Rimini Street Drives AI Innovation in Indonesia
JAKARTA, investor.id – Amid Indonesia’s ambition to become a global technology power by 2045, supported by the national AI roadmap and the Making Indonesia 4.0 initiative, Rimini Street highlights both challenges and opportunities for local businesses in adopting artificial intelligence (AI). Rimini Street, the world’s largest third-party software support provider, emphasises the importance of balancing rapid AI innovation with strict financial discipline, as well as strategic collaboration between finance and technology teams to achieve measurable results.
In view of this, Rimini Street shares its views on how companies in Indonesia can navigate the complex AI landscape. One key point raised is the need for companies not to get stuck in the ‘pilot stage’ of AI. Many companies still struggle to scale their AI solutions meaningfully, often because impressive technology demos do not always translate into tangible business outcomes.
Michael L. Pireca, Rimini Street’s CFO, explains that balancing innovation with financial discipline is key, especially when capital allocation remains constrained. He encourages financial professionals to build strong internal relationships with the Chief Information Officer (CIO).
“Financial professionals don’t need to be technology experts, but they should understand the challenges faced by the IT group, because IT touches every part of the business,” Pireca said.
This collaboration enables the prioritisation of the most strategic capital expenditure, ensuring investments are directed toward areas that deliver the greatest value to the organisation.
“We encourage companies to prioritise flexibility and investment in innovation, rather than being tied to a particular vendor,” Michael continued. He highlighted the concept of ‘vendor lock-in’, where large software vendors often compel customers to sign long, costly contracts and limit future innovation choices. By contrast, Rimini Street offers a support model that delivers better cost efficiency, freeing budgets previously tied up to be allocated to AI innovation.
The importance of collaboration between the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and the CIO in defining AI investment priorities is also a key focus. Pireca emphasises that the CFO does not have to be a technology expert, and the CIO does not have to be a financial analyst. The key is to complement and include each other in strategic thinking.
“This is true collaboration: ‘We need our financial business partner here to help us understand,’” he said. He suggests that finance and IT teams proactively engage with one another in business discussions. When the IT team is solving business problems, they should automatically invite their financial business partners to join. Likewise, the finance team should seek out their IT partners to attend and contribute to discussions, ensuring that technology investment decisions align with the overall business objectives.
In response to concerns that many CFOs are asked to fund AI while keeping IT costs under control, Michael confirmed that finance leaders are indeed more assertive in vendor negotiations and upgrade decisions. He emphasised the importance of understanding Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) comprehensively, not just short-term costs.
“Vendors often adopt an ‘embrace it or leave it’ approach to upgrade negotiations,” Michael said, referring to his own experience as a former CFO at a company using enterprise software systems. “They say, ‘You must do this, you must do that, and make this upgrade.’ I remember when proposals were put forward, I negotiated and they laughed, rolled it back, and said ‘no negotiation’, ‘take it or leave it’, otherwise you will lose support.”
Michael suggests that financial professionals understand long-term commitments, the expected business outcomes, and sensitivities beyond next year’s costs. “Consider the concept of vendor lock-in and its impact on business flexibility,” he added. Technology investment, he said, should be viewed from the perspective of the entire company, not just the finance module or IT department needs alone.
Addressing global concerns that AI expenditure does not always yield adequate returns, Michael emphasised the importance of proper governance. “Beneficial AI investments require evaluating systems, structures, and the organisation’s readiness for existing business processes and data,” he explained.
Rather than focusing solely on replacing people with technology, Michael advised that companies train their workforce to use AI to achieve better outcomes. “The ‘smart-path’ approach is to support existing systems, optimise them with current offerings, and then innovate,” he said. Having a stable system and prepared employees is key to AI success. An approach that focuses solely on cutting technology costs, in his view, will not position a company at the forefront.
Although Indonesia has a national AI roadmap, many companies remain stuck at the pilot stage. Pireca identifies several major obstacles. First, companies are often stuck at the pilot stage because the demos look impressive but do not deliver the expected results or align with the initial demonstrations. Second, a lack of preparedness. Companies often fail to evaluate their business processes comprehensively, particularly manual processes, and their impact on business outcomes.
“Focus on business needs first, then seek the right AI tools or innovations, not just follow trends,” Michael advised. He also emphasised the importance of identifying the pain points.