Mark Hickman on AI, Adoption, and Why 70% Right Isn't Good Enough

There may be errors in spelling, grammar, and accuracy in this machine-generated transcript.

Doug Lewis: Welcome back to the most official unofficial Sage Intacct podcast in the world. Here we break down everything Sage Intacct, accounting, technology, finance and of course, love. Whether you're a CFO, controller, or just a poor soul who got stuck figuring out the system, we've got you covered. Alongside me, the infamous Matt Lesko. I say let's go, but we'll go with [00:00:30] Lesko and Emily Leary. Today we actually have an expert in the room, which is a fresh change of pace for us guys. But before we get into the actual expert, let's hit the people who know absolutely nothing in the world. Matt. Emily. What is new with the two of you kids?

Matt Lescault: Emily. I'll divert to you first.

Emily Madere: Um, yeah. Still just, um, you know, living. It's almost the weekend, uh, for us when we're recording this. So, um, I'm actually going to a, uh, off Broadway show called Six [00:01:00] in New Orleans this weekend. I'm very excited. And then, um, also getting kind of started to pack up to go to San Francisco for Sage future.

Doug Lewis: What a timely, uh, piece there that you just dropped. Emily. We'll get into that in a moment with our special guest here. Matt, what's on the books for you? Any trouble coming up on your end?

Matt Lescault: I mean, I'll be at Sage future as well. So San Francisco, that's always traveling.

Emily Madere: Like. Come on.

Matt Lescault: Oh, very true. True. I, I, I hit, I hit Toronto May 13th. So we're going to do a little event and a little talk with [00:01:30] a couple partners there. So I'll see all of Mark's, uh, friends in the, on the Canada side. And then I'll be back in Atlanta, uh, at the last week of May. Uh, we might have something special coming. I'm not going to, I'm not going to ruin that surprise, but, uh, be back in May. So. Yep. Right back to it getting on planes. But I'm pretty sure Mark knows all about this. Uh, I've been told that maybe the executives at Sage, uh, travel at least every other week, so I think I actually have it easy.

Doug Lewis: Yeah. [00:02:00] Well, you know, I think you do. I think you live a really easy life. You always have. You always will. Uh, but that's okay. We don't have to get into that on this specific one. I'm hoping to fix you. Really, I, I'm going I am unfortunately not going to make the future this year, but I am going to do my best to work on this ghostly white complexion that you see in front of you today. So I'll be down in Florida for a couple weeks, hopefully getting a little bit of sun and at least looking quasi presentable, uh, at some point here. Uh, before we get into the deep summer months here, but don't have to get into that. [00:02:30] Want to get our actual expert involved in this thing now? So. Mark Hickman Sage Managing director, North America head honcho, what do you like to go by? Mark? What's the title you prefer on your end?

Mark Hickman: Uh, well, we have so many marks. Even on my leadership team. I was sat in a meeting yesterday and we were three marks in a line. So I usually go as Hickman. Um, so yeah, I never divert from that usually because otherwise it just gets incredibly complicated in complicated meeting so everybody can just call me. Hickman, head honcho and all the big [00:03:00] falutin titles. I don't get a lot of that.

Doug Lewis: Well, three marks in a row sounds like a terrible sitcom, but, you know, again.

Mark Hickman: It was an HR meeting, so there you go. Maybe it was. Yeah.

Doug Lewis: Oh, so a really terrible sitcom if HR was involved. So, Mark, for those who have been living under a rock, um, I've never embarrassed myself in my life, so I don't want to start now by giving you an improper introduction for anybody who has no clue who you are. Those three people in the world who might not know Mark Hickman. Mark, who are you? What's your role at Sage? [00:03:30] Give me just give me Mark in a box if you can.

Mark Hickman: Okay, perfect. So, uh, originally from the UK, even though I definitely don't sound like I'm from the UK, um, I grew up most of my life in Canada. Uh, recently relocated to Atlanta two years ago. So I'm back and forth between Toronto and Atlanta at the moment. And my role at Sage is I'm responsible for our North American business. So, um, you know, it's our fastest growing region, uh, our largest region. Um, you know, [00:04:00] last year, well, north of 1.3 billion pounds. Um, so it is growing. And, uh, you know, we're very committed to it as a business. So, you know, my role is to make sure that we're delivering for our customers in North America.

Matt Lescault: So you just said 1.3 billion pounds is North America. Is that correct? Yeah. So if I have my math right, that's about 50% of Sage period.

Mark Hickman: Yeah. That's about yeah.

Matt Lescault: Just to kind of size that up.

Mark Hickman: Yeah, that's [00:04:30] absolutely right. Yeah. That is yeah. We are, which has been a big shift because obviously, you know, the US business is really scaled over the last, I'd say since we acquired intact especially right. Intact has been very, very successful acquisition for Sage. I mean it goes down as one of the greatest in history. It's we've more than ten X it I think, since we acquired it.

Emily Madere: And when did y'all acquire intact for our listeners?

Mark Hickman: Um, 11 years ago.

Doug Lewis: I like [00:05:00] to think, Mark, that most of that growth is solely because of you. And let's just let everybody assume that that is the case. You're moving forward for this discussion specifically.

Mark Hickman: Well, Doug, I thought it was the podcast that was driving most of it. That was my understanding.

Doug Lewis: You know, you're right, except the checks don't seem to reflect that. So we'll have a discussion offline about that Mark. But that's okay. We'll leave that, you know, off the recordings, off the cusp. You know, Matt, you kind of joked here that, you know, you're traveling quite a bit and we all do on this podcast here, but Mark, what is your travel [00:05:30] schedule really look like being the managing director of North America?

Mark Hickman: Uh, I would say I wish I was on a plane every two weeks. It's usually every week, um, back and forth to Atlanta and then Toronto. We have offices in Vancouver, Portland, Austin. Uh, we do need to go over to Europe to headquarters in Newcastle and UK quite a bit in London. Um so yeah, so and then, you know, I got to visit customers in New York and Chicago, uh, San Jose, etc. so yeah, [00:06:00] so we, we really are playing warriors, but that's not something that's new for people in tech. I've been in tech close to 25 years. And, you know, I'm one of those multimillion mile type people just because that's what we do, right? We, we visit our customers and our partners and, and our colleagues. So yeah, we kind of live on planes.

Doug Lewis: And do you, do you ever get annoyed when you talk to people who don't travel for work too much and they're like, wow, it must be amazing. You must, you must just [00:06:30] go do all the tourist things in this city or this country or wherever you might be. Does that get frustrating to you too as well?

Mark Hickman: Um, yeah, I think people have a view of travel. When you do travel for pleasure, you know, that is an exciting time. You're going to the airport, you're excited, you're thinking about the vacation, maybe it's the beach, a nice sunshine, etc.. As I always like to say, the inside of conference rooms look the same no matter where they are in the world, whether they're in Tokyo.

Emily Madere: In the carpet.

Mark Hickman: Yeah, I've been in conference [00:07:00] rooms in Honolulu. I mean, um, you know, over the years. So it's, you know, but they look exactly the same. So everybody has this vision that it is glamorous and, you know, there are worse things to do. I mean, I've seen the world, uh, with my job, so I've been very fortunate. But I think, yeah, it's they don't people don't remember the three hour delays that we get, you know, once every four flights and, and those kind of things. But it's, uh, yeah, it's just part of the job as the way I look at it. And, uh, you know, there are some nice perks that come with it, right? [00:07:30]

Matt Lescault: So I have to ask this question, is there something that you like to do kind of in every city or place that you go? I have mine, but I want I want to hear what yours is first.

Doug Lewis: And let's, let's clarify, uh, legal, legal.

Mark Hickman: I'm always.

Emily Madere: Legal.

Mark Hickman: Accounting business dog. Um, I think definitely restaurants, food and different places. And when you get to a new city, I always like going to a new city and just seeing it for the first time with that lens [00:08:00] and, um, you know, seeing those special places that you've heard about and, you know, sights, etc., um, are definitely things, but I think usually probably food, right? You get that, you know, when you're in, you know, you're in a Spain or France or, you know, I've been to Japan many times, India, um, you know, tasting that local food and immersing yourself a little bit in the culture. But, you know, I don't, I haven't spent a lot of time doing touristy things on business trips really in my career. Not as much as probably most people would assume. [00:08:30]

Emily Madere: Mark you just, you just named exotic locations. But let me tell you, have you ever been to Baton Rouge, Louisiana?

Mark Hickman: You know, you know what? I've been to 46 of 50 US states. So yes, I have.

Doug Lewis: And Louisiana. Louisiana ranks on all those states. Mark in Europe.

Emily Madere: At the top. At the top.

Mark Hickman: Well, New Orleans is one of my, uh, you know, definitely up there. That was quite a fun city. We used to do events way back when, when I was at a company, we used to do our big customer [00:09:00] event there, like future. Um, so we used to bring in cruise ships into the, into the harbor there because we didn't have enough hotels, etc.. But yeah, I mean, New Orleans is, you know, when we talk about food and fun and New Orleans is definitely an amazing city.

Emily Madere: Yeah.

Doug Lewis: You mentioned future there. Which future 2026 coming up in San Francisco here very shortly. Uh, for those at the time of recording, we're about ten days away, roughly give or take from that specific event. We'd love to jump into that. Talk a little bit about it. Some of the surprises, what you're excited about, what might have changed [00:09:30] from last year? Mark. But before we jump into future specific items here, could we maybe take a step back because you're at this strange intersection of technology, finance, you know, regulate so much is changing so rapidly. Now, what has kind of changed in the past 6 to 12 months in the whole Sage ecosystem? You're evolving. You're growing like a weed, you know? What what changes have kind of been made internally? Uh, before we talk about the events specifically, and then another piece I'd really [00:10:00] love to dive into because again, you sit at this very strange intersection. I mean, what trends are you seeing just shaping where technology is going in the next 6 to 12 months?

Mark Hickman: Yeah. I think, um, when we take a step back, those of us that have been around tech for a while, you know, we've had these major things happen. You know, I remember when I was in uni and the internet kind of came out and it took you like five minutes to dial in. You know, you walk down the street with a high powered computer in your hand and kind [00:10:30] of take it for granted, right? Uh, we had the advent of the cloud and, and how that evolved and how that changed everything. And now we've got AI. And, you know, AI is incredibly different. Um, it's very fast moving. Um, you know, I think people thought it was going to move much quicker than it actually is. Um, adoption in these things is way more complicated than actually delivering the tech for it. So I think what we're seeing is trends in, in our space is really just that adoption of [00:11:00] AI and how it's affecting, you know, the accounting space, which is where we play and how now it's getting embedded into those finance workflows and on how our customers are starting to use our AI and get great value from it. And, and it's really about, you know, at Sage, we're very, very focused on, on AI and delivering AI that's different and differentiating ourselves in this space because accounting is different. You know, when you type into ChatGPT, write me an essay on this or write me [00:11:30] a paper on this. It can be 70% right and you can tweak it. You can't be 70% right in accounting, right? As we like to say, you go to jail for that.

Emily Madere: Um.

Mark Hickman: So, you know, but but the accounting industry, our CFOs are CPAs. They absolutely need to be lockstep. They have to deliver the numbers. Things have to balance. So we look at AI really on three pillars. You know, we think it's AI you can trust, and trust is a major thing for the AI that we're delivering to market. [00:12:00] You know, we want people to be confident that when they use our AI, it's not a black box happening behind that. They have no idea where that data came from and, and how it was or how that or those numbers came to be. You know, we have our trust label that really you can click on, you could delve into it, you know, control humans are still in charge. Humans drive these workflows. You know, accounting is different. We can't just have AI running everything behind the scenes. We need [00:12:30] humans to control that AI and deliver what they need from those outputs. It will obviously change those day to day workflows, but humans still need to be in charge with confidence and then accountability. As I mentioned, everything has to be traceable with our AI. We don't want some large language model that somebody's just pumping stuff into. It's coming back. You have no idea where it came from, how that data was trained. Is it hallucinating? Is it not hallucinating? You need to be able to trust that that AI is credible, and [00:13:00] you're going to be able to use it in, in your accounting, right? When you produce that to the, to the auditors. So, so we're very, very focused on AI. You can trust with confidence.

Matt Lescault: Can I ask a question around that?

Mark Hickman: Yeah.

Matt Lescault: What are you hearing from finance leaders specifically about Sage when it comes to the AI approach that Sage is delivering, what are you actually hearing directly from those finance leaders that you're interacting with? You talked about visiting customers and really being out there. So [00:13:30] you have this really unique perspective with with getting all that feedback. So I'd love to understand that.

Mark Hickman: Yeah. What we're hearing is this is game changing. They are looking at AI to help them be more efficient so they can be more strategic. And as we've seen, we talked about this last year at our conference. Uh, the role of the CFO is changing. It's becoming significantly more strategic. And I think that, um, taking [00:14:00] away the day to day tasks, the mundane tasks and turning those into an automated flow, so those accounting people are freed up to do things that are going to drive the business forward, uh, giving people insights into the data that they can then take to the C-suite and say, this is what we're doing, this is what past trends show, and this is what we need to do moving forward and being able to do that at scale, uh, and being able to close the books faster. So you have that, you know, [00:14:30] Aaron's been talking for many years about, you know, we want to reduce the close and eliminate the close. Ai is really going to speed that up and give us that opportunity to do that. So. So what we're hearing is, uh, very open to adoption of AI. It's really about efficiency and insights, but it's not something that I see. You know, everybody's just taking AI off the shelf, left, right and center. It's still a very, you know, this is a conservative area of tech. And [00:15:00] as we mentioned, you know, 70% right isn't good enough. So so it has to be credible. That's why we're all about trust, all about transparency in the way that we deliver it.

Emily Madere: So let me ask you a question. Um, I think in the market recently, there's been this big push for accounting solutions that say they're AI focused. Um, I've run into a couple of them in my opportunities and there are these new solutions. Once you've, you know, really not heard a lot [00:15:30] about, um, can you talk a little bit about kind of how Sage Intacct would compare to those kind of new solutions that drive AI first.

Mark Hickman: Yeah. I mean, technology is something that is driven by innovation. So new organizations coming in and saying, we're AI first and we're, you know, we're an ERP that is based on on AI and we're AI native, etc. you know, those those are good things for our industry. But, you know, the way that we kind of look at this [00:16:00] is how do you train AI? You train AI with data. We have a lot of data, right? So we want to train that AI on trusted data, right? We have an ecosystem and we also have a product that meets the needs of the accounting profession in our space. So we have the ability to connect into these other solutions. We also, you know, want everybody tied into our network. And then our AI workflows will flow [00:16:30] across from their products into our products. You know, we just kicked off our AI I Agentic marketplace, where our partners are delivering AI agents that will work across our ecosystem. So, you know.

Emily Madere: That's something that that y'all talked about at last future too. So, um.

Mark Hickman: Yeah, now it's coming to fruition, you know, hundreds and hundreds of agents being built that will be available to our customers so that they can deliver even better in their workflows. [00:17:00] So we're very, very focused on continuing to build out our ecosystem. But I think it's great that new organizations are coming into our marketplace and, you know, driving, driving this forward. I mean, it's, you know, 20 years ago in tech was that.

Matt Lescault: Can I ask this question? I know there's so much emphasis on AI and I know why, but can you give us a little bit of insight into some of the other things that are happening in Sage, uh, from a initiative perspective that might be less talked about because of how much focus [00:17:30] is on AI today and how that could impact customers, how that could impact partners and things of that nature. Is that a fair question?

Mark Hickman: No. Absolutely. Yeah. Um, some of it ties back to AI because everything does kind of tie back to AI nowadays, but speed to speed to speed to market. Um, how are we going to implement faster? Uh, how are we going to get customers time to value reduced? Um, how are we going to, uh, you know, what we're doing [00:18:00] also is focusing in on, on verticals and micro verticals addressing the needs of specific areas, right? So our solution addresses the needs of those businesses within those verticals, which is something we've always done, but we're doubling down on that as well. So I think those are two of the core areas besides just, you know, the close agent AI and those kind of things. It's more, you know, we're trying to take care of everything across the ecosystem. We want our customers to continue to grow. We've also made recent acquisitions [00:18:30] and expense management. And I'm very excited about Sage HCM, which is our payroll HR solution, which is doing very, very well.

Matt Lescault: I'm seeing that rolled out a lot recently.

Mark Hickman: Yeah, I know it's, it's, it's, it's a great technology. And, um, when you think about Sage and all of our products, we've always had payroll be part of that, uh, and intact, you know, we partner with ADP on all outsourced payroll as well. But our Sage HCM is something that is really going to help us grow our business [00:19:00] and deliver for our customers in a complete solution.

Emily Madere: Sage expense management as, as well. Um, I, that was, that was a big, um, gap, I think in the past that a lot of clients came to me like, we just need an expense management solution and we kind of wanted it all in one. And now we have the answer for that.

Mark Hickman: Yeah. No, that's been a very successful acquisition as well. We're about almost 12 months into that one and it's done incredibly well. Overachieved all targets. Customers are loving it. And you know it's [00:19:30] fully integrated into our product, so it's great.

Matt Lescault: Well, what I, I guess I'm honored that you brought up the time to value because I get to speak at a session on Tuesday about time to value and doing faster implementations and how to approach that. And so, um, it's something that we think about a lot because if we look at from competitive perspective, if we have invitations that are taking three, six, eight months, we're going to lose on that side of things. So that's, uh, you know, [00:20:00] it's great to hear.

Mark Hickman: Yeah, it's, it's exciting. And it's, uh, you know, the market's going that way. And, um, you know, the market drives these things. And at Sage, we want to be at the forefront of that. So we want to bring value faster to customers and bring tools and templates and all the things that are necessary to do that for our partners.

Matt Lescault: So we should have an episode about that, guys, and we should get Mark to Force Aid, uh, onto the call to talk about it.

Mark Hickman: You might need, uh, subtitles when Aids talking.

Matt Lescault: Um, [00:20:30] so there's a, there's an individual at Sage Aid Surrey who oversees all of intact from professional services also I think X3 and some other products.

Mark Hickman: He runs all of global services and he's, he's a Geordie so he's from Newcastle, our headquarters.

Doug Lewis: Mark want to jump into future 2026 here in a second. But just to close out this kind of whole broader ecosystem, artificial intelligence conversation where Sage fits into everything. You know, you mentioned that not everybody is really implementing AI [00:21:00] quite yet. It hasn't taken off from an implementation standpoint. There's a lot of theory around it and discussions. Great stuff, you know, what do you think is the most common challenge you hear from customers, prospects, anybody inside your kind of world, your ecosystem, you know that AI hasn't been able to solve that challenge yet, but you're working on a solution to bring that to market. Is there anything that a specific challenge or roadblock that comes to mind that kind of fits that mold.

Mark Hickman: Um, I [00:21:30] think that's getting better and better every day. Doug, what we're seeing at the moment is things that you couldn't even imagine could be possible six months ago, and now they're becoming possible. And I think that adoption is always a little bit slower because you can't just inject things like that into your business, like overnight. It's got to be done in a way that's, you know, that's done that makes sense to your workflows and your teams and how your processes roll. But you know, when we talk to customers and we show customers, [00:22:00] our agents, um, they are like, this will transform. And then we let people, you know, they get on it and they're this, I'm three times more productive. I cannot believe how much faster we're getting things done. And I think that, you know, so we're seeing the proof points and you'll see that being discussed in the future with customers. But but I think it's just more a case of adoption always takes time. It's not instant. You know, people can't stop everything and just move to a new thing, [00:22:30] right? So I think it's but it's evolving. And, you know, that's why we're excited about future because we want to showcase this to all of our customers, you know, thousands of customers coming. We want them all to see what we're delivering and how that can enable their business and then have those conversations and then our ecosystem around it as well with our partners and how their agents are going to fit right into that ecosystem and serve those customers as well. So. So we're excited about it. But adoption always takes time. It's not instant. The cloud is [00:23:00] still being adopted in some places. So, you know, it's not you know, we never thought we'd get rid of mainframes, but mainframes still run the world. So, you know, there's always these things that, uh, that take time, but I'd say AI adoption is probably faster than the other adoptions we've seen, but it's not. Press a button and we're at 100% right out of the gate. Right?

Doug Lewis: Yeah. And the, the last trend on AI and then we're getting to future, I promise you here, but I do love it just since this is relatively current at the time of taping here, that, uh, that shoe company that put, oh, we're an AI, uh, organization now and their stock [00:23:30] shut up. I think 600%. Yeah. In the next trading session, does that ring a bell for you guys? And now, of course, it's plummeting again. But I do love and Emily, you kind of mentioned it earlier that all of these little companies now and some of the large ones that are rebranding as AI experts that have nothing to do with technology whatsoever coming out of the woodwork. So it is just like the Wild West out there with all, all of these players.

Mark Hickman: It's it's reminiscent a little bit of the.com boom, right where I.

Emily Madere: Was just thinking that. [00:24:00]

Mark Hickman: People had a website and therefore their business was worth billions. Uh, and then everybody figured out they didn't actually have a business case, uh, or a business. They just had a website and then, you know, it plummeted and we had the crash. So I think AI is very different than the.com, mainly because if you look at AI and how it's being driven, it's being driven predominantly by very large companies, Right that are established with lots of customers and lots of money. So it's not people, you know, there will be those shoe [00:24:30] company type scenarios. But really, at the end of the day, the ones that are actually driving AI are very large organizations and very successful organizations. So I think it is a bit different. But, you know, we did have a little reset in the tech stocks, uh, a few months ago, which.

Matt Lescault: Was.

Mark Hickman: A reset, but it wasn't a, it wasn't a crash. Right? It's just, I think it's just the reset it on the adoption. Right. And I think you'll see that all scale [00:25:00] back up as adoption continues to grow.

Matt Lescault: Interesting. On that point, I read an article right around the time that that dip happened that said it came out of out of the UK and said the first time that Sage's stock was a value buy in a long time because of how how that dip impacted sage, but that if you looked at the earnings and everything else. That was very strong. Now public service announcement. I'm not a financial advisor. I'm not giving any financial advice in any of this. [00:25:30] But I thought it was an interesting article and how kind of the market sentiment can change what's happening, even if it's not relevant to one individual company.

Mark Hickman: Exactly.

Emily Madere: All right. I think I want to talk about future. I think I'm ready. I think it's time. Doug, why don't you kick us off?

Doug Lewis: Yeah. Mark. So I feedback was overwhelmingly positive from last year's event, from what I can tell. But I'd love to hear just a very quick reflection on your end to how you think everything went. If you had any specific [00:26:00] feedback from attendees or partners or anybody that showed up that said, hey, this would be great if you did this. This didn't quite work for me. You know what? You might be tweaking and changing this year. Of course, we got to talk about who's going to be speaking. Aside from our esteemed Matt here, I think you have the 3:30 a.m. slot, if I'm not mistaken. Is that right?

Matt Lescault: I think it's more like the 7 p.m. when everybody's at happy hour.

Mark Hickman: That's right.

Doug Lewis: Who's going to be speaking.

Doug Lewis: The main stage, the keynotes, the super sessions, which are brand new this year, if I'm not mistaken. So [00:26:30] Mark, could you give us just a 32nd recap of how you felt future 2025 went and what we can maybe expect from changes moving into 2026?

Mark Hickman: Yeah, I think, um, first up, it was in Atlanta, which was our North American home. So that that was exciting and that was great for us to do it at home. Um, I think that we, we got great reviews from the customers and the partners, you know, about the message, you know, Steve's keynote was, was very well received, as was Aaron's, [00:27:00] uh, which are always our two key Sage keynotes. Uh, and I think that the vision that we were painting to the customers and was very well thought of. And then, um, I think, you know, we had some, you know, quite a bit of, um, great feedback from the sessions, which is really where the core of everything happens right in the keynotes. It's the big message and where we're going. Painting our future and we're Sage is going to be in the future. And then when we get into the sessions, we talk way more [00:27:30] about, you know, where we are now and how we can help you now and what we can do for your business now. So, you know, we've seen a lot of uptick from customers. You know, for instance, our dynamic plan selling AP automation has really taken off since last year's future.

Mark Hickman: It's been very successful. And then I think in the keynotes, you know, what we saw is we had Doctor Michael Gervais and he was amazing. And everybody remembers when he brought the person on stage and he didn't think he'd be able to do the alphabet backwards, [00:28:00] but he proved he could. Apparently he was a very smart, smart audience person. But I think that was a that was a major highlight. Everybody was aghast that somebody could, you know, do the alphabet backwards. Um, but I, you know, I think one of the feedbacks we got from people in the keynotes was that, um, the product pieces of it were very high level and they wanted a little bit more detail. So I think, um, what you'll see this year is more our [00:28:30] keynotes with people outside of Sage. So we've got a lot more outside experts that we're bringing on stage in the keynotes. Uh, and then we're doing our, our new sessions now, um, that, uh, Matt will be part of, right, which is, uh, which will be, which will be critical for us as well.

Matt Lescault: So for if you can, uh, drop a name, would there be one external keynote or speaker that you're most excited to hear from? [00:29:00]

Mark Hickman: Well, I think there's a few. I mean, it's not fair. I mean, to just name. I'll um, so Scott Crew, uh, who, uh, will, I'll be on stage with, uh, interviewing. He's the CFO of the New York Yankees.

Matt Lescault: Okay.

Mark Hickman: Which is, is very cool. I think it'll be awesome for everybody in the audience to hear from somebody who, uh, is a CFO like them, but is for the New York Yankees, which is probably one of the most recognizable brands in the world. But he closes [00:29:30] the books and does audits just like everybody else. So, you know, having a conversation with him is, is something I look forward to. And then we have Kara Swisher, who will be on stage with Amy Lawson, who runs our global comms and brand. Uh, and Kara is obviously a famous New York Times tech journalist. And she's also got a successful podcast like The Pivot. Uh, so I think that's exciting to have somebody who has that lens and talk to us about what she's seeing in AI and how it's evolving. So yeah, so we got some very [00:30:00] key people. And then of course, we have Steve kicking it off, which we're very excited about, you know, where we're going now and how that's evolving from last year. And then, you know, the highlight of every, uh, Sage event is always when Aaron gets on stage and Aaron paints that picture of, uh, you know, where we're going. Uh, you know, it really is, uh, you know, all the partners and the customers just love it, right? He's so intrinsic in our culture and who we are as a business. So, uh, and one of the founders of intact. So he paints the picture of really [00:30:30] what the next, the next vision of where we're going will be. So yeah, so I think it's going to be very exciting, very different, as I say. And then we're going to have the super sessions where we'll delve into product. Uh.

Emily Madere: What, what is a super session for those of us who might not know yet?

Mark Hickman: Yeah, a super session is very product specific. So we'll have, uh, John Fassel, who runs intact. He will come on stage and tell us all about what's coming in intact and all the cool things [00:31:00] that are in the vision. So I think of it like a drop down into way more product focused, whereas the keynotes are future facing, the super sessions are really getting into more detail on the product of what's coming and what's here now and what's coming in the next year that you'll be able to use. So we'll have those for our various products, including intact and X3 and construction, etc..

Matt Lescault: I think there's something really amazing about what that can do for the overall ecosystem. [00:31:30] Um, I've seen a lot of clients that implement intact and don't really go back to reconfigure over their lifetime with intact and not getting the full feature set of what they could out of the product. And I think some of that has to do with a lack of education component, um, and a lack of knowledge of what's been changing, whether it's the quarterly releases or new, uh, new modules or acquisitions of other other products that are getting, [00:32:00] uh, getting built into intact. And so I hope that what, what we see from these super, super sessions is this knowledge transfer of what, what, where they could take their already utilized because what a big, big contingency of, uh, the attendees is going to be current customers of intact. Right?

Mark Hickman: Absolutely.

Mark Hickman: No, that's the, that's the lion's share. So that's, that's what it's for. And then beyond that, obviously, we have the smaller breakout sessions where we delve [00:32:30] into details on the things we presented in the super sessions. So if something really grabs your attention that you think is something that you could use in your business, then you can go attend those sessions and go that level below, right? So then we want to get people enabled. So it's the super sessions is really to paint the picture because when you're on the keynotes, you can't have, you know, three hour keynotes on product. Um, you know, you lose the audience, right? So it's, it's, you know, you've got to have the super session is on a big stage. Um, and, [00:33:00] you know, they're going to be very well attended, but it'll really paint that picture of the product, not just the high level future vision, but delving into more of the detail and then the breakout sessions is the next layer after that, right? So the people we want people to, to leave like, like you said, Matt, with a vision of what we can do for their business beyond just the initial configuration of intact into the future with AI, but also with, you know, Sage, ACM, expense management, all the different things [00:33:30] that we are bringing to market that we can serve the customers with.

Matt Lescault: So is there a, uh, content distribution plan post conference to sort of take these, the information from the super sessions and these, I'll call them breakout sessions and deploy those into the client base and into the partner group.

Mark Hickman: Absolutely. You know, webinars and making sure that it extends beyond because obviously we can't have every intact customer. We'd love every intact customer [00:34:00] future. But yeah, we want to reach all those customers and make sure all those customers know the value of what we're delivering and what we can do for their business. So there will be follow on, on marketing events to, to ensure that everybody's getting that vision.

Doug Lewis: And we gloss past this. You know, you'll be interviewing the CFO of the New York Yankees. Mark, I assume that everybody understands that you could easily clear the home run fence at Yankee Field, right? If you're a bat, that's not the question. Let's make that assumption. You could. How fast is the fastball these days? If [00:34:30] you had to guess.

Mark Hickman: Um, well, it's usually like 100 miles an hour now, right? It used to be 90. Now it's 100.

Doug Lewis: I meant yours, Mark.

Doug Lewis: I know, I know what they're doing. I don't care what they're doing.

Mark Hickman: We do sponsor MLB, as you know. So I might have done a few things. I was on the field last year at Truist Field with some partners doing batting practice. Uh, and I did have a bet with my son that I get it out of the infield. Um, you know, and, and I did, although the first pitch was way outside and they told us to swing at everything. So [00:35:00] he thought that was the funniest thing ever. To see me flailing at an outside pitch wasn't a good, uh. Yeah, but I'm, uh. Yeah, I know it's my fastball is not very fast. Yeah. We'll just leave it at that. Yeah.

Doug Lewis: Yeah. No, I get it.

Emily Madere: I'm right there with you, Mark. I have a slow ball for sure.

Mark Hickman: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Thank you.

Doug Lewis: You got you got control. That's what's important.

Mark Hickman: Oh, wait. Don't worry. It'll be over the plate. Yeah.

Doug Lewis: So looking back to the future here, any surprises, any surprise announcements on the docket that internally you're aware [00:35:30] of that maybe the public isn't quite aware of yet. Obviously we're not going to ask you to disclose them. But is there going to be some kind of exciting bombshell announcement nobody's seen coming?

Mark Hickman: Um, there are. Three that I think will be will.

Emily Madere: Be big.

Mark Hickman: Three that I cannot share, um, that are in embargo, but I think they're very exciting and game changing for customers and partners.

Matt Lescault: So what's funny about this is, [00:36:00] you know, we got the information about what's under embargo, but my team didn't let me read it, so I had no chance to actually get it wrong in this, uh, in this interview. So I get to read it afterwards, but I haven't read it yet because I figured I don't want, I don't, I don't want Brittany to beat me up.

Mark Hickman: I'm just no comment on that. I'm very well trained. Uh, for those.

Doug Lewis: For those thinking about attending, haven't registered yet, whatever, or have no clue what they registered for and will be attending. Mark, what can they expect from an experience perspective on this [00:36:30] thing? We talk a lot about content sessions, keynotes, very educational, you know, exciting stuff. What can they expect kind of behind the scenes, happy hours, dinners, networking events. Take your pick.

Mark Hickman: Yeah. I think, um, on the Monday night, we're doing, um, the Giants at Giants Stadium at the, at the baseball stadium down on, um, on the waterfront. Um, we are, you know, there's a plethora of dinners and events going on all the time. Um, we, we take great pride in our [00:37:00] events at Sage and I've worked at a lot of tech companies, but we really go above and beyond. We're all about the experience. We're all about making sure everybody's having a good time and getting to where they need and, and everything is set up properly. So. So I think it's, it's, they are very well put together events, but we also want people to, you know, do the work part, but also have the fun part. Uh, we will have Sage Fest, uh, which is going to be an incredibly cool location, which I can't say, but it's, uh, [00:37:30] one of the top ones in San Francisco that will just make it even more special where on the Thursday night, everybody can kind of, um, you know, blow, blow some steam off after a long week and just enjoy themselves in an incredible setting, you know, with music and fun and food. And I think that that'll be fun as well. So yeah, so we're, it's gonna, if people are coming, what we want them to leave with is that they're coming with value, that they came to get information and they got that information, but they also enjoyed [00:38:00] it and had fun doing it. Uh, and that's why we've changed the keynotes to be more informational, more industry led, more experts coming to the table, because I think that'll be something we've seen. That's what people enjoy. And, you know, we've listened to feedback on that. People really enjoy hearing from industry experts on, on what's going on beyond the walls.

Emily Madere: One thing that you hadn't mentioned, but I enjoy immensely when I go to the Sage conference is the Sage marketplace. Yeah. Talking with vendors [00:38:30] and the ecosystem, I think is always pretty valuable, especially if you have a specific need and you need to find a solution for. Um, yeah, they're always great.

Mark Hickman: Yeah. We've, uh, we've gone above and beyond on that this year, and there'll be a different way to kind of enter into that, into the grand hall, which I think more traffic there. And, uh, you know, our keynote sponsors this year are exceptional. And at the top of the ticket is cpa.com. So one of the things that, you know, we're very proud [00:39:00] of at Sage is that we are accountants who serve accountants and um, you know, to have them as our titanium sponsor really kind of shows that to a different level. Like the people that sponsor our conference, the highest level are the people that everybody in the audience is part of that association. So we believe that we understand what accountants need, we understand what they do. And so everything we do is aligned with that. From [00:39:30] what I described about our AI strategy to our product strategy, to the way that we engage to everything. So I think, you know, we're very excited about that.

Emily Madere: All right, Mark, I'm ready. Can it can Sage future come like next week? I'm excited.

Mark Hickman: I need the week. So let's.

Mark Hickman: Just. Okay.

Doug Lewis: Well, you have, what, 4 or 5 more trips before then, right? I imagine based on what we discussed here, uh, you know, Mark, kind of one of the last questions I have for people attending Sage future 2026. You know, what [00:40:00] can they expect from a return on investment of their time? Is it going to be strictly knowledge? Is it the the networking that you can't quite put a price tag on? I mean, does that differ by who you are as an attendee and where you fit into the ecosystem? You know, just what can people really expect to get out of this thing?

Mark Hickman: I'd like them to leave understanding what where we're going as a business and how we're supporting them and how they can move forward from the customer perspective, uh, from our partner ecosystem. Um, you [00:40:30] know, we want them to engage with our customers. This is a place where you can engage with our partners, you can engage with our executives. Um, so it is, it is a one stop shop with thousands of people all there for one reason. And, um, I think knowledge is one of the things that we want people to get out of it, but we consider ourselves a family at Sage with our partner ecosystem and our customers. That's the way we look at it. And for us, it's about us, not about I or [00:41:00] you. And I think, you know, we want people to leave that event feeling part of our ecosystem and feeling part of our family.

Doug Lewis: Matt. Emily. Since you're kind of on the other side of the coin, not, not Sage not the official Sage team here. What are the two of you hoping to get out of this event?

Matt Lescault: Emily, I'll let you go first.

Emily Madere: I feel like you always pass it to me first, so that I can give, like, a bad answer. So that you can come up in behind and give a better one. But I'm gonna try. I'm [00:41:30] gonna try. Um, some things I'm hoping for. Um, I did recently start at a new company, so I'm hoping to a network with a lot of my colleagues because I work remotely. Um, b I want to just get immersed in the Sage. I don't, I don't know what you call it, but whenever you go to Sage future, I always feel, I guess very like future focused, right? Because Sage is talking about all of these new product releases, and they're talking about new features and they're talking about AI. [00:42:00] Um, so I just want to get immersed in that and put on my, my, my learning hat and just kind of soak it all in. And then I find a lot of values. I think I've already mentioned in the marketplace. Um, so getting caught up to speed with the new things that they're releasing because just like Sage, uh, these marketplace partners are releasing new features and functionalities. Um, and then of course, to, to see. Matt.

Doug Lewis: But not Mark, not Mark just Matt.

Emily Madere: No, no, no, [00:42:30] no, no. Yeah, not Mark. Just. Matt. No. Uh, I'm excited to, to see you in person again. Mark. And to see your team. We've always, um, connected well at these events.

Doug Lewis: Matt. What are you looking to get out of this thing?

Matt Lescault: Well, before I answer that, last time I saw Mark was in Florida when we had the partner conference. Emily was there. We were all there together. Um, and I and I threw out an idea to Mark. Now, what I'm going to say is part of this, the new launch of this podcast is this international focus, [00:43:00] because we really look at intact as one of the few firms that drive a international approach for accountants by accountants. Uh, and so I had this idea that we could get all the MDS from around the world and have an MD death match on the podcast of who is, who is the biggest and baddest MD. Not really. Just just a nice conversation around that kind of ecosystem. And I know I'm not going to ask you to commit, [00:43:30] Mark, but I'm going to throw that idea back out to you. Yeah, because I, I did that and I think I had a whiskey in my hand. I'll be honest. Um, you didn't I'll let everybody know Mark was behaving himself. Um, but I thought that'd be a really, uh, really interesting, uh, uh, episode that a lot of people would like to see how the different regions are really communicating with each other and delivering one unified vision to what intact is for the world. And so just a, just a, just [00:44:00] a placeholder there. Yeah.

Doug Lewis: We might have to rethink the name deathmatch, but sure.

Emily Madere: Yeah.

Doug Lewis: The idea stands still. Go ahead. Matt, what are you looking to get out of future 2026?

Matt Lescault: So for me, I think it, you know, something that Mark just said about family resonates. And I have this and I probably said this last time. So, um, just to end this conversation correctly, Mark is our annual, uh, guest for when futures come in. So it's our second episode with Mark. Um, and family [00:44:30] resonates because I work with so many people at Sage across multiple departments, across multiple regions. And, uh, even though this is specific to North America, there's so many people that I work with on a day to day, week to week, month and quarterly basis that I'm really looking forward to seeing in person and having some time to socialize with just like Emily. Seen Emily. Mark. Doug. I'll be thinking of you on the beach going. That son of a gun. Um, but, [00:45:00] uh, really, it's it's you build these relationships in a way that is impactful because we, we win together or we lose together. And relationships really do drive a, a winning culture. Uh, and when you have division within relationship, it crumbles a culture. And so for me, these moments allow us to maintain and to elevate, uh, those, uh, those connections. Yeah.

Doug Lewis: Well, you heard [00:45:30] it here first. Nowhere else. Sage future 2026. April 28th. I believe to the 30th. San Francisco. Be there or be square. Mark's going to be there. So you know it's going to be a party. Uh, maybe we can get a whiskey in your hand this time. Who knows?

Doug Lewis: I don't know. We'll see. Mark.

Doug Lewis: For better or worse. Mark. We always like to end these things with a terrible dad joke. Now I'll come up with one and throw it out to the crew. But I always love offering up to the guests if you have one on standby. I'll give you the offer now. What do you think?

Mark Hickman: Um, yeah, I've got one on standby. I was ready.

Doug Lewis: Oh. Oh, [00:46:00] boy. Okay. All right.

Mark Hickman: Ready to play this time? Yeah.

Doug Lewis: Let's do it. Hit us.

Mark Hickman: The first one, I looked at it, I said, um, I try to make a budgeting joke, but I couldn't get it to balance.

Doug Lewis: That was so bad. It doesn't count. That was so bad.

Mark Hickman: On my joke. That was just my preamble. Um, why did the accountant break up with the calendar?

Doug Lewis: I couldn't, couldn't keep.

Mark Hickman: Couldn't [00:46:30] keep because it has too many dates that didn't close on time. Oh gosh.

Emily Madere: That was well, you're.

Doug Lewis: You're looking to solve that problem with the continuous close, right?

Mark Hickman: Absolutely. Yeah. This is that's why that's that's a preamble. It's it's an.

Doug Lewis: Preamble. Oh my gosh. I can't wait for the actual joke.

Mark Hickman: Needs to know just by the close agent that goes away. Yeah.

Doug Lewis: That's it. It's just that easy, folks. You heard it here. Uh, Mark, thanks for joining us again. I hope to have you back here shortly. Uh, we'll make sure we drop your personal cell and home [00:47:00] address, uh, on this as well, so people can get in touch with you if they're going to be at the conference.

Mark Hickman: Appreciate that.

Doug Lewis: Take care, my friend.

Emily Madere: Awesome. Thank you. Bye.

Matt Lescault: Well, another great podcast episode here, one where we focused on future coming up. As we've mentioned before, this is an international podcast focused on how Sage Intacct is really driving one vision across the world on how accounting [00:47:30] is delivered for accountants through technology. Today's episode was a focus on North America, two regions, both U.S. and Canada, and a conference where I think close to 5000 people are going to show up to show their support in what intact is doing and where it's going. Looking forward to seeing everybody there.