Bristol, UK – 23 September 2026 – Zellis, the UK and Ireland’s leading provider of AI-enabled HR, Workforce Management (WFM), pay and benefits solutions, today announced that Zellis Intelligent Assistant, the AI assistant built into its ZellisONE platform, is now available via Microsoft Copilot. Employees, managers and HR teams can ask questions about HR, workforce and pay wherever they already work – whether that is ZellisONE, Copilot, Teams or Outlook. The permissions, governance and audit trail that apply in the ZellisONE platform apply to every response.

  • An employee can ask “Why is my take-home pay different this month?” and have the change explained.
  • A manager can ask “Show me overtime across my team this quarter” while building next year’s budget.
  • An HR business partner can ask “Which of my departments have outstanding right-to-work checks?” without running a report.
  • A store manager can ask, “Who is available for Saturday’s shift?”, between serving customers.

These are the questions that come up in the middle of real work: on shop floors, wards, distribution centres and sites.

This is Worklife Reinvention in action: Applied AI that removes everyday friction, reduces cost and helps people be more productive in the flow of work.

The integration uses the Model Context Protocol, an open standard for connecting AI assistants securely to external systems. Every request is authenticated against the user’s existing ZellisONE permissions. Security is inherited rather than recreated, answers are drawn only from governed data, and every interaction is logged and auditable. Each person sees only what their ZellisONE permissions already allow: a manager cannot see another team’s data, and an employee cannot see a colleague’s.

Zellis Intelligent Assistant does more than answer questions. It can act too. Approvals for leave, contract amendments and pay adjustments are governed by the same permission and audit model as every answer it gives, and customers control which capabilities are switched on and when.

Abigail Vaughan, Chief Executive Officer at Zellis, said:

AI is only as powerful as the data behind it. The AI era won’t be won by the organisations with the most AI. It will be won by the organisations that deploy AI thoughtfully, to reinvent worklife and deliver a compelling return on investment.

Abigail continued:

“Customers have invested heavily in capturing rich workforce data, but too often it stays locked in applications. Frequently, AI asks people to leave the systems they work in. We put ours where your people already work.”

Ruthy Kaidar, EMEA Managing Director at Microsoft, said:

AI delivers the greatest value when it connects people to the information and processes they use every day. By providing access to Zellis Intelligent Assistant through Microsoft Copilot, organisations can give employees, managers and HR teams easier access to workforce insights and actions while maintaining appropriate security and governance controls.

Zellis Intelligent Assistant with Copilot integration is available with ZellisONE. There is no implementation or migration project required: it arrives as an upgrade to the platform customers already run. Organisations can arrange a demonstration at zellis.com.

Notes to editors

Product screenshots and interview opportunities with Abigail Vaughan are available on request. 

For media enquiries, please contact: 

Lauren O’Harrow, lauren@hardnumbers.co.uk, +44 7864 874609

About Zellis

Zellis helps organisations unlock better outcomes by creating exceptional experiences for their people. As the leading provider of AI-enabled HR, Workforce Management (WFM), and Payroll software across the UK and Ireland, we put employees at the heart of every solution. Our tools give teams the insights, flexibility, and support they need to perform at their best. By removing barriers and embracing innovation, we empower organisations to reimagine what’s possible. Together, we Unlimit What’s Next for both people and performance.

Rising costs, AI disruption and change fatigue are creating a Great Worklife Squeeze. Our response is Worklife Reinvention: redesigning how work gets done for the people who keep the economy moving, with AI embedded in everyday scheduling, pay and approvals.

In 2025 we brought together the very best of Zellis, elementsuite, and Hastee into a seamless experience, providing a single, coherent system for the modern workplace. Together, we deliver an adaptable, best-in-class, end-to-end solution that helps customers achieve smarter, faster, and more confident HR, WFM, and Pay outcomes. At Zellis we understand the urgency and scale of modern workforce needs, and we support the full employee lifecycle.

About ZellisONE

ZellisONE is our answer to the challenges facing HR and Payroll leaders today. It is a single, AI-enabled platform that brings together HR, workforce management (WFM), pay, talent and benefits into one connected system, transforming the way you manage your people and unlocking real business value.

At its centre is Zellis Intelligent Assistant. It answers questions, surfaces insights and handles approvals inside ZellisONE, governed by the same permissions and audit trail as the platform itself.

By unifying your workforce operations, ZellisONE empowers you and your team to support and drive better business outcomes across your organisation.