Paysend CEO Ties Broader AI Access to Measured Business Results

Paysend Group CEO Ben Chisell described a selective approach to workplace AI, with access expanding after employees demonstrate business value, while Lloyds rolled out licenses and Grant Thornton planned broader access.

In a Sept. 7, 2026, interview, Chisell said Paysend had built AI agents that measurably improved staff output. He described letting top performers test tools and show what works before access widens. “Find your Superstars and let them tell you how to use it,” he said.

In an Oct. 17 interview, Chisell said new hires get one month to try AI tools and explain their value. Chisell said an SEO lead found Claude most useful for briefs and proposed building an agent dedicated to that task. Chisell also estimated Paysend could deliver about 25% more engineering work with a team of the same size; he gave no measurement period or calculation method.

Lloyds Banking Group rolled out 40,000 Microsoft 365 Copilot licenses, and 97% of colleagues with a license were active users. Grant Thornton UK planned to give Claude to its audit, tax, advisory and support staff between June and August 2026.

Survey fieldwork conducted from Feb. 12 to May 2, 2025, covered 3,500 U.K. businesses, including 700 that used AI. Among those AI-using businesses, 75% identified improved workforce productivity as an impact, while 77% said revenue had not changed since adopting AI. The responses were self-reported. In a separate question, 56% said employees’ overall productivity had increased since adoption.

Chisell has also argued that automation should help employees move into new roles as tasks change, while people retain responsibility for decisions made with AI.