This year’s SuiteWorld in Las Vegas is all about NetSuite Next, which the company describes as “the future of NetSuite.” The phrasing sounds bombastic, and almost makes Next sound like a completely new solution – it’s not. Instead, NetSuite Next represents the Oracle company taking one step closer to the goal of making its ERP a “natural extension of business operations.”
That last quote comes from founder and EVP of NetSuite Evan Goldberg. It neatly summarizes the vision behind Oracle NetSuite Next. This is not a new offering or indeed standalone, but an extension that one may activate at the touch of a single button. One rather significant nuance is that only U.S.-based customers can opt for Next somewhere in the next twelve months. NetSuite has not said why this is the case, and we’ll be sure to inquire about it at this year’s SuiteWorld.
Intuitive experience
For those who can activate it, NetSuite Next is meant to enable companies to automate, map, or accelerate as many processes as possible. This all starts with Ask Oracle, a central AI assistant function that makes all information within NetSuite searchable via a unified data model. Ask Oracle is already present in various Oracle Cloud Fusion applications. The assistant function answers questions about data within NetSuite and is designed to provide more than just a straightforward answer. For example, it takes into account the role of the employee asking the question, so that the information is relevant and the correct data is retrieved.
Two years ago, Oracle NetSuite pointed out it wanted to enable customers to do more with less. In other words, the company wanted clients to get more out of the ERP system without having to turn to an external party. That bold promise was reversed in 2024, when integrations and an open ecosystem took center stage. Now, the tone is back to being more bombastic.
No migration
Next does not require complex migration because it is not a new system, but an extension of Oracle NetSuite. This means that the user-friendly Redwood Design System remains intact. The goal behind Redwood was to make enterprise apps feel more like consumer apps. Ask Oracle and the Next experience take this a step further. NetSuite should now be so intuitive that you can ask the solution a question directly.
Next brings more concrete features as well. Agentic workflows are making their debut in NetSuite Next. Payment proposals, vendor selection, and supply chain operations should be automatable with the agentic features. There is also an AI Canvas to allow employees to brainstorm with AI based on data within NetSuite. In addition, Oracle NetSuite is expanding document integration so that they can be consulted for and by AI. In short, the company is making it as easy as possible to make the move to Next and reap the benefits.
NetSuite SuiteCloud Platform
NetSuite customers can also get started with AI functionality via the NetSuite SuiteCloud Platform. Custom AI agents, third-party AI models, and self-designed AI workflows can all be created via this environment.
We have recently become familiar with the AI Connector Service. It integrates popular AI standards such as MCP with NetSuite. Future innovations include SuiteAgents, or agents that behave securely and as expected within the NetSuite environment. In addition, NetSuite is introducing AI Toolkits for fully customizable AI functionality based on SuiteCloud extensions. Among the upcoming AI Assistants is a SuiteCloud Developer Assistant that helps with coding. AI Studios help customers adapt all AI capabilities to the standards of their industry. Think of an industry with high compliance requirements. For example, an agent in the financial sector may need to report more frequently to an employee about the actions they are taking or request permission to do so.
In addition, NetSuite has a new targeted feature for one specific sector this year. Companies that earn their income from subscriptions, often tech/software companies, can now use NetSuite Subscription Metrics to gain better insight into their revenues. This service provides a unified view of everything from customer information, subscriptions, sales history, and forecasting to the associated visualizations and AI insights.
Goldberg says NetSuite gives CFOs and CROs out-of-the-box metrics, actionable AI-generated narratives, multinational reporting, and insightful visualizations within a unique dashboard. Subscription Metrics includes useful features such as currency alignment. For example, using OneWorld constant currency, NetSuite reports all revenue and expenses in dollars, converted or not.
Conclusion: from feature set to philosophy
The SuiteWorld announcements in 2024 were fairly subdued. The emphasis was on integrations, an open ecosystem, and following the 2023-24 trend of displaying AI-driven insights directly in the application itself. Now that agentic AI promises greater automation, NetSuite is going for a more robust narrative.
NetSuite Next is still a sum of building blocks, but the thinking behind the announcements is certainly ambitious. The solution must respond better to what users actually want to know, without the UI being a roadblock.
Nevertheless, there are many moving parts within a modern SaaS solution. It is precisely this complexity that NetSuite wants to overcome with Next. You should be able to ask any question you want, and Ask Oracle will provide you with an answer. The goal seems to be to make it a less technical application. That is not the explicit objective, but staff who are proficient with NetSuite Next should be particularly skilled at coming up with the right questions. This will accelerate your business processes more than just automating repetitive work. By 2025, that will quickly become low-hanging fruit. With Next, NetSuite is preparing for the next battle between enterprise applications: which solution will get you to the right answer as quickly as possible to help your organization move forward?