WALLDORF and DUBAI — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced that VFS Global, the world-leading provider of visa, consular and technology services to governments and diplomatic missions, will leverage SAP software to help it develop leading-edge AI-powered digital solutions for cross-border mobility and citizen services.

Cross-border mobility and citizen services are becoming increasingly digital, and governments are looking into the use of innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence to drive efficiency and sovereign security. To accelerate its innovation road map and help governments meet the increasingly complex needs of travelers and citizens, VFS Global is adopting SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and other SAP solutions.

“We take great pride in partnering with SAP as a leading and trusted technology and AI company,” said Zubin Karkaria, founder and CEO of VFS Global. “By combining our deep expertise in visa, consular and citizen services with SAP’s world-class solutions, we empower governments to enhance efficiency, strengthen security and enable seamless mobility for millions of travelers around the world.”

“With SAP solutions at its core, VFS will be able to leverage the latest innovations to become an even stronger partner for governments, travelers and citizens worldwide,” said Christian Klein, CEO of SAP SE.

In line with its vision to embrace technological innovation to support governments and diplomatic missions worldwide, VFS Global has also chosen SAP Business Technology Platform and the SAP Business Data Cloud solution to deliver leading-edge and AI-powered solutions to its customers and to drive operational excellence across its global operations.

“By combining the strengths of VFS Global and SAP, we are elevating cross-border mobility and citizen services to the next level,” said Michael Nilles, member of the VFS executive board and chief digital and technology officer. “Strategically, this positions us as a leading force in shaping the future of GovTech and TravelTech, powered by technology and AI innovations that benefit governments, travelers and citizens worldwide,” he added.

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Media Contacts:
Lesa Plingen, +49 622 776 9000, lesa.plingen@sap.com, CET
SAP Press Room; press@sap.com
Nathan Fletcher, nathanf@vfsglobal.com, BST

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Business innovation can have a tremendous impact economically, environmentally, and socially—not just for companies but also for communities and the world around us.

Businesses that have participated in the SAP Innovation Awards over the years have supported innovative solutions that meet challenges inside and outside their organizations. For instance, one previous award winner in the energy sector achieved sustainability with a new supply chain solution. Another previous winner in home appliance manufacturing successfully dismantled organizational silos to deliver better customer service.

That’s why I’m especially pleased to announce the groundbreaking winners of the 12^th annual SAP Innovation Awards.

What determines the winners?

This year, 217 companies entered the competition. Of that group, 46 were selected by our judges as finalists and 23 as winners.

Representing a variety of industries, the winners have demonstrated creativity, tangible outcomes, and, of course, innovation by applying SAP products and cloud technologies for the betterment of their customers, community, and organizations.

As technology constantly evolves, opportunities arise that can make the world a better place through sustainability, customer experience, and more. The winners demonstrate creative and innovative ideation that takes advantage of the following tools to make an impact:

• Applications: Integrating and optimizing core business processes with SAP applications to generate semantically rich data that drives global economic growth
• Data: Centralizing unmatched data from SAP and non-SAP sources into a unified semantic layer to unlock insights, advanced analytics, and AI capabilities
• AI: Powered by accurate data, harnessing AI and generative AI to deliver a unique advantage in cross-function collaboration and enable smarter decisions and transformative outcomes

What comes with winning an SAP Innovation Award?

Award winners receive global recognition, which can add to their organization’s reputation and credibility with current and potential customers and the community. They’re also honored with a tribute event, trophy, and the option of choosing a $1,000 SAP4Good charitable donation voucher or an admission ticket to SAP Sapphire in Orlando, Florida, May 19-21, or in Madrid, Spain, May 16-28.

To everyone involved

I’d like to thank everyone who contributed to the success of the 2025 SAP Innovation Awards, especially the organizations that submitted applications and the participating SAP teams. I look forward to reading about the innovations presented at this year’s event that continue to positively transform business and the world.

Interested in participating in 2026?

In addition to global recognition, praise, and prizes, your organization will have the opportunity to receive:

• Unique resources: Receive access to marketing materials, including full digital packages, and other branded support to help promote your greatest achievements.
• Best of breed collaboration: Collaborate with other leading companies and industry leaders that are at the forefront of innovative change.
• Inspiring stories: Learn about the accomplishments and creative genius of past winners and finalists to motivate your teams to foster a culture of innovation and strive for excellence.

Stay in the know

Subscribe to the SAP Innovation Awards newsletter for details on next year’s event. Want more inspiration? Watch this video and start planning how to leverage your innovative ideas for 2026.

Stephan de Barse is president of the SAP Global Business Suite Organization.

Image courtesy of SAP employee Rudragouda Sanakal.

With more than four years in market, RISE with SAP has successfully helped thousands of SAP customers modernize their ERP systems, embrace the cloud, and drive meaningful transformation.

“Thanks to this successful transformation and the move to the RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition solution, we have become an innovation leader.”

Nils Krugmann, head of Architecture & Data, Commerz Real AG

The introduction of the RISE with SAP Methodology — along with the integrated toolchain that supports customers through their business and technical journeys — was a game changer to accelerate time to value and support the business case for transformation.

“Moving forward, we’re confident that the cloud transformation enabled by RISE with SAP will empower our organization to innovate and excel in today’s competitive healthcare market and contribute to our Fresenius vision of advancing patient care.”

Ingo Elfering, CIO, Fresenius Group

Today we announce a new commercial package that will support customers even further in this journey.

Introducing the SAP Cloud ERP Private package

The new SAP Cloud ERP Private package is designed to drive customers’ transformation, accelerate time to value, and enable business agility. It includes:

• Business applications to modernize business processes with a comprehensive cloud ERP solution, integrated with applications designed to enhance financial agility across the entire supply chain
• Transformation tools and services to accelerate time to value with expert support, and to streamline and transform business processes, landscape, and architecture using our comprehensive, integrated toolchain
• Cloud optimization and extensibility services to advance the path to a clean core by eliminating data silos and ensuring custom code aligns with cloud compliance, enabling companies to continue building, extending, and innovating ERP for future growth

The package is designed to support customers every step of the way.

Business Applications

Customers can:

• Benefit from modern cloud business applications with the latest standard capabilities
• Continuously innovate with new features in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition in a private cloud operating model
• Gain financial agility across the supply chain with SAP Business Network Supplier Portal for SAP Cloud ERP Private and the SAP Enterprise Service Management solution and SAP Taulia solutions

By integrating these applications, customers will enhance collaboration and agility to run operations, embodying the connected essence of the SAP Business Suite offering.

Transformation Tools and Services

The foundation of a successful transformation journey starts with a holistic assessment of the current systems and a clear understanding of the impact of transitioning to a cloud ERP. This data-driven analysis lays the groundwork for a robust foundation in the ERP transformation journey.

By including SAP LeanIX and SAP Signavio capabilities into the package, customers gain a comprehensive understanding of their current landscape helping to shape the target architecture. This results in a smoother, more agile ERP cloud transformation and long-term process efficiency. This data-driven approach ensures informed decision-making and continuous transformation monitoring, aligning perfectly with the RISE with SAP journey.

Embedded services from SAP include expert support to drive solution activation as well as onboarding and kick-off of the transformation project, ensuring that all critical aspects are addressed from the outset. It also includes workshops to align technology to the business goals that are strategic for the transition, tailored road map development, and adoption plans.

Cloud Optimization and Extensibility Services

The SAP Cloud ERP Private package includes SAP Build, enabling both on-stack and side-by-side extension of SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition with AI-powered application development and process automation. SAP Build allows customers to innovate while maintaining a clean core — a central principle of the RISE with SAP methodology. The deep integration with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, combined with the code-first, low-code, and generative AI capabilities of SAP Build, guarantees that extensions and personalization add value without complicating core operations.

This is aligned with the continual innovation and extensibility strategies encouraged by the RISE with SAP journey. SAP HANA Cloud is a cloud-native database for modernizing enterprise systems that allows customers to build and deploy intelligent data apps at scale. The package also includes the SAP Master Data Governance application to enhance data quality and help maintain a single source of truth, further aligning with the continual innovation and extensibility strategies

Summary and Next Steps

As businesses venture into the new digital era, SAP is committed to guiding and supporting every step of their journey toward integrated, cloud-powered operational excellence.

The SAP Cloud ERP Private Edition package is not just a solution; it is a gateway to a future of limitless potential and unprecedented business agility. Let us embark on this transformative journey together and redefine what’s possible for your business.

Learn more about the new offering and its bundled cloud capabilities here.

Maura Hameroff is senior vice president of Cloud ERP Product Marketing at SAP.