Oracle AI Agentic Fusion ERP 26C: From System of Record to System of Action.

What CFOs, CIOs, Application Architects, Enterprise Architects, Security Architects, Finance Leaders and Oracle Customers Need to Know About the Next Generation of Intelligent ERP

For decades, ERP systems have been the system of record for Finance.

With Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications 26C, we are now seeing the next evolution: Agentic ERP.

Enterprise technology is entering an interesting new chapter.

For decades, ERP has been the system of record for organisations. It captures transactions, manages financial processes, enforces controls and provides the information businesses need to operate.

Then came analytics.

We moved from asking:

"What happened?" to: "Why did it happen?"

Then came predictive analytics and AI, helping organisations ask:

"What is likely to happen next?"

Now, with Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications 26C and the rapid evolution of Oracle AI capabilities, we are beginning to see the next question:

"What needs to happen next and can the system help us get there?"

This is where Agentic ERP becomes more than another technology buzzword.

It represents a potential shift in how enterprise applications work.

As an Oracle ACE, Oracle Analytics and AI Ambassador in the ANZ community, and Secretary of NZOUG, I see this Fusion ERP 26 quarterly updates as more than just another ERP release. It is a conversation worth having across our Oracle User, customer, Oracle Partners, and technology communities as we explore what an AI-agentic future means for the enterprise.

The Shift: From Software That Waits to Software That Works

Traditional enterprise software generally waits for us.

We open the application.

We run the report.

We investigate the exception.

We identify the problem.

We decide what to do.

We take action.

The system records what we did.

That model has served organisations well.

But business processes are becoming increasingly complex, data volumes are increasing, and Finance teams are being asked to deliver more insight with fewer resources.

This creates an enormous opportunity for AI.

The next generation of enterprise applications does not simply need to tell us what is happening.

It needs to help us understand what matters, determine what should happen next, and move work forward within clearly defined business controls.

Oracle's vision for Fusion Agentic Applications is precisely this: coordinated teams of specialised AI agents that can reason, coordinate and execute within Fusion's enterprise data, workflows, policies, permissions and approval structures.

Reference Docs : (Oracle)

What Does "Agentic" Mean in Business Language?

The word agentic can sound technical.

For a business leader, I would simplify it.

A traditional assistant says:

"Here is the answer."

An AI agent says:

"I understand the objective, I have investigated the relevant information, and here is what I recommend doing next."

An agentic application goes further:

"I can coordinate the required work, take authorised actions, and involve you when human judgement or approval is required."

That distinction is important.

The goal is not to create AI that simply talks to employees.

The goal is to create AI that can become an intelligent teammate inside the business process.

That is a very different proposition from simply adding a chatbot to an ERP system.

Example :

Imagine Month-End Close Without the Manual Investigation

Consider a Finance Manager approaching month-end close.

Today, the question might be:

"Are we ready to close?"

Answering that question can involve checking multiple processes and sources of information.

The Finance team, Finance Systems team may need to investigate:

• Unposted journals

• Failed imports

• Approval delays

• Reconciliation exceptions

• Subledger issues

• Background process failures

• Outstanding accounting activities

• Other operational blockers

The ERP contains much of this information.

But the human still has to connect the dots.

This is where an agentic approach becomes interesting.

Instead of simply presenting another report, an agent could help Finance understand:

What is complete?

What is not complete?

What is blocking the close?

Which issues are most important?

What should Finance investigate first?

Which items require human approval?

The experience moves from:

Finding information

to:

Understanding the situation

to:

Taking the right action.

That is the real promise of Agentic Finance.

Oracle Fusion 26C: Why Finance Should Pay Attention

Oracle's 26C release is part of a broader evolution in Fusion Cloud Applications toward embedded AI and agentic capabilities.

Oracle's Financials AI capabilities include areas such as ledger and accounting assistance, Payables, Fixed Assets and other Finance-focused experiences. Oracle also describes Fusion Agentic Applications as outcome-oriented applications powered by teams of specialised agents.

Reference Docs : (Oracle)

For Finance leaders, the important point is not the number of AI features.

The important point is the change in operating model.

Instead of employees spending large amounts of time navigating systems to discover what requires attention, AI can increasingly help surface the important issues and guide the next step.

That is where technology starts translating into business value.

Agentic ERP Is Not Just About AI

This is an important distinction for Finance Leaders, CIOs, Security Teams, Solutions Architects, and Enterprise Architects.

Agentic ERP is not simply: ERP + ChatGPT-style interface

It is much broader.

The real architecture involves:

Enterprise Data

Business Processes

AI Agents

Tools and APIs

Workflows

Security

Approvals

Governance

Human Judgement

That is why Oracle AI Agent Studio is particularly interesting.

Oracle describes AI Agent Studio as a design-time environment for creating, configuring, validating and deploying AI agents, with integration into Fusion Cloud Applications and access to Fusion knowledge stores, tools and APIs.

Referecne Docs : (Oracle Documentation)

For architects, this means the conversation moves beyond:

"Which LLM should we use?"

towards:

"How do we safely embed intelligence into enterprise business processes?"

That is a much more strategic architecture question.

From One Agent to an AI Finance Team

Perhaps one of the most exciting possibilities is the idea of agent teams.

Think about a Finance organisation.

You might have:

Close Agent

Journal Investigation Agent

AP Agent

Reconciliation Agent

Cash Management Agent

Compliance Agent

Each agent can focus on a specialised area.

Then imagine a:

Finance Supervisor Agent

Its role is not to perform every task.

Its role is to coordinate.

It understands the overall objective.

It delegates to the right specialised capability.

It brings the results together.

It highlights exceptions.

It escalates decisions that require human judgement.

This is similar to how a human management team operates.

Oracle's agentic architecture explicitly supports coordinated teams of specialised agents, with a lead agent able to orchestrate other agents towards a shared goal.

Reference Docs (Oracle)

The future ERP could therefore look less like a collection of screens and more like an intelligent digital workforce working alongside the human workforce.

What Does This Mean for CFOs, Finance Leaders?

For CFOs, I would not start the conversation with: "Let's implement AI."

Start with:

"Where is Finance losing valuable time?"

Look for:

• Manual investigation

• Repetitive reconciliation

• Exception management

• Approval chasing

• Data gathering

• Report preparation

• Process monitoring

• Month-end coordination

Then ask:

"Could an AI teammate help here?"

That changes the conversation from technology-led innovation to business-led transformation.

What Does This Mean for CIOs, CISOs, IT Cloud Operations, Security Teams?

For CIOs, CISOs, ITSM, Security the opportunity is bigger than individual use cases.

The question becomes:

"How do we establish an enterprise model for AI agents?"

That means considering:

• Identity (IAM)

• Security

• Data access

• Integration

• Governance

• AI lifecycle management

• Monitoring

• Auditability

• Human-in-the-loop processes

• Cost management

• Business outcomes

Agentic AI needs to become part of the enterprise architecture conversation. Not a side experiment.

What Does This Mean for SaaS Solution Architects and Enterprise Architects?

Architects should start thinking about agent boundaries.

Not:

"What can AI do?"

But:

"What should AI be allowed to do?"

For every proposed agent, define:

Observe

What information can it see?

Reason

What decisions can it help make?

Recommend

What can it suggest?

Act

What can it execute?

Approve

Where must a human remain accountable?

Escalate

When should it stop and ask for help?

This approach provides a practical framework for designing trustworthy enterprise agents.

The Bigger Picture

We have spent decades building systems that record what the organisation does.

We then built systems that analyse what the organisation has done.

Now we are beginning to build systems that can help determine:

What should happen next?

And potentially:

How can we move towards that outcome?

That is the fundamental shift.

ERP is moving from:

System of Record

towards:

System of Intelligence

and increasingly towards:

System of Outcomes

Oracle itself describes Fusion Agentic Applications as moving enterprise applications beyond passive systems of record toward applications that can reason, decide and act in pursuit of defined business objectives. That is a significant change in the way we should think about enterprise software.

The Future of Finance Is Not Human vs AI

It is Human + AI.

The strongest organisations will not necessarily be those that automate the most.

They will be the organisations that understand where intelligence, automation and human judgement should work together.

Oracle Fusion 26C is an important step in that direction.

For Finance, the journey is moving:

From transactions → to insights

From insights → to recommendations

From recommendations → to coordinated action

From isolated AI assistants → to AI teammates

And ultimately:

From ERP that records the business to ERP that helps the business move forward.

That is the promise of Agentic Finance.

And for the Oracle community across Australia and New Zealand, I believe this is a conversation we should start now.

My Thoughts :

The next chapter of ERP will not be written by technology alone.

It will be shaped by the Oracle customers, users, partners, architects and communities who experiment, share what works, learn from what doesn't, and turn these capabilities into real business outcomes.

The future of Finance is not just automated.

It is augmented. Intelligent. Governed. And increasingly Agentic.

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