Rillet co-founder Nicolas Kopp seems confident as he talks over Zoom a day after his company raised $100 million at a $1 billion valuation. The U.S.’s current shortage of accountants is driving the AI-native accounting platform’s growth, with 600 customers and an alliance with EY.

Around two years ago, Rillet emerged from stealth and has since raised $200 million from top investors like ICONIQ, Andreessen Horowitz, and Sequoia. Growth is evident, with annualized revenue doubling in the last quarter alone. Kopp states that customers are not piloting but actively switching to Rillet from rivals Intuit, NetSuite, or Oracle.

Rynet’s security measures include model routing and no cross-training, ensuring customer data remains proprietary. This includes a governance feature allowing accountants to audit every decision made by AI agents. Kopp believes that while the integration of AI is beneficial, mass job displacement in accounting isn’t imminent, citing Stanford research which found no widespread job losses yet.

The shortage of accountants in the U.S., with the number of graduates in accounting degree declining since 2010, and finance leaders struggling to find talent, suggests a need for innovative solutions like Rillet. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that despite potential automation, there will still be an increase in demand for accountants by 2034.