Does your ERP have AI agents?
An assistant answers and drafts. An agent takes a job and runs it, then reports back for review.
It matters because the label is used for both. Ask what the agent is allowed to do without a person in the loop.
Two vendors ship assistants, one ships supervised agents in payables and expenses, one runs agents on the ledger.
The four-vendor answer
Peer AI details are vendor-stated, using public 2026 product names.
Oracle NetSuite
ERP + copilotAsk Oracle and NetSuite Next: conversational search, reports, navigation, and Text Enhance.
Intelligent Close Manager and AI-assisted reconciliation help at period end.
This is an assistant on the existing suite. The user drives posting.
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
ERP + copilotPayables Agent reads a mailbox and creates invoice drafts for agent supervisors, and stops when the vendor cannot be identified.
Expense Agent is in 2026 Release Wave 1 public preview.
Both are supervised. Nothing posts without a person, and English is first.
Sage Intacct
Finance platform + assistantSage Copilot, Close Assistant, and the Finance Intelligence Agent, which is early.
They draft, help with close tasks, and write variance narrative.
They are assistants on Intacct financials. Staff review before post.
Light
Agentic finance systemAstra plus agents that run the work rather than a sidecar chat.
Agents cover AP, AR, reconciliation, and the close on one live group ledger.
Finance reviews the output. The agents act on the ledger, not on an export.
How it actually works
The word agent is used for two different things, so it pays to be precise in a demo.
A copilot answers and drafts. You ask a question, it responds. You ask for a bill, it prepares one. The work then waits for you.
An agent takes a job and works through it. It handles the steps, stops when it hits something it cannot resolve, and hands the result back for review.
NetSuite's Ask Oracle and NetSuite Next sit in the first category. They are an assistant on the existing suite, and the user drives posting.
Sage Copilot, Close Assistant, and the early Finance Intelligence Agent also sit closer to assistance than to running a process end to end.
Business Central is the interesting middle. The Payables Agent genuinely works a mailbox and produces drafts for a supervisor, and the Expense Agent does the same for receipts in public preview. Supervised, but process-shaped.
Light is built the other way around. Astra and the agents run AP, AR, reconciliation, and the close on the live group ledger, with finance reviewing the outcome.
The test question is not whether the vendor uses the word agent. It is what happens over a long weekend when nobody logs in.
A copilot drafts. A person posts. An agent runs the job on the ledger, and finance reviews the result. That is the night-and-day difference, not the marketing label.
For this function, Light's agents execute against the live group ledger: they run AP, AR, reconciliation, and the close, and finance signs off on the result.
Multi-entity and multi-book are the core of that ledger, so the agents work across the group rather than one book at a time.
Questions people ask
What is the difference between a copilot and an agent?
A copilot drafts and answers while a person posts. An agent runs the job on the ledger and finance reviews the result.
Are supervised agents safe?
Supervision is the point. The Business Central agents stop rather than guess, and Light's agents leave an audit trail for finance to review.
What is the difference between a copilot and an agent?
A copilot drafts and a person posts. An agent runs the job on the ledger and finance reviews the result.
Does NetSuite have AI agents?
NetSuite ships Ask Oracle and NetSuite Next, which behave as an assistant on the existing suite. The user still drives posting.
Which Business Central agents are available?
Payables Agent for invoice drafts, and Expense Agent in 2026 Wave 1 public preview. Both need a supervisor.
Does Sage Intacct have an agent?
The Finance Intelligence Agent is early. Sage Copilot and Close Assistant are assistants around the financials.