technology and/or AI play in transforming payroll/reward, and how can businesses leverage it effectively? 

Technology, especially AI‑enabled platforms, can shoulder the repetitive, time‑sinking tasks—schedule creation, forecasting, reporting—that drain capacity. Champneys saw schedule generation time drop from a couple of hours per department to mere minutes for large teams. To leverage it well, pick tools that align with your values (e.g. transparency, fairness), ensure the platform can enforce compliance automatically, and keep improving. Human oversight and strategic use will distinguish successful transformations from superficial ones.

What inspired you to have a career in payroll/reward, and what keeps you passionate about it? 

I stumbled into payroll but quickly realised how central it is—how it directly affects people’s lives, trust, engagement, fairness. Watching the transformation at Champneys—seeing what happens when you replace friction, guesswork and manual effort with clarity, automation and employee visibility—reaffirmed that this work matters deeply. I stay passionate because every incremental improvement—every minute saved, every pay error prevented, every employee better supported—ripples out.

What do you hope attendees will take away from your session at Reward & Payroll Summit? 

I want attendees to leave knowing that change isn’t just possible—it can be deeply human and deeply positive. From our Champneys experience: AI won’t replace the role of the payroll/reward professional, but it can free you to do what only humans can—mentor, coach, resolve, design. If they walk away thinking, “I can do this,” with practical ideas and renewed confidence, then I’ll feel the session did its job.

See Jamie speak at this year’s Reward & Payroll Summit.