Sage Responds to Small Business Appetite for Cloud and AI; Announces First Cloud Accounting Platform with Chat Bot Integration

ATLANTA, GA--(Marketwired - Jan 25, 2017) - Around half of small businesses say they are ready to run their companies using Bots and Artificial Intelligence (AI), according to new global research from Sage, the market leader in cloud accounting software. The research comes as Sage announces a fresh launch of cloud accounting solutions to take business builders and entrepreneurs closer to the future where accounting is invisible.

In the U.S., product releases include Sage One with Pegg, the first cloud accounting platform with chat bot integration, as well as Sage People, a flexible cloud Human Capital Management (HCM) solution for mid-sized businesses and enterprises.

As the world's first accounting chat bot, Pegg highlights Sage's investment in AI technology, with more to come.

"In 2016, less than half of accounting software users were in the cloud -- a number we expect to increase this year," said Nancy Harris, Executive Vice President, Sage North America. "Today's announcement highlights our commitment to innovation and supporting the future needs of business builders. As we continue to anticipate what's next in this industry, we look forward to expanding our smart solutions to business owners in North America based on our growing expertise in AI."

Today Sage, the market and technology leader in cloud accounting, announced:

• Five global cloud solutions: Five new accounting cloud solutions across seven global markets for business of all sizes
• More than 20,000 chat bot Pegg users: Tens of thousands of 'new to Sage' customers have adopted accounting chat bot Pegg within six months since its launch
• More than 100 new and fully integrated ISV's on the Sage Marketplace: building on Sage's heritage of strong partnerships, including new global relationships with Salesforce, Microsoft, Apple and Slack
• Invisible accounting by 2020: Sage's vision is to lead the business builders of tomorrow towards an "invisible accounting" environment so they can focus on building their business

Invisible Accounting by 2020
The new cloud solutions highlight Sage's vision to automate back-office functions and empower business builders around the world to achieve invisible accounting by 2020. These include:

• Sage One - Easy to use cloud accounting solution for start-up businesses that manages everything from sales and purchasing to cash flow and taxes. The latest release is now available in the US, UK, Canada and Ireland; newly available in France and Germany.
• Sage One with Pegg, the world's first accounting chat bot is now integrated with Sage One, which acts as a smart assistant, and enables users to track expenses and manage finances through popular messaging apps. Available in the US only with further global roll out planned for 2017.
• Sage Live - A powerful, customizable, and cost-effective cloud accounting solution. Built on the Salesforce Lightning user interface, customers can manage multiple locations and currencies all in the palm of their hand, whilst taking advantage of the add-on solutions available on the Sage market place and the Salesforce App exchange. France, Germany and Spain join the global roll out.
• Sage 50c - Sage's trusted accounting solution now gives its customers greater flexibility and power with the integration with MS Office 365. This new version is designed to give Sage 50 customers complete control over their accounts from anywhere using Sage and Microsoft applications. Now available in the UK with rollout in the U.S. and Canada this spring.
• Sage People - Sage People is a flexible cloud Human Capital Management (HCM) solution for mid-sized businesses and enterprises. The solution is newly available in the UK, US, Canada and Australia, with further roll outs to come.

A Cloud-Enabled AI Revolution
More than one million new customers have followed Sage to the cloud, resulting in a 46 percent increase in subscription relationships. Now, with the first accounting chat bot Pegg having more than 20,000 early adopters in 110 countries, Sage is responding to these changing dynamics by outlining how mobile, live and cloud accounting will integrate with AI technology.

Following market research conducted by Sage, which showed that 64 percent of small business owners would welcome invisible accounting, Sage announced its commitment to helping deliver business builders and entrepreneurs with invisible accounting by 2020.

Sage CTO Klaus Michael Vogelberg said: "Because entrepreneurs don't go into business to manage taxes and admin, our vision is to create a business environment for entrepreneurs where these tasks are invisible by 2020, freeing up business builders to follow their dreams."

"Sage's vision is to empower entrepreneurs and business owners to spend less time on administration and more time on what they love doing," said Kriti Sharma, Vice President, Bots and AI at Sage. "Artificial intelligence is the answer for solutions to the everyday pain points people are facing now. Our work at Sage allows us to leverage the latest advances in technology against the immediate challenges our customers facing today."

Sage will be showcasing its full suite of business management and cloud solutions at Sage Summit in Atlanta, May 9-11, 2017. Learn more.

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About Sage
Sage is the market and technology leader for integrated accounting, payroll and payment systems, supporting the ambition of entrepreneurs and business builders. Today, business builders measure success in strong relationships, partnerships, and communities. It's why Sage helps drive today's business builders with the most intelligent and flexible cloud-enabled software, support and advice to manage everything from money to people. Daily, more than 13,000 Sage colleagues in 23 countries work with a thriving global community of over 3 million entrepreneurs, business owners, tradespeople, accountants, partners and developers to champion the success of business builders everywhere. And as a FTSE 100 business, we are passionate about doing business the right way, supporting our local communities through the Sage Foundation.

Sage -- the market and technology leader for integrated accounting, payroll and payment systems, powered by the cloud and supporting the ambition of the world's entrepreneurs and business builders. Because when business builders do well, we all do. For more information, visit www.sage.com