By Business & Finance 
Niall Mac an tSionnaigh is CEO of SumUp Limited. He joined SumUp in 2022 as COO before stepping into the CEO role two-and-a-half years later. Before SumUp, Niall spent eight years at LinkedIn, leading a 500-person global operations team from Dublin after starting in San Francisco. He’s also held senior roles at Deloitte, Bank of Scotland, and Accenture, and is a UCD graduate.
By Héloïse Chaudot
What was your first job?
I did a few odd jobs as a teenager, cutting lawns and painting for neighbours, but my first real job was as a commis chef in the hotel near my house. It was a rude awakening into the world of real work, early starts, hot plates, and burnt fingers are the standout memories.
What pushed you to pursue a career in this field?
My first introduction to SumUp was through my wife, who runs a small fermentation business. While setting up her business, she was looking for a payment system that would be easy to use and wouldn’t take up the space that traditional systems usually do. When she came across SumUp, she was easily won over by their comprehensive support system and the fact that the systems wouldn’t dominate her business’s physical space. Seeing how the company’s offerings support merchants like her was really inspiring, so when the opportunity came along to join SumUp, I was really enthusiastic. Having a career with purpose and a clear mission is really important to me, and supporting small merchants in Ireland and beyond gives me just that.
What would you regard as your greatest achievement to date?
I don’t know about great achievements, but helping customers gives me a ton of satisfaction. Seeing businesses grow and thrive thanks to our technology is incredibly rewarding – knowing the work we’re doing is making a real difference in people’s livelihoods and local economies.
Career‑wise, would you do anything differently?
I wouldn’t, no. Everything I’ve done in my career has brought me to where I am today, and I’m grateful for that. My early experiences at Accenture and Bank of Scotland helped me develop strong analytical and strategic thinking skills, as well as a solid understanding of the payments industry.
They also helped me realise what I didn’t want from a career. My eight years at LinkedIn refined my leadership and organisational abilities. Ultimately, seeing the meaningful work my wife was doing with SumUp inspired me to take the leap and join the company myself.
In one sentence, how would you define success?
Embracing failure.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
If it’s endurable, endure it.
How do you motivate yourself and your staff?
Remember why we’re doing this. We can get overwhelmed and lose sight of the bigger picture, but reminding ourselves that we’re here to help people turn their passion into a business keeps things in perspective.
How do you handle adversity?
By remembering the best piece of advice I ever received.
How do you relax?
I read, exercise, listen to music and podcasts, and have fun with family and friends. I also coach my kids’ soccer teams.
What are your aspirations for the future of the business?
We want to build an iconic company. Since we started, we’ve expanded way beyond payments – now we offer digital payment tools, business accounts and cards, and advanced business software. We just launched SumUp Terminal to help merchants take, process, and manage payments in one place. By bringing these offerings into new markets like Ireland, we’re reaching more merchants. We’re committed to helping people run their businesses as smoothly as possible, and we’ll keep doing that as we expand.
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