MYOB Bets Future on AI Transformation
MYOB Bets Future on AI Transformation
https://www.forbes.com.au/brand-voice/brandvoice/myob-ai-transformation/
Publish Date: 2026-04-20 23:56:00
Source Domain: www.forbes.com.au
Published on
April 21, 2026
MYOB revolutionised accounting for small to medium-sized businesses, but the emergence and rapid growth of AI has led the veteran start-up to radically redesign its solutions to support businesses across Australia and New Zealand.
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Paul Robson, addressing MYOB staff in Melbourne.
As one of Australia’s first tech unicorns, MYOB’s pedigree as a stalwart of the crowded small-to-medium enterprise (SME) market is unquestionable. But along with many other businesses across the technology spectrum, artificial intelligence (AI) has introduced an inescapable reality for the company: survival requires a new approach.
“The AI era will be unforgiving,” says the company’s chief executive, Paul Robson, who predicts AI and robotics will be the biggest business game-changers for generations. Early data backs up his point, showing how quickly SMEs have adopted the technology. By 2025, 68% of SMEs with between 20 and 199 employees were using AI in their business, according to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources’ AI Adoption Tracker. Close to a quarter of those surveyed said they were using it to drive decision-making.
As MYOB enters its 35th year, the Melbourne-headquartered firm is meeting the challenge by embarking on one of its boldest journeys yet: using AI to handle the bulk of the work the company was founded to do. AI will sit at the centre of everything from payroll processing to compliance.
Robson describes it as a bold strategy, which will allow the company to refocus its creative energy on serving its business customers in new ways.
It’s one of the company’s biggest bets yet, but its CEO is confident it will pay off.
“The future demands more than improvement. It requires reinvention,” he says. “We don’t see AI as an add-on to the way we…
