A new executive briefing from MIT Technology Review Insights, in partnership with Rimini Street, argues that enterprise resource planning (ERP) is entering its most significant transition in decades. Reimagining ERP for the Agentic AI Era explains the way agentic AI and composable architectures are reshaping how ERP systems operate and evolve.
The report contends that traditional, vendor-driven ERP models can no longer keep pace with the speed of AI-driven business change. Instead, it frames ERP’s future as a shift from static systems of record toward systems of action, where autonomous AI agents coordinate work across multiple platforms.
That shift, the authors argue, allows enterprises to modernize on their own terms—without disruptive, large-scale ERP upgrades.
Three Findings That Define the Next Phase of ERP Modernization
The report details three findings that define ERP’s next phase. Each reflects a structural break from how enterprise systems have traditionally been modernized in the past.
First, enterprises are moving away from monolithic, vendor-driven ERP upgrades in favor of modular, composable architectures. Instead of replacing entire systems to gain new capabilities, organizations are preserving stable ERP cores for critical transactions while modernizing surrounding components independently. This reframes modernization as an ongoing capability, not a once-a-decade event dictated by vendor roadmaps.
Second, the report positions agentic AI as a user experience and orchestration layer that operates above the ERP core. Autonomous agents coordinate workflows across systems that were never designed to interoperate, transforming what were previously brittle integrations into automated, goal-directed actions. In this model, ERP no longer governs process flow; it supplies data and transactions to systems that act on its behalf.
Third, these architectural shifts allow technology to organize around business needs rather than ERP constraints. Modernization occurs through extension, recomposition, and orchestration rather than rip-and-replace programs. Improvements in user satisfaction, productivity, processing time, and decision accuracy suggest that ERP’s value is increasingly defined by how effectively it participates in broader, AI-driven workflows.
What Agentic AI and Composability Mean for ERP Strategy and Control
The report’s findings suggest that ERP’s center of gravity is moving upward. Core systems still matter, but their role is increasingly foundational rather than directive.
Value now concentrates in orchestration layers, user experience, and AI-driven decision logic that sit above the ERP core and determine how work actually gets done. ERP becomes less the brain of the enterprise and more a trusted source of record that AI acts upon.
That shift brings both autonomy and new risks.
Composability reduces dependence on vendor roadmaps and multi-year upgrade cycles, but agentic AI disperses decision-making across autonomous systems. When agents coordinate actions across finance, supply chain, and operations, questions of governance, accountability, and auditability become architectural concerns. Control no longer resides in a single system, making oversight more complex as execution accelerates.
The report also reframes modernization as an economic strategy rather than a purely technical one. Cost savings from stabilizing existing systems become a funding mechanism for experimentation, rather than being consumed by infrastructure churn.
Taken together, these dynamics point to a deeper transformation.
An ERP is no longer the system that defines how the business operates. It is becoming one component in a broader fabric where AI agents coordinate activity across platforms. The strategic question for enterprise leaders is no longer which ERP system they run, but where authority to act resides as AI moves from advising decisions to executing them.
What This Means for ERP Insiders
ERP control is moving up the stack. Agentic AI shifts authority from core systems to orchestration layers that decide and execute work across platforms. ERP remains essential, but influence now sits where agents coordinate actions and resolve trade-offs in real time.
Modernization becomes continuous, not episodic. Composable architectures replace upgrade cycles with incremental change that follows business demand. Teams extend and recombine capabilities without waiting for vendor releases, which compresses time to value and reduces disruption.
Autonomy raises the governance bar. Distributed agents accelerate execution while diffusing accountability across systems and teams. Effective ERP strategy now requires architectural guardrails that define authority, auditability, and risk ownership as AI moves from advising decisions to acting on them.
