SuiteConnect is NetSuite’s flagship one-day conference for users, partners and prospects – designed to showcase what’s new, what’s next and what’s working for NetSuite users.
It touched down in Sydney early this April with its usual mix of product announcements, roadmap previews and open-floor networking. And with a packed house of 800 developers, consultants, users and partners in the room, it was clear that the NetSuite ecosystem in Australia is alive and well.
From the keynote with NetSuite founder Evan Goldberg and local execs, to AI-driven breakout sessions, SuiteConnect 2025 was all about helping NetSuite users unlock more value through smarter tools, deeper visibility and stronger community.
For Annexa, SuiteConnect 2025 delivered something more special – two of our customers took the keynote stage to share how they’re scaling with NetSuite. Dianna Butterworth, CFO and Co-Owner of Kieser and Shane Young, CFO of Smithbridge Group, joined NetSuite Founder Evan Goldberg in front of a packed auditorium to talk real results – and real transformation.
Kieser transforms with Annexa and NetSuite
Dianna Butterworth, Co-Owner and Chief Financial Officer at Kieser, shared how the business has been benefitting from Annexa’s NetSuite implementation – starting with a shift from siloed finance systems to a single, scalable platform.
As Dianna explained, when she joined Kieser in 2018, the business had just 13 clinics – and by the time they began exploring NetSuite with Annexa in 2022, they had already grown to 23. That rapid expansion had left the finance team struggling to keep pace.
“We had 23 individual accounting files,” she said. “We were drowning in manual labour. We knew it wasn’t sustainable. We had spreadsheets running around everywhere. Nothing was really talking to each other.”
Annexa supported Kieser in implementing NetSuite OneWorld across the business – replacing disconnected systems with a single, unified platform – and helped them tap into our partner network to extend that ecosystem.
“All of our clinics are in that one world,” said Butterworth. “We’ve got complete visibility over what’s happening in the business at the push of a button.”
“In 2022 we found Annexa, who’ve been amazing for us through the journey. They introduced us to Celigo. We’ve got a custom CRM system in the front, so we use Celigo to connect those two systems, which was a seamless integration. They introduced us to Zone & Co, who take care of all of our AI and read all of our supplier invoices every week. And we use a product called ExpenseMe for all of our credit cards.”
More recently, Kieser rolled out NetSuite Planning and Budgeting and Account Reconciliation modules.
“We’ve gone from a three-month budgeting period to probably a month,” said Butterworth. “It’s allowed us to shift from data entry to real analysis.”
Smithbridge Group transforms with Annexa and NetSuite
Smithbridge Group – a diversified business operating across Australia, New Zealand and Guam—has been a long-time Annexa customer. Working together, we delivered a core NetSuite implementation to bring all operations onto a single platform.
“We vetted and did a lot of work to make sure we had the right partner on board,” said Shane Young, CFO of Smithbridge. “So we selected Annexa as our NetSuite partner and they’ve been with us from day one.”
Since then, Smithbridge has continued to evolve its use of the platform – most recently through NetSuite Analytics Warehouse (NSAW), which is helping to consolidate and visualise data across six subsidiaries. “Previously we were reliant on accountants to manually generate reports. Now we’re empowering our managers to go in and consume that data themselves,” said Shane.
“A key aspect of NetSuite has been the standardisation of information. The ability to look across the group and slice and dice the information to compare businesses, divisions… and provide accurate information to our board has really been important,” Shane told the audience.
What stood out in the keynote?
“If you’re a business leader in 2025, you’re under pressure to get more value from your technology.” That statement from NetSuite founder Evan Goldberg set the tone for a keynote that focused less on hype and more on utility.
The shift was clear. Unlike SuiteWorld 2024, the AI conversation was grounded in real-world application – backed by demos that showed what’s possible right now.
One standout example: NetSuite’s financial exception management tool. This AI-driven feature scans transactions and flags potential issues – like a $2,000 rental charge when similar expenses usually sit around $20,000. It’s not flashy, but it’s exactly the kind of smart, under-the-hood automation that can improve accuracy, prevent errors and reduce manual review.
SuiteAnalytics Assistant is already showing how users can ask complex business questions in plain English – and get back ready-made visualisations and charts.
And coming soon, NetSuite Expert will do the same for documentation. Embedded in the SuiteAnswers Knowledge Center, it uses generative AI to surface concise, contextual answers from help articles and support guides. No more digging through menus or PDFs – just fast, reliable responses.
Most users still do not know what NetSuite can really do
Another recurring theme across the sessions – and something Evan Goldberg himself flagged – was just how under utilised the platform still is. There was a strong push around customer education, with a focus on helping users unlock more value from what they already have. For many businesses, there might be functionality sitting right under your nose that could automate a workflow, improve visibility or tighten up operations – if you know where to look.
Where to next?
If you’re ready to explore more of what your NetSuite environment can do – or how new capabilities like AI can help tackle challenges in planning, reporting or operations – reach out.
We’ll be sharing more content over the coming weeks, so until then, thanks to our customers, partners and the wider NetSuite team for a standout day.