• (00:00) - Welcome to the show
• (00:39) - Salma officially joins as a host
• (01:56) - Two cities: who’s going where
• (03:11) - What is Sage Future for Partners?
• (03:56) - The Canadian contingent
• (07:26) - What PKO is really about
• (09:05) - Can’t-miss session: Women in Tech Leadership Breakfast
• (11:21) - Must-sees: main stage, X3, and HCM
• (13:47) - Attending both events and how regions differ
• (15:50) - Which event is more fun?
• (17:25) - Advice for newer partners
• (19:30) - Bold predictions: a shift in how Sage goes to market
• (20:54) - Speed to launch and faster implementations
• (22:14) - Cheaper implementations vs value
• (22:51) - From a three-horse race to eight
• (25:11) - Using AI and why data matters
• (26:34) - Doug’s dad joke
• (27:21) - Wrap-up: see you in Atlanta and Amsterdam

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There’s a new voice at the UnSage table. Salma Kaida, partner at nuvemXP, joins Doug and Matt from Edmonton to make the show officially international. A former controller who found her calling onboarding acquisitions onto Sage Intacct, Salma explains why 75% of implementation work is people, why she can’t stand the word ERP, and why finance teams should stop being married to their history. She also reveals what US companies can learn from Canada’s approach to recoverable tax.

• (00:00) - Welcome: a new voice at the table
• (01:24) - Selling Canada in 30 seconds
• (04:10) - From controller to Sage Intacct consultant
• (06:27) - How nuvemXP started
• (07:46) - Sage conferences and Atlanta
• (09:40) - Why Salma hates the word ERP
• (13:13) - Listen first: 75% of the job is people
• (15:35) - Helping risk-averse accountants embrace change
• (16:40) - From QuickBooks and Sage 50 to multi-entity
• (19:43) - Don't be married to your history
• (22:29) - Where the industry is heading
• (24:31) - What US teams can learn from Canada
• (27:34) - Salma turns the tables on Matt and Doug
• (30:53) - Dream guests and the Sage roadmap
• (35:24) - One thing to do before you talk to a vendor
• (36:47) - The terrible mom joke and wrap up

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Stuart Langer, Deputy CTO at Sage, says the biggest hidden cost of AI in finance is the time spent checking its work, which he calls the verification tax. A CPA by training, Stuart joins Doug and Matt to explain why AI tools that show their work beat flashy features, and what that means for finance jobs from staff accountant to CFO. He also makes a bold prediction about how accounting software will be built in the next six months.

• (00:00) - Podcast Welcome
• (00:38) - Meet Stuart Langer
• (01:47) - Why He Returned
• (03:58) - CPA To Tech Journey
• (10:11) - Teaching Future Accountants
• (12:46) - Understanding Verification Tax
• (15:38) - Building Trustworthy AI
• (18:21) - Humans In The Loop
• (21:19) - How Finance Jobs Shift
• (24:07) - Telemetry And Outliers
• (26:42) - AP Automation With AI
• (27:18) - Free OCR Changes AP
• (28:19) - Glass Box Versus Black Box
• (28:58) - IDC Trust Research
• (30:43) - Audit Trails Matter
• (31:32) - Teaching AI Fundamentals
• (33:51) - Chatbots Need Controls
• (36:45) - Differentiating ERP Trust
• (38:48) - Nonprofit Audit Agent
• (40:03) - Explaining AI At Scale
• (43:53) - Fiction In Training Data
• (46:42) - Six Month Agent Marketplaces
• (49:40) - Key Takeaways And Wrap

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In the second half of our conversation with Sage CTO Aaron Harris, Emily, Doug, and Matt set the tech talk aside to hear his origin story, from turning down investors for his own construction accounting software to joining Intacct as its first full-time developer just before the dot-com crash. Aaron explains how he ended up carrying the founder title after the company shrank from about 90 employees to 22, why selling to Sage beat going public in 2017, and why, after 26 years in the same job, his best career advice is to keep riding the wave you’re on.

Connect with the Hosts:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/emilybmadere
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattlescault
https://www.linkedin.com/in/dlewis715

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Sage CTO Aaron Harris joins Matt, Emily, and Doug, for the first of a two-part conversation, starting with the personal AI agents he runs at home (several named after Blade Runner characters) and what people should look at before handing an AI their personal data. He also explains why he thinks the SaaSpocalypse isn't coming for Sage Intacct, why AI agents need a platform like Intacct as much as human users do, and why developers who are 10 times more productive should mean 10 times more software instead of fewer jobs.

• (00:00) - Episode Preview
• (00:56) - Note Taking Habits
• (02:12) - Building Personal Agents
• (03:40) - Blade Runner Inspired Names
• (06:38) - Holmes Memory Agent
• (07:34) - Privacy And Data Control
• (10:04) - Sage Copilot Naming
• (12:17) - AI Team And Code Legacy
• (15:19) - SaaSpocalypse And Platforms
• (18:57) - AI Workforce Reality Check
• (22:12) - Sage Strategy And Stability
• (24:39) - Founder Advice And Closing

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Join us on this bonus episode where Matt talked to Jessie Gu, Business Development Manager for Sage Intacct Advisory, about how firms can package and price client advisory services, build the right tech stack to scale, and put AI to real use in CAS delivery. Matt draws on 20 years running TydeCo to explain why verticalization and industry specialization (think nonprofit, healthcare, and financial services) separate firms that turn CAS into real recurring revenue from those still stuck doing transactional work. They also dig into Sage's AI close and financial agents and how firms can practically deploy AI without losing the human judgment behind it.

• (00:00) - Welcome and Agenda
• (01:12) - Meet Matt and TydeCo Story
• (03:59) - What Sets SIA Apart
• (05:21) - Packaging CAS for Value
• (09:24) - Vertical Niches and Fit
• (11:59) - Client Readiness Signals
• (19:31) - Nonprofit Success Story
• (22:27) - Pricing Models and Value
• (30:11) - Why Sage Intacct Works
• (33:56) - Program Benefits and Enablement
• (38:14) - Dashboards and Reporting Layers
• (41:16) - Beyond Implementation Support
• (44:02) - AI That Actually Matters
• (48:36) - New AI Agents Explained
• (50:41) - Will AI Replace Accountants
• (52:33) - Live Q&A Change Management
• (56:27) - What to Automate First
• (57:29) - Wrap Up and Credits

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Donny Shimamoto, founder of IntrapriseTechKnowlogies and the Center for Accounting Transformation, joins Matt, Doug, and Emily to talk about why time, not technology, is the real bottleneck slowing down firms. He breaks down what firms actually ask for when they bring in a transformation consultant, why the profession needs to revive its apprenticeship roots as AI automates entry-level prep work, and what he's seeing on international standard-setting boards shaping AI guidance for audit quality.

• (00:00) - Podcast kickoff
• (00:41) - Meet Donny Shimamoto
• (03:09) - Foodie side quest
• (06:31) - Why standards matter
• (08:56) - Who sets global rules
• (11:23) - US vs international standards
• (13:19) - Sage Intacct in midmarket
• (15:21) - Global rollout challenges
• (17:28) - Firms struggle for time
• (19:26) - Transformation roadmap calls
• (22:38) - Serving firms of all sizes
• (24:14) - Automation and new roles
• (26:10) - Triaging Firm Issues
• (27:06) - AI and Career Pathways
• (27:43) - Reviving Apprenticeship Training
• (29:21) - Fixing Onboarding and Curriculum
• (31:57) - Burnout and Busy Season
• (32:35) - Why the Center Exists
• (34:50) - Evaluating Software That Fits
• (38:56) - AI in Accounting Products
• (43:34) - Purpose and Leading Change
• (47:05) - Capacity Through Technology
• (48:41) - Dad Joke and Farewell

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Ellen Choi, founder of Edgefield Group and former Awin chief product officer, breaks down what actually separates firms making real AI progress from those stuck experimenting. She walks through her firm maturity scorecard, why "return on investment" is harder to pin down than most partners assume, and why the biggest AI decisions have to start at the top. The conversation also covers token costs, on-prem alternatives, and why an outdated AI policy might be a bigger risk than no policy at all.

• (00:00) - Podcast intro
• (00:38) - Meet Ellen Choi
• (02:22) - Meditation and retreats
• (05:07) - Who Edgefield serves
• (08:19) - AI adoption shifts
• (11:40) - What triggers change
• (13:21) - How firms implement AI
• (16:43) - Cutting through AI noise
• (22:03) - Edgefield AI Foundations
• (23:41) - AI maturity scorecard
• (27:20) - Vendor ROI hype
• (28:16) - ROI Investment Reality
• (29:24) - Hidden AI Enablement Costs
• (30:16) - Turning Time Into Revenue
• (31:43) - Measuring Qualitative Returns
• (33:03) - Why 20 Minutes Daily
• (36:50) - Big Firm Spending Headlines
• (39:31) - Rising AI Costs And Tokens
• (42:21) - Open Source On Prem 2.0
• (44:26) - Where To Start With AI
• (45:51) - Copilot First And Policy
• (47:02) - Who Owns AI Rollout
• (49:22) - Keeping The Human Touch
• (51:04) - Final Takeaway And Wrap

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