Artificial intelligence (AI) has become the new catalyst of enterprise innovation. Yet, as AI becomes more embedded in core business processes, one thing is becoming clear: generic, out-of-the-box solutions alone cannot meet the complex, evolving demands of modern enterprises.

Customers don’t seek off-the-shelf AI, they seek outcomes. They demand solutions tailored to their industry, aligned with strategic goals, and built to drive real results.

That is where customer-specific AI solutions add depth — not just as a technical enhancement, but as a strategic lever to unlock transformative business value.

According to McKinsey’s State of AI 2024, 72 percent of companies use AI in at least one business function, but only 23 percent report a significant impact on their bottom line. Why? Because many AI projects lack the contextual depth to solve the real industry-specific challenges businesses face.

Similarly, a 2024 IDC study shows that while 80 percent of enterprise leaders plan to increase AI investments, nearly half say the absence of domain-tailored solutions is a barrier to ROI. While foundational AI models provide broad capabilities, true business value comes from solutions tailored to each customer. These targeted applications ensure that innovation aligns with specific regulatory demands, operational realities, and customer requirements.

These custom solutions leverage proprietary data; they are designed for specific business processes and are co-developed with stakeholders who understand the operational heartbeat of the enterprise. The result is measurable business impact, as well as faster deployment and better performance.

At SAP, we see AI’s true potential in enhancing human decisions, simplifying complexity, and transforming customer experiences. But this potential is only realized when AI is deeply grounded in each customer’s business context. That is why our approach to customer-specific AI is built on three core principles:

• Context-rich insights: With unmatched access to enterprise data from across industries and business functions, SAP is uniquely positioned to deliver AI that understands how real businesses run.
• Trust and transparency: From model explainability to data privacy, AI from SAP is built on a foundation of enterprise-grade governance and responsible AI standards.
• Co-innovation at scale: SAP partners closely with customers to develop differentiated AI solutions that solve their unique challenges.

Real outcomes with real customers

To address the complexity of managing nearly a million annual invoices across more than 40,000 contracts, Accenture partnered with SAP to simplify its fragmented, manual billing process. Using SAP Business Technology Platform and generative AI, the company built an intuitive, compliant application that empowers account executives to use AI for specific rate cards and contract terms, managing invoicing independently, and reducing reliance on specialist teams. The result was faster, more accurate billing, a better user experience, and major time savings, freeing commercial teams to focus on clients. By year-end, billing efficiency is expected to improve by 32 percent, with setup times cut in half and manual work replaced by an intuitive, automated platform.

Similarly, a global chemical and consumer goods company recently partnered with SAP to embed AI into its dispute management process, automating document indexing and classification. This customer-specific AI solution reduced manual effort, sped up resolution times, and boosted user productivity, showing how business-specific AI can streamline workflows and elevate customer experience at scale. The result was efficiency gains of up to 1,000 hours a month, reduced manual effort by over 500 hours/month, and improved accuracy and faster turnaround time for document-driven workflows.

These examples highlight a clear trend: customers want to co-create AI tailored to their needs, not just adopt a one-size-fits-all solution. Customer-specific AI solutions empower them to embed intelligence into the very workflows that define their competitive advantage, whether it’s last-mile logistics in retail, claims processing in insurance, or energy optimization in utilities.

In the coming years, enterprises will not differentiate by whether they use AI, but by how effectively they align AI to their business. Customer-specific AI solutions make this alignment possible. They bridge the gap between technology potential and business reality. They transform AI from a generic tool into a strategic advantage, enabling businesses to move faster, think smarter, and lead with purpose.

As more organizations navigate the complexities of digital transformation, those that embed AI into the heart of their unique processes will be the ones to redefine what is possible.

The future belongs to businesses that don’t just adopt AI, but shape it to fit their vision, values, and velocity.

Thomas Saueressig is a member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, Customer Services & Delivery.
Sindhu Gangadharan is head of Customer Innovation Services at SAP and managing director of SAP Labs India.

Strategic decision-making practices in HR rely on accurate and accessible people data for talent acquisition, performance management, employee engagement, compliance, and more. Plus, having a “clean” data foundation is an imperative to take advantage of AI-driven tools. To set itself up for future success and better service and manage its over 7,000 employees around the world, U.S.-based Edgewell Personal Care embarked an 18-month-long project to improve its HR data quality within its SAP SuccessFactors solutions.

Edgewell’s portfolio of more than 25 well-known personal care brands, including Schick, Banana Boat, Wilkinson Sword, and Wet Ones, drove $2.25 billion in net sales in 2024. The company relies on a people-first culture that enables the right environment for employees to be efficient and the company at large to “win the shelf,” as Colin Emery, director of Global HR Systems at Edgewell, puts it. 

In 2022, Emery was tasked with establishing a People Analytics function at Edgewell, but he quickly realized that the underlying data he needed was inaccurate. “Our system of record was no longer the system of record. We didn’t actually have one,” Emery explains. At that time, the company’s HR data accuracy was just 37% for key data fields within the Position and People Profile. 

Since Edgewell was formed in 2015, Emery says, it has relied on the “infinite configurability” of SAP SuccessFactors solutions to scale, systemize, and standardize the company’s HR systems across the world. While the solutions were working as designed, the data housed in them wasn’t being maintained properly, causing a backlog of inaccuracies to flow downstream. “It was clear that the quality of our data within SAP SuccessFactors was less than perfect in some parts of the world, particularly in countries where we don’t have SAP SuccessFactors Payroll integrated,” he says.

Knowing that high data quality is crucial for effective decision-making, reporting accuracy, a painless user experience, and future innovation—but not having the budget or time to engage external resources—Emery decided to develop Edgewell’s methodology in-house to tackle the issue.

Upskilling to establish HR data champions

After identifying the priority data fields that needed to be cleaned and maintained to have the most impact on data quality, Emery turned to the people who owned and best understood the data: the HR business partners (HRBPs). To ensure the success of the data quality project, the HRBPs needed to buy in. This required a mindset shift and significant change management, he says, since not all HRBPs felt responsible for maintaining the data in the SAP SuccessFactors solutions and some needed training to understand systemized HR processes. 

To help with the transition, Emery established an HR data steward program to upskill Edgewell’s HRBP community. Designated data stewards receive weekly reports and are tasked with personally resolving the data errors or informing an appropriate colleague. They are trained on the causes and consequences of the inaccuracies and how to remedy them, empowering the data stewards to become experts and educate other HRBPs. Upskilling the HRBPs helped them shift from a reactive to a more proactive mindset, which was a critical factor in the data quality project’s success, Emery says. 

Case in point: the number of data inaccuracies has decreased from 2,700 to just a handful. “It’s a tiny, tiny fraction of what it was,” Emery says. “That’s based on the fact that the HRBPs are getting it right the first time, instead of making errors that need to be fixed.”

The project began in the U.S. and eventually flowed to Europe, LATAM, and APAC. Now, Edgewell’s data accuracy consistently holds at 96%–97%, Emery says.

Quality data drives quality decision-making

The success of its data quality and data steward project is clear, and now Edgewell can reap the rewards of a clean HR data foundation. This has had profound effects on the reliability of the company’s HR reporting, for which Edgewell uses stories in SAP SuccessFactors solutions. “There’s a massive advantage to using stories when we’re using live, in-the-moment SAP SuccessFactors data,” Emery says, adding that the ability to send a link that is accessible based on existing role-based permissions makes sharing the data simple and fast. Edgewell uses stories to look at data around inclusion and belonging, leadership, tenure, talent acquisition, and more, sharing the insights with company leadership, HR leaders, and HRBPs.

This data-driven culture has helped Edgewell identify areas of improvement and make strategic HR decisions. For example, in looking at the data, the People Analytics team uncovered a short-term turnover issue for specific roles and locations. Based on this insight, Edgewell’s HR function created a new candidate experience to help improve and systemize recruiting and onboarding processes. Called “Joyful Journey,” the program also doubles as a way for the company to share about itself and attract talent to the organization. “We never would have known that was the right thing to do without the data,” Emery says. “That then led us to invest time, effort, and dollars in those processes, which immediately made a positive impact on short-term turnover.”

“Over the last three years, we have been providing data and explaining its importance by cleaning up the data within the system to make it more meaningful to us,” Emery adds. “For us, it’s never going to be data for data’s sake. It has to be about what the actions that this data suggests.”

Ready for the future

Not only does Edgewell’s impressive data quality equip its leaders with actionable insights, but it creates a strong foundation for the personal care company to take advantage of HR innovations, especially considering that many, like AI, require clean data to work properly. AI copilots and agents, like Joule, are only as good as the data they run on, which is why data quality and data governance initiatives are becoming business imperatives. 

In that case, Edgewell is ahead of the curve. “When I started working on People Analytics three years ago, I knew that we had to focus on [cleaning up the data] first to prepare for super automation and the AI tools that were coming,” Emery says. “It will set us up in good stead for the next iteration of tools.”

Discover how SAP SuccessFactors solutions enable companies to maintain quality HR data, which is crucial for efficient HR management, future innovations like AI, and overall business success.

Gillian Hixson is an integrated communications specialist at SAP.

In an early access program, KPMG, one of SAP’s largest alliance partners and a customer, is using AI-driven assistance to deliver faster, more impactful results for its clients. 

Today, system integrators are faced with increasingly complex implementations that require faster decision-making, streamlined processes, and optimized resource allocation. To successfully navigate the scale and complexity of these projects, consultants need instant access to expert-level knowledge and best practices across SAP solution landscapes.

Now, new generative AI capabilities from the SAP Joule for Consultants solution can help consultants to work smarter, deliver projects faster, and drive greater impact for clients—and KPMG firms are leading the way in harnessing its potential.

“Clients trust KPMG firms with their most critical digital transformations, and we maintain that trust with a focus on pursuing the fastest, most reliable path to value. KPMG firms are enabling their teams with AI to consistently and swiftly deliver an unmatched combination of advanced technology, functional and industry insights, and proven practices from across our global network to clients.”

Carl Carande, Global Head of Advisory, KPMG International

As the largest participant using SAP Joule for Consultants as part of the current early access program, KPMG is empowering its consultants to scale complex IT and transformation projects for clients globally with generative AI and deep industry expertise.

KPMG takes consulting to the next level with generative AI

Introducing generative AI capabilities can change the game, and KPMG is transforming its SAP consulting approach by embedding SAP Joule for Consultants into its methodology. This integration can accelerate project execution, helping to deliver faster and more impactful results for clients.

“KPMG and SAP are deeply aligned in our commitment to helping clients derive true business value from transformation. SAP Joule for Consultants is already demonstrating its potential to enhance how our SAP consulting teams operate. By leveraging the latest AI capabilities from SAP, combined with KPMG professionals’ industry expertise, our consultants are equipped with the most current SAP knowledge and tools to help clients solve their most pressing business needs quickly and with confidence.”

Hendrik Thörner, Global Lead Partner for SAP, KPMG International

Through customized, white-glove support, KPMG professionals help clients realize their unique business needs while also ensuring efficiency in implementing SAP systems in alignment with the latest best practices to optimize global service delivery models.

The business-led, tech-enabled approach by KPMG firms is grounded in its unique, strategic Trusted AI framework. This approach facilitates rapid and ethical design as well as the development and delivery of AI strategies and solutions.

With knowledge retrieval, consultants gain instant access to SAP’s most trusted resources, enhancing discovery and upskilling. Consultants no longer spend hours sifting through documentation, reaching out to colleagues, or navigating an internal database because Joule can deliver concise answers, explain custom code, and provide expert-level guidance.

In fact, SAP has found that consultants can save up to 1.5 hours per day with reliable AI assistance grounded uniquely in the most comprehensive and up-to-date SAP knowledge base. With AI assistance, consultants can focus on high-value tasks, which means accelerated project executions and more impactful results for customers. 

“From idea to productive use in less than a year, SAP Joule for Consultants provides our customers and partners with a powerful lever for their cloud transformation. I’m proud to see the capability in action and thank KPMG for pioneering the new era of the profession. SAP Joule for Consultants is a game changer, delivering expert-level insights into exclusive SAP content, giving guided recommendations and instructional support, and providing ABAP code explanations that can help consultants reduce the time spent on interpreting code by up to 40%,” said Dr. Philipp Herzig, CTO & Chief AI Officer at SAP SE.

How SAP Joule for Consultants works

SAP Joule for Consultants combines a generative AI foundation, built on large language models (LLMs) trained on SAP’s structured knowledge to help ensure accuracy, relevance, and contextual understanding, and Joule, an intuitive conversational AI copilot experience. Joule can deliver fast, expert-level answers from SAP’s exclusive content, guided recommendations and instructional support, and ABAP code explanations that can enable consultants to spend 40% less time interpreting code.

How to get started

SAP partners and consulting firms can explore SAP Joule for Consultants by reaching out to their SAP representative or visiting here.

To learn more about how KPMG and SAP can help you transform your business with confidence, visit kpmg.com/sap. 

Kai Muehlbauer is head of AI Product & Partner Management at SAP.