18 min read
At SuiteWorld 2025, NetSuite founder Evan Goldberg took the stage and declared what many in the ecosystem had been expecting: the future of ERP is arriving now—and it’s conversational, intelligent, and built from the ground up. The crown jewel of that announcement is NetSuite Next, powered by Ask Oracle. But beyond the marquee reveal, there’s more depth, nuance, and potential disruption than meets the eye.
Here’s what you need to know — and what it might mean for your business.
What Is NetSuite Next? What’s New (Beyond the Buzz)?
The official Oracle press release describes NetSuite Next as “the next generation of NetSuite [that] embeds conversational AI and agentic workflows across the suite to transform how AI works for business.” (Oracle)
In short: NetSuite Next isn’t a bolt-on module, plugin, or superficial AI wrapper. It’s a rearchitecture.
Some key features of Ask Oracle:
- Ask Oracle (natural language assistant): You can search, navigate, analyze, and act across your entire NetSuite dataset using plain-language questions. It returns context-aware answers, visualizations, and—critically—“reasoning that explains the ‘how’ and ‘why’ behind every response.”
- Agentic workflows: These are AI-driven workflows that can act autonomously (or semi-autonomously) to handle complex tasks—vendor selection, reconciliations, supply chain adjustments, payment proposals—and let users intervene or approve at decision points.
- AI Canvas: A collaborative, visual workspace embedded in NetSuite where teams can analyze data, brainstorm, trigger agentic workflows, and shape outcomes—essentially turning insights into plans directly in the system.
- Narrative summaries & insights: These surface automated explanations, highlight correlations, trends, risks, and opportunities—before you think to ask. The idea is to bring hidden patterns to light.
- Document & knowledge integration: NetSuite Next’s AI can read and interpret documents (invoices, contracts, receipts, manuals, purchase orders, technical specs) and then tie that intelligence back into workflow. For example, upload a contract and have Ask Oracle extract key terms, flag exceptions, and propose actions.
- Seamless switching & non-disruption: One of the most compelling claims: customers can switch to NetSuite Next “with the press of a button,” with no migrations or disruption to existing customizations. Your roles, permissions, and policies all carry over.
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Foundation on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI): Scalability, performance, security, and the ability to integrate further AI services are anchored on OCI.
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Expanded SuiteCloud AI/developer tools: NetSuite is opening up more AI capabilities for extension and customization via SuiteCloud. That includes:
- AI Connector Service (to pick and integrate external AI models)
- SuiteAgents frameworks (build AI agents)
- AI toolkits, AI assistants (for admins, developers), AI studios (Prompt Studio, Narrative Insight Studio)
Taken together, NetSuite Next isn’t just adding AI; it’s making AI a native part of the NetSuite experience. The difference may feel like night and day for power users.
Industry Reaction & Analytical Lens
Accounting/ERP media responded with cautious enthusiasm. For example, AccountingWEB noted that Ask Oracle is “personalized” and grounded in the user’s data, and highlighted Goldberg’s oft-quoted line:
“This is not a co-pilot … it’s the jet engine.”
According to the AccountingWEB preview, NetSuite Next will roll out first in North America, with phased expansion globally. hey also emphasized the dramatic keynote presentation: Goldberg revisited NetSuite’s origins and argued that building the system around business transactions (rather than accounting entries) gives AI deeper context.
Technology media echoed the messaging: Technology Magazine called the launch “placing collaborative, explainable AI at the core of enterprise operations.” Their coverage frames NetSuite Next as a shift in how software “thinks” for users, not just helps them.
Investing.com flagged it as an important move for Oracle’s ERP portfolio and highlighted how NetSuite Next aims to automate “repetitive and complex tasks” while preserving user control.
On the developer / ecosystem side, the press also emphasized that NetSuite Next’s AI will understand context across customizations and partner apps—meaning that the AI doesn’t break just because you’ve got SuiteApps or extensions. This is critical for NetSuite’s massive partner ecosystem.
Also, from the broader Oracle strategy lens, this aligns with Oracle’s push to bring AI deeper down into its stack, creating stickiness with built-in models and AI services.
What We Heard at SuiteWorld
From the keynote theatrics to the demos and audience reactions, here's what stood out:- Goldberg revisited NetSuite’s origins: emphasizing that from early on, NetSuite focused on business transactions, not just accounting entries. That design gives NetSuite Next richer semantic context.
- The demo sections were slick: showing how Ask Oracle could spin up a dashboard, dig into scenario planning, work with uploaded documents, or seamlessly shift between conversational and visual modes.
- One interesting point: Ask Oracle is adaptive. The same question asked by different roles (CFO vs operations manager) will get tailored responses because of role-based context.
- The UI refresh under NetSuite Next was subtle but meaningful. Reports, forms, filters, infinite scrolling, rebalanced layouts—there’s a push toward fluid, responsive interaction rather than rigid pages.
Opportunities, Risks & What to Watch
This launch is bold, but with ambition comes caveats. Here’s what to keep your eyes on:
Opportunities:
• Faster insight-to-action cycles: With AI baked in, users may be able to move from question to decision in minutes, not hours or days
• Lower friction for non-technical users: Ask Oracle lives up to the promise, power users (or even non-power users) can ask questions without building saved searches, dashboards, etc.
• Ecosystem leverage: Partner apps and customizations will be better integrated into AI workflows, turning extensions into first-class citizens of the AI experience.
• Agility in evolving processes: Agentic workflows make it easier to adapt changing business rules—e.g. in procurement, supply chains, or compliance—without heavy developer cycles.
Risks / Challenges:
• Trust, Transparency & error handling: Explainable AI helps, but users will test edge cases and mistakes will scrutinize the model.
• Performance/latency demands: For AI to feel natural, responses need to be near-instant. That demands both backend scale and US optimization.
• Adoption & training: Even the best AI can fail if users don't trust it or don't understand it.
• Global rollout/localization: North America leads; timing for other regions is less certain (AccountingWEB)
• Governance on AI actions: Intelligent workflows that move beyond suggestions into autonomous actions will need clear guardrails, approval flows, and audit trails.
The keynote continued to emphasize how these innovations, partnerships, and frameworks streamline business operations, boost efficiency, and set the stage for future growth across all industries using NetSuite.
Bottom Line
NetSuite Next, with Ask Oracle at its core, is one of the most ambitious shifts in ERP evolution we’ve seen in years. It’s not just about AI-powered insights—it’s about turning business systems into active, conversational partners.
If NetSuite is able to execute as promised—especially in terms of performance, transparency, and user trust—this could become a tipping point for AI-native enterprise systems.
Over the next 6–12 months, it’ll be worth tracking:
- Pilot and rollout performance (how fast & stable Ask Oracle is in real environments)
- Customer feedback, especially from finance and operations teams
- How partners adopt the new AI extension tools (SuiteAgents, AI Studios)
- Regional release timing outside North America
- How well the system handles customization-heavy accounts and edge cases
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