NetSuite Next preview: New insights into NetSuite’s AI-native ERP experience

Artificial intelligence is transforming ERP from a system that records business data into one that actively helps users work smarter. With the NetSuite Next preview, Oracle is giving eligible U.S. and Canadian customers early access to its AI-native ERP experience through a secure environment that mirrors their existing NetSuite account.

Available as part of the NetSuite 2026.2 release, the NetSuite Next preview allows organizations to explore capabilities such as Ask Oracle, AI-powered agents, the redesigned Redwood user experience, and other innovations using their own workflows and customizations without affecting live operations. In this blog, we’ll explore what’s included, why it matters, and how Rand Group can help you prepare for the future of AI-powered ERP.

What is the NetSuite Next preview?

The NetSuite Next preview is a secure testing environment that gives eligible NetSuite customers early access to Oracle’s AI-native ERP experience before it becomes their production interface.

Unlike a generic product demonstration, the preview replicates your existing NetSuite environment, including your:

• Roles and permissions
• Custom fields
• Workflows
• Saved searches
• Dashboards
• Integrations
• Business data structure

Because it mirrors your production account, your team can evaluate new AI capabilities within the context of your actual business processes without disrupting daily operations or affecting live data.

Think of the NetSuite Next preview as a safe sandbox built from your existing ERP environment. It allows business teams to explore new functionality, validate workflows, and identify opportunities for automation before deciding how these capabilities fit into their long-term ERP strategy.

What’s new in the NetSuite Next preview?

NetSuite Next introduces much more than a refreshed interface. Oracle has embedded AI throughout the platform to simplify reporting, automate routine work, and make ERP more intuitive for users across the organization.

Ask Oracle brings conversational AI into NetSuite

One of the most anticipated additions in the NetSuite Next preview is Ask Oracle, a conversational AI assistant built directly into NetSuite.

Instead of navigating menus or building saved searches, users can simply ask questions using natural language.

For example:

• “Show overdue invoices greater than $25,000.”
• “Summarize revenue by location this quarter.”
• “Create a purchase requisition for office supplies.”
• “Show customers with declining sales over the past six months.”

Ask Oracle can help users retrieve information, generate reports, navigate records, and complete common ERP tasks without requiring deep system expertise. This represents an important shift in how organizations interact with ERP. Rather than learning where information lives, users can focus on asking business questions and receiving actionable answers. For finance leaders, controllers, and executives, this means faster access to insights without relying on technical report writers or complex saved searches.

Ask Oracle is also becoming available within the current NetSuite experience as part of NetSuite 2026.2, so customers do not need to move to NetSuite Next to begin using supported Ask Oracle capabilities.

AI agents automate repetitive ERP processes

While generative AI has received significant attention over the past few years, Oracle is also investing heavily in agentic AI, intelligent software agents capable of completing multi-step business processes.

The NetSuite Next preview introduces AI-powered agents designed to assist with tasks such as:

• Intelligent bank transaction matching
• Financial close discrepancy analysis
• Flux analysis
• Payment proposal recommendations
• Exception monitoring

Rather than simply identifying issues, these agents can recommend actions or complete routine work while keeping users in control through configurable approval workflows. This approach allows organizations to automate repetitive financial processes while maintaining governance, security, and auditability. Instead of replacing finance professionals, AI agents reduce manual effort so teams can spend more time analyzing results and making strategic decisions.

Redwood Experience modernizes the NetSuite interface

Another major enhancement included in the NetSuite Next preview is Oracle’s Redwood Design System. Redwood delivers a modern, streamlined interface designed to improve usability across the entire ERP platform.

Users will notice:

• Cleaner navigation
• Simplified record pages
• Modern dashboards
• Improved accessibility
• More consistent layouts
• Faster access to commonly used information

While a redesigned interface may seem cosmetic, user experience has a direct impact on ERP adoption. Reducing clicks, simplifying navigation, and surfacing relevant information can help organizations improve productivity while lowering training requirements for new users.

The Redwood experience also creates consistency across Oracle’s cloud applications, making it easier for organizations using multiple Oracle solutions to move between products.

AI Canvas enables collaborative business planning

The NetSuite Next preview also introduces AI Canvas, a collaborative workspace designed to help organizations analyze data, evaluate scenarios, and explore business outcomes visually.

Instead of reviewing static reports, teams can interact with information in a more dynamic way by:

• Comparing business scenarios
• Exploring trends visually
• Collaborating across departments
• Triggering AI-assisted workflows
• Organizing analysis around specific business initiatives

For finance leaders, AI Canvas has the potential to improve planning by bringing together data analysis and decision-making within a shared environment. As organizations increasingly rely on cross-functional planning, tools like AI Canvas can help eliminate silos while supporting faster, more informed decisions.

Narrative Insights explain what your data means

Traditional ERP dashboards excel at displaying metrics, but they often leave users responsible for interpreting the results.

NetSuite Next addresses this challenge with Narrative Insights.

Rather than presenting only charts and numbers, the platform generates natural language explanations that summarize trends, identify anomalies, and highlight meaningful relationships within the data.

For example, instead of simply showing that revenue increased by 12 percent, Narrative Insights might explain that growth was primarily driven by stronger sales in one region while operating expenses remained stable.

These AI-generated summaries help executives and department managers quickly understand business performance without manually analyzing multiple reports. For organizations managing multiple entities or locations, this capability can significantly improve executive visibility and accelerate decision-making.

AI-powered document and knowledge extraction

Manual data entry remains one of the most time-consuming activities within finance and operations. The NetSuite Next preview introduces AI capabilities that automatically extract information from documents such as:

• Vendor invoices
• Contracts
• Purchase documents
• PDFs
• Internal knowledge articles
• Training materials

Rather than manually entering or searching for information, users can leverage AI to identify, validate, and organize critical business data. This helps reduce processing time while improving data accuracy and supporting more efficient financial operations.

Why the NetSuite Next preview matters

The NetSuite Next preview is about much more than new features. It reflects a broader shift in how ERP systems support operational users.

Historically, ERP users have been responsible for finding information, running reports, and executing routine processes themselves. AI-native ERP changes that model by embedding intelligence directly into everyday workflows.

This evolution allows ERP to become a more active participant in business operations rather than simply a system of record. Instead of spending hours collecting information, finance teams can focus on interpreting results, identifying opportunities, and making strategic decisions. For organizations already using NetSuite, the preview provides an opportunity to evaluate where these new capabilities can deliver measurable business value before broader adoption.

In our experience helping organizations evaluate new ERP capabilities, the greatest early opportunities for AI often emerge in financial reporting, month-end close, approval workflows, and transaction matching. These repetitive, time-intensive processes are well suited for AI-assisted automation, allowing finance teams to streamline processes while improving visibility and consistency. Starting with these high-impact workflows can help organizations build confidence and demonstrate measurable value before expanding AI across additional business processes.

Best practices for evaluating the NetSuite Next preview

1. Test real business workflows
   Evaluate processes your team performs every day, such as month-end close, financial reporting, purchasing, approvals, and reconciliations.
2. Include multiple departments
   Finance, accounting, procurement, operations, and executive leadership may each discover unique opportunities for AI-assisted workflows.
3. Review governance and security
   Understand how AI recommendations align with existing approval processes, permissions, and compliance requirements.
4. Measure productivity improvements
   Track where AI reduces manual effort, eliminates repetitive tasks, or accelerates reporting. Measure time saved, reduction in manual effort, reporting speed, and user adoption to quantify business value.
5. Build an adoption roadmap
   Not every capability needs to be implemented immediately. Prioritize high-value use cases that align with your organization’s goals and develop a phased adoption strategy.

Partner with Rand Group for your NetSuite Next evaluation

Successfully adopting AI requires a strategy that aligns AI capabilities with your business goals and existing processes.

As an Oracle NetSuite Alliance Partner, Rand Group helps organizations across a wide range of industries modernize finance and operations with NetSuite. Our consultants evaluate existing workflows, customizations, and reporting needs to identify practical opportunities where AI can improve efficiency, increase visibility, and eliminate repetitive tasks.

Our NetSuite services include:

• NetSuite implementation and optimization
• AI readiness assessments
• NetSuite Next preview evaluations
• Workflow automation
• System integrations
• Reporting and dashboard optimization
• User training and adoption planning
• Ongoing managed support

Our team also stays closely aligned with Oracle’s evolving AI roadmap, helping clients understand how emerging capabilities, including Ask Oracle, AI agents, and intelligent automation, can be incorporated into long-term ERP strategies.

Final thoughts

The NetSuite Next preview provides organizations with an exciting opportunity to experience Oracle’s vision for AI-native ERP before it reaches production environments. From conversational reporting with Ask Oracle to intelligent AI agents, Narrative Insights, AI Canvas, and the redesigned Redwood experience, these innovations have the potential to transform how finance and operations teams interact with their ERP system.

The greatest value comes from identifying where AI can improve your unique business processes and implementing it with the right strategy, governance, and user adoption plan. Organizations that begin evaluating AI today will be better positioned to take advantage of future NetSuite innovations as Oracle continues expanding autonomous capabilities across the platform. Contact us today if you’re ready to explore the NetSuite Next preview or develop an AI roadmap for your NetSuite environment.

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