In an insightful interview with CanadianSME Small Business Magazine, Sam Gupta, a recognized thought leader in ERP and digital transformation, shares his expertise on the evolving landscape of small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in 2025. As the founder of ElevatIQ and a top-rated voice in the ERP space, Sam offers a deep dive into the trends driving digital transformation, including automation, AI, and data-centric strategies that are reshaping how SMBs operate. He also provides practical advice for business owners on leveraging technology to stay competitive, scale efficiently, and adapt to the rapidly changing market demands.
Sam Gupta has been a ERP and eCommerce thought leader in the digital transformation space for nearly two decades, with the primary focus on digital systems. Sam is rated as #1 thought leader in the ERP category and #15 in the digital transformation category on Thinkers 360. He is also among the top 100 thought leaders across all categories. He has been part of large transformation initiatives for fortune-500 corporations but now spends his time consulting with SMEs as a Principal Consultant at ElevatIQ. Sam regularly speaks at industry conferences and contributes his experiences through many popular blogs and publications. He also hosts a podcast called WBSRocks focused on business growth through digital transformation and ERP where he interviews top influencers and executives focused on digital transformation.
Digital Transformation Trends for 2025: In your experience as a leading thought leader in ERP and digital transformation, what are the key trends shaping the future of enterprise software in 2025, and how should SMBs prepare for these shifts?
We are heading into 2025 with mixed feelings. While there are excitements with interest rate reductions around the world, and because of that, hopefully, better than expected momentum next year, the anemic cash flows with companies are likely to drive measures similar to a recessionary period. Given this outlook, the major theme of 2025 would be consolidation in the enterprise software industries. Think: companies being acquired, software platforms being merged, or cool startups consumed as features with larger systems. So, SMBs need to assess the risk of their current software systems and formulate strategies. There is also likely to be substantial pricing pressure (think the new pricing structure for SmartSheet because of their unexpected acquisition), so companies need to prepare for unexpected cash requirements and unplanned financial risks.
Impact of AI on Business Operations: AI-augmented agents and governance platforms are becoming more prevalent. How do you see AI transforming enterprise processes, and what should small and medium-sized businesses prioritize when implementing these technologies?
With the majority of enterprise software companies justifying their price tag and with price and revenue pressures, most are rushing to incorporate AI agents with their software suites. While these workflows existed in the past, expect newer AI agents to be smarter at replicating several processes traditionally performed by human agents. The major changes, at least in the beginning, would be experienced by the customer service teams. Think chatbots, but way smarter, superior responses, but far more knowledgeable, just like humans. If AI agents are similar to human workers, the collaboration happening among humans would be replicated by AI governance platforms. Think each agent being good at one task, while quarterbacking and control would be the responsibility of governance workflow platforms. Since larger peers are likely to trailblaze the customer experience expectations driving consumer behavior, SMBs will be forced to accommodate similar technologies as part of their business operations.
SaaS and Cloud Expense Management: As cloud/SaaS price pressures grow, what strategies should businesses adopt to manage costs effectively while maximizing value from their enterprise software investments?
One factor often ignored by SMBs is the interplay of systems and design decisions and how that might drive unexpected financial costs for companies. SaaS (and to some extent, the cloud) has changed how software is procured in organizations. This is now done at the department level, with minimal involvement of central functions monitoring the overall architecture and transactional design and how that might drive overarching pricing and licensing. At times, the expense may not even be visible on P&Ls as that may be lumped under broader departmental categories. Because of this invisibility issue, SMBs are sitting on substantial (and uncontrollable financial risks) that might not be as apparent for finance and operations executives with limited technical backgrounds. Their goal should be to conduct a complete architecture and licensing audit at least once per year, just like your annual physical, to forecast the possibilities of major diseases developing underneath and uncovering these financial and legal risks early on.
Cybersecurity and Software Supply Chain Disruptions: With increasing disruptions caused by software supply chain issues and cybersecurity threats, what measures should SMBs take to protect their operations and ensure business continuity?
CrowdStrike is just one example of how disruptive a software supply chain could be, just like your traditional supply chains. The reason why companies have not paid attention to software supply chains is because of their backend nature with very minimal impact on business. However, the software supply chain is even more fragile without similar regulations to those of regular supply chains, with issues as severe as some of our datasets sitting in someone’s unsecured garage. In most cases, when SMBs procure SaaS systems, they don’t necessarily understand the underlying dependent layers and how they may have an impact on the entire economy. SMBs must consult (or at least perform an annual audit) with qualified independent enterprise software professionals experienced in architecting and designing these systems to uncover these issues early on.
Looking Ahead to 2025: As we approach 2025, what is your key advice for small business owners looking to navigate the complex landscape of digital transformation, and how can they avoid common pitfalls?
As technology advances, business owners are likely to face additional challenges in navigating complex technologies such as AI. While these advancements are happening at tremendous speed, unfortunately, small business owners just don’t have their operational capacity and business processes ready for such massive change, with very limited visibility into the underlying risks. Regardless of how easy enterprise software might appear, business owners need to assess their risks thoroughly, especially the interplay of underlying components with other systems currently used, with the help of qualified independent software professionals and enterprise architecture who can help them uncover these unexpected financial and sustainability risks early on.
