Cloud accounting service Xero Inc. continues to grow its U.S.-based team with the recent hire of former Intuit ProAdvisor program leader Ian Vacin, who joins the company as its new vice president of marketing.
Vacin spent nine years with Intuit in a variety of top marketing and product manager roles, most recently serving as the group manager for the company’s QuickBooks ProAdvisor program.
“The fact that we are bringing in top talent from Intuit is a very positive sign for Xero.” said Xero U.S. president Jamie Sutherland.
Vacin will be responsible for helping expand Xero’s growth in the U.S. market, which he explained would be challenging but already has seen success with the product’s uptake in the accounting space.
“There are big players in this space, so it comes down to core competency, and for Xero it’s the accounting professionals who are more forward-thinking with clients who can appreciate a Web- based bookkeeping system,” said Vacin.
He also noted that while he enjoyed his time at Intuit, he was looking for the “next phase” in his career path and found Xero was “the right fit.”
“A year or so ago I checked out what [Xero] could do, and for me what was surprising was that they are one of the few competitors I saw that had the accounting professional in mind with the product,” said Vacin. “I think the time was right for change, and I didn’t want to lose the investment I made in myself and in helping small businesses thrive and helping the accounting community grow as well. [Joining] Xero for me was a chance to be part of something amazing and change the industry for the better.”
