Ellen’s three things: Takeaways from Aiwyn’s all-hands & applications for our profession

There’s something powerful about being in the room with your colleagues, all there for a shared mission and purpose. This was the case at Aiwyn’s in-person All-Hands. The energy was undeniable—momentum, alignment, and an entire company moving forward with clarity and purpose.

What struck me most wasn’t just the energy—it was the realization that tech vendors serving the accounting profession are, in many ways, not so different from the CPA firms we support. Whether it’s aligning people around a shared vision, ensuring cross-functional collaboration through scale, or keeping client experience at the heart of our work, these are universal themes for organizations navigating growth and transformation.

Here are a few takeaways that resonated with me—ones I see as just as critical for CPA firms as they are for the technology vendors that serve them.

1. Proactively build fun into the culture as a competitive advantage

At the start of the day, we opened with a game of dad jokes, giving the Aiwyn team a chance to showcase their stand-up comedian chops. (Charlie Bateman—if the sales thing doesn’t work out, I think you have a second career in comedy!)

Not only was this a fun way to connect with each other in a different way than we do over Zoom, but it was a reminder that teams that work together and play together will go further, as the energy from the shared experience will carry over into the work that we do, especially those late nights when things have gone awry.

This is something I actively support in the CPA firms I work with. Not everything has to be work. Training doesn’t have to be boring. Learning something new doesn’t have to feel like an obligation. Why not build fun into the way teams collaborate, learn, and grow?

💡 Takeaway: Building a culture that intentionally incorporates fun and camaraderie is a real competitive advantage—for technology vendors and CPA firms alike.

2. Foster world-class cross-functional collaboration & trust for scale

One of the key themes of All-Hands was how  to maintain alignment, collaboration, and trust as we scale. As we support more customers and expand our product, how do we remain a well-oiled machine, even as the number of moving pieces grows? The challenges of scaling from 10 to 100 to 1,000 people require different ways of working, and we discussed how the most successful, iconic companies don’t just focus on creating standalone products or systems—they think about the glue that holds everything together.

This same challenge is playing out in the accounting profession. As firms transition from compliance to advisory, cross-functional collaboration is becoming more critical than ever. Firms that want to win in the future need to break down silos. Whether that’s:

• Cross-selling services across tax, audit, and advisory, or
• Forming new advisory offerings like Tax Advisory Services (TAS), where multiple disciplines come together under one seamless value-added umbrella

The firms that master this will be the ones that unlock new revenue streams and deliver the most value to their clients.

💡 Takeaway: As businesses scale—whether tech companies or CPA firms—the ability to collaborate and integrate different disciplines seamlessly is what separates good from great.

3. Back to foundations: Client focus & customer experience as the top priority

One of the most powerful moments at All-Hands was the discussion around customer satisfaction. Aiwyn doesn’t just track Net Promoter Score (NPS)—we obsess over it. During due diligence, our newest investor KKR even noted that Aiwyn had one of the highest customer satisfaction scores they had seen.

That customer-first mindset is at the heart of the accounting profession as well. Accountants pride themselves on their exceptional attention to client service, and that commitment to quality work and client experience has always been a differentiator.

For Aiwyn, this All-Hands was a powerful reminder that as we grow, there will always be exciting challenges and accomplishments, but our greatest achievement will always be the success of our customers whether it’s saving time, improving the client experience for their firms, or eliminating the drudgery of manual work.

💡 Takeaway: Growth is exciting, but the best firms never lose sight of what makes them great—an obsessive focus on delivering value to their clients.

Bringing the energy of all-hands into the profession

Walking away from Aiwyn’s All-Hands, I was reminded that momentum isn’t accidental—it’s built through clear alignment, strong culture, and a relentless focus on the customer.

For CPA firms, these same principles apply:

• Fun isn’t a distraction—it’s a performance accelerator
• Foster cross-service collaboration for the win
• Keep client experience as the North Star

Our All-Hands was a powerful reminder of who we are, where we’re going, and what will get us there: a culture that energizes, a team that collaborates, and a relentless focus on delivering for our customers.