Oracle has begun the UK rollout of NetSuite Next and Ask Oracle, introducing new AI features for NetSuite customers in the market.
Ask Oracle is being added to existing NetSuite accounts in the UK, while NetSuite Next is a broader update to the company's cloud ERP product. Oracle described NetSuite Next as the biggest update to the platform since its launch in 1998.
The move extends Oracle's push to build more AI tools into business software used for finance and operations. In the UK, existing customers will be able to use Ask Oracle within their current NetSuite environments before adopting the wider NetSuite Next experience.
According to Oracle, Ask Oracle is designed to work within each customer's existing setup, including roles, permissions, reporting structures and business configuration. The assistant bases its answers only on information users are already authorised to access and shows how it reached those answers.
This gives UK customers access to a conversational AI assistant without requiring an immediate shift to the updated NetSuite interface. In NetSuite Next, Ask Oracle is more deeply embedded across the user experience.
Broader update
NetSuite Next adds a range of features, including AI Workspaces, AI Portlets, SuiteSkills, industry-specific SuiteAgents, SuiteAgent Studio and SuiteAgent Management Workspace. Oracle said the changes are intended to help users understand what is happening in their business and take action within day-to-day workflows.
Oracle described the update as part of a wider shift in ERP software, from systems users operate task by task to software that carries out more work on their behalf within existing controls. Connected data, workflows and business rules, it said, provide the context for AI to operate within each organisation's processes.
Nicky Tozer, Senior Vice President, EMEA, Oracle NetSuite, outlined that approach in comments accompanying the rollout. "AI is changing how people expect business software to work. For ERP systems, the change goes beyond answering questions. AI should help complete the work, surface insights before users ask, and adapt to the needs of each role and industry. That is the opportunity for our UK customers as we start the rollout of NetSuite Next and Ask Oracle, with additional EMEA markets coming soon in 2027," said Tozer.
Oracle said its longer-term aim is an "autonomous suite" that can coordinate and carry out work across business processes while remaining within controls set by customers. The latest additions are intended to move the product closer to that goal.
Regional expansion
The UK rollout is the first stage of a wider regional expansion. NetSuite Next will also become available in select EMEA markets through a phased rollout, with Spain, Sweden and the Benelux countries due to follow in 2027.
The new tools are aimed at areas including financial close processes, customer commitments and working capital management. Customers will also retain control over how AI operates within their business.
NetSuite has operated as Oracle's cloud ERP platform for organisations seeking to manage finance and operations in a single system. The latest product changes place greater emphasis on embedding AI into core workflows rather than treating it as a separate layer for search or query functions.
Tozer said the update is intended to reduce routine work for customers using the software in the UK. "I'm excited to see how our UK customers use these capabilities to spend less time on routine tasks and more time growing their business," said Tozer.