# About Agentive - Australian AI Company for Accounting Firms | Melbourne > Meet the team behind Agentive **Source:** https://agentive.au/about/ --- # Our Story Inside Capgemini's Generative AI Taskforce, Ash spent his days helping large enterprises think about AI from the end of 2022. The conclusion surprised him. Despite the budgets and the noise, most enterprises were not ready to absorb the technology in a meaningful way. The real urgency, and the place where AI could change a business overnight rather than over years, was small and medium business. Agentive® started out chasing a bigger idea: a multi-agent AI system capable of delivering almost any kind of project. What emerged was something more interesting in November 2025. The similar but simpler architecture, pointed at a single business, could effectively assist the owner: a second version of them working alongside, running the operation 24/7. That insight reframed the company. The question became which industry to bring this to first. Accounting and bookkeeping firms were the clearest answer: structured work, high admin load, clear ROI, and a profession quietly drowning in compliance. Agentive® was built for them. ## Our Vision the **AI Platform** that **Creates** and **Runs** the **Businesses** of the **Future** ### Every business owner has AI support Affordable, always-on help from day one ### Admin work handled in minutes, not hours Emails, documents, and bookkeeping done while you sleep ### Your AI learns your business and improves over time Knows your clients, your tone, your processes ### Add new skills as your business grows Start with the basics, add finance, marketing, and more ## Meet The Team ### Founder ![Dr. Ash Khalilian, Founder and CEO of Agentive, AI company in Melbourne](/_astro/dr-ash-khalilian-founder-ceo.uVuKHQ8H_ESLAE.png "Dr. Ash Khalilian - Founder and CEO of Agentive") Dr. Ash Khalilian, Founder & CEO of Agentive [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/atkhalilian/) ### Dr. Ash Khalilian Founder & CEO **26+ years** in IT, software and data. **PhD in Information Systems**. **36+ enterprise projects** for organisations including ANZ, Westpac, Telstra and Qantas. Former **Generative AI Lead at Capgemini**. ### Core Team [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/mervenmarata/) ![Merven Marata, Business Operations Lead at Agentive](/_astro/merven-marata.BFpuKKyE_ZTNcJ2.png) ### Merven Marata Business Operations Lead Operations, CRM hygiene, outreach and hiring. Keeps the wheels on and the pipeline moving. [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/amir-vand/) ![Amir Vand, Senior Developer at Agentive](/_astro/amir-vand.dNoTuEVY_1UboNM.png) ### Amir Vand Senior Developer Full-stack engineer. Builds and maintains MyAgentive and its Control Plane. Turns architecture decisions into working code. ![JP Payawal, Engineer-Accountant at Agentive](/_astro/jp-payawal.6Q8aEb2N_hqiK8.png) ### JP Payawal Engineer Accountant (Part-time) Accountant-Engineer with 13 years of Australian accounting experience. Builds AI Employee skills grounded in real ledger work. Currently hiring: senior DevOps engineer and a sales / customer-success lead. [See open roles](/careers). ### Advisors Industry advisors keeping us grounded in real Australian accounting practice and enterprise AI delivery. [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dhash-aj-94361845/) ![Dhash AJ, Accounting Partner and Advisor at Agentive](/_astro/dhash-aj.B8KEPmju_1hbmS7.png) ### Dhash AJ Accounting Partner & Advisor CPA. 13-year Melbourne accounting firm (Finite Group). Keeps the product honest against real client workflows. [](https://www.linkedin.com/in/dvelu/) ![Dheeren Vélu, Non-Executive Advisor at Agentive](/_astro/dheeren-velu.CJXZ-kom_ZRgJ8x.png) ### Dheeren Vélu Non-Executive Advisor Head of Innovation AU/NZ at Capgemini. ICT Professional of the Year 2018. TEDx speaker, AI patent holder, Chair of the AI Industry Advisory Board at RMIT. ## AI Workforce Built and run on [MyAgentive](https://myagentive.ai), our own dedicated AI works alongside the team, handling client work, internal coordination, and the systems that keep Agentive running. AGM01 ### Agentive Mother Monitors, manages and maintains our AI Employees and the customer relationships behind every deployment. MAL01 ### Executive Assistant Runs scheduling, communications and internal coordination across the team and our clients. AG001 ### Bookkeeping & Accounting Handles reconciliation, transaction review, BAS preparation and day-to-day ledger work. AG003 ### Marketing, SEO & CRM Drives content, SEO and the marketing pipeline, and keeps the CRM clean and current. Powered by [MyAgentive](https://myagentive.ai), the same dedicated AI platform we deploy for our customers. ## Our Journey 2025 ### Foundation Year Agentive founded in Melbourne Filed provisional patent for AI agent technology First AI Executive Assistant pilots with professional services 2026 ### Pivot to Accounting and Bookkeeping #### Q1: Product Launch - • Pivoted to AI Employee for accounting and bookkeeping firms - • Launched dedicated finance-industry AI platform - • First accounting firm pilots deployed #### Q2: Enhance and Expand - • Enhanced AI Employee capabilities for accounting and finance - • Piloted with additional verticals: builders, financial advisers, brokers, property advocates - • Tested CRM, marketing, and sales automation skills #### Q3-Q4: National Expansion - • Expand to all accounting and bookkeeping firms across Melbourne, Sydney, and Australia - • Pilot additional verticals: financial advisers, SMSF specialists, audit, and compliance - • Begin testing with builders and trades #### 2026 Goal - • Reach 100 SME businesses across Australia - • Establish Agentive as the leading AI Employee provider for accounting firms - • Validate expansion into adjacent finance verticals 2027 ### Scale Across Service Industries #### New Verticals - • Scale to builders, tradies, and construction firms - • Expand across broader finance sector: financial advisers, SMSF, audit, compliance - • Enter additional service industries across Australia #### 2027 Goal - • Expand to 1,000 SME businesses in Australia - • Become the go-to AI Employee platform for Australian service industries - • Proven, repeatable deployment model across multiple verticals ## Frequently Asked Questions Common questions about Agentive and our AI services ### What is Agentive? Agentive is an Australian AI company that builds AI Employees for accounting firms and bookkeeping practices. We help accountants and bookkeepers reclaim hours every day by automating bank reconciliation, BAS preparation, email triage, and admin work. Our AI is hosted entirely in Australia, with all inference running on Australian soil. No business data ever leaves the country. Based in Melbourne, we serve clients across Australia with enterprise-grade security and full data sovereignty. ### Who founded Agentive? Agentive was founded by Dr. Ash Khalilian, who brings 26+ years of IT, software and data experience with a PhD in Information Systems. He has delivered 36+ enterprise projects for organisations including ANZ, Westpac, Telstra and Qantas, and was formerly the Generative AI Lead at Capgemini. He saw that accountants and bookkeepers needed AI more than anyone and built Agentive to serve them. ### Where is Agentive located? Agentive is officially registered in Sydney and headquartered in Melbourne, Australia. All AI infrastructure is hosted in Australia, and all AI inference runs on Australian soil. No business data ever leaves the country. We serve clients across Australia. ### What makes Agentive different from other AI companies? Every Agentive AI Employee is a single-tenant deployment, fully dedicated to your business. It learns your processes, your clients, and the way your practice works. All data and AI inference stay in Australia, designed to align with APRA CPS 234, ASIC RG 255 and TPB obligations. Dual-firewall architecture keeps financial and restricted client data secure. We never allow Australian business data to train general-purpose AI models. Enterprise-grade security at small business pricing. ### What services does Agentive offer? Two main services: (1) [AI Employee subscriptions](/services) for the finance industry, specifically built for accounting firms and bookkeeping practices, with skills for bank reconciliation, BAS, email triage, and more. (2) [AI consultation services](/services) to help businesses integrate AI Employees into their existing systems, train the AI on their specific processes, and automate workflows. See [real-world use cases](/ai-employee/use-cases/accountants) for how businesses benefit. ## Ready to Hire Your AI Employee? Book a free 15-minute call to see your AI Executive Assistant in action [Book Free Consultation ](https://meetings-ap1.hubspot.com/agentive/30min)[Contact Our Team](/contact)