New Zealand-founded, Australia-headquartered accounting software company Xero has signed a multi-year partnership with US AI safety company Anthropic to embed the Claude AI model directly into its platform, with the deal also making customer financial data accessible inside Claude.ai.

Smart Company reported that the arrangement will give small businesses and their advisors access to real-time financial insights and the ability to act on them across both platforms without switching between tools.

Xero's AI assistant JAX (Just Ask Xero), powered by Claude, is expected to automate tasks across accounting, payroll and payments, including chasing unpaid invoices and preparing financial reports, as well as analysing revenue and profit performance, tracking cash flow, and suggesting actions.

In a blog post announcing the partnership, Xero said the aim is to move beyond static reporting and into more immediate decision-making, stating: "Small businesses and advisors don't just need data. They need a digital partner that acts on it."

The partnership will additionally allow customers to bring their Xero data into Claude.ai to run analysis and business planning, including combining financial data with external market trends or internal plans to model scenarios such as hiring decisions or year-end positions.

Xero confirmed that customer data shared between platforms will only be used within a specific session and will not be used to train Anthropic's models.

The rollout is expected in the coming months. The announcement coincides with Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei's visit to Sydney, ahead of the company's planned opening of a local Australian office.

The deal reflects mounting pressure on accounting software providers to demonstrate tangible AI-driven value as increasingly capable tools challenge established subscription models.

Access the full story on Xero's partnership with Anthropic.