10 Key Takeaways from SuiteWorld 2025: What They Mean for System Integrators

1. Global scale, local delivery

With more than 8,000 attendees, 35 data centres, and users in 170 countries, NetSuite made one thing clear at SuiteWorld 2025: It’s still a truly global platform. Its message — “We are where you are” — spoke directly to businesses expanding across regions but wanting one consistent system.

Why it matters: As companies grow internationally, they need systems that scale with them. This is where NetSuite partners SIs come in. They can design regional setups, manage multiple currencies, and ensure compliance, all within a single global framework. That makes them strategic advisors who bridge local needs and global standards, helping clients scale smoothly across borders.

2. The Cloud + AI equation

Cloud gives access. AI gives action. NetSuite gives both," was a line summed up the shift.

NetSuite is now positioning AI as the driver of outcomes (not just insights).

Why it matters: Integration is no longer the end goal. It's about enabling AI to act on the information it connects; think forecasting, anomaly detection, approvals, and optimisation.

System Integrators now need to build end-to-end intelligence pipelines that turn raw data into real insights and automated decisions. That means understanding each client’s business inside out — and using AI to deliver real results, not just novelty tech.

3. NetSuite next: Built-in intelligence

The new Ask Oracle experience replaces search with conversations. It connects intent to data, context, and action, turning questions into workflows.

Why it matters: Partners who align reporting and automation with this model will redefine how users interact with ERP systems. It's about designing for dialogue, not data entry. This shift to conversational interfaces means SIs must go beyond traditional design and focus on how data and processes support natural language interactions. The best systems will feel intuitive and responsive, anticipating what users need instead of making them click through complex menus.

4. Smarter business operations

AI is moving into daily operations. Take, for example:

• Finance: detects anomalies and proposes fixes, reducing closing cycles by up to 65% while improving accuracy and compliance
• Sales: raises early warnings about customer churn, identifies cross-sell opportunities, and automates pipeline management
• Operations: predicts supply issues weeks in advance, optimises inventory levels, and suggests alternative sourcing strategies
• Service: gives instant context summaries, recommends solutions based on similar cases, and automates routine responses

Why it matters: Each use case creates a point of proof for automation. Partners who can surface quick wins in these areas will gain long-term trust from clients. By identifying department-specific pain points and implementing targeted AI solutions, SIs can demonstrate immediate ROI while laying the groundwork for more extensive digital transformation. This incremental approach builds confidence in both the technology and the implementation partner.

5. Human + AI collaboration

NetSuite's AI behaves like a colleague, offering suggestions that differ by role and linking every answer to its source data.

Why it matters: Transparency builds confidence. SIs will need to guide clients through how AI decisions are made, validated, and improved over time. This involves creating clear governance frameworks, establishing feedback loops, and educating users on how to effectively collaborate with AI systems. The most successful implementations will strike a balance between automation and human oversight, creating systems where AI amplifies human expertise rather than attempting to replace it.

6. User experience redefined

The Oracle Redwood Design System introduces a modern, mobile-first interface and a redesigned workspace layout. Users can switch between the classic and next-gen experiences at their own pace.

Why it matters: Change management becomes an integral part of the value that SIs provide. And gradual adoption, user enablement, and workflow alignment will make transitions smoother.

Partners should develop comprehensive adoption strategies that include training programs, user champions, and phased rollouts. By acknowledging that digital transformation is as much about people as technology, SIs can help clients navigate the cultural shifts that accompany new systems.

7. Automation takes centre stage

From Autonomous Close to Predictive Planning, automation now underpins every module. SuiteCommerce even integrates generative AI for a more adaptive customer experience.

Why it matters: Automation isn't just about saving time. It's about accuracy, compliance, and agility. Partners who design processes around these goals will stand out. This requires a fundamental rethinking of workflows, moving from linear, human-driven processes to continuous, AI-augmented cycles that can respond to changing conditions in real-time. The most valuable implementations will automate routine tasks while enhancing human decision-making capabilities through predictive insights and scenario modelling.

8. Advanced analytics for real-time visibility

NetSuite Analytics Warehouse adds deeper dashboards and compliance-ready audit trails, with prebuilt connectors for tools like Salesforce.

Why it matters: Data no longer sits still. Partners who can connect and interpret that data across systems will help clients move from reactive to proactive finance. This involves creating unified data models that span multiple systems, implementing real-time integration patterns, and designing analytics experiences that surface actionable insights. By breaking down data silos and creating a single source of truth, SIs can help clients transform their financial operations from historical reporting centres to forward-looking strategic assets.

9. AI in action: from pricing to policy

SuiteWorld demos made AI tangible. Think adaptive pricing, automated resource allocation, app creation through natural language, and policy-enforcing AI agents.

Why it matters: The technology is real and ready. The next step is to help clients adopt it responsibly, with clear governance and transparency. Partners must develop frameworks for AI ethics, data privacy, and algorithmic transparency that ensure these powerful capabilities are deployed responsibly. This includes establishing clear oversight mechanisms, defining boundaries for automation, and creating processes for human review of AI-generated outputs when appropriate.

10. What this means for the ecosystem

The message was simple: ERP isn't becoming smarter in isolation. It's becoming part of an intelligent finance network, where AI connects planning, execution, and spend in real time.

Extending intelligence beyond the ERP

This is where Payhawk comes in. Its AI Office of the CFO — a suite of AI Agents built within Payhawk — simplifies and improves finance operations for finance teams. Additionally, Payhawk integrates seamlessly with NetSuite in real time, extending visibility and control across the entire finance stack.

These AI Agents automate and accelerate the everyday finance work that sits just outside the ERP:

• Reconciling transactions and receipts automatically with 99.8% accuracy
• Flagging missing data and policy breaches before the month-end, reducing closing cycles
• Surfacing insights on budgets, cash flow, and approvals directly in Slack and Teams

Why it matters: Every ERP transformation reaches a point where operational intelligence ends and financial control begins. That's where manual work, blind spots, and delays unfortunately, still crop up.

Payhawk closes that gap. By connecting real-time spend data and ERP processes through AI it gives finance teams the same level of automation and visibility that NetSuite delivers to operations.

What this means for partners: For SIs, this creates a new opportunity to extend the value of every NetSuite deployment. You can help clients go beyond implementation and into intelligent financial management that's faster to reconcile, easier to control, and ready to scale across entities and currencies.

It's not about replacing ERP functions. It's about completing the picture, giving your clients a connected ecosystem where AI works across both spend and accounting.

Looking ahead

SuiteWorld 2025 marked a turning point: from connected systems to connected intelligence. For partners, it's an invitation to rethink what "implementation" means, not just getting systems live, but making them learn, predict, and act.

The 10 key actions for System Integrators:

• Think global, act local. Balance global consistency with local rules and workflows.
• Build AI-ready data flows. Connect systems so data drives real action.
• Design for conversation. Enable natural language, not endless clicks.
• Start small with AI. Prove value fast with high-impact use cases.
• Guide human + AI teamwork. Teach clients how to trust and refine AI.
• Lead the change. Focus on adoption with training and champions.
• Automate with purpose. Prioritise accuracy, compliance, and agility.
• Make data move. Deliver real-time insights, not static reports.
• Build responsible AI. Ensure privacy, transparency, and ethics.
• Go beyond ERP. Use Payhawk to connect spend and finance in real time.

And for those building on NetSuite, Payhawk offers the next logical step: An AI-powered spend management platform that supports complete finance orchestration and turns data into decisions and finance into foresight. Learn more about our partner program.
The most successful System Integrators will be the ones who can connect this intelligent ecosystem — guiding clients through both the tech and the strategy to turn their finance operations into proactive, insight-driven powerhouses ready for the future.