In mid-August 2025, NetSuite announced its new AI Connector Service, calling it “a world of new possibilities for businesses”. Normally a reveal like this would wait for SuiteWorld, but the pace of AI isn’t waiting for anyone.
It’s the boldest AI move we’ve seen from NetSuite so far. Its ability to blend trusted ERP data with the fast-moving AI ecosystem could well be the catalyst that transforms NetSuite’s role from a trusted system of record into an engine for next-generation AI opportunities.
At Annexa, we’ve been hands-on exploring use cases and capabilities since the NetSuite AI Connector Service hit our inboxes. And we’ll keep you updated as we progress but for now, here’s a quick explainer of the all-new NetSuite AI Connector – what it is and what it means for you.
What is the NetSuite AI Connector Service?
NetSuite’s new AI connector is essentially a safe bridge between your ERP data and an external assistant. Right now, that assistant is Claude and the connection works through something called Model Context Protocol (MCP). You don’t need to know the nuts and bolts of MCP – just think of it as a common language that lets an AI call specific NetSuite tools.
The connector runs through a chat interface. You open NetSuite in one tab, Claude in another and once connected you can simply type natural-language prompts: “Show me my top five customers last year” or “Compare my purchase order pricing on red widgets with current wholesale rates.” The assistant figures out which NetSuite tools to call, combines results if needed and delivers the answer back in a conversational flow.
Importantly, the assistant only does what your NetSuite role already allows. If your role in NetSuite only allows access to sales reports, that’s all the AI sees. If you don’t have rights to change pricing, it won’t be able to do that either. Note also that admin roles are deliberately blocked to avoid anyone running powerful actions unchecked. This means that everything stays logged in NetSuite the same way it would if you were running the query yourself. In other words, the AI isn’t a backdoor, it’s just a different way of interacting with the system.
A quick demo of the NetSuite Connector Service
Why the NetSuite AI Connector matters strategically
“While we call it an integration service, it’s more than that – it’s a foundational step in making NetSuite the most intelligent, extensible, and AI-ready ERP system. The NetSuite AI Connector Service gives customers a secure, flexible, and scalable way to connect their own AI to NetSuite.”
- Brian Chess, Senior Vice President of Technology and AI at Oracle NetSuite, explains:
If you’ve been waiting for NetSuite’s big AI announcement, this is it.
NetSuite can’t possibly pre-build every AI feature customers will want. So, rather than ship a long list of fixed, embedded capabilities, it has taken an open, “bring your own assistant” path. The AI Connector gives you a controlled doorway into NetSuite using the MCP, so you define exactly what an assistant can see and do under your existing roles and audit trails.
Plus, if you’ve got the underlying licence, you get the AI features. You don’t need to keep buying external engines just to experiment with AI.
At the same time, the connector is a different kind of move. It opens NetSuite up to the wider AI ecosystem – Claude today, and potentially ChatGPT and many others in time. With those external connections, suddenly, customers can tap into familiar AI models, layer them over NetSuite data and experiment with new use cases that aren’t yet covered natively in NetSuite’s roadmap.
While the AI Connector Service adds new features, it also positions NetSuite customers at the intersection of NetSuite’s built-in AI roadmap and the fast-moving external AI market. One foot in the safe, subscription-based upgrades from NetSuite, and one foot in the open world of Claude, ChatGPT and whatever comes next.
What is possible out of the box right now
To start, the built in tools do have some limits. You can query data with SuiteQL, pull reports and look up customer or item information. The only built-in write action is creating or updating a customer record.
Where it gets even more powerful is in extension. Developers can expose additional SuiteScript tools, so you can go beyond the basics to things like updating pricing or creating sales orders– all still wrapped in your role’s permissions.
Even in these early days, the possibilities are obvious. Rapid customer summaries without building saved searches. Blending NetSuite data with external context, like comparing purchase order costs to live market rates. Prototyping lightweight operational helpers such as visual scheduling boards or clean CSV exports.
It’s also fast and flexible, and because it all runs through chat, it’s immediately accessible to business users.
The bigger picture
What Oracle NetSuite has built is the foundation of an agent ecosystem for ERP. By using MCP as the protocol, NetSuite has decoupled your AI choices from your ERP stack. You can change models or switch assistants without ripping up integrations.
For partners like Annexa, this is equally significant. The design turns AI work from one-off scripts into modular software, delivered and governed as SuiteApps. Oracle has already published a sample SuiteApp to get customers started. The logical next step will be a wave of partner-built AI SuiteApps – effectively productising AI use cases for the SuiteApp Marketplace.
For customers, it means experimentation is safe. You can start small with read-only tools in a sandbox, validate inputs, add narrow write actions when ready – and always keep a human in the loop for sensitive steps. Because it runs under existing roles and audit trails, adoption is easier to explain to risk committees and auditors.
How do I get started with the NetSuite AI Connector Service?
The AI Connector is available now and lets you integrate AI assistants with your NetSuite ERP. To begin, install the “MCP Sample Tools” SuiteApp from the SuiteApp Marketplace—this delivers a governed interface that the assistant can safely call, including the ability to run SuiteQL queries under your own role-based permissions. After installation, you’ll launch the connector using the MCP client, and any tools you expose appear based on your assigned permissions. Every interaction is logged via NetSuite’s audit trail, helping finance and IT teams maintain full control. For setup guidance and permissions configuration, refer to the NetSuite Help Center.
It’s early days, but we’ll certainly be keeping you updated as use case emerge. You can also expect a whole lot more detail to be released at SuiteWorld on 6 – 9 October, 2025.