The playbook we've watched succeed (and fail) across 40+ countries. Start with data model. Then compliance partners. Then currency. In that order.
Indian companies going global make the same three mistakes in the same order. They start with currency (easy but wrong first step), then compliance partners (better), and then — only when it breaks — the data model.
The right order is the reverse. If your employee entity can't carry country-specific statutory identifiers from day one, adding UAE means a schema migration. Get the data model right on day one and the rest is orchestration.
The second lesson: pick compliance partners before you pick the country. Our customers who run UAE payroll cleanly picked their WPS partner in India, before the first Dubai hire.