AGENTIC EXPERIENCE INDEX, SEPTEMBER 2026
HR & Payroll
People are letting AI agents like ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini help them start a business.
We’ve tested how 19 payroll and HR providers
deal with agents.
What we TESTED
Steps when starting a business
done by an agent.
Discuss the plan
“I want to go freelance in October.”
Simulate the income
Net income across revenue scenarios, with contributions.
Request a quote
Request a price for handling payroll and filings.
Register as self-employed
Enterprise number, VAT, mandatory insurance. Two providers now finish it.
File the first declaration
Quarterly contributions, on time, without reminders.
This is how payroll providers
in the Benelux scored.
Key numbers
This is the agentic readiness
of payroll providers today
Nearly all can be read by agents
18 of 19 companies
Well over half let agents complete tasks
12 of 19 companies
One in three transactional tasks can be completed
13 of 38 transactional tasks
So what does an
agentic experience
in HR and payroll look like?
Most payroll providers
The most agentically ready
industry we tested.
Agents can finish at least one of the jobs people want to get done.
Randstad Payroll Solutions
Lets your agent register
you as self-employed.
The only company in this study to complete both of its tasks, and the first anywhere to complete the hard one.
What about the rest?
of 19
Invisibles
An agent cannot reach or read them, they are just not part of the conversation.
of 19
Informers
Agents can get in and answer a question, but they cannot complete a job.
Showroom
Everything on display but no till. Usually by accident.
Gatekeeper
The task can only be completed behind a login, identity app, or in a dedicated app. Deliberate, every time.
of 19
Actors
Agents can complete at least one job end to end.
Always a decision to point outwards.
What answers did our agents get?
This gets us thinking.
Opportunity
How HR and payroll providers can become more agentic.
— Open up to agents
Befriending agents is smart.
For people starting or growing their business, becoming self-employed, agents like Claude or ChatGPT become their natural business partners, helping them navigate unknown terrain. This industry has long understood that information is an asset. The new winners here understand that these agents are more than just search engines.
— Become an agent
Let trusted agents do the work.
Identity and trust are essential in an HR context, so gating some tasks to an own platform makes sense. But this doesn’t mean there’s no agentic opportunity. Transform your own portals into goal-direct agents that help customers out. Or, let them play and build with their own data in a secure way.
Find out
how you
are doing
19 companies
12 in Belgium, 7 in The Netherlands.
Each was asked the same 2 tasks: