Rimini Street CEO: Fix business processes before betting on AI

"There's a lot of things you can do to improve your business operations and innovate that don't require the cost of AI," Seth Ravin, CEO of Rimini Street says.

Rimini Street recorded a revenue of US$111.1 million for the second quarter of 2026, an increase of 6.7% compared to $104.1 million for the same period last year. The success of the global provider of end-to-end, mission-critical enterprise software support, managed services and innovative Agentic AI ERP solutions is a testament to the company’s growth, especially in the Asia Pacific region.

In an interview with CRN Asia during his visit to the region, Seth Ravin, Rimini Street CEO, shared that it's fascinating to see how much AI has taken over the world, especially in getting work done. Interestingly, Ravin pointed out that for Rimini Street, it’s the other way around where it's all about telling customers to hold on and improve their business operations first before really thinking about AI.

“We're the guys out there saying not AI first, AI last. There's a lot of things you can do to improve your business operations and innovate that don't require the cost of AI. It just requires some work. And so, we really come in and preach on a discipline and an approach that says it's not a paradox to say: Okay, your budget's been cut because profits are thinner. But you can do it all in your existing budget if you apply an approach and a very methodical one and a very disciplined one,”

“And so, all these people are trying to figure out how do we pay for all this? The answer is you actually can, and you can fund it if you follow the approach. We call it the Remini Smart Path, but essentially, it's stop wasting money on things you don't need,” Ravin said.

According to Ravin, when companies look to invest in AI, the first thing that they should really do is see if it actually lowers their total cost of operations, improve profitability, and enhances competitive advantage.

“If the answer is it doesn't take at least one of those three, don't do it. The trend is the same as everyone is having this fear of missing out. They're afraid because governments and everybody is saying you've got to be doing AI and they're scared that if they're not doing it, they're being left behind. The problem is they're jumping over core business processes,” Ravin said.

It’s all about fixing processes

The first thing that Rimini Street recommends companies do is fix their processes, which often have too many steps. For example, an SAP system which is like an anthology, is all about the steps an organization takes to complete a process like an. These processes can be streamlined by process experts. An organization that takes half the steps out and speeds the process by two times has innovation.

“Innovation is not defined strictly as AI. And I think people are so confused about this because of the hype. They're thinking that these two things are connected. And they also think that the only way you get innovation is you must apply the new version. Every one of these software companies has come up with their dot AI releases. And we all know that most of those have no change at all. They just put dot AI on it. And they're running around saying to companies who have hundreds of applications, you all need to be on our new AI version,” Ravin explained.

Ravin pointed out that even the most conservative CIOs and CFOs that usually just go along with whatever the software company said, and now suddenly having to make decisions about picking and choosing which ones they do, which ones they don't do or which ones they extend.

“So, we're really at a crossroads where people are just confused. They're confused about technical roadmaps. They're confused about what to invest in. The world changes by day. What they do know is that big software projects like an SAP migration that could take years don't really make sense. The world has changed. Technology has changed. It's like coming back and implementing an antique. In four years from now, what are you going to do? Celebrate that your antique is done and you spent unbelievable amounts of money to put it in?”

“So, a lot of those companies are coming to us even that they want to stop. They're two years in. The world has changed. They're like, how do I get out of this politically? And so there's a lot of turbulence going on right now. But I think we're really coming in. We're trying to say, take a breath. Stop the race to AI as the answer. Focus. Get back to business basics,” Ravin explained.

For Ravin, it's all about helping organizations truly understand what business problems and processes they are trying to solve. Then, it's about looking at the tools they have to do that.

“AI is just one tool in the tool bag. We have process improvements. We have RPA and automation, which doesn't cost tokens. And we can do all that and improve and innovate without even getting into AI. And our point is, do those processes first. Get them done. Look at your gains. And once you've got that done, then think thoughtfully about AI using very disciplined templates, which include ROI analysis to make sure that the cost benefit is there. And it makes sense to switch,” he added.

Ravin also stated that a lot of executives do not understand that AI costs money. They do not realize the cost of tokens until they start getting the AI bills.

“They told everyone, go play with AI. Now the bills are coming, and they're like, oh, my gosh. What is this? Well, you told everyone to play. They didn't realize that an electronic agent, every time it thinks, somebody's getting tokens and money. And that’s the economics of AI which many still do not understand,” he concluded.