At NetSuite Connect Sydney, Oracle NetSuite unveiled its latest advancements in artificial intelligence (AI)-powered business management, underscoring its strategy of deep integration in the NetSuite platform and making AI accessible to its customers at no extra cost.
Scott Wiltshire, vice-president and ANZ general manager at Oracle NetSuite, addressed a capacity crowd, declaring that “AI is no longer tomorrow’s technology”. He outlined how AI empowers businesses to streamline routine tasks, freeing up time for innovation, uncovering hidden trends for smarter decision-making and competing more effectively with larger rivals.
Evan Goldberg, founder and executive vice-president of Oracle NetSuite, described the platform as “truly one system with no limits”. He highlighted the continuous expansion of NetSuite’s features and functionality, both through internal development and the contributions of the SuiteCloud Developer Network, which offers over 800 applications. Goldberg positioned NetSuite’s AI capabilities as a natural extension of this growth, enhancing insight, control, collaboration and productivity.
Brian Chess, senior vice-president of technology and AI at Oracle NetSuite, elaborated on the company’s approach to AI integration. He contrasted the current AI transformation with previous technological shifts, pointing to the unique potential of AI to offer advice, uncover patterns, recommend actions, automate workflow, and boost speed and accuracy. “AI is built in, not added on,” he said. “We don’t charge extra for AI.”
Chess gave several examples of AI capabilities built into NetSuite, including the use of company-specific data in large language model (LLM) text generation, for instance, to turn job descriptions or product descriptions expressed in bullet points into long-form text, with the ability to configure this capability to use the business’s preferred style and tone.
He also singled out AI agents as “a natural progression”, explaining how they respond to natural language requests, operate in existing workflows and data, and can even work proactively with user permission.
In financial management, Chess demonstrated how an AI agent could identify anomalies, such as a $2,000 transaction where $200 is the norm, and simplify the correction process, potentially rectifying a data entry error. He also previewed the upcoming Suite Analytics Assistant, which will allow users to generate reports and visualisations using natural language queries.
Infrastructure needs
Using Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) to handle NetSuite’s infrastructure needs, from graphics processing unit clusters to private data storage, also makes it easier to set up new cloud regions, said Chess. This allows NetSuite to focus on the “plumbing” of AI integration, such as training the NetSuite Expert for SuiteAnswers on all NetSuite documentation and connecting it to the software. Thanks to OCI, he said, a team of just 12 engineers delivered the current level of AI integration in just under a year.
Asked about situations where generative AI could be used against businesses, such as ChatGPT’s recently discovered ability to generate realistic fake receipts, Chess said fraud detection in general is an area where NetSuite will be able to help its customers with capabilities such as financial exception management – for example, by detecting something unusual about a document such as an excessive tip.
However, this is going to be an arms race, he warned: people who want to lie or cheat will find a way, so organisations have to accept a certain amount of fraud as a cost of doing business.
Software as a service
AI-enhanced software-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms have the potential to share fraudulent patterns across all users. Chess said there is “a lot of potential good that could come from that”, but warned of issues such as the propriety of doing this when some customers compete with each other. Consequently, NetSuite is proceeding cautiously, he said.
Another potential benefit proposed in the early days of cloud-based financial software was the ability to benchmark a company’s performance against that of its peers. “We have moved cautiously in this area,” he said.
NetSuite doesn’t want to compromise its customers’ data, and it’s important to ensure they understand what they are opting into if they choose to use such a capability. A simple checkbox isn’t sufficient, warned Chess.
Goldberg outlined other new NetSuite features, including NetSuite Enterprise Performance Management, which leverages AI for enhanced reporting; pre-built AI models in NetSuite Analytics Warehouse; and Workforce Management with preconfigured rates for specific industries. He also announced lower-priced specialised user role licenses, expanding access to modules like warehouse management system and customer relationship management.
Several Australian and New Zealand customers shared their NetSuite success stories at the event. Dianna Butterworth, chief financial officer (CFO) of Kieser, a physiotherapy and strength-training business, explained how NetSuite has helped to streamline manual consolidation and support the company’s expansion plans.
Luke Matthews, head of technology at fashion retailer Camilla, highlighted NetSuite’s support for international growth, and its ability to track microtrends and optimise stock allocation, while Stephen Xiao, CFO of ecommerce specialist New Aim, described NetSuite as the “backbone” of the company’s digital ecosystem, enabling significant time savings in order processing and month-end closing.
Shane Young, CFO of Smithbridge Group, a crane hire company, said NetSuite has made the collection and use of data more efficient – for example, by enabling managers to generate their own reports instead of relying on the accountants. This has helped managers feel “more empowered” while giving the accounting team a better understanding of what was needed by their colleagues on the operations side of the business.
There is still a lot more that could be done with AI in terms of making systems easier to use, said Goldberg, such as being able to use everyday language to use and manage systems, as well as having agents working behind the scenes.
AI can spot trends, recommend actions, and – subject to approval – implement those actions, he said, taking into consideration data from internal and external sources.
Given that NetSuite customers often migrate from a simpler product such as MYOB or Xero, is there a possibility of a version for small businesses as defined in this part of the world?
Chess said it’s “attractive” to think NetSuite could be the only system such a business ever had, “but that’s all I’m going to say about that today”.
Goldberg was no more forthcoming, saying that ideally, businesses would only ever need to use one system, but he observed that AI would make it easier for smaller companies to adopt NetSuite, partly because it will help to reduce implementation costs.
As things stand, local growth opportunities can be found across a range of industries, said Wiltshire, and they include family businesses looking to modernise as they pass into the hands of the next generation, as well as technology startups. “We’ve got a very healthy market in Australia,” he said, along with an ecosystem that can help provide value to customers through specialised applications that integrate with NetSuite.