SuiteWorld 2025: Expecting AI, Finding So Much More

From the moment we stepped into SuiteWorld 2025, there was a buzz in the air. The Crowe team knew this year’s event would be all about AI – NetSuite has been signaling that direction for months. But what unfolded over the next few days exceeded even our expectations. The announcements, demos, and energy made it clear: AI is now the backbone of the NetSuite evolution, and the audience was electric with excitement.

Setting the stage for NetSuite Next

In the main keynote address, the message was forceful: NetSuite Next is where business meets AI. The message was also not ambiguous. AI would not be a feature; it would be the environment. During the keynote, NetSuite announced a preview rollout in just a few months, with general availability slated for 2026.

New capabilities include:

• Natural language. Instead of hunting for menus or reports, users can now pose questions conversationally.
• Configurable AI agents. Users won’t just receive insights. They can configure agents to act or assist.
• Reimagined global search with Ask Oracle. Search becomes contextual, powered by AI rather than keyword matching.
• The importance of context. The same query filtered by role or department returns different, relevant results.
• AI-optimized forms. Forms will show what matters in that context, minimize noise, and surface signals.
• Feedback loops for trust and transparency. The system will track reasoning and let users provide feedback to refine responses.

All these capabilities are built on Redwood, the interface framework that underpins the NetSuite platform’s next user interface. In this user experience:

• Reports will be context-specific, actionable, and easier to review
• Dark mode will be supported
• Insight windows will be cleaner and more intuitive

Seeing AI in motion

The product keynote address explored how the theory turns into practice. It was less about future promises and more about what’s being enabled now – or soon.

Software highlights include:

AI in the Suite

• NetSuite Autonomous Close that closes ledgers with AI assistance
• NetSuite Planning and Budgeting advanced predictions
• Agentic commerce protocol that integrates SuiteCommerce and OpenAI's ChatGPT
• NetSuite Intelligent Payment Automation via NetSuite and BILL
• NetSuite Analytics Warehouse infographics

AI in industry functions

• NetSuite Subscription Metrics, now available
• NetSuite Field Service Management for intelligent resource allocation
• NetSuite Pricing Management, including cost, date-effective pricing, and price rules

This depth across finance, commerce, service, and pricing makes it clear that AI is not siloed. It’s pervasive.

Introducing MCP: The protocol that unlocks AI’s power

One of the most compelling technical foundations behind the future of AI on the NetSuite platform is model context protocol (MCP). Even if it wasn’t the showiest headline, understanding MCP is essential in grasping how all this will work.

NetSuite AI Connector Service is built on MCP. It gives organizations flexibility, control, and a pathway to plug in their own AI models – or use built-in ones – without being locked into any single provider.

A few takeaways:

• MCP is protocol agnostic. This protocol establishes a standard interface for AI to talk to the NetSuite platform via tools, data, and actions rather than embedding fixed AI into every module.
• Permissions and governance carry over. Agents operate under the same role-based access rules. Users decide what agents can see and do.
• The MCP Standard Tools SuiteApp is already available. This application brings tools for records, reports, saved searches, and SuiteQL into the AI context.

In short, MCP is like a USB-C port for AI and the NetSuite platform. It’s how users can enable their own AI agents or third-party models to safely, transparently interface with data and processes.

Crowe is positioning itself at the forefront of MCP adoption by investing heavily in MCP development. From pilot architectures to governance frameworks and custom tool development, we are building the playbooks now to help clients move from curiosity to production.

How operations, finance, and C-suite leaders can respond

After soaking in the keynotes and demos, we came away with a few thoughts on how leadership must transform to meet the moment.

• Mindsets should evolve from automation to orchestration. AI isn’t about doing what humans already do faster. It’s about enabling new capability. The shift is toward orchestrating processes, guiding exception, and interpreting insight.
• Context, not scale, is the new battleground. Because NetSuite Next is role-aware and context-sensitive, two executives might ask the same question and get quite different insights. Unique context demands discipline in modeling the data and defining roles and domains carefully.
• Governance is nonnegotiable. Given that agents can act on a user’s behalf (within limits), strong guardrails are imperative, including approval flows, audit trails, reasoning logs, and human-in-the-loop checks.
• Organizations should start small and iterate fast. The “switch-on Next” promise suggests users can adopt features incrementally, but early pilots matter. The teams that experiment sooner can develop muscle and insight faster.
• The partner-development ecosystem needs to be strategic. With MCP and extensibility, partners and internal teams can build custom agents, vertical workflows, and domain-specific intelligence. That’s where Crowe is doubling down.

Moments that continue to resonate

• The audience buzz was remarkable when the main keynote dropped NetSuite Next. We felt the excitement ripple across the room. People leaned forward. Conversations lingered longer.
• The practical demonstrations that showed AI generating purchase proposals, surfacing subscription metrics, or using pricing rules in action were inspiring. This wasn’t lofty talk; it was motion.
• Knowing that Crowe is already hands-on with MCP frameworks, the MCP strategy conversations and having peers and clients approach us about how to integrate AI in their stack were exciting.
• The sense of momentum in the partner community and announcements like the SuiteCloud AI Impact Partner award reinforced that real building is underway.

What to do next?

Moving forward in this dynamic environment might seem overwhelming. These pragmatic road map steps might be helpful.

• Define an AI use case blueprint. Pick one to two high-impact areas, such as forecasting, anomaly detection, or intelligent procurement.
• Establish governance. Design permission schemas, audit paths, exception flows, and human-in-the-loop review steps.
• Enable MCP in the sandbox. Install the MCP tools SuiteApp, set up roles, and test capabilities.
• Pilot with built-in agents. Begin by using native NetSuite native agents before building custom ones.
• Extend via MCP. Once comfortable, develop custom tools or workflows for the domain.
• Measure outcomes. Track return on investment via time saved, error reduction, forecast accuracy, and process lift.

We knew it would be about AI, but it was about even more

Walking into SuiteWorld, we believed AI would dominate the discussion. But what we witnessed was deeper: A transformation of the NetSuite platform’s DNA. The energy among attendees was electric, the ideas flowed, and the possibilities were real.

Crowe specialists came not just as observers, but as builders. At SuiteWorld, we reinforced our leadership in MCP adoption, AI integration frameworks, and strategic road maps.

If your organization is ready to move beyond AI curiosity to AI maturity, pilot use cases, build for scale, and govern responsibly, let’s talk. We’d be honored to help you design and execute your next chapter in your journey.