PayrollBADIes

We're back - and we just came off SuccessConnect in Vegas.

The whole crew is here for this one: what SAP's new leadership means for payroll, why Raj's original spinner chain now belongs to Christian Klein, how a PayrollBADIes chain ended up on OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder (and how Shahzad thought he was watching One Direction), Project Vanguard and AI outcomes for every customer, TechWolf, Joule Studio 2.0, the move to SAP-managed Joule - and why you have to eat the broccoli before you get the ice cream.

CHAPTERS
00:00 Welcome back - and where was Todd?
02:28 Around the table: SAP's new leadership, and is payroll still a priority?
05:28 Raj's spinner chain goes to Christian Klein
07:04 A chain for OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder
08:44 What the autonomous enterprise means for a payroll admin
11:17 Shahzad's bathroom story: OneRepublic or One Direction?
13:13 Project Vanguard: real AI outcomes, for every customer
14:29 Start asking your boss for SuccessConnect 2027 budget now
15:31 Sunny on the agentic enterprise - and how much control customers get
18:17 SAP and TechWolf: skills transformation
19:21 The partner summit, and beating Workday together
22:24 The PayrollBADIes Roadshow: Phoenix, Dallas, Boston
24:36 The new payrollbadies.com, a game and a merch store
26:08 Nominate a Badie
29:31 Should we take a sponsor? (No PAC money)
31:28 Which AI use case was actually valuable?
33:08 Joule Studio 2.0
35:11 SAP-managed Joule
39:00 Eat the broccoli before the ice cream

THE PAYROLLBADIES ROADSHOW
Free payroll events with breakfast, lunch, Pete Tiliakis - and maybe a live podcast. Phoenix 10 Nov, Dallas 17 Nov, Boston in February. With EPI-USE, Veritas Prime, Deel and DailyPay.

NOMINATE A BADIE
Know someone who saved a go-live and never got the credit? Tell us: https://payrollbadies.com/badie-honors#nominate

THE WRITTEN VERSION
Every moment in this episode, with links straight to it, in the newsletter: https://payrollbadies.beehiiv.com

Hosts: Imran Sajid, Jessie Pappis, Raj Sharmacharya, Shahzad Naseem, Todd Asevedo, Giovanna Lopez, Sunny K. Joshi.

#SAP #SuccessFactors #PayrollBADIes #SuccessConnect #payroll #AI #Joule #ECP

Every AI conversation in our industry sounds the same right now. Someone shows a demo, everyone nods, and then Monday happens and nothing changes.

Think SAP is just a system of record? Think again.

The PayrollBADIes are back — and this episode is packed with SAP Sapphire, Payroll Congress, AI, autonomous HCM, and plenty of BADIe energy.

In this episode we are joined by Shahzad Naseem from the SAP SuccessFactors Product Strategy team to discuss the strategic reasoning behind the SmartRecruiters acquisition, the roadmap for Autonomous Payroll., & more!

We go "under the hood" to explore why SAP chose SmartRecruiters over other vendors. How they evaluated every vendor and what set SmartRecruiters apart, focusing on the strength of their Applicant Tracking System (ATS) vs. "hollow" AI chatbots. Shazad reveals the 2026 vision for Employee Central Payroll (ECP), including the introduction of Autonomous Payroll Agents for compliance, reconciliation, and alerts that allow admins to "go home at 5:00 PM".

We also clarify the future of SuccessFactors Recruiting vs. SmartRecruiters and how native onboarding fits into the new ecosystem.

Key Takeaways & Chapters

00:00:00 | Intro: The PayrollBADIes Podcast Kickoff

00:01:12 | Meet Shahzad Naseem: SAP Strategy Lead & Musician

00:06:40 | The SmartRecruiters Business Case: Why SAP Acquired Them

00:12:05 | ATS Strength vs. Hollow Chatbots: The Evaluation Process

00:19:21 | Joule AI vs. Winston AI: Will They Ever Merge?

00:23:23 | The Future of "Headless" AI HR Applications

00:25:51 | 2025 Roadmap: Workforce Scheduling & Business Data Cloud (BDC)

00:27:12 | Autonomous Payroll: The Vision for ECP

00:29:55 | How Payroll Agents Solve Finance Reconciliation Gaps

00:32:33 | What Happens to SuccessFactors Recruiting & Onboarding?00:37:16 | Closing: The Future of Payroll Innovation

A dynamic recap of the SAP SuccessConnect 2025 event, celebrating the Payroll BADIes 1-Year Anniversary! Join the crew as they discuss the massive announcements impacting SAP SuccessFactors HCM & Payroll. We dive deep into the SmartRecruiters acquisition, the future of AI agent-to-agent communication (Joule, Winston), major updates to SAP Time Tracking / Workforce Management, and the rise of the Payroll Baddy community. Learn what's next for payroll professionals and get the dates for SAP Connect 2026 and SAP Sapphire 2026.

Join this episode to hear from Bonnie Tinder, Founder & CEO of Raven Intelligence, for a no-BS look at what truly drives HR tech implementation success. Bonnie explains why team dynamics and partner quality beat software features, how to use verified customer reviews to pick the right implementation partner, and what really happens when HR and Payroll live on different vendors. We dig into AI in HR (hype vs. outcomes), recent market moves and acquisitions, and where the ecosystem is headed next. Her bottom line: push for unified systems where it counts, and insist on clear accountability across every vendor on the field—because, as Bonnie puts it, running Core HR without Payroll is like running a marathon with one shoe.

In this episode of the Payroll BADIes podcast, the group welcomes legendary payroll analyst Pete Tiliakos

·       Imran & Raj discuss the backlash they received after the previous episode and get Pete’s thoughts on the role of analysts in shaping the industry
·       Pete gives a sneak preview of his upcoming research: The Payroll Profession Confidence Index
·       The group talks about the five pillars of payroll excellence.
·       Pete gives his prediction on the future of payroll and how Artificial Intelligence will change the game

Join Imran and Raj in this episode as they discuss analyst reports and magic quadrants including their impact on software selection and market perceptions. They explore the criteria these reports use, question the credibility of various analyst firms given the pay to play model behind these reports and give very specific examples on serious issues with these reports.

Imran discusses his first hand experience being involved with analyst relations including involvement in the vendor response process and Raj shares his experience being solicited to pay in order to be considered in the report.

Lastly, they discuss the serious caution that should be used by SAP customers when they use these reports as a decision point for choosing a new software vendor as it does not consider their unique circumstances