In an exclusive interaction with TimesTech, Kumar Somya Pandey, Chief Strategy Officer at HostBooks, reveals how the company is building a self-driving ERP platform for the next billion businesses. Leveraging Agentic AI, HostBooks is creating sector-specific agents, intelligent workflows, and localized compliance features to serve MSMEs across India, GCC, and Southeast Asia—paving the way for a smarter, simpler, and scalable future for digital-first enterprises.
Read the full interview here:
TimesTech: What is “Agentic AI” in the context of ERP, and how does it differentiate HostBooks?
Kumar: Agentic AI in ERP refers to software agents that act autonomously on behalf of the user to perform tasks, make decisions, and adapt in real time, without constant human supervision. HostBooks is India’s first to embed Agentic AI deeply into its ERP, enabling:
- Self-running business workflows: Agents handle invoice validation, procurement approvals, multilingual extraction, and exception handling.
- Always-on decision-making: From financial reconciliations to demand forecasting, agents work 24/7.
- Human-in-the-loop design: Critical edge cases are routed to human approvers only when needed.
TimesTech: HostBooks began as a U.S.-based distributor and is now a full-stack ERP leader. What were the key pivots?
Kumar: HostBooks’ evolution was marked by these inflection points:
- 2016–2018: Focused on tax compliance (GST, TDS, Income Tax) as a painkiller apps for accountants.
- 2019–2021: Expanded into accounting, POS, and started industry-specific ERP modules (e.g., hospitality, F&B).
- 2022: Deepened India presence with 100+ partners; entered UAE; launched BI and project management tools.
- 2023–2024: Rolled out Agentic AI layers like HB Zeno; scaled across hospitality, manufacturing, and retail.
- 2025: Crossed 10,000 paying clients; expanded into KSA, Africa, and Southeast Asia.
Lesson learned: Build trust in one function (compliance), then expand horizontally across workflows with modular ease.
TimesTech: Use cases: How has AI-powered ERP helped clients in manufacturing, retail, and hospitality?
Kumar: Manufacturing – Pride India Engineering Solutions
- Challenge: Manual tracking, outdated data.
- Solution: Real-time profitability analytics, shop floor control, milestone-based billing, and predictive maintenance.
- Outcome: Faster delivery, optimized production, and cost controls.
Retail – Mobile Chain with 200+ stores
- Challenge: Multi-location inventory visibility, manual E-way bills.
- Solution: AI-based vendor management, real-time stock visibility, and seamless GST compliance.
- Outcome: Accelerated operations and better vendor control.
Hospitality – Royal Orchid Hotels (100+ properties)
- Challenge: Multiple legacy systems; no consolidated financial view.
- Solution: Hotel360 platform for centralized accounting, compliance, and forecasting.
- Outcome: Streamlined finance across own and franchise properties, reduced manpower reliance.
TimesTech: Vision for a “Self-Driving ERP” for the Next Billion Businesses?
Kumar: In the next 3–5 years, HostBooks aims to deliver:
- Conversational ERP: Ask-Zeno interfaces for insights, instructions, and summaries (e.g., “Show me cost variance for last 3 months”).
- Zero-click workflows: Payables, taxation, banking, and compliance will run in the background.
- Industry-tuned agents: Each sector (e.g., F&B, Retail, and Manufacturing) will get its playbook of AI agents.
- Global SME cloud: One unified ERP cloud with regional compliance modules and language support.
This means a frictionless ERP—from click to insight to action, especially for first-gen digital businesses in India, GCC, and ASEAN
TimesTech: How does HostBooks address Indian MSME compliance challenges?
Kumar: India’s 60+ million MSMEs struggle with tax compliance, reconciliations, and fragmented reporting. HostBooks:
- Unifies GST, TDS, income tax, and e-invoicing into one platform.
- Auto-generates audit trails and performs real-time reconciliation.
- Uses AI agents to extract, validate, and translate invoices from emails and scanned documents.
- Partners with banks and fintech for GST-based lending data syncs.
The result: businesses spend less time on grunt work and more time growing, while staying tax-ready.
TimesTech: What’s fueling HostBooks’ global expansion—and how is the product localized?
Kumar: Expansion is driven by:
- Regulatory tailwinds: UAE and KSA’s new corporate tax regimes demand robust compliance.
- Diaspora synergy: Indian-origin promoters in UAE/SEA resonate with the product’s design.
- Tech-first mid-markets: There’s a gap between global behemoths like SAP and lightweight tools like Zoho.
Localization strategies:
- Region-specific tax engines (e.g., VAT in UAE, WHT in Africa)
- Multi-currency, multi-language, multi-entity support
- Integrations with local banks, POS systems, and logistics platforms
Presence now spans India, UAE, KSA, Nigeria, Kenya, and Singapore with partners across 180+ locations globally.
