The payroll and compliance provider Deel is commercializing its internal AI automation system, Akai, to help other firms reduce manual labor in back-office operations. The tool's internal deployment enabled the company to add more than $140 million in annual recurring revenue over 90 days while maintaining a flat headcount. Deel used more than 8,000 agents to automate processes across finance, HR and compliance, replacing the work of roughly 600 full time employees.

The platform builds automated workflows by recording a user's screen and voice during a task, allowing it to integrate with legacy systems that lack API access. Internal implementation raised Deel's revenue per employee from $130,000 to $215,000 and saved the company more than 91,000 hours of work per month. Deel now guarantees a savings of 1,000 hours in the first 30 days or a full refund for companies with more than 100 employees.