Phone books, paper maps and pagers have faded into obsolescence, and some executives now view traditional enterprise resource planning systems in the same light. A survey of 4,295 global C-suite leaders reveals deep skepticism about the staying power of monolithic ERP architectures dominated by vendors like SAP and Oracle. Fully 36% predict the model will soon yield to composable, modular setups powered by APIs and best-of-breed integrations, while 33% anticipate an “agentic” overhaul driven by autonomous AI decision-making, according to a IT Brew analysis of a Censuswide study commissioned by Rimini Street.

Yet satisfaction with current systems remains high at 97%, underscoring a paradox: executives value what they have but crave flexibility amid vendor lock-in complaints from 35% of respondents, per The Register. “You can put all the AI within that one particular vendor, which means that you are relying on that vendor to give you those particular outcomes,” warns Rimini Street CTO Eric Helmer. He advocates treating ERP as a data repository, extracting intelligence externally to sidestep costly rip-and-replace migrations.

Vendor Pressures Mount

SAP’s 2027 cutoff for most on-premises ERP Central Component support and Epicor’s phase-out of products like Kinetic through 2028 are accelerating cloud shifts, but 95% of respondents in a prior Rimini Street study deem positive ROI for SAP’s S/4HANA elusive, reports TechTarget. Meanwhile, Gartner forecasts over 70% of recent ERP projects will miss business goals by 2027, fueling calls for composable strategies that mix modules across vendors via APIs.

Eric Kimberling, CEO of Third Stage Consulting Group, envisions ERP shrinking to a “glorified database” with AI as the user-facing layer. “What we’re seeing a lot of companies do is say, ‘We don’t want necessarily a system like an ERP system…We just want a platform that we can either build our own stuff or use third-party apps,” he told IT Brew. IDC’s Mickey North Rizza highlights vendor-client AI collaborations: “What’s interesting to me is many of the vendors that are leading on the AI side are working with their clients to utilize their clients’ ideas to get to the next level.”

Pedrom Rejai of Elevate Growth Partners urges proactive adaptation: “The winners will most certainly be those that are on the forefront of this technology, not the leading edge.” Kingfisher, operator of 2,000 European stores, skipped an SAP upgrade for third-party support, redirecting funds to cloud analytics, as noted in The Register.

AI Agents Reshape Workflows

Generative AI’s production-grade rollout is questioning ERP’s front ends, with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella declaring the traditional SaaS model “dead” in favor of agent gateways, according to ERP Today. Agents could automate routine tasks across fragmented systems, but legacy API gaps and governance needs persist. McKinsey warns of a “great divide”: nearly half of IT budgets chase AI, starving ERP modernization essential for scaling agents, with only 40% of firms seeing EBIT impact.

“While it is unlikely that AI agents will replace the ERP in the near or medium term because of system complexity,” McKinsey analysts note in their report, urging workflow-level integration grounded in ERP’s process logic. High performers redesign domains holistically, embedding agents via orchestration layers for reliable outputs.

Supply chain leaders eye gen AI for visibility, with 38% expecting gains per Logility’s “Supply Chain Horizons 2025,” amid geopolitical strains, per TechTarget. Gartner pushes composable ERP for agility, defining it as modular building blocks unified by data fabrics.

Composable Architectures Gain Traction

Headless ERP decouples logic from interfaces, enabling process-driven experiences over logins. Yet security, audit trails and data quality demand hybrid models blending agents with UIs during transitions, as ERP Today details. On X, developers lament high costs and forced updates in Oracle and SAP, with calls for open-source alternatives like erxes for CRM parallels.

McKinsey’s playbook: clarify workflow value, define ERP-grounded ontologies, balance flexibility with stability via APIs, and track via “value mission control.” For every $1 on AI models, allocate $3 for change management. Gartner echoes: composability drives 80% faster feature rollout.

Legacy risks abound—cyber vulnerabilities, poor external data integration—pushing modernization, per Ultra Consultants. Construction firms ditch generic ERPs for industry-specific tools, as X user @christosemmanou notes: “The era of ‘tailored’ generic ERPs in construction is ending.”

Strategic Paths Forward

Firms like QAD tout adaptive cloud ERP for volatility, while Perficient’s Oracle consultations embed AI in manufacturing. McKinsey projects AI’s $17-26 trillion impact hinges on ERP as enabler, not relic. Rimini Street’s Helmer: “Instead of looking at the ERP as the place to put your AI aspirations, start thinking of more of a data source.”

Gartner’s Dixie John sees third-party support as tactical, but upgrades inevitable for core finance. With 88% using AI somewhere per McKinsey’s 2025 report, data readiness—clean, unsiloed—is paramount. Composable bets, from no-code customizations to supplier segmentation, promise revenue lifts but demand rigorous ROI cases.

Executives face a pivot: extend assets tactically while assembling modular stacks. As Rejai advises, ride the forefront. The monolith era wanes; agility defines survivors in 2026 and beyond.