AI should be focused on business needs not technology, expert says

Oracle NetSuite unveiled various product updates centred around bolstering the accounting and finance function of businesses. On the final day of SuiteWorld 2025 on Wednesday, 8 October, further details were revealed for the software giant’s plan to build out its AI capabilities within its newly revealed NetSuite Next platform.

Gary Wiessinger, Oracle NetSuite senior vice president of NetSuite application development, said AI was both “incredibly powerful” and “incredibly ambiguous” – two factors that would change the trajectory of business.

“We are so fired up to be here to show you the solutions created with a focus on business needs. Many businesses question ‘how can we get real value from AI?’ as it continues to change every day,” he said.

“It can also feel overwhelming. Overwhelming to understand, overwhelming to decide what technologies and which tools to use and trying to keep up with those improvements which are coming, literally, every day.”

Despite the common feeling of overwhelm, Wiessinger said a NetSuite survey revealed that 75 per cent of NetSuite users were using AI weekly, and 56 per cent of NetSuite users were using AI in their everyday life for work-related tasks.

The survey also found that respondents noted they were unsure of how to best use AI within their jobs and weren’t sure they could be confident in the accuracy of AI, but wanted it integrated into the systems they already used.

From these results, Wiessinger said this drove the motivation to create NetSuite Next for businesses where AI wasn’t an app but more of an integrated capability buried in and between all workflows and data already used and relied on.

“We’ve designed AI to deliver what matters most in a business - productivity, insight, control, agility and collaboration,” Wiessinger said.

“AI should be focused on businesses, not on technology. AI isn’t the goal - it’s not the end. It’s a means to an end. The end is business success.”

As previously reported by Accounting Times, NetSuite announced its NetSuite Next platform with built-in AI capabilities, such as the AI agent ‘ask Oracle’, to aid businesses in streamlining their finance and accounting processes.

The announcement was welcomed by business owners and users, but the detail that the platform wouldn’t be fully rolled out to North American users until over 12 months before the rest of the world raised intrigue and confusion for attendees.

In an interview with Accounting Times, NetSuite ANZ vice president and general manager, Scott Wiltshire, said that just because certain product updates would not be available for Australian customers in the near future, businesses had no reason not to leverage current AI capabilities now.

“If you’re a small or medium business struggling with systems that you have in place and you’re looking for more visibility, productivity improvements and agility, then now is the time,” he said.

“Just because there is a future vision of AI and what is to come, doesn’t mean AI isn’t solving these challenges we have today, daily. AI is here, it’s now, and it’s only getting better and better.

On reflection of the two-day event in Las Vegas, Heather Smith, Accounting Apps podcast host, told Accounting Times that NetSuite had shared a vast majority of software and AI developments likely to significantly impact its users and accountants.

“It’s going to be the ability for the external parties to come in and connect with NetSuite using the AI agent to build powerful tools, which will impact what they want to do at a bespoke level.”