KUALA LUMPUR: US-based enterprise software support provider Rimini Street expects its Malaysian business to double annually as enterprises in Malaysia and across Southeast Asia seek to balance cost optimisation with investments in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation.
CEO and chairman Seth Ravin said Malaysian companies are increasingly looking to lower operating costs while continuing to invest in innovation amid economic un-certainty, geopolitical tensions and pressure to adopt AI technologies.
“We’re growing very rapidly here and we expect that growth to continue. We’d like to continue doubling the business annually,” he said at a media briefing here on Wednesday.
The Nasdaq-listed company currently serves close to 50 customers in Malaysia, up from virtually no local presence when it entered the market seven years ago.
Its customers span manufacturing, transport, public sector, plantations, retail, healthcare and hospitality sectors, including Sunway Group, Malaysia Airports, Genting, KLK, Leong Hup and Padini.
Ravin said Malaysia is expected to become one of Rimini Street’s major engineering and delivery hubs alongside India and Brazil as the company expands its international operations.
“Southeast Asia is becoming an increasingly important growth market as enterprises across the region accelerate digital transformation while remaining disciplined on technology spending.”
As part of its expansion strategy, Rimini Street is building a global capability centre (GCC) in Malaysia and plans to hire 1,000 engineers over time.
The company currently employs about 45 people in Malaysia, including around 30 engineers already hired locally as part of the GCC build-out.
Ravin said Malaysia was selected because of its talent pool, digital ambitions and growing importance within the regional technology ecosystem.
The Malaysian operation will eventually house one of Rimini Street’s global command centres, supporting customer systems and managed services operations worldwide under a follow-the-sun operating model.
In addition to engineering functions, the company is also expanding finance operations in Malaysia after selecting the country over India and Brazil for certain global finance roles.
Ravin said manufacturing remains Rimini Street’s largest customer segment globally, followed by government and retail customers.
Businesses are increasingly coming under pressure from rising logistics costs, supply chain disruptions and narrowing margins.
“Shipping and logistics are costing more, costs are going up, but companies can’t necessarily raise prices because competition is too fierce. Profits are getting squeezed,” Ravin said.
The company is currently working with Malaysian customers on AI and automation projects involving manufacturing operations, process optimisation and sales commission management by deploying AI capabilities on top of existing enterprise systems instead of replacing them entirely.
Ravin said roughly one-third of its first 26 AI use cases globally were implemented with Malaysian customers.
“There’s about 26 use cases here, of which one third of them are implemented in Malaysia. One third of them are here. When we started this whole process six to nine months ago, about six to nine of our customers here actually worked with us on these use cases. We were able to help them drive a lot of efficiency and generate savings into other projects that they have.”
Asked about Malaysia’s am-bition to become a regional AI and digital hub, Ravin said workforce development would ultimately determine the country’s long-term competitiveness. “You have to get people digitally literate and you have to have enough young people coming through universities.”
Ravin said the company’s decision to locate its GCC near Sunway University reflects the importance it places on talent development and graduate re-cruitment.
Looking ahead, he said Malaysia will play an increasingly important role in Rimini Street’s global operations and long-term growth strategy as customer demand continues to expand. “I think the reception here to innovation is very high. This is not a resisting culture. This is a culture of business that wants to move forward.”
