Investor information

Board of Directors

Graham Smith

CHAIR OF THE BOARD

Independent Director since February 2015 and Chair since January 2017

Graham has more than 25 years of finance experience in the software and SaaS industry. He was Chief Financial Officer at Salesforce from 2008 to 2014. He has held executive positions at Advent Software, Vitria Technology, Nuance Communications, and Oracle. Graham is chair of Splunk, and serves on the boards of directors at Slack and BlackLine. He recently served on the Citrix and MINDBODY boards. Graham also gets involved in his local community, as evidenced by his Board membership of the Sonoma Valley Education Foundation.

Nominations Committee (Chair)
Audit and Risk Management Committee

Graham Smith

Rod Drury

XERO FOUNDER / NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Director since July 2006

For more than a decade, Rod led Xero from humble beginnings with four employees working in a Wellington apartment to a global software business and S&P/ASX 100 company. Rod remains Xero’s largest shareholder. Rod started his career at Ernst & Young and went on to establish and lead a number of innovative technology businesses. Rod was an independent director on the NZX Board and the Trade Me Board. At the Deloitte Top 200 Awards in 2017, Rod was named Visionary Leader of the Year. He was named Ernst & Young New Zealand Entrepreneur of the Year in 2013, and is a member of the New Zealand Hi-Tech Hall of Fame.

Rod Drury

Lee Hatton

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Independent Director since April 2014

Lee has extensive commercial experience across New Zealand, Australia, the UK, and the US. After moving to Australia in 2012 to lead NAB’s Group Regulatory function, in 2015 Lee became the Chief Executive Officer of UBank where she is accountable for the business’s strategy and performance. Lee believes creating a growth culture, centred on customers, is the true disruptor of companies, and she has led large distribution teams throughout her career leveraging this philosophy. Recognised for her collaboration abilities and experience blending technology innovation and financial services, Lee is also an executive director of NAB Ventures and a non-executive director of BLD Group Pty Ltd. Lee is involved in the community and enjoys mentoring individuals, especially in relation to the future of work.

Audit and Risk Management Committee (Chair)

Lee Hatton

Dale Murray CBE

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Independent Director since April 2018

Dale is a technology entrepreneur and growth-company advisor. Dale co-founded mobile pioneer Omega Logic in 1999, which co-launched prepay top-ups in the UK. She led the growth of top-up transactions to £450m within five years, generating net revenue of £25 million. After selling the company in a trade sale, she turned to investing and advising start-ups and won the British Angel Investor of the Year award in 2011. Dale is currently a Europe Beachheads advisor for NZTE, a non-executive director at The Cranemere Group Ltd, and a board advisor to Seedrs. She was formerly a non- executive director and Trustee for the Peter Jones Foundation and a non-executive director at Sussex Place Ventures and the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills. She served on the Business Taskforce on EU Redtape for the British Prime Minister in 2013.

Audit and Risk Management Committee

Dale Murray

Susan Peterson

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Independent Director since February 2017

Susan is an experienced independent director on both ASX and NZX listed companies. She is currently an independent director of Trustpower, Vista Group, Property for Industry, and ASB Bank. Susan is a member of the New Zealand Markets Disciplinary Tribunal, was a past Ministerial Appointee to The National Advisory Council for the Employment of Women, and is a Board member of non-profit Global Women (NZ). Susan is founding co-chair and a shareholder in fast-growing health and wellness start-up company Organic Initiative Limited.

People and Remuneration Committee (Chair)

Susan Peterson

David Thodey AO

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Independent Director since June 2019

David Thodey AO is a business leader focused on innovation, technology and telecommunications, with more than 30 years of experience creating brand and shareholder value. He is currently chairman of Australia’s national scientific research agency, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO).

David is a non-executive board director of Ramsay Health Care, a global hospital group, and Tyro,  Australia’s only independent EFTPOS banking institution. From 1 September 2019, David will also join the board of Vodafone Group Plc. He also sits on various advisory boards. 

David had a successful executive career as CEO of Telstra, a significant Australian telecommunications and information services company and as CEO of IBM Australia and New Zealand. In 2017, David was made an Officer (AO) in the General Division of the Order of Australia.

People and Remuneration Committee
Nominations Committee

David Thodey

Craig Winkler

NON-EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Director since May 2009

Craig co-founded Australian small business accounting software provider MYOB in 1991. Craig built MYOB to be a popular business tool and brand which, in 2004, merged with Solution 6 to become Australia’s largest IT company. Craig joined the Xero Board in 2009. He now spends the majority of his time working in the philanthropic sector.

People and Remuneration Committee
Nominations Committee

Craig Winkler

Executive team

Steve Vamos

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

Steve leads the global growth and performance of Xero. With more than 30 years’ experience in global technology and digital media, Steve has worked in leading international businesses including Apple, IBM and Microsoft. Steve led the growth of online media business Ninemsn from start-up to industry leader as the company’s CEO. Steve previously served on the boards of Telstra, David Jones and Medibank, and has an honours degree in civil engineering from the University of New South Wales, Australia.

Steve Vamos

Anna Curzon

CHIEF PRODUCT OFFICER

Anna leads Xero’s partner and product teams, spearheading product management, development, design, and product marketing to bring more exciting Xero features to partners and small businesses. Anna has a wealth of experience in online financial services and operations. Before joining Xero as managing director for New Zealand in 2016, Anna led internet banking at ASB and the digital first strategy at Spark. Anna has a bachelor’s degree and a postgraduate diploma in commerce from the University of Auckland.

Anna Curzon

Kirsty Godfrey-Billy

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Kirsty leads Xero’s global financial team, driving financial outcomes, actively managing the group’s financial performance, optimising the business's balance sheet and communicating the group’s strategic and financial priorities to key stakeholders, including investors. She also has management of Xero’s global facilities team. Kirsty is a Chartered Accountant with 25 years’ experience in the finance and technology sectors both in private practice and commercial technology roles. Kirsty holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Management degree from Lincoln University.

Kirsty Godfrey-Billy

Rachael Powell

CHIEF CUSTOMER, PEOPLE AND MARKETING OFFICER

Rachael is responsible for Xero’s customer success, people experience, marketing and communications functions globally. She has previously held positions in strategy, marketing, talent management and channel development across online and technology businesses. In her current capacity, she brings together her dual passions; delighting our customers and nurturing our people. Rachael believes that customer experience must resonate from the inside-out and advocates for positive engagement programs to effectively mobilise the business strategy at scale. She has a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology, a Masters in Business Administration, and a Bachelor of Business (Accounting and Marketing).

Rachael Powell

Mark Rees

CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER

Mark leads the platform, security, data and automation teams at Xero and is responsible for enabling Xero’s technology platform for growth and innovation. Before joining Xero, Mark was the chief technology officer for Microsoft New Zealand and the chief product and technology officer for Trade Me. Mark has a PhD and bachelor of science in chemistry from the University of Canterbury.

Tony Stewart

Chaman Sidhu

CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER & COMPANY SECRETARY

Chaman leads Xero’s legal functions globally and has more than 20 years’ experience in legal operations, strategy, compliance, governance and risk management. She has previously worked as group general counsel and company secretary for Envato and Lonely Planet Publications. Chaman is dual-qualified in Australia and the US, and is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Chaman Sidhu

Damien Tampling

CHIEF STRATEGY & CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT OFFICER

Damien leads Xero’s global strategy and corporate development teams, and oversees Xero’s strategic planning activities through the Integration Management Office and the Project Manager Office. Prior to joining Xero, Damien spent 13 years at Deloitte in a number of senior executive roles. He holds an Australian Financial Services Licence (and its equivalent in Singapore), is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and holds a Bachelor of Business from RMIT University, Melbourne.

Chaman Sidhu

Executive Leadership - Regional Leaders

Craig Hudson

MANAGING DIRECTOR, NEW ZEALAND & PACIFIC ISLANDS

Craig is responsible for promoting the small business economy in New Zealand and the Pacific Islands and Xero’s relationships with government, financial institutions, and enterprise. Craig joined Xero in the UK where he led the business into market in Europe, the Middle East and South Africa. Prior to joining Xero, Craig played professional rugby in New Zealand, France, England and Wales.

Craig Hudson

Trent Innes

MANAGING DIRECTOR, AUSTRALIA & ASIA

Trent is responsible for driving Xero’s next phase of growth in Australia and Asia. After joining Xero as national sales director in 2013, Trent was appointed managing director in 2016. He began his career as a certified practising accountant and has more than 17 years’ experience growing and managing major accounting and IT businesses. Prior to joining Xero, Trent managed the Microsoft Business Group in Australia.

Trent Innes

Gary Turner

MANAGING DIRECTOR, UNITED KINGDOM & EMEA

Gary is responsible for leading Xero’s operations across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He has more than 20 years’ experience in the UK’s accounting software industry, and before joining Xero, he was the product group director for Microsoft Dynamics. Gary is a board advisor to Enterprise Nation and, since 2005, he has sat on the IT Faculty Technical Committee of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.

Gary Turner

Tony Ward

PRESIDENT OF AMERICAS

Tony is responsible for expanding Xero’s businesses in the Americas. He has 20 years of experience in senior leadership positions with global technology companies, including Microsoft Australia, LinkedIn, Spark, SurveyMonkey and Dropbox. He’s also founded a successful cloud-based start up, Business365, aimed at small businesses. Tony holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Manitoba and a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Auckland and is a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Keri Gohman