isolved Names Michael Haske CEO as Mark Duffell Retires
isolved, a human capital management platform serving small and mid-sized businesses, announced that CEO Mark Duffell will retire effective May 4, 2026. Michael Haske, an HR technology veteran who previously led Paylocity and Paychex, takes over the role.
Duffell joined isolved in March 2020 as the pandemic forced widespread workplace changes. During his six-year tenure, the company nearly quadrupled annual revenue while maintaining profitability. isolved now serves more than 200,000 employers representing roughly 9 million U.S. employees.
"When I joined isolved in 2020, we were in the earliest stages of a global pandemic that would change the way we all work," Duffell said. "We did this through a commitment to product excellence and service delivery."
Haske's Plan: Moving Beyond Traditional Software
Haske spent 16 years at Paylocity, where he helped scale the company to more than $1 billion in annual revenue and served as president and chief operating officer during its IPO. He later held executive roles at ADP and Paychex, then served as CEO of Krista Software, which specializes in agentic AI and intelligent automation.
His appointment signals a shift in isolved's strategy. Rather than operate as a traditional software-as-a-service platform, Haske plans to position isolved as an "intelligent orchestration layer" that uses agentic AI to automate HR and payroll tasks.
"Our next phase moves past the traditional SaaS model to establish isolved as a true 'Platform of Action,'" Haske said. "By integrating Agentic AI and advanced orchestration protocols, we will empower our customers to bridge the gap between human intent and organizational output."
The strategy aims to give smaller organizations access to advanced automation capabilities typically available only to larger enterprises, delivered through a single platform that combines HR, payroll, benefits, and workforce management.
Rob Palumbo, chairman of isolved's board and co-managing partner at Accel-KKR (the company's owner), said Haske brings "operational and go-to-market expertise along with deep HCM and product knowledge."
HR leaders evaluating AI adoption in workforce management may find value in understanding how AI for CHROs (Chief Human Resources Officers) can support organizational transformation, or exploring broader AI for Human Resources resources for talent management and workforce analytics implementation.
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