AI is the biggest buzzword in software and the hype only continues to grow. More and more software vendors are releasing clearly defined AI strategies meant to support responsible AI and its future development. ERP Advisors Group has done our research to provide the ultimate guide to ERP vendor AI strategies and the differentiators setting each platform apart.
AI has been part of ERP since the beginning, just not in the way we use it today. AI has been used to set up workflows, automate tasks, and much more. But now, technology has advanced to a point where machines can generate content and are able to make very basic decisions on a role-by-role basis.
The real AI boom began in 2024, when ChatGPT took the market by storm. Internet users were fascinated by the intelligence and generative capabilities and were finding more and more ways to apply that technology to their daily lives. Software vendors took advantage of the craze and developed their own tools baked directly into their ERP, accounting, and other solutions.
While each vendor offers their own AI strategy, user experience, and tools, there are some basic capabilities to be expected from any ERP’s AI tool. Every AI on this list utilizes data retrieval through database integration to locate and present information. This means that AI is only as good as the data it has access to, making a vendor’s database vital to creating an effective AI tool. Each database differs, but every vendor has invested heavily in their infrastructure to deliver these applications.
Modern AI models also rely on machine learning (ML) and large language models (LLMs) to evolve with your business. The LLMs enable non-technical users to interact with the system in natural language, without needing to be a data scientist or developer. Because we are in the era of generative AI, capabilities have advanced enough for AI to generate detailed visual reports.
This is available in most ERPs at the touch of a button. However, there are other nuances available thanks to the approach of each individual vendor. And the differences essentially come down to strategy.
Acumatica has instituted an “AI-first” strategy, building their ERP systems around the technology that will enable future AI advancements. The growing ERP vendor wants ERP to go beyond a back-office accounting solution and transform it to drive a business’s future trajectory. Through Acumatica’s AI strategy, customers will be able to overcome existing businesses challenges to reach new heights, instead of simply “enhancing” existing capabilities.
In 2024, Acumatica announced its “Principles of Innovation”, defining their “commitment to the responsible, practical, and valuable implementation of new AI technologies.” Acumatica divides its AI features into three main categories: AI as an Intelligent Advisor, AI Interactive Assistants, and AI Automation.
One major announcement made at Acumatica Summit 2025 was AI Insights Anomaly Detection. This tool is being utilized by clients and Acumatica itself. Within the application, customers utilize AI to flag accounting or system anomalies to identify and correct problems early. As a vendor, Acumatica is using AI to perform updates and test the system for broken code. This is just one way their advancements are being used to do more at Acumatica.
Learn more: https://www.acumatica.com/
Deltek is a project-based ERP aimed at delivering value to Architecture, Engineering, and Construction companies. Their industry expertise has driven Deltek’s AI strategy and is delivering tools that are compatible with data sensitive industries. Deltek Dela, Deltek’s AI assistant, is easy to use and interactive, empowering AEC companies to increase productivity.
Because of their place in the market, Deltek has heavily prioritized trust and worked to reduce risks associated with adopting AI. Deltek specialized their strategy to meet the needs of their customers, giving them an edge for customers who need AI within the context of their business data and industry best practices.
Learn more: https://www.deltek.com/en
Like Deltek, ECI has leaned heavily into its industry specialization, especially to empower businesses in the SMB space. ECI has crafted its marketing to promote proactive decision-making with AI so businesses can identify opportunities for growth early and make adjustments to improve efficiency. AI feedback should be clear and straightforward, which is the goal of ECI AI.
ECI has embedded AI directly into its industry solutions and it is using data to teach the AI. Built by industry experts for the industries they serve, ECI’s AI is a practical solution built to help businesses realize real value.
Learn more: https://www.ecisolutions.com/
Epicor’s AI motto is “Transforming ERP from a System of Record to a System of Action.” Their ultimate goal is to develop AI solutions that will eventually make informed decisions for business leaders and make forecasts to improve business processes.
Epicor is heavily invested in its technology platform to deliver the next generation of AI. Epicor Prism is at the core of Epicor’s AI strategy, combining “a network of vertical AI agents with industry-focused ERP and industry data structures to reduce the friction in accessing systems of record.” With this tool accessing Epicor’s foundation of data, customers can easily retrieve data and display it to help extract actionable insights.
One major focus of Epicor’s AI strategy is on Enterprise Content Management (ECM). With embedded AI, customers can automatically classify documents, such as purchase orders or invoices, to reduce manual sorting. This is one way AI is spreading to various parts of the business at Epicor to deliver value.
Learn more: https://www.epicor.com/en-us
IFS, like most other vendors on this list, have focused its AI tools on delivering in the industries it serves best. IFS has also centered a lot of its AI strategy around sustainability, specifically cutting carbon emissions. This is a unique value proposition for IFS considering the massive amounts of computing power and energy it takes to power AI models. Heavy-asset industries can use their historical data and AI capabilities through IFS to monitor energy use and resource consumption to shore up processes.
Additionally, IFS developed Nexus Black, a strategic program aimed at accelerating AI adoption in industrial organizations. Nexus Black is IFS’s “black ops” team for AI, sent in to identify the need for AI and its business value, help accelerate the development of AI model, and ensure the tools are set up to provide continuous business value. Through this program, businesses are co-creating their AI solutions, further driving value alongside IFS’s industry experts.
Learn more: https://www.ifs.com/
Infor tends to be on the cutting edge of technological advancements, and AI is no exception. At Infor, AI is broken into three categories: prescriptive, predictive, and generative.
In the prescriptive and predictive space, Infor offers AI-as-a-Service (AIaaS), or Infor Augmented Intelligence Service, as a pre-configured approach to artificial intelligence. AIaaS is a base model AI, offering business AI solutions to their most critical business obstacles, without the need for an extremely technical, specialized AI team. Infor also offers a catalog of pre-built, AI-driven ERP add-ons created to improve productivity more quickly.
Generative AI is embedded throughout Infor’s CloudSuite with Infor GenAI, allowing customers to get instant answers to their most dire questions in a conversational format. Infor GenAI is trained on your business’s dataset, enabling it to personalize your experience and adapt to your needs. Additionally, Infor has developed solutions to empower developers to create custom AI models using Infor AI, making the experience even more customizable.
A final note on Infor AI must include its partnership with Amazon Bedrock, a service for building and scaling generative applications. The partnership is changing the way Infor can deploy GenAI solutions embedded directly within the CloudSuite. Ultimately, customers will be able to realize a much quicker time to value and access to the market’s latest and greatest technology.
Learn more: https://www.infor.com/
With Azure at its core, Microsoft offers a unique perspective on AI. Beyond the basic AI tools meant to improve business efficiency, Microsoft has made significant advancements to create Microsoft Copilot and the Azure AI Foundry to customize the AI experience.
Copilot is Microsoft’s AI assistant, pulling from industry and proprietary business data to suggest improvements, identify bottlenecks, and visually present data to make more informed business decisions. Copilot is available throughout Microsoft’s suite of applications and its adoption was further supported by Copilot Studio, a platform for businesses to customize Copilot to their unique needs.
To bolster its own success and build its own AI ecosystem, Microsoft also developed the Azure AI Foundry. The Azure AI Foundry is a platform for developers and businesses to create and deploy their own AI solutions. Greater accessibility means more solutions available to the masses, making this a vital program to the future distribution of AI.
With Azure, customers utilizing Microsoft’s AI applications can rest easy knowing their data is secure on one of the world’s most trusted technology platforms. Through a number of partnerships and investments, Microsoft continues to invest in building trustworthy, high performing AI.
Learn more: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/
Oracle NetSuite is clearly set apart in the mid-market due to its connection to Oracle and Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. NetSuite offers basic ways to capture the power of AI through task automation, suggested actions, and actionable insights, focused on centralizing all data within NetSuite for easy access and getting the most from your AI.
AI is only as good as the data you provide, so NetSuite has built its solution to learn as you do, making AI solutions more powerful the more you use the Suite. NetSuite also offers the option to opt into their data sharing program, allowing the platform itself to learn from yours and other data. While your data is secure, this can still be a risky step to take. NetSuite does allow you to reject participation in this program; however, the value to be realized through these programs is truly infinite.
NetSuite’s AI assistant is another major benefit of NetSuite’s AI strategy, allowing businesses to interact with their system through natural language to automate processes, process invoices, detect anomalies, generate reports, and more. Within the NetSuite Analytics Warehouse (NSAW), AI is touching every part of the system to pull data in real-time, suggest improvement, breakdown insights, and visually present the information for greater comprehension.
Overall, there is a lot to discover when it comes to AI and NetSuite. Customers can not only analyze data and grow alongside the system but also have access to tailored guidance for building their models and improving the system.
Learn more: https://www.netsuite.com/portal/home.shtml
Oracle is a technology behemoth with access to some of the top AI technology in the world, alongside a vast ecosystem of partnerships and the foundation of OCI. OCI data centers and the Oracle Autonomous Database offer immediate ways for customers to realize value with AI. Pre-built machine learning models drive the expansion of AI and are fueling the development of new models every day.
Oracle’s extensive resources, whether monetarily, human, or partnership based, have shaped how they have been able to approach AI. NVIDIA was essential to the early days of Oracle’s generative AI strategies as the two worked together to deliver safe and reliable AI solutions. Most recently, Oracle has partnered with xAI to bring Grok models to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.
With Oracle, customers can achieve AI value with:
Ultimately, Oracle has a deep, undeniably beneficial catalog of AI applications, tools, and partners.
Learn more: https://www.oracle.com/
Sage originally announced its AI strategy at Sage Transform 2025, committing to, “driving high performance for finance and business.” Sage is uniquely positioned to deliver effective ERP-oriented AI solutions with over 40 years of accounting expertise.
Like other ERP vendors, Sage is committed to streamlining processes and transforming the way we do business with AI. However, Sage is unique in taking to time to outline its 5 core AI commitments:
Learn more: https://www.sage.com/en-us/
SAP competes with the likes of Oracle and Microsoft when it comes to AI and technology advancements. SAP’s Business AI is the foundation of their AI strategy, offering everything a business could need to adopt an effective AI strategy.
SAP differentiates its AI strategy in four main categories. First is sheer data access and reach of their solutions. Business AI is grounded in business data and embedded across your technology stack to connect all facets of the business. In fact, SAP has stated their AI, “fits into the flow of work…across over 230 AI-powered scenarios, expanding to 400 by the end of 2025.”
The second differentiator is the single AI operating system running all SAP business AI technologies. Ultimately, by housing everything in a single operating system, SAP can accelerate AI adoption and empower developers to create newer, better AI models.
Third, SAP describes its AI as “omnipresent” or an “omnipresent experience.” This means data and workflows can be easily integrated across all SAP and non-SAP applications. The system is always on and is meant to harmonize user experiences throughout the entire technology stack. With that, customers do not need to worry about data siloes or ineffective/inaccurate AI answers.
Lastly, businesses benefit from Joule Agents, a vast network of AI agents trained to perform industry and department-oriented tasks – delivered out of the box! Customers can also custom build agents in the Agent Builder. All functionality is rooted in your data, so you get what you need, without the hassle. Consultants are even using Joule to accelerate SAP projects and help clients migrate to the cloud.
SAP is and will continue to be a major player in the AI space, especially as they continue to collaborate with industry giants like NVIDIA.
Learn more: https://www.sap.com/index.html
Unit4 offers an entirely different approach to AI through its next-generation AI SaaS platform. AI is at the core of the platform to help embed it in all you do. People are at the center of Unit4’s AI strategy, training the tool to streamline workflows and learn from those who are using it every day. Unit4’s global footprint has also made it a strong solution for meeting international regulatory compliance and cybersecurity needs.
Learn more: https://www.unit4.com/homepage
Workday is extremely HR focused and pulls from a highly specialized, dense dataset. Illuminate is the ERP vendors AI tool built to improve the lives of employees and accelerate time to value within the system. Workday boasts an impressive 800 billion transactions a year, also empowered by context of the situation and an understanding of the business.
The platform in which Workday Illuminate is built comes in “threefold.” For one, customers can access their own AI models embedded within the system and trained on their data. Others can implement AI applications from Workday’s network of partners in the Marketplace and developed with security and responsibility in mind. Finally, businesses can adopt best practices and capabilities built by Workday customers using AI Gateway, Workday’s tool for AI developers in the ecosystem. There is a whole world to be discovered when exploring Workday’s AI tools.
Learn more: https://www.workday.com/
Ultimately, almost all ERP vendors bring something different to the AI table, despite a lot of the core functionality remaining the same no matter where you look. If you need help deciphering your future AI strategy and selecting the right vendor to complement it, schedule a free consultation with the experts at ERP Advisors Group.