Artificial intelligence is by far the disruptor of the decade. It can search, summarize, and analyze vast data stores, putting data-driven insights at employees’ fingertips in a matter of minutes. It can also generate content, anything from text to software code, streamlining workflows and saving precious time and money.

And that’s just the surface. We are still learning just how far reaching the implications could be in the workplace.

As we explore this new realm and AI’s vast potential, SAP has adjusted its strategy with the goal of becoming not only the leading enterprise application provider but also the No. 1 business AI company. The foundation is now available with SAP Business AI that offers SAP customers a reliable, relevant, and responsible AI solution portfolio.

A key element of that strategy is leveraging SAP partners’ expertise. The trusted relationships our partners have developed with our joint customers are essential to communicating the value of AI solutions from SAP and finding the best SAP products to meet their business objectives. It also poses a great opportunity for partners to expand their business.

But first, let’s take a step back and explore why SAP is best positioned to deliver on the business AI opportunity.

SAP’s AI Advantage

Deep Business Process Knowledge
Before AI can make operations faster, data-driven, and more effective, organizations must optimize business processes. SAP brings a deep understanding of business processes to AI applications, enabling solutions that orchestrate workflows, data sharing, and automation for the greatest efficiency and productivity.

SAP Data
AI solutions require data to train their algorithms to provide accurate, relevant, real-world outputs. SAP can draw on business data from thousands of customer systems across the value chain, helping to address our customers’ challenges and drive their digital transformation.

Focus on Application Creation
SAP is partnering with technology providers to make the most of the AI opportunity by creating value with new applications. For example, large language models (LLMs) will become solution differentiators. LLMs perform a range of natural language processing tasks. Combining LLMs with AI solutions automates insight delivery, freeing users from the need to wait for help from their IT or data science departments. It allows companies to focus on data insights, rather than devoting focus to the technology that produces them.

Strong Partner Ecosystem
SAP recognizes that it cannot reach the full addressable market alone. That is why our more than 25,500 partner ecosystem is a huge advantage when offering business AI solutions. Working together, we can drive innovation, accelerate AI road maps, and expand AI capabilities beyond its own limitations.

I cannot underscore enough how important that fourth component is to our AI strategy. It is a linchpin to our success. That’s why we must ensure we are creating win-win scenarios for our partners that benefit us both for the long term.

Partner Opportunities

While AI offers a range of benefits to SAP customers, it also represents a significant business opportunity for SAP partners. As a part of the SAP ecosystem, partners can provide advanced functionality out of the box with embedded AI capabilities within SAP applications. They must also take advantage of the virtually endless opportunities that AI offers regardless of the chosen SAP partner business model:

• Sell: Partners that resell SAP solutions can leverage the embedded AI portfolio from SAP to accelerate RISE with SAP and GROW with SAP deals. Sell partners can also enhance the appeal of the cloud with AI capabilities exclusive to SAP cloud solutions and enlarge deals with AI units from SAP required for premium AI capabilities.
• Service: Service partners can drive adoption of SAP’s AI portfolio and custom AI capabilities built on SAP by bundling them with services and support. This approach enables customers to gain value through customized generative AI use cases built on the foundation of SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), including the generative AI hub, and accelerate their cloud migrations and business transformation, backed by partners’ expertise.
• Innovate: Partners also have the opportunity to develop innovative AI solutions and extensions to enhance the SAP portfolio. Partners can build customer-specific and repeatable use cases with AI services from SAP on SAP BTP and augment customer business processes.

Take the Next Step

Ready to expand your partnership with SAP to build on the AI opportunity? Explore our AI portfolio and visit SAP Partner Portal site to learn more. If you’re not currently an SAP partner, there’s never been a better time to explore the benefits of becoming a part of the SAP ecosystem.

If you’re ready to start your SAP partnership journey and provide businesses in your market with reliable, effective AI solutions, get started here today.

Karl Fahrbach is chief partner officer at SAP.

The SAP Global LoB Partner Excellence Awards are an SAP partner recognition program focusing on valuable contributions towards achieving SAP’s cloud growth ambitions through the following lines of business: SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Customer Experience, and Intelligent Spend and Business Network.

Complementing the SAP Pinnacle Awards, SAP’s premier global partner recognition program, the SAP Global LoB Partner Excellence Awards allow more granular recognition for achievements within the specific lines of business.

The three lines of business reward partners in the following six categories: Sales Success Midmarket, Sales Success Large Enterprise, Delivery Quality, Partner Solution Success, Customer Success Management, and Intelligent Enterprise Value Realization. For each category, partners are selected based on data and key performance indicators, ensuring all eligible partners are considered for this prestigious recognition.

Here are the SAP Global LoB Partner Excellence Awards 2024 winners and finalists:

SAP SuccessFactors

SAP Global SAP SuccessFactors Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Sales Success Midmarket

• Winner: Empleox GmbH
• Finalist: HR Campus AG
• Finalist: EPI-USE

SAP Global SAP SuccessFactors Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Sales Success Large Enterprise

• Winner: Accenture
• Finalist: Deloitte
• Finalist: NTT DATA Business Solutions

SAP Global SAP SuccessFactors Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Customer Success Management

• Winner: NTT DATA Business Solutions
• Finalist: Deloitte
• Finalist: PwC

SAP Global SAP SuccessFactors Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Delivery Quality

• Winner: EPI-USE
• Finalist: Deloitte
• Finalist: Accenture

SAP Global SAP SuccessFactors Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Partner Solution Success

• Winner: OpenText
• Finalist: WorkForce Software
• Finalist: Qualtrics

SAP Global SAP SuccessFactors Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Intelligent Enterprise Value Realization

• Winner: NTT DATA Business Solutions
• Finalist: Seidor
• Finalist: Al-Watania Information Systems

SAP Customer Experience

SAP Global SAP Customer Experience Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Sales Success Midmarket

• Winner: All for One Customer Experience GmbH
• Finalist: Cpro Industry Projects & Solutions GmbH
• Finalist: Derga Consulting S.p.a.

SAP Global SAP Customer Experience Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Sales Success Large Enterprise

• Winner: Deloitte
• Finalist: NTT DATA Business Solutions
• Finalist: Accenture

SAP Global SAP Customer Experience Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Customer Success Management

• Winner: NTT DATA Business Solutions
• Finalist: All for One
• Finalist: Deloitte

SAP Global SAP Customer Experience Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Delivery Quality

• Winner: Accenture
• Finalist: NTT DATA Business Solutions
• Finalist: Reply

SAP Global SAP Customer Experience Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Partner Solution Success

• Winner: Pricefx
• Finalist: Smart Energy Systems
• Finalist: Mediafly

SAP Global SAP Customer Experience Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Intelligent Enterprise Value Realization

• Winner: NTT DATA Business Solutions
• Finalist: All for One Group
• Finalist: Deloitte

Intelligent Spend and Business Network

SAP Global Intelligent Spend and Business Network Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Sales Success Midmarket

• Winner: NTT DATA Business Solutions
• Finalist: Seidor
• Finalist: apsolut

SAP Global Intelligent Spend and Business Network Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Sales Success Large Enterprise

• Winner: Accenture
• Finalist: Deloitte
• Finalist: apsolut

SAP Global Intelligent Spend and Business Network Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Customer Success Management

• Winner: Seidor
• Finalist: NTT DATA Business Solutions
• Finalist: Deloitte

SAP Global Intelligent Spend and Business Network Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Delivery Quality

• Winner: Accenture
• Finalist: Deloitte
• Finalist: PwC

SAP Global Intelligent Spend and Business Network Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Partner Solution Success

• Winner: Docusign
• Finalist: Icertis
• Finalist: Project44

SAP Global Intelligent Spend and Business Network Partner Excellence Award 2024 for Intelligent Enterprise Value Realization

• Winner: Deloitte
• Finalist: Delaware
• Finalist: PwC

One of the perks of my job is that I get to spend a considerable amount of time with our industry partners. Whether I’m talking with a startup software company or an established global service partner, two words — two letters actually — are the hot topic of almost every engagement lately: artificial intelligence, specifically business AI.

As we navigate this brave new world of business AI, SAP partners are playing an essential role as equal parts technology disrupters, trusted advisors, and innovation multipliers. They work and live at the edge, breaking technology rules with every new solution and innovation they bring to the table. These companies are passionate about their AI-driven solutions, which will provide what SAP manufacturing customers want most for their businesses nowadays: more efficiency, accuracy, and agility in their production operations and supply chains. Their energy and passion are positioning them to redefine the rules of engagement regarding how partner ecosystems work.

It doesn’t matter what kind of partner you are — you could be on the build, implement/service, or sell sides of the SAP partner ecosystem, the opportunities to innovate, and co-innovate with SAP and other partners, solutions that bring value to customers in discrete manufacturing industries are as limitless as our imaginations. It’s an exciting time to be an SAP industry partner.

Innovative Solutions from SAP and Partners Give Our Manufacturing Customers a Competitive Edge

Giving our manufacturing customers the business AI solutions they need to thrive in highly competitive and often volatile markets is an absolute must. Whether those solutions are developed by an SAP partner, SAP itself, or collaboratively is secondary.

This new drive to co-innovate on our customers’ behalf is creating opportunities for partners to develop and deliver industry innovations in three areas of discrete manufacturing:

1. Solutions that enable efficient, accurate, and agile manufacturing and supply chains by integrating processes, removing data silos, and seamlessly connecting manufacturing and supply chain applications with the whole of the business.
2. Solutions that improve decision-making by using AI to analyze data from internal and external sources in context and produce insights that increase manufacturing operations’ resilience and help customers strike the right balance among cost, sustainability, and customer satisfaction.
3. Solutions that promote collaboration within a business ecosystem. Many of the company executives I’ve spoken with recently wanted to talk about Manufacturing-X, the growing cross-industry initiative in which companies across various manufacturing value chains come together within a global business ecosystem to define a standard that enables them to share production and supply chain data across platforms and technology to further increase resilience, sustainability, and competitiveness.

We are bringing this customer-focused, partner-driven approach to life this week at Hannover Messe, bringing center stage the latest, most compelling innovations to emerge from SAP and our partner ecosystem, across both discrete and process manufacturing — many embedded with business AI.

Some of the showcases that have been developed collaboratively in action include:

• Modular manufacturing that orchestrates production cells with a hard independent fleet manager
• High-speed bottling that captures traceability data and in-line quality assurance
• A centralized operations control center that manages an offsite process production line
• AI-enhanced visual inspection and guided instructions during component assembly
• A quick guided journey through an Industrial Metaverse, showing how assets inside a power plant can be intelligently and remotely managed

SAP partners are playing an integral part in our presence at Hannover Messe, just as they are in our overarching industry vision. Partners including Accenture, Camelot ITLab, Cideon Software & Services, FORCAM, Kinexon, Systema, and TeamViewer are all exhibiting their solutions alongside their SAP counterparts, demonstrating the true power of partnership and innovation at every turn.

By leveraging resources like the new SAP AI Launchpad and generative AI hub, our partners will introduce industry innovations that will add immediate value for customers in the discrete and process manufacturing space. Hence, they have the intelligent digital tools they need to be future-ready.

Kinexon’s OS extension to the SAP Digital Manufacturing solution is one example. Kinexon OS orchestrates the shop floor and automates previously manual processes, improving production speed, quality, and asset utilization. It is providing customers with an essential pathway to modular production and autonomous manufacturing.

For those of you at the event, stop by the SAP space and experience innovation and partnership in perfect harmony firsthand. An electric injection molding machine developed by Fanuc with support from partner Syntax will be cranking out made-to-order drinking vessels.

Come enjoy a cup of inspiration on us. It’s a small but meaningful taste of what’s possible for partners in our collaborative, customer-focused, and business AI-driven cloud ecosystem.

Sven Denecken is senior vice president and chief marketing and solutions officer for Industries & CX at SAP.

Fast-growing organizations are increasingly turning to cloud ERP, such as SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, as a strategic investment for long-term business success. These businesses stand to benefit from the technology’s ability to simplify everyday work, steer regulatory compliance, and help optimize the workforce — all supported by continuous innovation and steadfast guidance.

SAP is pleased to introduce add-on packages for the GROW with SAP offering, which are uniquely tailored to the needs of finance and HR functions. These packages integrate the latest cloud solutions, infrastructure, and services into a strategic toolkit, addressing the challenges and opportunities growing companies face. 

The add-on packages provide a dependable, company-wide view that strengthens financial and HR management practices as strategic pillars for growth. In return, businesses can operate more efficiently, sustainably, and effectively — even when expanding their operations. 

Here is a summary of our new add-on packages.

Digital Banking Package for GROW with SAP

Connect your banks, financial institutions, and payment service providers directly to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition through a single, centralized platform: The digital banking package provides a multi-bank, digital channel between ERP systems and banks with optional embedded SWIFT connectivity. Integrated payment and statement processes are also available, bringing more comprehensive visibility across the payment value chain. 

With the digital banking package, businesses gain critical capabilities; for example:

• Smooth connectivity to financial and payment services to accelerate the onboarding of providers and strengthen compliance with PCI DSS standards  
• A cloud service for processing incoming credit cards, incoming and outgoing payments, and API-based instance balances 
• Reduction in cash reconciliation efforts while optimizing IT costs and increasing flexibility when choosing providers

Read the blog for more details .

GROW with SAP Advanced Treasury and Risk Management Package    

Invest confidently and mitigate financial risks while doing more with fewer resources: The GROW with SAP advanced treasury and risk management package gives treasurers the comprehensive solution they need to capture exposure data, classify and qualify risks, and trigger trade actions. Predefined connectivity and integration capabilities are available as well, connecting businesses to trading platforms and providers and supporting cash, investment, and risk processes in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition.   

The package includes proven solutions, such as:    

• Financial risk management 
• Debt and investment management  
• Advanced treasury analytics and executive dashboards 
• Hedge management and hedge accounting in compliance with IFRS and U.S. GAAP requirements  
• Smart trading using SAP Business Technology Platform and smooth integration with an external trading platform

Read the blog for more details.

GROW with SAP Advanced Compliance Automation Package

Address evolving regulatory and industry compliance requirements with greater ease and confidence: The GROW with SAP advanced compliance automation package empowers finance teams to transform and standardize their processes globally while adhering to local standards efficiently. Furthermore, the package helps meet e-invoicing mandates while keeping order-to-cash processes efficient and internal controls adequate. 

The advanced compliance automation package features proven compliance offerings, including:

• SAP Document and Reporting Compliance solution to fulfill local compliance mandates and automate compliance processes
• SAP Risk and Assurance Management application to centrally manage internal controls over financial reporting, improving performance and protecting core data and processes

Read the blog for more details.

GROW with SAP, Core HR Add-On 

Drive continuous alignment between HR and finance to achieve better business outcomes: The GROW with SAP core HR add-on provides a modern cloud-based core HR system that serves as the source of people data in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition. It contains the SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central solution, allowing organizations to use a common data model for HR and finance.   

The core HR add-on helps businesses realize key benefits, such as:   

• Improve people and financial data quality with pre-delivered integration
• Drive more effective workforce planning with holistic real-time insights
• Embrace the latest innovations, such as AI, with a single cloud platform
• Engage users with consistent experiences across HR and finance applications
• Get up and running quickly with pre-configured processes and best practices

Read the blog for more details.

Business Growth with the Best of Finance and HR

Add-on packages for GROW with SAP provide fast-growing organizations with the tools they need to not only enhance their finance and HR operations, but also lay a solid foundation for future success. They can navigate an increasingly complex and competitive landscape with the insight and power to confidently embrace change, fuel innovation, and achieve ongoing growth in an ever-evolving economy.  

Eric van Rossum is chief marketing and solutions officer for Cloud ERP at SAP.