‘Human insights’ will drive the success of small business

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The buzz of meeting over 3000 partners at our annual Xerocon event in Brisbane is something I’ll never tire of. It was particularly special this time given I’ve now been in the role for over a year, and have had the opportunity to get to know our partners, employees and the unbelievable community we’re creating together to serve small businesses around the world.

This year, I took the opportunity to build on the story of where we came from and paint a picture of what the future holds for Xero.

Our mission is to make things simple, seamless and smart for small business – this has been at the heart of Xero from the very beginning. And we’ll continue to drive to this goal by innovating, collaborating and adopting tech that will bring greater value to our partners.

Xero is evolving from a single ledger in the cloud to a platform rich with data, where workflows are seamless and small business insights are delivered with speed and accuracy.

As we do so, we’ll build on the applications, tools and connections that simplify how data is captured and flows into the platform through advanced AI and machine learning capabilities. This will help unearth insights that we’ll put in the hands of our partners, so they can advise and guide their small business clients.

Revealing new announcements to enhance data quality, workflows and ‘human insights’

Together with our bookkeepers, accountants and BAS advisors, Xero is determined to build the most data-rich, insightful and trusted global small business platform anywhere. And that future took a huge leap forward through a number of announcements and product enhancements launched at Xerocon Brisbane.

Anna Curzon, Xero’s Chief Product Officer, revealed the advancements we are making to automate the ingestion of data through our acquisition of Hubdoc – ensuring it becomes faster and more accurate.

She also shared a series of new practice tools to help seamlessly set up and manage client work, alongside a dashboard that simplifies the compliance process and a new short-term cash flow solution that bubbles up insights to help your clients plan for financial highs and lows.

Craig Walker, founding CTO and EGM for Payment Services, was on stage to talk about a significant global partnership with Stripe – ready to improve payment workflows and help clients get paid quicker.

Nick Houldsworth, EGM Ecosystems, announced Sign in with Xero which allows you to get the most from the Xero ecosystem through secure, seamless access so small businesses and advisors can move seamlessly between Xero and connected apps with one login.

He also announced an upcoming navigation tool that helps you recommend the best apps (out of over 800 within the Xero ecosystem) for your clients’ business success.

Harnessing technology to create a deeper understanding of all things human

In an increasingly complex business landscape, small business owners need insights and a trusted advisor to help them keep abreast of the health of their business. So at Xero we will continue to embed our platform with AI and machine learning technology but will always drive innovation and collaboration through our people and partners.

Because if there’s one thing I’ve discovered throughout a lengthy career in the tech industry, it’s that with every new advancement in technology, the human element is what matters most and that ‘human insights’ is where our value lies.