As small enterprise homeowners, everyone knows that progress comes with each alternative and problem. Scaling effectively—with out dropping management over operations, funds, or buyer expertise—has all the time been one of many hardest balancing acts. For years, know-how has promised to make that journey simpler, but many people nonetheless discover ourselves managing a patchwork of methods that hardly talk with one another. At SuiteWorld 2025, Oracle NetSuite’s annual consumer convention, that dialog took middle stage—notably round how synthetic intelligence is shifting what’s potential for small and midsize companies.

I sat down with Sam Levy, Senior Vice President of Progress and Execution at Oracle NetSuite, to speak about what’s new, what’s subsequent, and the way the corporate continues to form its imaginative and prescient for small companies that wish to compete like massive enterprises—however with out the complexity. From the debut of NetSuite Subsequent and its conversational AI “Ask Oracle” assistant, to real-world success tales from clients who doubled their income with out doubling workers, Levy provided a front-row have a look at how automation and built-in methods are redefining small enterprise effectivity.

For entrepreneurs contemplating when to maneuver past QuickBooks or spreadsheets, or for these already in search of smarter, sooner methods to develop, this dialogue highlights the place NetSuite sees the best potential—and what small enterprise leaders needs to be doing now to arrange for the AI-driven future forward.

Leland McFarland All proper, I’m right here at Oracle’s NetSuite, um, SuiteWorld 2025 with Sam Levy, SVP of Progress and Execution at Oracle NetSuite. Um, obtained a couple of questions for you.

So, SuiteWorld all the time brings thrilling uh updates. Uh, for many who couldn’t attend, what’s the important thing message Oracle NetSuite desires small and mid-sized enterprise enterprise homeowners to remove this yr?

Sam Levy Clearly. Properly, properly, SuiteWorld’s our annual consumer convention. And what’s extra thrilling, that is, I feel our twelfth or thirteenth yr doing SuiteWorld as a as a convention the place we convey all of our clients collectively and discuss methods of what we’re the place we’re going. Our theme this yr is “No Limits.”

And it’s actually been practiced into “no limits of scaling your small business.” And whether or not you’re a small or medium-sized enterprise, scaling, progress will be arduous. And so the issues that we’re speaking about and the themes we’re speaking about is “no limits” is how do corporations scale? What’s the present traits of scaling? How is know-how an enabler? And now this exponential multiplier, what we name AI, how is AI going to assist me scale or how ought to I be, you already know, consuming AI in our enterprise?

Leland McFarland Excellent. So, NetSuite has lengthy uh served rising corporations. How would you describe its present imaginative and prescient for SMB corporations in comparison with 5 years in the past?

Sam Levy Properly, the imaginative and prescient has a lot been the identical for us uh for NetSuite for since 27 years in the past when Evan began the corporate and actually being one, a revolutionary firm that was cloud-first.

So, we solely service cloud, we solely ship within the cloud, and that was from the born-on date 27 years in the past by way of at this time. And so, a part of what our transformation technique of serving to small and medium companies is to rework their enterprise. One, to do this digital expertise of how do you are taking and try this digital transformation? Digital transformation is not only transferring your books from on-prem to the cloud.

That’s type of only a purposeful shift and elevate of know-how. Processes need to evolve in that, and so there’s a maturation that happens. And our largest power is one, we go to enterprise and go to market by trade. So, we perceive your trade, what it takes to function your trade. And so, whether or not you’re a healthcare firm otherwise you’re a producer otherwise you’re a retailer, there’s a special set of automation and trade metrics that you’ll want to resolve your small business points.

And we come to small companies and assist them mature that. So, once we discuss digital transformation, the very first thing is is, how will we assist companies simply get management of their present surroundings? Have a look at their processes after which unify them. As a result of we’re a set for every trade, we provide all of the parts to run your small business. And it’s very nice for a small or mid-sized enterprise that they actually wish to act like an enormous firm, however they need the processes and the scaling of the entry factors to be for the small and medium-sized corporations. Precisely what we do. Present them that stage of trade consolation, after which allow them to scale.

Leland McFarland Excellent. So, for a lot of small companies, they see uh ERP or Enterprise Useful resource Planning, um, they they type of view it as enterprise software program. I imply, it’s type of within the identify. Um, and it’s type of meant for bigger or perhaps medium-sized companies. Uh, how is NetSuite breaking down that notion to make ERP accessible for smaller corporations?

Sam Levy Yeah. That is one thing that we launched a decade in the past with the dialog of “SuiteSuccess.” And SuiteSuccess was primarily is taking an trade playbook and saying, “For this trade, right here is your stairway.” Begin with financials first, then add on operations, then add on gross sales, then add in your provide chain, then add on commerce, no matter it could be in your trade.

And what’s the great half about that’s how we scale down for companies which might be quite simple, however but they’re going to evolve, is we have now that stairway strategy. Making it actually quick and easy for them to hitch NetSuite, after which have a progress patch, you already know, sample with capabilities that they by no means have to depart. It’s merely as type of what we have a look at in all probability with our iPhones. You get onto the iPhone platform, you purchase a couple of modules and purposes, and the outset is, you want some extra capability, you simply flip it on. You want one other module, you get one other software and also you go together with it. Similar with enterprise, making it very easy for a enterprise platform to start out the financials after which develop the remainder of the best way.

Leland McFarland Excellent. So, what are a number of the largest ache factors that you just see small and medium-sized companies which might be going through um which might be they’re going through at this time, um, that NetSuite instantly helps to unravel?

Sam Levy Most companies at this time, and I used to be simply, you already know, assembly with lots of of shoppers this week, have a enterprise want for sure methods and necessities. They’ve enterprise points. And whether or not they should fill out a timesheet, they don’t have monitoring, they want some data for human capital and expertise, they’ll’t shut the books, they’ve enterprise points. And I feel what one of many issues that NetSuite’s making it very easy for corporations to do is, jeez, when you have these ripe points, how will we allow you to, you already know, remodel your small business? And that’s been the key sauce for for us, I feel is is the primary a part of your query. I feel the second half was, how are we reworking? What was the second a part of your query?

Leland McFarland Um, how are are you utilizing or what what’s concerned with the NetSuite? You realize, what what does NetSuite have that may type of actually deal with these uh ache factors?

Sam Levy Okay. So the the principle factor I used to be speaking about is, properly, I used to be saying they are saying enterprise points that come up from small companies, they wish to develop shortly or they wish to handle value. And most small companies need to chew gum and stroll on the similar time, that means each. They need to develop, however they don’t have a bunch of those who they’ll add into their enterprise. In order that they want some automation, a platform to assist them. Let me offer you an instance.

An organization that comes with us with $25 million in income, they wish to double and get to $50 million in income. They should put money into their product and R&D, however they don’t wish to add in a bunch of accounting and operational workers. They arrive to NetSuite as a result of they’ll automate their enterprise and develop with out including extra headcount to assist their enterprise system. They’re including the investments the place it really goes to make them develop. In order that’s one of many offsets that we see is, simply primary automation and operational enchancment helps them get management of their operational prices.

Leland McFarland Okay. That looks like it’ll be very useful, um, for small companies, uh, who must get, you already know, as you mentioned, management over their funds and and whatnot. Um, are you able to share a latest instance or a buyer story the place a small enterprise considerably improved operations or profitability utilizing NetSuite?

Sam Levy Yeah, I imply, I’ll discuss a number of the corporations that have been on stage even this week. We did some keynote addresses. One which involves thoughts is an organization referred to as Cymbiotika. Now, Cymbiotika is a wellness firm. They’re well-known for taking dietary supplements and wellness, liposomal, I ought to say. It’s not dietary supplements, however it’s simply liposomal. And people are good in your physique. And so one among their challenges is as they have been rising from a $50 million firm to $100 million firm and launching their manufacturers, is the complexity with them.

Now, their group adopted NetSuite and so they went reside with NetSuite. And what’s attention-grabbing about their operations is their operation headcount has roughly stayed flat by way of their progress patterns. They’ve added a couple of staff, however as they doubled their income, they didn’t double their staff.

I feel that’s a real testomony, I feel, a case research of, how do you have a look at leaders in your trade and what are they doing that maybe we needs to be contemplating doing? Or how do they do it? What’s their secret sauce? So how do you double income with out including double workers?

And so for them, they have been utilizing automation to do this. They have been doing the issues that that when took a group of individuals can now be accomplished by a person. A person now as a substitute of proudly owning one account can handle 10 occasions the variety of accounts. And in order that grew to become their offsetting maneuver. That was a fantastic story that Kimberly talks about on their progress technique.

Leland McFarland Oh, that’s good. All proper, switching over to AI and automation, which has been principally uh most of what’s been talked about this week. Um, AI has been an enormous theme this yr. How is uh NetSuite’s strategy to AI serving to small companies uh compete on the identical stage because the uh huge boys?

Sam Levy The massive boys? That is attention-grabbing. Uh, AI is in each, you already know, it’s in each dialog looks like in enterprise at this time. How we’re serving to corporations is twofold. One, we’re distinctive that all of our clients is on the identical model, the identical launch, and in the end the identical knowledge mannequin. So 43,000 organizations all use the software program the identical, from the most important to the smallest.

AI, we consider that the perfect AI comes from the perfect knowledge. So having all your knowledge in a single place, there’s two approaches: outside-in versus inside-out. The surface-in strategy is, let me take a Claude or a big language mannequin like ChatGPT or Claude and use it in opposition to my present NetSuite account. So how do I unlock all of my knowledge in my present infrastructure and tie it into a big language mannequin? And that’s what we’ve accomplished. We introduced Mannequin Context Protocol (MCP), which is a connector. It’s free for all of our clients to attach their NetSuite knowledge to Claude or to ChatGPT. Now you may go in there and easily ask prompts within Claude, which is, “Who’re my prime 5 clients?” “What’s my stock ranges?” “What’s my monetary statements?” Your conversational AI, that’s an out of doors view in. That’s our first strategy to AI being outside-in. It’s been actually profitable and taking an enterprise product like that and actually making it easy for small and medium companies.

The within-out strategy is doing the other. Constructing AI with within NetSuite and solely for simply NetSuite knowledge is you may go into NetSuite now and use sure AI capabilities inside your your your software.

So, you should utilize both both or or and or each methods to do it. There’s a number of issues that we use and we’ve launched now for years of continuous so as to add onto AI capabilities from the inside-out. The surface-in strategy has been good as a result of typically you need NetSuite knowledge linked to different methods. And Mannequin Context Protocol permits then chat to not simply interface with NetSuite knowledge, but in addition perhaps one other system that you’ve got on the market. Possibly it’s a commerce system or perhaps it’s Salesforce knowledge, you may then pull in collectively by way of MCP.

Leland McFarland Proper. Um, are you partnering with any outdoors LLMs to type of or are you constructing from scratch, um, your personal LLM, um, or or AI uh protocols inside uh um your personal system?

Sam Levy We undoubtedly accomplice as a result of these best-of-breed purposes are actually market leaders. When you consider ChatGPT and what they’ve accomplished, you consider what Google has accomplished, you consider what Meta has accomplished, you consider xAI, they’re huge in R&D and billions of {dollars} simply in these massive language fashions. Uh, we did we first begin with Cohere two or three years in the past as our first massive language mannequin, after which we’ve adopted all of the others as subprocessors inside inside of our surroundings. So we’re undoubtedly leveraging all of them.

Leland McFarland Excellent. Um, what are some sensible methods SMBs can use NetSuite’s new AI capabilities to save lots of time or make smarter selections while not having an information science group?

Sam Levy Properly, the brand new interface, and I don’t know in the event you use ChatGPT, hopefully you in all probability do to summarize notes and so forth, or in the event you’ve used Claude, I feel that essentially the most attention-grabbing piece of it’s it’s taking what was a technical strategy to get your solutions, and it’s it’s actually making it easy into context, a easy language context.

So earlier than, in the event you needed to go ask a query, which is summarize summarize my monetary statements and present me year-on-year compares and present me, you already know, FEs that I had, you may need to go run knowledge from a number of methods or a number of NetSuite stories and searches to do this. You’d have to put in writing the analysis or report after which pull all of it collectively. So, very possible, and that’s what clients have accomplished for years. Very linear although, one report, one reply, one report, one reply, after which pulling all of it collectively.

The great half about taking chat is I simply ask the query inside ChatGPT or I ask it within Claude. Present me the identical knowledge, pull my monetary statements, do the year-on-compairs, do the FEs, change my visualization, present it to me in a chart, make it lovely, hit enter. It goes and runs the searches, runs the stories inside the info, reveals you the place it’s obtained its knowledge, after which it presents it again to you in matter of minutes now, what maybe was days earlier than. And that’s a easy method, I feel that the most individuals are getting the most important worth is simply taking a non-technical strategy simply asking the conversational questions.

Leland McFarland All proper, good. That’s appears very helpful. Hopefully it’ll save uh small enterprise homeowners a bunch of effort and time.

Sam Levy And provides them the visibility to their enterprise, proper? Most essential, yeah.

Leland McFarland Um, switching over to trade and progress traits. Uh, out of your perspective, what are the following largest traits shaping the way forward for small and mid-sized companies over the following two to a few years?

Sam Levy Properly, I feel everyone seems to be being requested, the most important development is, how can I develop however but management my operational value? And we’re seeing that with these, you already know, the invention of the AI enterprise fashions on the market the place, you already know, we name it the multiplier impact with AI. And I feel the most important development proper now could be, how can AI give me a bonus, a aggressive benefit going ahead? One, I obtained to simplify my back-office processes, make it actually easy to do enterprise from the again workplace, that means how do I enter an order? How do I gather money? How do I create a procurement transaction, obtain it, and so forth? So making that actually easy is primary. However then how do you are taking that simplified course of and make {that a} aggressive benefit externally? So when a buyer comes and does enterprise with you, they don’t discover it 5, you already know, it might take them too lengthy to get their product or their service. Making it very straightforward to do enterprise with them, and that’s been the expansion lever is that they’re making an attempt to simplify issues, as a result of transactions are occurring sooner and sooner. However we’re simplifying the complexity of the transaction, which has been the massive theme at this time. Not a number of complexity, simplify it, however simply extra transactions.

Leland McFarland Extra transactions, more cash.

Sam Levy Properly, that’s good. That needs to be the straightforward linear equation with that one. Yeah.

Leland McFarland Um, are there particular industries like manufacturing, retail, or companies the place you’re seeing particularly robust SMB adoption or innovation by way of uh NetSuite?

Sam Levy This can be a uh it’s main query of which trade is sizzling and which one’s not. All of them appear to have challenges happening of their enterprise and headwinds, whether or not that’s macroeconomic or it’s trade stress. You realize, some product and inventory-based corporations had tariff points. And in order that helped, you already know, that helped assist create an enormous headwind for them. How they reacted to it, although, I feel have been a little bit bit in a different way. And so, I have a look at a few of these industries are breakthrough, that means stock ones that needed to cope with tariffs, they have been pressured to make use of higher planning and budgeting instruments to get the appropriate SKU assortments and so forth.

The those who have been in healthcare on the opposite aspect of it, discovering extra avenues to service their clients. And they also needed to automate billing, automate billing to their insurance coverage carriers. In order that they wanted assistance on automating. For them to develop, their concern wasn’t shopping for extra product, it was making billing to their insurance coverage carriers extra simply and extra streamlined with out folks. And so we’re we’re seeing it type of all industries are rising. And a few are some are, I wouldn’t say contracting. Excessive-tech has been one due to AI, and also you’re a high-tech firm creating AI. So that you see a number of sourcing, you already know, uh capital going into AI corporations. However I feel that cash is getting used now throughout all the opposite trade segments.

Leland McFarland All proper. Um, flipping that a little bit bit, are you seeing any type of industries that it’s it’s a little bit tough for you for for NetSuite and generally to type of break into for the small enterprise?

Sam Levy For small enterprise? Properly, one of many issues we we usually say is in the event you’re in a regulated trade, that may be tougher for NetSuite. Authorities or municipalities have a number of restrictions. Some well being and biotech have a number of restrictions. Some authorities contracting and DOD have a number of restrictions. And the restrictions are how and their compliance works with their knowledge and the way it works with the federal government entities and companies that they resolve.

So for our industrial enterprise, we have a tendency to not go after closely regulated industries. There’s compliance, however closely regulated industries, once you have a look at public sector or uh monetary uh establishments which have totally different sort of governance, we usually avoid these. Uh, simply not not our bellywick, proper? We keep to those which might be commercially obtainable that we’re actually good with.

Leland McFarland All proper, that’s good to know. Um, many small companies are transferring from QuickBooks or spreadsheets to cloud platforms. What triggers this transition and the way is NetSuite supporting them in that journey?

Sam Levy One of the vital common methods that we change on the entry-level market is QuickBooks. And it’s not even it’s simply entry stage anymore. We’re discovering that it’s not simply entry-level, they’re medium-sized companies which might be working QuickBooks, however they’ve actually outgrown it, largely for the capabilities. The primary purpose they normally come to us is they’ll’t do one thing or it’s too bespoke.

So, in the event that they’re rising internationally, they’ve too many databases to handle, and so they wish to put it in a single infrastructure and have one world course of. It’s very arduous to do with QuickBooks. In order that’s an attention-grabbing one. If they’ve superior stock gadgets, the place they’re placing in a number of warehouses and demand planning and level of sale and distribution, QuickBooks is for quite simple corporations. When you add a number of complexity to it or begin to customise it, you’ve actually outgrown it. And that’s the place NetSuite picks up and actually excels. The complicated small enterprise.

Leland McFarland All proper. Should you had, in the event you had uh one piece of recommendation for a small enterprise proprietor seeking to future-proof their operations, what would it not be?

Sam Levy Wow, rent the appropriate folks. I imply, that’s a bit, you already know, folks and human capital and positively in a small enterprise is vital. And and a number of the traits you say, “Properly, that’s superb, however what sort of competencies would you search for?” Definitely the entrepreneur spirit, problem the established order, and also you you’ve obtained to make some huge bets. And in the event you’re not making the bets round utilizing AI in your corporations, I inform founders on a regular basis, I feel you’ll be leapfrogged by a founder who’s utilizing AI to get that aggressive benefit.

Leland McFarland All proper, remaining query. What’s subsequent for NetSuite with regards to serving the small enterprise market? Any areas of funding or innovation the place you’re uh you’re particularly um enthusiastic about?

Sam Levy Properly, we introduced it this week, “NetSuite Subsequent.” It’s our subsequent technology of how we’re evolving our AI technique and simply making it obtainable in every single place within the software from the inside-out. What we’re constructing and what we’re releasing for all of our clients and new clients is the type of “Ask Oracle” idea. It’s AI-ready in every single place at any time. And it’s the conversational piece of it.

You don’t need to go study a menu construction and navigation, the how-tos. Our agency perception is the best way that you just work together sooner or later goes to be conversational. Like we’re having now, that’s the way you’re going to be interacting with your small business system. Very a lot conversational, not menu-driven, looking for knowledge. You’re going to be asking and prompting versus clicking and pointing. And so that’s, proper, the massive pleasure that we have now is we’re doing it, we’re prototyping it now, and we’re slowly releasing it to the lots. This time subsequent yr, it’ll be totally obtainable and it’ll be so thrilling to see so many shoppers on it.

Leland McFarland That will likely be thrilling and I’m I’m I’m inquisitive about making an attempt it out. Having a pleasant digital assistant.

Sam Levy Yeah, precisely.

Leland McFarland All proper. Properly, that’s all I obtained for you at this time. Thanks a lot for uh approaching and uh placing up with all my questions.

Sam Levy Nice. Good to fulfill you, Leland.

After talking with Sam Levy, one factor grew to become clear: small companies not have to decide on between progress and management. The instruments that when appeared out of attain—enterprise-grade analytics, automation, and now AI-driven insights—are being constructed with accessibility in thoughts. NetSuite’s strategy to scalability, particularly by way of its “SuiteSuccess” trade playbooks and AI integrations, is reworking how entrepreneurs function. The concept of “no limits,” this yr’s SuiteWorld theme, isn’t only a advertising slogan—it’s a mindset shift.

Levy’s level about AI serving as an “exponential multiplier” resonated deeply. Small enterprise homeowners have all the time worn a number of hats. Now, AI might help us put on them extra effectively—managing knowledge, figuring out traits, and releasing up time for strategic selections. Whether or not it’s automating billing, unifying processes, or just asking conversational inquiries to get solutions that used to take days, the worth of accessible AI is simple.

What’s most encouraging is NetSuite’s dedication to creating this know-how sensible—not simply highly effective. As Levy put it, the way forward for enterprise methods will likely be “conversational, not menu-driven.” For small companies, that future is arriving sooner than many notice. The actual query now could be how shortly we’ll adapt. Those that embrace AI as a trusted accomplice in progress, moderately than a distant idea, will probably outline the following wave of small enterprise success.