Presented by Oracle NetSuite<\/i><\/p>\n
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When any company tells you it is their biggest product release in almost three decades, it\u2019s worth listening. When the person saying it founded the world\u2019s first cloud computing company, it\u2019s time to take note. <\/p>\n
At SuiteWorld 2025, Evan Goldberg, founder and EVP of Oracle NetSuite, did just that when he called NetSuite Next the company\u2019s biggest product evolution in nearly three decades. But behind that sweeping vision lies a quieter shift \u2014 one centered on how AI behaves, not just what it can do. <\/p>\n
\u201cEvery company is experimenting with AI,\u201d says Brian Chess, SVP of Technology and AI at NetSuite. \u201cSome ideas hit the mark, and some don\u2019t, but each one teaches us something. That\u2019s how innovation works.\u201d<\/p>\n
For Chess and Gary Wiessinger, SVP of Application Development at NetSuite, the challenge lies in governing AI responsibly. Rather than reinventing its system, NetSuite is extending the same principles into the AI era that have guided its strategy for 27 years \u2014 security, control, and auditability. The goal is to make AI actions traceable, permissions enforceable, and outcomes auditable.<\/p>\n
The philosophy underpins what Chess calls a \u201cglass-box\u201d approach to enterprise AI, where decisions are visible and every agent operates within human-defined guardrails.<\/p>\n
NetSuite Next is the result of five years of development. It is built on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), which is relied on by many of the world\u2019s most important AI model providers, and has AI capabilities integrated directly into its core rather than added as a separate layer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are building a fantastic foundation on OCI,\u201d Chess says. \u201cThat infrastructure provides more than compute power.\u201d <\/p>\n
Built on the same OCI foundation that powers NetSuite today, NetSuite Next gives customers access to Oracle\u2019s latest AI innovations along with the performance, scalability, and security of OCI\u2019s enterprise-grade platform.<\/p>\n
Wiessinger emphasizes the team’s approach as \u201cneeds first, technology second.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t take a technology-first approach,\u201d he says. \u201cWe take a customer-needs-first approach and then figure out how to use the latest technology to solve those needs better.\u201d<\/p>\n
That philosophy extends across Oracle\u2019s ecosystem. NetSuite\u2019s collaboration with Oracle\u2019s AI Database, Fusion Applications, Analytics, and Cloud Infrastructure teams helps NetSuite deliver capabilities that independent vendors can\u2019t match, he says \u2014 an AI system that is both open to innovation and grounded in Oracle\u2019s security and scale.<\/p>\n
At the heart of the platform is a structured data model that serves as a critical advantage.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the great things about NetSuite is, because the data comes in and it gets structured, the connections between the data are explicit,\u201d Chess explains. \u201cThat means the AI can start exploring that knowledge graph that the company has been building up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Where general LLMs sift through unstructured text, NetSuite\u2019s AI works from structured data, identifying precise links between transactions, accounts, and workflows to deliver context-aware insights. <\/p>\n
Wiessinger adds, \u201cThe data we have spans financials, CRM, commerce, and HR. We can do more for customers because we see more of their business in one place.\u201d <\/p>\n
Combined with built-in business logic and metadata, that scope allows NetSuite to generate recommendations and insights that are accurate and explainable.<\/p>\n
Oracle\u2019s Redwood design system provides the visual layer for this data intelligence, creating what Goldberg described as a “modern, clean and intuitive” workspace where AI and humans collaborate naturally.<\/p>\n
One downside of enterprise AI is that many systems still function as a black box \u2014 they produce results but offer little visibility into how they reached them. NetSuite is different. It is designing its systems around transparency, making visibility a defining feature.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen users can see how AI reached a decision \u2014 tracing the path from A to B \u2014 they don\u2019t just verify accuracy,\u201d Chess says. \u201cThey learn how the AI knew to do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
That visibility turns AI into a learning engine. As Chess puts it, transparency becomes a \u201cfantastic teacher,\u201d helping organizations understand, improve, and trust automation over time.<\/p>\n
But Chess cautions against blind trust: \u201cWhat\u2019s disturbing is when someone presents something to me and says, \u2018Look what AI gave me,\u2019 as if that makes it authoritative. People need to ask, \u2018What grounded this? Why is it correct?\u2019<\/i>\u201d <\/p>\n
NetSuite\u2019s answer is traceability. When someone asks, \u201cWhere did this number come from?\u201d the system can show them the full reasoning behind it.<\/p>\n
AI agents inside NetSuite Next follow the same governance model as employees: roles, permissions, and escalation rules. Role-based security embedded directly into workflows helps ensure that agents act only within authorized boundaries.<\/p>\n
Wiessinger puts it plainly: \u201cIf AI generates a narrative summary of a report and it\u2019s 80% of what the user would have written, that\u2019s fine. We\u2019ll learn from their feedback and make it even better. But booking to the general ledger is different. That has to be 100% correct and is where controls and human review really matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Auditing has always been part of ERP\u2019s DNA, and NetSuite now extends that discipline to AI. Every agent action, workflow adjustment, and model-generated code snippet is recorded within the system\u2019s existing audit framework. <\/p>\n
As Chess explains, \u201cIt\u2019s the same audit trail you might use to figure out what the humans did. Code is auditable. When the LLM creates code and something happens in the system, we can trace back.\u201d<\/p>\n
That traceability transforms AI from a black box into a glass box. When an algorithm accelerates a payment or flags an anomaly, teams can see exactly which inputs and logic produced the decision \u2014 an essential safeguard for regulated industries and finance teams.<\/p>\n
The other half of trust is freedom \u2014 the ability to extend AI without risking data exposure.<\/p>\n
The NetSuite AI Connector Service and SuiteCloud Platform make that possible. Through standards like the Model Context Protocol (MCP), customers can connect external language models while keeping sensitive data secure inside Oracle\u2019s environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cBusinesses are hungry for AI,\u201d Chess says. \u201cThey want to start putting it to work. But they also want to know those experiments can\u2019t go off the rails. The NetSuite AI Connector Service and governance model give partners the freedom to innovate while maintaining the same audit and permission logic that govern native features.\u201d<\/p>\n
Governance frameworks only work if people use them wisely. Both executives see AI adoption as a top-down and bottom-up process.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe board is telling the CEO they need an AI strategy,\u201d Chess says. \u201cMeanwhile, employees are already using AI. If I were a CEO, I\u2019d start by asking: what are you already doing, and what\u2019s working?\u201d<\/p>\n
Wiessinger agrees that balance is key: \u201cSome companies go all-in on a centralized AI team while others let everyone experiment freely. Neither works by itself. You need structure for major initiatives and freedom for grassroots innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n
He offers a simple example: \u201cWrite an email? Go crazy. Touch financials or employee data? Don\u2019t go crazy with that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Experimentation, both emphasize, is imperative. \u201cNo one should wait for us or anyone else,\u201d Wiessinger says. \u201cStart testing, learn quickly, and be intentional about making it work for your business.\u201d<\/p>\n
As AI moves deeper into enterprise operations, governance will define competitive advantage as much as innovation. NetSuite\u2019s approach \u2014 extending its heritage of ERP controls into the age of autonomous systems, built on Oracle\u2019s secure cloud infrastructure and structured-data foundation \u2014 positions it to lead in both.<\/p>\n
In a world of opaque models and risky promises, the companies that win won\u2019t just build smarter AI. They\u2019ll build AI you can trust.<\/p>\n
Sponsored articles are content produced by a company that is either paying for the post or has a business relationship with VentureBeat, and they\u2019re always clearly marked. For more information, contact <\/i>sales@venturebeat.com<\/u><\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Presented by Oracle NetSuite W…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":109,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/connectword.dpdns.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/connectword.dpdns.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/connectword.dpdns.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/connectword.dpdns.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/connectword.dpdns.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/connectword.dpdns.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/connectword.dpdns.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/connectword.dpdns.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/connectword.dpdns.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/connectword.dpdns.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}