China Securities Journal Exclusive Interview with Song Guanfu
Source: China Securities Journal
From a seasoned programmer to the leader of Asia's largest geographic information system (GIS) software company, Song Guanfu's 28 years with SuperMap have been a practice of painting a new blueprint for the industry with innovation and transformation in the era of geospatial intelligence.
As President of SuperMap, Song recently sat down for an exclusive interview with a China Securities Journal reporter to delve into the company's strategic path of redefining technological boundaries with geospatial intelligence and revitalizing development momentum through organizational transformation, as well as its growth logic for the future.
"The deep integration of AI and GIS will reshape the application model of GIS," Song stated. He believes this could become a major force driving IT upgrades and will open up even greater market opportunities for SuperMap.
01 Deep Integration of AI and GIS
"I started as a programmer. On June 18, 1997, my doctoral advisor and founder of SuperMap, Zhong Ershun, pushed open my door and told me the news about registering the company while I was immersed in writing code for the first version of SuperMap. SuperMap's emphasis on technological innovation and R&D is deeply ingrained," Song began, reflecting the pragmatism and dedication typical of a programmer.
Today, after 28 years, SuperMap has grown into Asia's largest GIS software enterprise. Its self-developed SuperMap GIS platform has been used in over 100 countries and regions, becoming a veritable 'geographic information operating system.'"
"GIS may seem abstract, but it is actually an 'invisible infrastructure' supporting societal operations," Song explained. GIS platform software is a general-purpose platform for managing and analyzing geographic information and developing applications for various industries based on digital maps. It is widely used by government agencies, enterprises, and institutions. From precision planning of natural resources to the efficient operation of smart cities and rapid response in emergency disaster relief, SuperMap GIS is everywhere.
Its core advantage lies in its autonomous and controllable underlying technology—it can operate across operating systems, databases, and chip platforms, offering strong compatibility and irreplaceable value in ensuring information security and adapting to complex scenarios."
SuperMap has clearly positioned geospatial intelligence as the core of its technological development. Song explained that the company’s concept of geospatial intelligence essentially involves mining information and knowledge from spatial data and applying it to managing and designing the world. He emphasized that with the deep integration of AI and GIS, this core capability will achieve a qualitative leap.
From a technical perspective, compared to solely relying on AI to build world models, the integrated "AI + GIS" approach offers unique advantages. "GIS software itself is a professional tool for managing and designing the physical world. When combined with AI, it enables computers to understand the physical world more accurately. This technical characteristic makes it easier to implement and promote in practical applications, with a clearer commercialization path. Therefore, the market potential spawned by this technological integration is highly promising," Song said.
02 Geospatial AI Agents Usher in a New Era
"AI is reshaping GIS in an unprecedented way, and this is a major opportunity for the industry," Song noted. "In the past, GIS was a professional tool for 'passively processing' data, with high barriers to entry and complex operations. The integration of AI has enabled it to achieve an upgrade to 'active perception and decision-making,' transforming it from an auxiliary tool into a core force driving innovation."
SuperMap's latest release, the SuperMap GIS 2025 series, is a concentrated embodiment of this transformation. Song explained its core innovations: "The SuperMap Geospatial AI Agent Service Platform is like giving GIS a 'smart assistant.' Users can make requests in natural language (e.g., 'Analyze land changes in this area over the past five years'), and the system can automatically call tools to complete the task. New AI assistants in desktop and cloud products can quickly generate maps that meet requirements or automate modeling solutions. Improvements in 3D modeling and remote sensing image interpretation accuracy have made architectural details in urban planning and plot boundaries in agricultural monitoring clearer and more distinguishable."
"2025 is being called the 'Year of AI Agent,' and the latest advancements in SuperMap’s Geospatial agents have attracted significant attention," Song shared. Geospatial agents deeply integrate large language models with professional GIS software technology. Their core advantage lies in their "autonomous scheduling capability for complex tasks"—while large language models tell people 'how to do it,' geospatial agents understand intentions and call GIS tools to directly 'get it done.'"
"Technical barriers come from the dual accumulation of 'AI algorithms + GIS platform capabilities,'" Song explained. By combining SuperMap’s long-established spatial analysis and processing capabilities with the geospatial AI capabilities of its underlying technology, SuperMap AIF, the company has formed a technological moat for spatial agents.
03 Organizational Transformation to Create a Second Growth Curve
The organizational transformation in 2024 was SuperMap’s "proactive move" to address challenges. "Traditional business growth is slowing, and the four subsidiaries acquired by the company previously had dispersed resources, overlapping businesses, and duplicated R&D efforts. We had to 'unify these resources into a fist,'" Song told reporters. By building a matrix organization of "9 major regions + 5 major product lines," SuperMap has integrated resources across the company and focused on key businesses, enhancing product and market competitiveness.
04 Triple Driving Forces Focus on Accelerating Transformation
Song divided SuperMap's development into three stages: 2024–2025 as years of transformation and adjustment, 2026–2029 as years of accelerated transformation, and 2030–2035 as years of steady expansion. Supporting this plan is a "triple driving force" strategy—technology-driven (maintaining over 15% annual R&D investment, focusing on geospatial intelligence), market-driven (strengthening sales and service systems), and management-driven (improving efficiency through management reforms).
The deep integration of AI and GIS will significantly enhance the analysis and processing capabilities of geographic information, improve the efficiency of professionals, and revolutionize the interaction paradigms of industry software.
Breakthroughs in technologies such as 3D modeling, 3D analysis, and high-fidelity visualization will drive explosive growth in areas like the low-altitude economy and digital twin applications. Meanwhile, the ongoing deepening of digital government initiatives in China and strong international demand for geospatial intelligence software technologies will provide SuperMap with broader development opportunities.
From a tool software to an intelligent platform, SuperMap's new growth curve is rapidly extending amid the wave of geospatial intelligence. As Song Guanfu aptly put it, "What we aim to do is make GIS understand the world better and enable geospatial intelligence to serve every corner of the world."
