When Evan Goldberg, founder and executive vice president, Oracle NetSuite, first accessed his company’s numbers from a browser at home, he knew he was onto something big. That “aha” moment would go on to spark the creation of a platform now powering over 41,000 businesses in 219 countries.

Goldberg has seen the world of business software evolve – from clunky on-prem installs to seamless, AI-enhanced, cloud-based solutions. In this Entrepreneur UK interview, he shares the pivotal moments, lessons learned, and why the next wave of innovation could be even bigger than the internet boom that started it all.

What was the moment early on that made you realise you were onto something big with NetSuite?
When we got our own business up and running on the system. I remember for the first time being able to access information from my home computer through a browser – it was a total game-changer.

Previously, businesses had to install the software on each computer it wanted to run the application on. You couldn’t access it from just any computer that had internet access. When I saw our numbers all in one place I thought “yep, this is going to work”.

Did you ever doubt your vision, and how did you push through those tough moments?
There were definitely learning experiences. Before NetSuite, I started a company called mBed Software which didn’t take off the way I hoped. We couldn’t compete with the bigger players in the space, but that experience planted the seed for NetSuite as it showed me how badly entrepreneurs needed better tools to see their critical business data.

One of the most pivotal moments came in a conversation with Larry Ellison. I had left Oracle, where Larry had been a great sounding board for me, to start mBed. On a call, I told him about this idea I had – software to help small businesses grow. He liked the concept but said it should run on the internet because founders were tired of managing software on their computers. That five-minute call shaped everything. We had the model figured out and a year later we launched.

Since those early days, our vision for NetSuite has always remained the same – with unified information, every business achieves their vision. Of course, there have been times where we could have been distracted, but our vision has never changed.

What was the biggest surprise when expanding NetSuite globally?
More than 41,000 customers across 219 countries rely on NetSuite to run their business. While each business and geography is unique, I’m always surprised by the similarities.

For example, retailers in the U.S. and UK probably have more in common than a retailer and manufacturer that are both in the U.S. Tackling challenges like optimising your inventory and efficiently fulfilling your orders is more common ground than the country you’re in.

In other words, business leaders everywhere face similar challenges. They’re wearing many hats in a time when every business is required to do more with less – less money, less resources, less time.

We’ve always served our customers around the world by acting globally, but thinking locally – staying true to our mission while adapting to regional requirements. Today, we’re even better equipped to tackle new markets thanks to Oracle’s scale.

As UK businesses struggle to scale under economic pressure, what’s the key to scaling successfully in tough times?
For many years, businesses had a “grow at all costs” mentality and that’s not the case anymore. Today’s successful businesses are focused on driving profitable growth in an efficient way. There are four growth levers I talk about.

First, understand what’s working and what isn’t, then align resources around those insights. Entrepreneurs and growing businesses should focus on exactly where money is being spent – and only invest where they see the biggest growth opportunities.

Second, while focus may cause you to jettison efforts that aren’t working, expansion often requires exploring new avenues and some of these will become your big opportunities down the road.

Third, to get the highest return from your current opportunities and capture value from new ones, you need processes that can scale.

And finally, if you’re going to effectively pull each of these growth levers, then your technology solutions must work together.

That’s why at NetSuite we talk a lot about “Suiteness”. The idea that all your business functions, from finance to operations to customer management, should be seamlessly integrated.

What emerging tech excites you most right now?
We’re at an inflection point now with AI similar to where we were with the internet when we started NetSuite. You can’t overstate the impact the internet had on the way we work and live. The changes we will see with AI could be as big, if not bigger.

AI creates the opportunity for businesses to take a quantum leap in doing more with less. It supports teams across the entire organisation, from finance and accounting to marketing, supply chain and operations, to rethink the way they work and focus on not just the urgent, but the important. Or put another way, AI can increase productivity, allowing people to be more efficient with their time, and increases insights, which can lead to more informed and better decisions.

The idea of Suiteness is critical for AI as well. The best AI comes from the best data, the best data comes from a unified suite.

As AI continues to mature, having a business system without AI built in would be like having a car without wheels. That’s why we’re building AI into every aspect of NetSuite, rather than bolting it on.

As technology evolves, what do you think will be the most important skill for entrepreneurs in the next decade?
Continuous learning and adaptation are crucial. The development of AI for example, in terms of pace, is like nothing we’ve ever seen before. Entrepreneurs who can adapt quickly, stay open to change, and continuously learn new skills will have a major advantage.

It’s not about having all the answers up front, it’s about being willing to evolve, experiment, and pivot when needed. The entrepreneurs who lean into the unknown and embrace the opportunities that come with it will outpace those who try to stick to the old playbook. We have seen this time and time again and as the pace of technology advances, so too will the gap between those that learn and adapt and those that stick with the status quo.

What excites you the most about the future of NetSuite and how it will help businesses tackle upcoming challenges?
AI is bringing changes to the very nature of enterprise software and this opens up exciting new ways for us to help our customers. There are two ways we think about AI being helpful for customers – advising by delivering insights and assisting teams by supporting productivity.

However AI evolves, we’ll always stay focused on making NetSuite a natural extension of our customers’ everyday work, including helping them on their AI journey. Similar to easy-to-use technology like smartphones that have become part of our daily lives, businesses want applications and AI in a consumer-like look and feel. That is the direction NetSuite is heading in.

AI may be changing the industry but our purpose remains the same – help our customers do more with less.