Michael Perica had been discussing the market implications of AI with investors for a number of years, but the market didn’t fully react—until one particular moment. In late January and early February, a wave of announcements around enterprise-focused AI models and workflow plugins triggered what has become widely known as the “SaaS-pocalypse.” In a single day, roughly $258 billion in SaaS market value disappeared, he tells us.
For Perica, the episode confirmed something he had already been sensing in conversations with investors and clients. The traditional path to enterprise modernization—committing to large, monolithic software platforms—was no longer the only option. AI, particularly emerging agentic AI technologies, was beginning to offer organizations a new route: modernizing workflows and processes without necessarily replacing entire systems.
Read MoreThe sudden market reaction accelerated those conversations. Investors and executives began reaching out to Rimini Street asking whether this moment validated the alternative technology path the company had been discussing. For Perica, the answer was clear. The event underscored that organizations now had the ability to tailor AI models directly to specific business processes rather than conforming their operations to a rigid software roadmap.
That shift has shaped how Perica thinks about strategy going forward. Instead of viewing AI purely as a tool for efficiency, he sees it as a catalyst for enterprise-wide transformation. Finance leaders, he argues, now have an opportunity to work closely with CIOs to rethink workflows, eliminate operational bottlenecks, and deploy targeted AI solutions that create quick wins across the organization.
In Perica’s view, the SaaS-pocalypse wasn’t just a market correction. It was a signal that a new technology paradigm had arrived—and that forward-looking CFOs must be ready to lead the change.
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CFOTL: What metrics matter most right now, given all of what you’ve shared with us?
Perica: Relative to everything we’re discussing around these innovative, process-oriented technologies and the ability to customize them, one metric I’m focusing on is productivity per employee relative to technology spend. Another area I emphasize—especially when speaking with finance professionals—is the relationship between the finance organization and the information technology function, particularly the CIO. I strongly encourage finance leaders to build a close partnership with the Office of the CIO and, conversely, help technology leaders understand the Office of the CFO. When you connect unit economics with access to technology and technology spend, you can tailor those investments to your strategy and operationalize them effectively. I see this as a real opportunity for organizations over the next three to five years.
Read MoreCFOTL: Can you maybe give us some examples of use cases that are resonating with your customers?
Perica: At our investor day in December 2025, a Brazilian manufacturer shared a client testimonial on stage. They had a business-process challenge they had been trying to solve for two years. They approached us and essentially said, “If your solutions are so good, tackle this problem.” We were able to solve it in 30 days. Later they admitted they didn’t expect us to succeed. They were clearly surprised by the result. What that example underscores is the opportunity that exists when these technologies are applied correctly. If you prepare properly and commit to the process, you can generate small wins quickly. From there, you learn from those wins and then scale the solution across the enterprise.
CFOTL: Inside the finance function itself, where do you see AI making the biggest impact?
Perica: In the near term, I see the biggest impact in the extraction, manipulation, and organization of data across multiple systems before it is ready for review and analysis. Many finance teams still spend significant time assembling data from different sources. Robotic process automation helped with some of that, but it was relatively static. Agentic AI can do this far more dynamically. At Rimini Street, we focus on aggregating information across multiple systems and technologies, which creates real efficiency gains. Importantly, those gains are less about reducing headcount and more about transforming the work employees do. Finance professionals can move from manual preparation toward reviewing and evaluating outputs. You still need controls—testing outputs and sampling results because hallucinations can occur—but the opportunity is significant. These early efficiencies can serve as a template for automation across other functions, ultimately helping organizations scale more effectively.
Rimini Street | www.Riministreet.com | Las Vegas, NV