A Conversation with Ketan Katariya on ERP, AI, and Smarter Business Systems

I’ve worked with businesses running on systems they installed decades ago. Those systems may have served them well, but over time, the workarounds accumulate. Employees build spreadsheets to fill the gaps. Getting useful reports takes longer. Upgrades become more complicated because nobody wants to disturb years of customizations.

I understand the hesitation. I’ve implemented SAP twice, and I know how demanding an ERP project can be. It takes money, people, and attention away from serving customers and growing the business. When you’re already running lean, that’s a significant commitment.

But staying with an outdated system carries its own costs. Eventually, we have to ask: Is this technology still supporting the business we’re running today?

That was the starting point for my recent Ask the CFO conversation with Ketan Katariya, Founder and President of Klio Systems. Ketan brings 30 years of technology experience, and his team works across IT support, software development, and ERP consulting. I appreciate that broader perspective because technology decisions rarely affect just one department.

My friend and fellow CFO Doug Doering joined the discussion, too, bringing questions about AI and how it fits into the systems finance teams depend on.

Watch the full conversation on YouTube

When Does an Older System Become a Business Problem?

I see companies that have stayed with the same core system since the push to prepare for Y2K. They’ve continued operating, growing, and adapting, but their technology hasn’t always kept pace.

That doesn’t automatically mean they need to replace it. Ketan made a point I agree with: the existence of newer technology isn’t a sufficient reason to change.

He compared technology to a treadmill. You don’t have to chase every new development, but you do need to keep moving enough to remain competitive and respond when your business changes.

For me, that brings the conversation back to business needs. Can you get timely information? Can the system support a new line of business or an acquisition? Are your people spending too much time compensating for things the software cannot do?

Those are better reasons to evaluate your systems than a compelling sales presentation. They also help you identify what a change needs to accomplish.

Choose the System Around the Business

An ERP—an enterprise resource planning system—touches too much of a business to choose it based on a feature list alone.

Ketan explained that different platforms have developed around different industries and operational needs. His team works with systems including Sage, NetSuite, and Acumatica, and he described a process that starts with understanding how a client’s business actually works.

That matters. A construction company needs visibility into project profitability, overhead allocation, retainage, and under- or overbilling. A distributor may have different priorities around inventory, purchasing, order processing, and fulfillment.

Before selecting software, you need to understand the work it will support and where the current process is falling short.

Ketan also described using a limited trial implementation to help clients experience a proposed system before committing to the full project. I like the idea of seeing how your work would move through a system. It gives people something concrete to evaluate beyond what they saw in a demonstration.

You May Not Need to Replace Everything

One question I brought to Ketan was about connecting specialized systems.

I’ve worked in businesses that manufactured and distributed products while also supporting a service network. In that situation, I wanted strong manufacturing capabilities and strong service capabilities, while keeping accounting and purchasing as straightforward as possible.

Does all of that have to live in one system?

Ketan shared an example involving related companies using NetSuite for online sales and Sage 500 for manufacturing. His team connected the systems so that a purchase order in one could become a sales order in the other, with fulfillment and invoicing information flowing between them.

That’s an important option to consider. If part of your technology works well, integration may allow you to keep it while improving the overall process.

We also discussed the trouble that years of customization can create. When an upgrade comes along, those changes can add significant cost and complexity. Sometimes the people who understood why they were made are no longer with the company.

Ketan emphasized documenting processes and decisions throughout the relationship. That knowledge becomes valuable when employees, leadership, or ownership change.

The Software Price Is Only Part of the Commitment

One of my biggest concerns with ERP projects is whether the company understands the internal resources required.

I’ve seen businesses sign an agreement before they have fully considered how much work their own people will need to do. Configuration, testing, training, and process changes all take time. Meanwhile, customers still need to be served and the books still need to close.

I asked Ketan how he handles that tension, especially when a client buys software and then struggles to move forward.

He described regular conversations with clients about whether they’re getting value from what they’ve purchased and how their priorities have changed. Sometimes a project stalls because a new opportunity or challenge has taken the owner’s attention. Understanding that situation can help reconnect the project to what the business needs now.

From my perspective, that ongoing involvement matters. You want a provider who understands the business well enough to help you work through adoption, not just installation.

Before committing, make sure your plan accounts for your team’s time as carefully as it accounts for the software bill.

AI Makes the Conversation More Interesting—and More Complicated

Doug pushed our discussion toward AI and the newer platforms being marketed as “AI-first.”

His question was practical: What are businesses actually doing with AI alongside their ERP systems?

Ketan discussed document recognition, accounts payable and receivable automation, reporting, and assistants that help people access information. He also raised a consideration that deserves more attention: the long-term cost of those capabilities.

If a software product depends on an outside AI provider, how might changes in pricing or usage affect what you pay? What happens as more employees use the system or you automate more work?

As a CFO, I want to understand those dependencies. An attractive starting price tells us only part of the story. We need to consider the cost of operating the technology over time.

I also brought the conversation back to an opportunity I’ve been discussing with clients for years: accounts payable automation.

There are still businesses doing substantial manual work in AP. While advanced AI gets the attention, improving a recurring process like invoice handling can be a meaningful step forward. The right starting point depends on where your team is spending time and where change will help the business most.

Faster Reporting Still Has to Be Reliable Reporting

Reporting is another area where I see frustration. A company invests in a system, then finds that getting useful numbers out of it is still difficult.

Ketan explained how Model Context Protocol, or MCP, can help connect AI tools with business data. He described asking questions in plain language about retainage or project profitability and using those connections to retrieve information.

That’s an exciting possibility. If we can reduce the work between asking a question and getting a useful answer, we can spend more time making decisions.

But the control-minded accountant in me immediately has another question: How do we know the answer is right?

During the conversation, I raised the concern of reporting errors that go unnoticed until a business is preparing for a sale and someone begins a quality-of-earnings review. By then, an issue that seemed small can become a serious problem.

Ketan distinguished reading existing data from modifying it and discussed how AI can also support anomaly detection and other controls. There is a lot of potential there, but easier access to information doesn’t settle every question about accuracy or interpretation.

I’m using AI more in my own work, and I see its value. I also want us to keep asking how we verify the information we rely on.

Five Questions I’d Bring to a Technology Review

If you’re wondering whether your systems need attention, I’d start with these questions:

1. Where are we relying on workarounds? Look at the spreadsheets, duplicate data entry, and manual steps that keep the business moving.

2. What information is difficult to get? Identify the decisions that are delayed because the numbers aren’t available when you need them.

3. Could integration or automation solve part of the problem? Understand what you can improve within your existing setup as well as what might require replacement.

4. What will the change require from our people? Be realistic about time, training, testing, and the effect on daily responsibilities.

5. How will we manage ongoing costs and verify results? Think beyond implementation to how you’ll maintain, use, and evaluate the system.

You don’t need to have a software vendor selected to begin answering these questions. In fact, doing this work first can make those vendor conversations much more productive.

Watch the Full Ask the CFO Conversation

What I appreciated about this discussion was the opportunity to explore both the possibilities and the practical concerns. Better systems can help a business operate more effectively, but choosing and implementing them requires careful thought about people, processes, cost, and control.

If you’re running or advising a construction, distribution, or manufacturing business, I encourage you to watch the replay. Ketan brings a useful perspective on how to approach these decisions, and Doug’s questions helped us dig further into where AI fits.

Watch: Ask the CFO with Ketan Katariya

Connect with Ketan Katariya

If this conversation brought up questions about your own systems, you can connect with Ketan and learn more about his team’s work here:

• Ketan on LinkedIn

• Klio Systems

• My ERP Partner

Join Me for Ask the CFO

Ask the CFO remains a live, interactive conversation. I want business owners, finance leaders, and advisors to have a place to bring questions, share experiences, and discuss the challenges they’re working through.

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I look forward to having you join us.

Lowell Mora