Many of our customers have upgraded to NetSuite 2026.1 and after the upgrade, they have noticed additional AI functionality. Meridian anticipates more AI functionalities with NetSuite as we move towards the second NetSuite Release 2026.2 and NetSuite Next. With respect to AI, many organizations are looking to apply artificial intelligence within NetSuite to take full advantage of their data. But where will AI have the most positive impact? It’s not always obvious which workflows are best suited for AI assistance or how existing processes align with the types of tasks AI can support. This month we provide some thoughts or considerations on getting started with AI in your organization and how Meridian can support your organization in assessing AI.
Assess your organization’s AI readiness
Successful AI adoption starts with understanding where your organization can most benefit. Start by building a short list of processes that are already well defined and rely on your NetSuite data, such as revenue or payables workflows. Then evaluate how AI may assist with that work. This provides a starting point based on the way your business operates today. Data patterns and the amount of historical information that’s available greatly influence how helpful AI generated insights and suggestions will be. AI needs to be able to find reliable rules, or patterns, to make good predictions or suggestions. An example is a recurring spike in sales every August, a pattern where customers who buy Product A almost always buy Product B within 30 days. Some best practices for assessing AI readiness include:
- Define your workflows – AI works best on specific tasks with defined goals. Ensure the workflows you want to enhance have clear, documented steps in NetSuite.
- Audit your data structure – Review the essential fields and records your workflows rely on. Clean, consistent data like that in your NetSuite instance is the fuel for accurate AI suggestions.
- Identify friction points – Collaborate with cross-functional stakeholders to pinpoint exactly where processes stall or require manual data gathering from multiple records or sources.
- Regularly re-evaluate – Schedule periodic reviews of your AI readiness, especially after system updates, new SuiteApp installations, or changes to custom forms, to keep AI outputs aligned with your current system configuration.
Identify high-value AI opportunities
Once a short list of processes where AI can help is determined, narrow the focus by identifying where AI can provide the most meaningful value. For example, maybe your AR team spends hours manually emailing every customer with an overdue invoice. AI can analyze payment history to segment customers. It automates friendly reminders for most clients but can flag high-risk or high-value accounts for a personal phone call from an AR specialist. Some best practices for identifying strong opportunities include the following:
- Find your supporters – Identify AI champions within your organization at both the organizational level and within each department to advocate for AI adoption, provide feedback, and ensure alignment with business needs.
- Pinpoint data gathering bottlenecks – Identify steps where employees must navigate multiple screens, records, or reports just to gather the context needed for a routine decision.
- Look for tasks that are repetitive but too complex for Robotic Process Automation (PRA) – Ideal candidates are workflows that follow a fairly standard, repeatable process but require human review or interpretation at each step.
- Prioritize predictable outputs – Focus on tasks where the desired outcome is consistent and verifiable, such as a standardized report, a recurring email response, or a specific data entry.
- Validate value – Don’t assume the value of AI. Check in with the employees performing the work to confirm that AI assistance would genuinely save time or reduce frustration, rather than adding a new layer of review work.
Establish well-governed, secure AI practices built in NetSuite
Companies successfully using AI and NetSuite tend to have roles and data governance established. Using AI with your data builds on the same governance foundation your organization already relies on, so teams can experiment safely and maintain confidence in how information is accessed and used. By grounding AI initiatives in your established controls, teams can move forward with confidence.
With the increased growth of AI both within and outside of NetSuite, Meridian has created a new team, AICompass. This team will be focused on AI and they can help bridge the gap between AI and NetSuite. Additional information is below and If you would like more information, reach out to your Meridian Business contact or email Meridian at mpower@meridianbusiness.com.
