“It's never been a more exciting time to imagine what's possible with software’: Xero CEO outlines how AI could transform the finance industry as we know it

• Xero CEO outlines the agentic age of accounting, powered by AI
• Several new additions to JAX agentic platform will help workers in all teams
• Cassidy also looks to allay fears AI will take jobs, saying human influence is always vital

The CEO of Xero has highlighted the key role AI can play in helping revolutionize the finance and accounting industries.

Speaking at Xerocon 2026 in London, Sukhinder Singh Cassidy outlined her company’s aim, “to be the trusted ecosystem for the agentic era” through its range of AI services and tools.

“It's never been a more exciting time to imagine what's possible with software,” she declared, outlining Xero’s aim, “to keep transforming our platforms, so you can transform your practice and then we can keep taking advantage of technology old and new to make work smarter.”

Agentic age

Cassidy went on to mention Xero’s role in two major initiatives going forward, what she called the “next chapter” for the company - namely, “making AI work for work” and also “supporting the rise of the builders.”

“AI is indeed here,” she noted, “it's still messy, it's still early, but it's one of the biggest trends, if not the biggest technological trend of our lifetime.”

The finance industry looks to be an obvious area where AI can benefit workers, with automated tools and services taking the strain off overloaded employees, particularly when it comes to time-consuming manual processes.

The company highlighted this with the release of several new AI tools for its JAX agentic platform, including Smart Document Capture, which can automatically pull out relevant data and adds it to Xero, and Auto Bank Reconciliation, which automates time-consuming manual tasks in bookkeeping by matching transactions to bank feeds automatically, in real-time.

With all these new tools taking work away from humans, Cassidy confronted the fear faced by some employees that AI would steal their roles.

“We believe the role of the trusted advisor doesn't go away,” she noted, “it magnifies, it multiplies into something much more powerful and meaningful in this era - your judgement, your relationships, your expertise become more valuable, not less, as you take advantage of these tools to supercharge your business.”

“It's important to recognise that our job is not only to make sure AI works for your work, but the new opportunities multiply.”