Meet Xero's executive and regional leadership teams

Executive leadership team

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy

CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

As CEO Sukhinder leads the growth and performance of Xero globally. With more than 25 years’ experience in Silicon Valley as a CEO, digital leader and board member, she has experience building and scaling global companies including Google, Amazon, Yodlee, Joyus and StubHub.

As President of StubHub from 2018 to 2020, Sukhinder oversaw more than $5 billion in total GMV and its $4 billion sale in 2020. Prior to StubHub Sukhinder spent seven years in ecommerce, founding video commerce pioneer Joyus and premium talent marketplace theBoardlist. Earlier in her career Sukhinder built Google’s revenue and operations across Asia Pacific and Latin America to over $2 billion in annual revenues and 2000 people in the region from 2003 to 2009. Sukhinder also served as the business founder at fintech pioneer Yodlee from 1999 to 2003.

Sukhinder currently serves on the board of publicly-traded fintech Upstart, with previous experience serving on the boards of Ericsson, Tripadvisor, Urban Outfitters, Stitchfix and J.Crew. Sukhinder currently serves on the board of publicly-traded fintech Upstart, with previous experience serving on the boards of Ericsson, Tripadvisor, Urban Outfitters, Stitchfix and J.Crew. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honors), Business Administration from Western University, Ontario, Canada.

Claire Bramley

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Claire leads Xero's global financial team, driving financial outcomes, managing the business’ financial performance and balance sheet, along with communicating Xero’s strategic and financial priorities to stakeholders, including investors. Claire is an experienced global and listed technology and software company executive with a strong track record in the technology and finance sectors for more than 25 years across the US, Europe and the UK. Claire holds a BSc in Accounting and Financial Management from the University of Loughborough, Loughborough, UK. She is a Fellow and Chartered Accountant from The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

Damien Coleman

CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER & COMPANY SECRETARY

Damien is a legal and governance professional and leader with more than 20 years’ experience advising senior management and boards. Prior to joining Xero, Damien was Company Secretary and Deputy Group General Counsel at Telstra. Damien holds a Bachelor of Laws with Honours and a Bachelor of Economics from the Australian National University. He is a fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia and a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

Ashley Hansen Grech

CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER

Ashley leads Xero’s global go-to-market functions including sales operations, regional managing directors and leadership, customer experience, partnerships and revenue operations. She has more than 20 years' technology, fintech and payments experience. Before joining Xero in 2023, Ashley was Chief Operating Officer at Recharge Inc. Prior to that, she was Global Head of Sales at Square, Inc (now Block). Ashley is currently a director on the board of Spreedly, a payments orchestration platform. She holds both a Bachelor of Science in International Studies and an MBA from the University of Chicago.

Diya Jolly

CHIEF PRODUCT & TECHNOLOGY OFFICER

Diya leads Xero’s product and technology teams driving product management, product design, engineering, security and data to further improve Xero’s global small business platform for partners and small businesses. Diya has market-leading global experience in designing, developing and launching consumer and business products in high growth mid sized companies, startups and Fortune 500 brands. Before joining Xero in 2023, Diya was Chief Product Officer at Okta where she led product innovation for both its workforce and customer identity business. Prior to that she was Vice President of Product Management at Google, where she was focused on driving adoption for some of the company’s leading products. Diya has a Masters of Business Administration from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering and Economics from the University of Michigan.

Jeff Ryan

CHIEF PEOPLE OFFICER

Jeff is responsible for leading Xero’s people experience function globally. He is an established global technology and software human resources executive, multi-time Chief People Officer, board member and advisor with more than 25 years’ experience. His experience includes Chief People Officer positions at McAfee, Zynga and GoPro. Jeff holds an MBA from UCLA Anderson School of Management and a Bachelor of Sociology from UCLA. Jeff is a US-based executive, but spends much of his time in Xero's offices in Australia and New Zealand and around the world.

Angad Soin

MANAGING DIRECTOR, AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND AND GLOBAL CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER

Angad is responsible for revenue, partner and customer engagement, and strategy across the ANZ region. In a dual role, he is also responsible for leading the development and execution of Xero’s global strategy and driving operational excellence. Angad joined Xero in 2021. Prior to that he was at Deloitte for 13 years in various roles, including working with global clients to help them develop their strategies including pricing, transformation and go-to-market. Most recently he was a Partner, National Lead in the Strategy & Transformation Office. Angad holds a Bachelor of Information Technology from the University of Technology Sydney.

Michael Strickman

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

Michael is responsible for driving Xero’s direct customer and partner marketing activities, and aligning our brand, marketing, digital and communications teams globally. He is tasked with growing Xero’s reputation and deepening its connection and engagement with customers and our communities. Michael has more than 20 years’ global marketing experience. Before Xero he worked at Uber as Vice President, Performance Marketing and Growth, and led global demand generation at Tripadvisor as Vice President, Traffic Acquisition and Measurement. Before Tripadvisor, Michael was Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder of Choicestream, an online personalisation and programmatic advertising provider. Michael holds a Bachelor of Science, Applied Mathematics (Honors) from Brown University.

Regional leadership team

Kate Hayward

MANAGING DIRECTOR, UK

Kate leads Xero's business in the UK, playing an active role as an advocate for our customer community. She joined Xero in 2019 and has held critical leadership roles in Xero’s strategy and operations teams, globally and in the UK. Prior to Xero, Kate held strategy roles at Deloitte Australia and KPMG. She holds a Bachelor of Science (Biology) from the University of South Hampton and trained and qualified with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS).

Ben Richmond

MANAGING DIRECTOR, NORTH AMERICA

Ben is responsible for driving Xero’s growth in the United States and Canada. In 2013, he joined Xero as New Zealand sales director where he led the business' national growth and spearheaded Xero's global agriculture strategy. Prior to joining Xero, Ben worked in a large regional accounting practice before joining New Zealand's largest telecommunications company in a senior accounting role. He was also one of the founding board members of the Spark Foundation. Ben is a chartered accountant and earned a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in accounting, finance and information systems from the University of Canterbury.

Alex von Schirmeister

MANAGING DIRECTOR, EMERGING MARKETS & VENTURES

Alex leads Xero’s emerging markets, EMEA and Asia. He is also responsible for Xero’s corporate development and Planday. Alex has more than 25 years’ senior leadership experience, having led teams across Europe and Latin America in ecommerce, payments, telecommunications, FMCG and consultancy. Prior to Xero, Alex led the European operations for small business payments technology company SumUp, and before that held senior leadership positions at Electrocomponents and eBay. Alex holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, International Business from Georgetown University, and a Master of Business Administration from INSEAD.

Angad Soin

MANAGING DIRECTOR, AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND AND GLOBAL CHIEF STRATEGY OFFICER

Angad is responsible for revenue, partner and customer engagement, and strategy across the ANZ region. In a dual role, he is also responsible for leading the development and execution of Xero’s global strategy and driving operational excellence. Angad joined Xero in 2021. Prior to that he was at Deloitte for 13 years in various roles, including working with global clients to help them develop their strategies including pricing, transformation and go-to-market. Most recently he was a Partner, National Lead in the Strategy & Transformation Office. Angad holds a Bachelor of Information Technology from the University of Technology Sydney.

Bridget Snelling

COUNTRY MANAGER, NEW ZEALAND

Bridget is the country manager for New Zealand, responsible for overseeing the execution of New Zealand’s go-to-market strategy, revenue, market share, and advancing Xero’s brand as a leading small business platform. She has over ten years of experience across global financial services, technology, and media. Prior to Xero, Bridget held various strategic marketing and leadership positions at TVNZ, Orion Health and ANZ. Bridget holds a conjoint Bachelor of Arts and Law, with Honours in Media Law, from the University of Auckland.

Colin Timmis

REGIONAL DIRECTOR, EMEA

Colin Timmis is the regional director for Xero’s EMEA business, which includes South Africa and Ireland, leading business operations and growth. He joined Xero in 2016 as head of accounting, South Africa. Colin has over 12 years of experience in the accounting profession and has expertise in cloud accounting software implementation, development and best practice. In 2011 he founded South Africa’s first ever cloud practice, Real Time Accounting, and later became the first Xero-certified advisor in South Africa. Colin has also worked at global accounting firm BDO and is a SAIPA-certified accountant.

Koren Wines

REGIONAL DIRECTOR, ASIA

Koren was appointed regional director, Asia in 2022. She is responsible for driving Xero's growth in Asia, working closely with leading financial institutions and governments in the region to bring value to the small business and partner community. Koren joined Xero as senior partner marketing manager in 2017, establishing Xero’s global sales enablement function, and has since held other global leadership positions at Xero. Prior to joining Xero, she was chief operating officer at DCCS Australia. Koren holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences (Psychology) from Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne.