Arlington, Va.-based Ascend, a partner for regional accounting firms supported by private equity firm Alpine Investors, announced it has added two leaders to its executive suite. Prasad Sristi joins as chief AI officer and William (Bill) Kelly joins as general counsel.
Sristi comes to Ascend from VC-backed Bench Accounting, where he was chief product and technology officer. “Many people in the software industry will agree that there has never been a better time to build impactful software products than today. Ascend is best positioned to take advantage of these tailwinds, with its combination of forward-looking partner firms and a willingness to invest in AI. We want to give accountants their time back and empower them with AI-based tools that act as force multipliers on their professional skillset,” Sristi said.
One of the most visible legal experts in the accounting industry, Kelly will build the legal, quality and compliance infrastructure to support Ascend’s partner firms. He brings significant in-house experience as the former general counsel at Mazars USA.
“This is an opportunity to build something from the ground up, bringing all the resources of a big firm legal department on a national level, with all the industry connections and regulatory expertise that comes with that, to the independent small firm environment where you know everybody’s name,” Kelly said.
“Prasad and Bill are industry veterans of the highest caliber and bringing them on to our team is a perfect example of how Ascend invests to propel regional firms into the future,” shared Ascend CEO David Wurtzbacher. “One of the big, unsettled questions in the industry today is about how you protect sensitive data and keep quality up to professional standards while innovating with new technologies. Bringing on these two leaders in tandem is our response to that conundrum.”
