IN PLAY: Geralyn Hurd, CPA

Addressing some of accounting’s most laborious pain points requires more than technology—it takes a deep understanding of the profession itself. That knowledge and expertise is exactly what Geralyn Hurd, CPA, brings to her work as the president and founder of K1x Inc., an independent software as a service (SaaS) company harnessing artificial intelligence (AI) to tackle the challenges of tax-exempt and pass-through entities. Hurd’s portfolio includes multiple patents and patent applications, and today, her software powers some of the nation’s most prominent accounting firms. Her leadership has also earned K1x a spot on Fast Company’s 2025 list of the World’s Most Innovative Companies.

Despite what these achievements may suggest, Hurd didn’t originally set out to become a leading technology innovator. Prior to leading K1x, she spent 32 years in public accounting, working for some of the largest firms in the country, including Arthur Andersen, BDO USA PC, and Crowe LLP—a background she says gave her the foundation for what she does today.

“Public accounting taught me the importance of customer service and building solid client relationships,” Hurd says. “While we might be selling software, people are using it, and you need to serve those people and make sure you’re satisfying why they purchased it.”

Although Hurd’s roots were firmly planted in public accounting, her journey into the technology space began mostly by necessity to address industry demands and changing requirements: “The IRS had completely revamped its reporting requirements for the practice area I was supporting at Crowe, and we needed to think of a different way to approach how we were gathering that information.”

Hurd led Crowe’s tax technology and innovation practice and credits her time in that role to learning about software development and how it can be used to streamline tasks.

“One thing that was unique about Crowe is that they had ‘innovation dollars’ that you could apply for, and it gave you access to a software developer and an entire team,” Hurd explains. “It allowed our team to think innovatively and differently about how to tackle problems.”

Drawing from that experience, Hurd eventually made the decision to set out on her own, taking 40 people from her team along with her—a collective decision she says was a lot about the success of one of their products and timing: “We had the good fortune to incubate a product and see what it could do. We were at a point where the real market for our software products were other accounting firms—and because of that, we knew it would be best to do that independently.”

Of course, going from the professional services world to a SaaS startup didn’t come without challenges, but she’s learned to embrace that there’s some beauty to be found in them: “Small startup teams are allowed to be nimble and have much more control over a product, but the downside is that you don’t have a bench of resources to draw from.”

Another challenge has been leading a 100% remote team while keeping innovation at the forefront: “It can be challenging to create an innovative culture in this type of setting—but there are things that we do to change that.”

K1x holds quarterly “innovation days,” where they carve out space to give staff the time to think about new ideas and products. They also have a formal reward program for bonus opportunities.

“I’ve found that if somebody puts forward a good idea, then somebody builds on top of that idea and so on—it gets people excited and becomes infectious,” Hurd explains.

Overall, being innovative isn’t optional for Hurd’s team: “We’re an innovation and AI-first company—we’re in the business of innovation. In our world, it’s just natural that we have to continue putting ourselves out of business and creating competitive differentiators in the marketplace. It’s part of our DNA.”

For Hurd, that mindset, and knowing the positive impact her products have on accounting professionals, is what keeps her committed to fostering an innovative culture: “In our profession, there’s a ton of pain—lots of wasted hours on trying to manage through a very analog approach to work. Being able to change and alleviate that pain is really satisfying.”

That satisfaction is ultimately why Hurd embraces and champions AI’s role in the profession. While some express concerns that AI will replace accountants, Hurd doesn’t see it happening: “I think AI will take away a lot of the base operations that should be taken away. This affords us the capacity to focus on helping clients achieve their goals and getting them to use data to help inform their decisions, which is really what the profession should be about.”

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