GPA Payroll Symposium

Date:        Thursday 19 November 2026
Time:         12.30pm - 5.00pm
Cost:         FREE
Location:  Shangri-La Dubai, Sheikh Zayed Rd Near Financial Metro Station - Dubai - United Arab Emirates

Join us on 19 November 2026 for the GPA Payroll Leadership Symposium Dubai, where payroll and HR professionals from across the GCC will come together to explore the future of payroll in an evolving business landscape.

This complimentary event will provide practical insights into the latest GCC payroll legislation, employment law developments, artificial intelligence, and the key trends shaping the profession. Hear from industry experts, exchange ideas with peers, and discover strategies to help your organisation remain compliant, embrace innovation and prepare for the future.

We look forward to welcoming you to an afternoon of learning, collaboration and valuable networking with the professionals driving payroll excellence across the GCC.

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Session One

Local to Global - How to Transition your Payroll
A session based around tackling one of the scariest tasks you might ever need to take on as a Payroll Manager, moving your Payroll from local Solutions to one Global provider.  We’ll face into the reality of this change and show you the solutions available to remove the fear and make sure the transition happens in a successful manner.
Speaker: David Pick, Sales Director EMEA at Spencer Thomas Group

REGISTRATION AND REFRESHMENTS

NETWORKING AND REFRESHMENTS

Session Two

Is Your Payroll Actually Healthy? – Looking Beyond the Green Dashboard
Accurate, on-time payroll doesn’t always tell the whole story. What manual fixes, recurring issues or reliance on key people sit behind those green results? This session introduces a practical Payroll Health Framework, exploring outcomes, friction, resilience and intelligence. We’ll look at how to uncover hidden weaknesses, test whether your operation can cope with change and turn recurring problems into lasting improvements.
Speaker: Vijoy Varghese, Senior Lead, Regional Payroll at MSD

The Agenda

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The Speakers

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The Venue


Shangri-La Dubai

Address: Sheikh Zayed Road, P.O. Box 75880 United Arab Emirates

Phone: (971 4) 343 8888

E-mail: sldb@shangri-la.com

    Public Transportation

  • Financial Centre Metro Station - 0.45 kilometers

  • Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall Metro Station - 1.00 kilometers

  • Emirates Towers Metro Station - 1.30 kilometers

  • World Trade Centre Metro Station - 2.30 kilometers

  • Business Bay Metro Station - 2.50 kilometers

The Sponsor

TransferMate is an international payments solution that helps companies save thousands on global payroll payments. TransferMate also integrates with the most popular accounting and payroll software, so it’s even easier and faster to pay your international employees.

David Pick
Sales Director EMEA
Spencer Thomas Group 

Karim Helbawi
Territory Manager, MENA
 Remote

Session Three

People, Process or Technology: Where Should Payroll Invest Next?
As payroll continues to evolve, organisations face an important question: where will investment have the greatest impact? Should the focus be on developing people, improving processes, or embracing new technologies such as AI and automation? With increasing expectations, tighter budgets and growing complexity, making the right choices has never been more important.  Join our expert panel for an interactive discussion as they explore the benefits, challenges and trade-offs of each approach. Through practical insights and real-world experiences, this session will help payroll professionals consider where investment can deliver the greatest value and prepare their organisations for the future.
Panellists - 
Karim Helbawi, Territory Manager, MENA at Remote
Anirudhe Ghosh, Head of Sales, Marketing and Growth at Adecco

Anirudhe Ghosh
Head of Sales, Marketing and Growth

Adecco

Vijoy Varghese
Snr Lead, Regional Payroll 
MSD