Airtable vs Xero: Founders, CEOs and History
Airtable was founded in 2012 by Howie Liu, Andrew Ofstad, Emmett Nicholas and is led by Howie Liu. Xero was founded in 2006 by Rod Drury, Hamish Edwards and is led by Sukhinder Singh Cassidy.
Company facts
Founders
Airtable
Howie Liu
Howie Liu co-founded Airtable in 2012 and served as CEO through its sale to Bending Spoons in 2026. The September 2026 closing announcement described him as an Airtable co-founder, not as its continuing CEO. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Andrew Ofstad
Andrew Ofstad co-founded Airtable in 2012. Recognizing that traditional spreadsheets were completely inadequate for managing complex relational data, he helped design Airtable's highly visual, user-friendly interface.
Emmett Nicholas
Emmett Nicholas co-founded Airtable alongside Howie Liu and Andrew Ofstad. He built the foundational architecture of the platform's real-time collaboration engine, allowing massive teams to simultaneously edit complex databases without data corruption or laten…
Xero
Rod Drury
Rod Drury is a New Zealand software entrepreneur who co-founded Xero in Wellington in 2006 and served as its chief executive until 2018. Before Xero he built software businesses including AfterMail, which he sold to Quest Software.
Hamish Edwards
Hamish Edwards co-founded Xero in 2006 alongside Rod Drury. Working as an accountant, he was deeply furious at how incredibly terrible, slow, and outdated legacy desktop accounting software was.
CEOs and their tenures
Airtable
- Howie Liu2012–2026
Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer
As the founding CEO, he led the company's strategic pivot from a consumer productivity app into a massive B2B platform used by Fortune 500 companies to build custom software without coding.
Source
Xero
- Rod Drury2006–2018
Co-Founder & Former Chief Executive Officer (2006-2018)
As Co-Founder and legendary CEO, he was the absolute visionary who completely revolutionized the deeply boring accounting software industry by making the software beautiful, cloud-native, and highly integrated with banking APIs.
Source - Sukhinder Singh Cassidy2023–present
Chief Executive Officer
Under her leadership revenue grew from ~$812 million (NZ$1.40 billion) in FY23 to ~$1.59 billion (NZ$2.75 billion) in FY26, and Xero moved from a net loss to a net profit.
Source
Timeline: Airtable and Xero side by side
2006Xero
Rod Drury and Hamish Edwards found Xero in Wellington, New Zealand.
2007Xero
Xero lists on the NZX.
2010Xero
Peter Thiel Invests
Peter Thiel's Valar Ventures invested in Xero in 2010.
2012Airtable
Company founded
Howie Liu, Andrew Ofstad, and Emmett Nicholas started Airtable.
2012Xero
Xero lists on the ASX.
2015Airtable
Airtable product launched
Airtable launched its collaborative database product publicly.
2018Airtable
Series C establishes unicorn valuation
Airtable raised $100 million at a reported $1.1 billion valuation.
2018Xero
Steve Vamos succeeds Rod Drury as CEO; Xero buys Hubdoc and delists from the NZX.
2020Xero
Waddle Acquired
Xero bought the invoice-lending platform Waddle in 2020.
2021Airtable
Series E funding
Airtable raised $270 million at a $5.77 billion post-money valuation.
2021Airtable
Bayes acquisition
Airtable acquired the Bayes team and assets for data visualization and reporting work.
2021Airtable
Interface Designer launch
Airtable introduced Interface Designer for building interactive front ends on Airtable workflows.
2021Airtable
Series F funding
Airtable raised $735 million, bringing total investment to $1.36 billion at an $11 billion pre-money valuation.
2021Xero
Acquired Planday A/S
Xero acquired Planday A/S for $184 million.
2022Airtable
Enterprise refocus and workforce reduction
Airtable shifted resources toward large enterprise customers and reduced its team by 254 employees.
2023Airtable
Second workforce reduction
Airtable reduced its team by 237 employees while continuing its enterprise focus.
2023Xero
Sukhinder Singh Cassidy becomes CEO.
2024Airtable
Cobuilder launch
Airtable launched Cobuilder, which generates customizable no-code applications from natural-language descriptions.
2024Airtable
Dopt acquisition
Airtable acquired AI-powered onboarding platform Dopt and moved its team into Airtable's AI organization.
2025Airtable
DeepSky acquisition and CTO appointment
Airtable acquired AI research product DeepSky and appointed former OpenAI leader David Azose as chief technology officer.
2025Xero
Claire Bramley becomes CFO on 1 April; Xero completes the Melio acquisition on 15 October.
2026Airtable
Bending Spoons acquisition announced
Bending Spoons agreed to acquire Airtable for $1.285 billion in enterprise value and disclosed approximately $480 million in ARR as of June 2026.
2026Airtable
Bending Spoons acquisition completed
Bending Spoons acquired 100% of Airtable's outstanding shares on September 4, 2026.
2026Xero
Matan Bar named CEO of Xero US; FY26 revenue reaches ~$1.59 billion (NZ$2.75 billion).
Acquisitions
Airtable
- DeepSky2025Undisclosed
- Dopt2024Undisclosed
- Bayes team and assets2021Undisclosed
Questions about Airtable vs Xero
Who is the CEO of Airtable and Xero?
Airtable is led by Howie Liu and Xero is led by Sukhinder Singh Cassidy. Both serve as the top executive responsible for the company's strategy, operations, and financial performance.
When was Airtable founded vs Xero?
Xero was founded in 2006 — 6 years before Airtable, which was founded in 2012. Xero's longer operating history gives it a deeper track record but also potentially more institutional inertia compared to the younger Airtable.
How many employees does Airtable have compared to Xero?
Airtable employs approximately 700 people, while Xero employs approximately 4,400. Xero has the larger workforce at 4,400 employees, compared to Airtable's 700. A higher headcount does not necessarily imply greater efficiency — it often reflects differences in business model (e.g., manufacturing vs. software).
Where are Airtable and Xero headquartered?
Airtable is headquartered in United States and Xero is headquartered in New Zealand. Their different home markets mean they may face different regulatory frameworks, tax regimes, and currency exposure.
Who founded Airtable and Xero?
Airtable was founded by Howie Liu, Andrew Ofstad, Emmett Nicholas. Xero was founded by Rod Drury, Hamish Edwards.
Which company has a longer operating history — Airtable or Xero?
Xero has been operating for approximately 20 years, making it the more established of the two companies. Airtable has been in operation for around 14 years. A longer operating history often signals greater institutional resilience and brand recognition, though it can also mean slower adaptation to new market conditions.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Airtable vs Xero overview