Deputy

Deputy, founded in Sydney in 2008 and now headquartered in San Francisco, is the global workforce management platform for hourly and shift based work, used by more than one and a half million workers across roughly three hundred forty thousand workplaces in over eighty countries. Built by Ashik Ahmed and Steve Shelley after Ahmed created a tool to run Shelley's business like a trusted deputy, it has raised more than one hundred forty million dollars from investors including IVP, OpenView, and Square Peg, reached a valuation above one billion dollars, and is now led by chief executive Silvija Martincevic. Its focus is narrow and deep: turning complex scheduling, time, and compliance for frontline teams into a few clicks.

Deputy connects scheduling directly to time and attendance so the schedule becomes the reference point for clock ins, break compliance, overtime, and timesheet approval. Its AI auto scheduler generates shift assignments from employee availability, qualifications, labor budgets, and demand forecasts pulled from point of sale data, aiming to match staffing to demand while controlling cost, and it shows projected labor cost in real time as managers build the roster. Labor law compliance is automated, with break planning and overtime alerts that reduce legal exposure for multi state and multi country operators, and GPS verified time tracking keeps hours accurate. Workers manage shifts, swaps, and confirmations from a mobile app that both employees and managers consistently praise, with instant push notifications for changes and open shifts. A late 2025 AI platform launch and a payroll partnership with Paycor extend it further into agentic scheduling and connected payroll, alongside native integrations with ADP, Paychex, Gusto, Xero, and QuickBooks.

Deputy is purpose built for retail, hospitality, healthcare, and other hourly workforce industries rather than a full human resources suite, with hiring, onboarding, and documents available as a paid add on in select regions. It is certified to SOC 2, ISO 27001, and PCI DSS, runs as a global cloud service with a generous free trial and transparent per user pricing, uses its own scheduling models rather than a choice of provider, and works through integrations rather than driving a browser. For a multi location, shift based operator that wants best in class scheduling, time, and compliance in one mobile first system, Deputy is a strong and proven fit; a company needing a full human resources information system, or deep agent extensibility, will want to pair it with an HR platform.