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Enterprise HCM Buyer Priorities: What Analysts Are Hearing From CHROs and CIOs

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As CIOs and CHROs face growing complexity across technology, compliance, and workforce expectations, industry analysts reveal a clear set of recommended enterprise buyer priorities. Drawing on recent analyst rankings and real-world enterprise insights, this article distills how decision-makers should evaluate the incorporation of artificial intelligence (AI), global compliance capabilities and an intensified focus on the employee experience as part of a unified human capital management (HCM) and payroll platform purchase decision.

Navigating the complex landscape of enterprise technology and workforce management

Enterprise CIOs and CHROs are navigating a convergence of pressures unlike any in recent memory. Technology leaders are being asked to modernize legacy systems while delivering measurable ROI from AI investments. HR leaders, meanwhile, are expected to elevate employee experience, ensure increased compliance, both locally and globally, and provide strategic workforce insights—all at enterprise scale.

Increasingly, industry analyst reports serve as valuable resources in purchase and upgrade decisions by highlighting what executive buyers are and should prioritize. Reports such as Nucleus Enterprise HCM Value Matrix 2025 report and NelsonHall HCM Neat 2025 , and others cited in this article synthesize thousands of conversations across global enterprises.

Upon review of recent analyst assessments, these four purchase consideration themes consistently surfaced:

• AI-powered decision augmentation

• Unified HCM and payroll ecosystems

• Global compliance at scale

• Intensified focus on employee experience

Together, these insights reveal what buyers want and that legacy systems are falling short.

From automation to augmentation: AI as an executive co‑pilot

CIOs and CHROs are no longer viewing AI as a supplemental enhancement. Analyst feedback cited in this article suggests executives are focused on practical applications that augment decision-making and reduce administrative burden. The broader expectation is that AI should be embedded, contextual, and trustworthy. For example, analysts have highlighted growing buyer interest in AI that delivers proactive insights, not just retrospective reporting.

The takeaway for CIOs? AI investments must be tightly integrated with core systems to drive adoption and value.

The case for a unified HCM that integrates payroll

Fragmented HR and payroll ecosystems remain a top pain point cited by enterprise buyers. Analysts consistently observe that CIOs and CHROs favor unified platforms that reduce integration complexity, improve data consistency, and support enterprise-wide reporting.

 According to Matthew Brown, research director, ISG Software Research, in that organization’s HCM Suites Buyer’s Guide 2025, buyers are rewarding vendors with “strong results across every category” when solutions evolve alongside HR and business needs, which requires consistent, integrated data across functions to enable adaptability.

From an operational standpoint, a unified core enables faster access to workforce data and more reliable analytics. This is particularly critical for organizations managing large, diverse workforces.

Enterprise leaders increasingly seek a single system of record that supports talent, payroll, benefits, and workforce management without sacrificing flexibility. The reason? At minimum, duplicative work and errors are reduced. At maximum, shared data results in deeper insight and actionable trend visibility.

Real-world outcomes reinforce this expectation. At global fashion brand Steve Madden, leaders sought to replace manual, paper-based processes with a consolidated digital experience. By adopting a comprehensive HCM platform, the organization automated payroll notifications, streamlined recruiting-to-payroll workflows, and enabled bulk onboarding—saving time while improving accuracy.

“We can now execute tasks quickly that used to consume our time,” said Lyndsey Benson, senior vice president of human resources, Steve Madden, “allowing the HR team to focus on engagement and DE&I priorities.”

Global compliance at scale isn’t optional

As enterprises expand across borders, compliance has emerged as one of the most significant shared concerns between CIOs and CHROs. Payroll accuracy, regulatory adherence, and data security are essential compliance pillars. According to DeeAnna Warrington, principal HR analyst, NelsonHall, in the organization’s NelsonHall HCM Neat 2026, recognizes platforms that combine global scale with localized compliance, noting the value of “a modular, globally compliant architecture” that enables intelligent automation across regions.

For executive buyers, the risk profile of non-compliance—financial penalties, reputational damage, and employee trust erosion—far outweighs the cost of modernization. According to Priyanka Mitra, vice president, Everest Group, in that organization’s Multi-process Human Resources Outsourcing report, similarly highlights buyer demand for solutions that simplify global payroll while maintaining local depth, supported by strong localization and partnership ecosystems.

Steve Madden’s experience illustrates this priority. Operating in more than 80 countries, the company previously lacked visibility into its global workforce. With a single, multi-language system, leadership gained oversight and reporting capabilities that were previously unattainable.

“We have never been able to have oversight of our employees in other countries until ADP Lyric HCM,” Benson noted, underscoring how global compliance and visibility go hand in hand.

Employee experience as a shared CIO–CHRO mandate

Analysts also point to a growing alignment between IT and HR around employee experience. Modern buyers view usability, self-service, and personalization as core requirements—not nice-to-haves. According to McMullen of Nucleus Research, enterprises are benefiting from “high levels of product usability and the company’s investment in the employee experience,” particularly when analytics and compliance capabilities are embedded.

Self-service capabilities, mobile access, and intuitive interfaces are increasingly tied to adoption and data quality. At Steve Madden, empowering employees and managers through self-service reduced errors and improved engagement. Managers gained visibility into organizational structures and compensation data, while employees could manage personal information and benefits independently, improving satisfaction while reducing HR workload.

How ADP aligns with enterprise buyer priorities

Analyst insights align closely with the capabilities delivered by ADP Lyric HCM.

“ADP has proven its commitment to customer value through its breadth of capabilities and innovation for the enterprise HCM market,” notes Evelyn McMullen, Research Manager at Nucleus Research, in the Nucleus Enterprise HCM Value Matrix 2025 report. “With ADP Lyric HCM, customers are seeing the value on a regular basis with high levels of product usability along with the company’s investment in the employee experience for the enterprise HCM space. AI-powered capabilities, global coverage and compliance are just a few of the many areas where customers are gaining continuous value.”

ADP Lyric HCM helps organizations meet these priorities through specific capabilities:

• AI driven recommendations and generated content guide actions and streamline workflows.

• Global HCM and payroll provide a unified system to manage every worker worldwide.

• Global reporting, analytics, and insights deliver real-time data, predictive analytics, and benchmarks to inform decisions.

• Agile organization structures reflect how people actually work, while flexible position management adapts to evolving business needs.

• Criteria-driven workflows personalize interactions, and voice of the employee tools provide actionable sentiment insights.

• Additional capabilities such as ADP Learning and career profiles support workforce development and retention.

Together, these capabilities enable enterprises to reduce complexity, enhance compliance, and deliver intelligent, human-centered experiences at scale.

Simplify the HR team and employee experience with a single platform, ready to be used anywhere. Designed to adapt to your team structures and unique workflows, ADP Lyric HCM can support the way your organization operates today and as it grows and changes.