Businesses risk losing ground without AI, Hamkaran System CEO says

Businesses in Iran that fail to adapt to artificial intelligence risk losing their ability to compete and grow, Mohammad Azizollahi, CEO of enterprise software provider Hamkaran System, told Digiato.

Some organizations may be able to maintain their existing operations on a smaller scale, he said. But traditional ways of working become harder to sustain as businesses grow more complex and geographically dispersed.

Azizollahi spoke ahead of Baham 1405, the company’s technology and business event in Tehran. His argument extends beyond buying software: managers need to reconsider their data, staff skills and decision-making processes to put AI to practical use.

A data problem before an AI problem

Iranian companies have accumulated substantial records of purchases, sales and financial transactions, but have often struggled to use that information effectively, Azizollahi said.

“We have a great deal of data,” he said, but the ability to extract value from that information, analyze it and use it has been weak.

Successful uses of AI abroad have raised awareness among Iranian managers, he said. Many organizations, however, still lack a clear problem to solve, a roadmap for adoption or the expertise needed to carry it out.

He sees enterprise resource planning, or ERP, software as one foundation for organizing operational data so it can be analyzed. Recording information in separate systems is insufficient, he said; companies need a more integrated approach. The quality of AI decisions depends on the information available to the system.

Hamkaran System has moved through several generations of software, from DOS to Windows, and from products for smaller businesses to enterprise systems and cloud services. Azizollahi said persuading customers to adopt cloud computing required investment and efforts to build familiarity with the technology.

AI represents a larger change, in his view, because it can enter decision-making and the management of businesses. That distinction also informs how the company is developing its products.

Rebuilding ERP around AI

Azizollahi said Rahkaran Ayand, the ERP product Hamkaran System unveiled earlier this year, has reached about 500 customers since its initial rollout.

The company chose to build a new generation of software rather than simply add AI features to existing products. Starting again allowed it to rethink the architecture and platform for scalability, alongside its coding practices and technical frameworks, he said.

Its plans also extend beyond traditional ERP. Azizollahi described a “business network” in which companies could manage interactions on a shared platform, replacing some exchanges now handled manually, on paper, by email or through social media.

Support for managing several companies within a more integrated structure is another part of that approach. He said Hamkaran System is applying similar product redesign principles to Sepidar Cloud.

Among Rahkaran Ayand’s current applications, he cited scanning an invoice or document to enter its information into the system for further processing. That could reduce manual entry, especially for documents with many line items.

He also described an AI assistant designed to answer instructional questions and guide users through the software. The next step is to develop agents that can translate requests into actions, extending beyond guidance and analysis.

One example would involve comparing sales across two periods by price, discount and region, then proceeding with an invoice based on specified information. These examples span current applications and the product’s development plans; they should not all be treated as fully available features.

The aim, Azizollahi said, is to hand routine, repetitive work to the system so users can spend more time on analysis and management.

AI inside the company, and the infrastructure behind it

Hamkaran System is also working toward coordinating AI across its own operations, including customer relationships, internal processes and decision-making. Isolated use by individual employees or departments could create friction between processes, Azizollahi said.

About 400 to 500 people work in product development, rising to around 600 when infrastructure activities are included, he said. AI is already being used in parts of the development process, from product definition and analysis to production and testing. The company has also built internal tools that he said can speed development while working within its architecture and protocols.

Computing capacity remains a challenge in Iran, where access constraints and price fluctuations complicate investment. Azizollahi said the company has invested over the past year or two to prepare its infrastructure and data center for AI services, with further investment planned.

Depending on the application, systems may use external services or run locally, he said. Both require reliable infrastructure to process large amounts of information. Hamkaran System is developing capacity for its internal teams and customers.

The investment follows its earlier expansion into cloud computing. Digiato previously reported on cloud subsidiary Abramad’s growing revenue from customers outside the Hamkaran System group.

Changing work and training

Azizollahi expects AI to reduce the cost of some activities, but said changing roles are more likely than the complete disappearance of human expertise. Repetitive tasks may decline while demand grows for people who can design processes, supervise work and assess results. He did not rule out the loss of some roles.

That shift could be particularly difficult for junior developers if AI changes the tasks through which they traditionally gain experience. Education and training will need to adapt, he said.

Technical knowledge remains necessary: developers must be able to review, correct and optimize AI-generated code while managing several processes in parallel. Hamkaran System is placing greater weight on AI skills in recruitment, including for software development, implementation projects and administrative work, he said.

At Baham, Azizollahi wants managers to consider what redesigning their organizations will require, from people and expertise to infrastructure and decision-making. He described the workshops, seminars and exhibition as opportunities to share customer experience, discuss resilience and growth, and gather feedback as well as present products.

The event is scheduled for October 28-31, 2026, in Hall 41 of the Tehran International Permanent Fairground. Its official program lists workshops and seminars on AI and business operations.