Four AI-native ERP systems compared, and why Lensing is our pick among them
Rillet, Campfire, Light and Lensing all call themselves AI-native. We ran all four through the 10 questions we ask every CFO to answer before choosing an ERP, on cost, compliance, the audit trail and what happens if the implementation partner fails. In a free 30-minute session we walk you through what we found, including where Lensing still has to prove itself.
What does “AI-native” actually mean?
Every ERP vendor calls itself AI-native now, so the label tells you little. The difference lies in the architecture.
The trade-off is trust. Proactive AI sounds more impressive, but trust takes time to earn. A system that books accruals or journal entries on its own has to get them right in front of your auditor, your tax authority and your investors, every time. Established systems have spent decades earning that trust. AI-native systems are earning it now, at your expense if it goes wrong.
The four AI-native challengers
All four are venture-backed and young, founded between 2020 and 2023 with between $43M and $140M raised. They differ most in scope, from a general ledger for US SaaS companies to a complete ERP.
Rillet
HQ / Founded
San Francisco, USA · Founded 2021
Funding / Investor
$100M+ · Sequoia
Self-description
“The AI-Native ERP”
Positioning
A GL and accounting tool built for US SaaS companies.
Campfire
HQ / Founded
San Francisco, USA · Founded 2023
Funding / Investor
$100M+ (including a publicly reported $35M Series A) · Accel
Self-description
“AI-native for high-growth”
Positioning
The youngest of the four, built around its own AI model for automation.
Light
HQ / Founded
London / Copenhagen · Founded 2022
Funding / Investor
$43M+ · Balderton
Self-description
Not an ERP at all, but a “Smart financial platform”
Positioning
The strongest European challenger, built multi-entity from day one.
Lensing
Our recommendation
HQ / Founded
San Francisco & Germany · Founded 2020
Funding / Investor
$140M+ · Sutter Hill Ventures, among others
Self-description
“AI-Native ERP for Complex Finance”
Positioning
The only one of the four that sets out to be a complete ERP rather than a narrower accounting or billing tool, and the only one with a genuine presence and stated focus on the German market.
How we compare them with the CFO’s 10-question test
Over dozens of ERP evaluations we have built 10 questions that every CFO works through with us before choosing between AI-native systems. They cover cost, real automation depth, audit-proof compliance, what happens when you scale or acquire, and what happens if your implementation partner cannot deliver.
We do not publish the scorecard. Without your context, a comparison table can talk you into the wrong answer, or into the right one for the wrong reasons. In a free 30-minute session we go through all 10 questions with you and score Rillet, Campfire, Light and Lensing against your situation, including the questions where Lensing is not the strongest answer.
Why we lead with Lensing
Of the four AI-native systems we evaluate, Lensing is our recommendation for growth-stage companies with a footprint, revenue, or investors in the DACH region. There are three reasons.
Lensing is still young. Its German reference base is only now being built, implementation currently runs mainly through Lensing’s own team, and there is no long track record with external auditors yet. If you are comfortable with that trade-off, we think Lensing is the strongest AI-native fit for complex revenue models in German-speaking markets today. If you want a system with decades of track record, we implement those too, and that is a different conversation.
