Two takeaways if you are short on time
Below are the 26B features I am most excited to introduce with clients. This is a focused review, not an exhaustive release-note catalog.
Self Service Procurement
26B improves guided requisition creation, supports additional line types, and makes shopping and cart maintenance more transparent.
Purchase Requisition Creation Guide
Chat-based requisition creation is now a class-leading experience. A requester can shop through natural language, add items to the cart, and submit a requisition. The agent can also suggest the proper purchasing category—a highly requested capability and an update that should not be ignored.
Oracle readiness details: Requisition AgentCredit lines on requisitions
A common reason organizations avoid Credit Lines on purchase orders is that they could not be entered on the requisition. In 26B, they can. This is a good time to revisit whether the feature fits your organization.
Oracle readiness details: Credit LinesZero-value amount-based lines
Requesters can create an amount-based line with a zero-dollar amount, allowing them to order and receive free items included with a shipment. This is especially useful when suppliers list items such as warranties on invoices and those lines otherwise cause matching issues.
Oracle readiness details: Zero-value linesShopping cart usability
Three practical improvements reduce extra navigation and cleanup:
- Edit Description and Justification from the cart.
- Edit billing and distributions directly from the cart.
- Navigate between line details from the cart.
Honorable mentions
- Shopping Search and My Requisitions add multi-select filters, keyword searching, and result counts. Search Filters
- Additional supplier details are visible on requisition pages. Supplier View
- Nonworkers can be requisition preparers. Nonworker Requisition Preparation
Procurement and Contracts
Contracts receives the most consequential changes in this area, while Purchasing gains another practical AI status agent.
More complete Contracts experience in Redwood
Contracts in Redwood adds Terms, holds at the contract and line levels, Notes, and Related Contracts. If you held off testing Redwood Contracts in 26A, 26B is the right time to enable it and begin.
Oracle readiness details: Contracts in RedwoodContract amendments can update purchasing documents
After opt-in, an approved contract amendment can automatically trigger a purchasing change order for a linked purchasing document, provided the original purchase order came from the same contract fulfillment.
Oracle readiness details: Contract-driven PO changesContracts AI early-adopter roadmap
The Contracts roadmap includes significant AI features and a redesigned Word add-in coming in 26C and beyond. Oracle has an early-adopter program for some capabilities. Heavy Contracts users should consider requesting access now.
Oracle readiness details: Contracts AIPurchase Order Status Agent
The Purchase Order Status Agent builds on the successful requisition-status experience and offers similar conversational status capabilities for purchase orders.
Oracle readiness details: PO Status AgentAlso worth noting
Visual Builder extensibility rules now apply to more agreement and acknowledgment attributes.
Inventory and Receiving
The strongest operational themes are approval control, post-receipt documentation, task assignment, shortage execution, lot management, and recall routing.
Receipt approval workflows
Organizations can add approval workflows for receipts. This is useful for decentralized receiving models that need an additional layer of control before receipt activity is finalized.
Oracle readiness details: Receipt ApprovalsPost-receipt attachments and descriptive flexfields
Users can add attachments or update descriptive flexfields after the receipt is created. This better aligns with the way many organizations collect supporting documents and complete operational details.
Oracle readiness details: Receipt AttachmentsInventory Task Allocation Agent
Advanced Inventory users can automatically assign and reassign tasks. This can save significant dispatcher time, but it also requires the HCM Workforce Scheduling module.
Oracle readiness details: Task Allocation AgentInventory Shortages Assistant
The assistant can identify shortages, recommend a response, and execute the recommendation after approval. This moves the experience from visibility toward governed action.
Oracle readiness details: Shortages AssistantHonorable mentions
- The Lot Management Advisor supports expiration, split, merge, relocation, and other lot attributes alongside the Redwood Lot Management page. Lot Management Advisor
- Recall Management can target specific organizations and route work to task owners without heavy rule maintenance. Recall Management
Where I would start testing
- Purchase Requisition Creation Guide and category suggestions with real requester language.
- Redwood Contracts, especially terms, holds, notes, and linked-contract visibility.
- Automatic purchasing change orders from approved contract amendments.
- Receipt approvals and post-receipt attachment or flexfield updates.
- Inventory Task Allocation and Shortages Assistant using real operational exceptions.
The larger message is clear: Oracle continues moving work into guided Redwood experiences and using AI where it can reduce navigation, manual entry, and operational delay.