Composable Finance: The Death of the Monolithic ERP
Why the future lies in a core ledger surrounded by specialized, best-of-breed AI agents, not a single giant system.
For decades, the standard advice to CFOs was "buy a big ERP and use it for everything." It was the era of the Monolith. SAP, Oracle, and NetSuite were designed to be the single source of truth and operation for every function, from accounting to HR to SCM.
But in 2026, the Monolith is dying. It is being replaced by "Composable Finance"—a modular approach where the ERP is just a ledger, and the actual work is done by specialized, agile AI agents layered on top.
Jack of All Trades, Master of None
The problem with the monolithic ERP is that it is "average" at everything. Its AP module is okay, but not as good as a dedicated spend management tool. Its forecasting module is functional, but lacks the flexibility of specialized FP&A software.
In a world of AI, "average" is a competitive disadvantage. Why use a clunky ERP module for collections when you can plug in a "Collections AI Agent" that outperforms it by 10x? Organizations are realizing they need best-of-breed performance for every function.
The Lego Block Architecture
Composable Finance treats your tech stack like Lego blocks. Your Core Ledger sits at the bottom—it's immutable, secure, and boring. That's good. You don't want "exciting" accounting.
On top of that, you snap in specialized blocks: an AI agent for reconciliations, another for T&E, another for cash flow forecasting. Data flows freely between these blocks via APIs, orchestrated by a central data layer. You build the stack that fits your business, rather than bending your business to fit the ERP.
Agility and Innovation
Monoliths evolve slowly. Upgrading a legacy ERP takes years and costs millions. In contrast, composable architecture is agile. If a better AI tool for audit compliance emerges tomorrow, you can unplug your old tool and plug in the new one in days, not years.
This agility allows finance teams to stay on the cutting edge of technology without undergoing massive, disruptive implementation projects every time they want to modernize.
The "Glue" of AI
Historically, the main argument against best-of-breed was integration hell. "It won't talk to the ERP!" That was true in 2015. In 2026, AI Agents act as the universal glue.
An agent can read data from a Treasury system and write it to the ERP just as a human would. They bridge the gaps between systems naturally. You no longer need expensive custom integrations for every tool; you just need an agent with login credentials.
Conclusion
The monolithic ERP isn't disappearing, but it is shrinking. It is retreating to the back office to serve as a high-quality database, while the intelligent operations move to a flexible, composable layer of AI agents. The future belongs to the modular.
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