SAP has been named a leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Agentic Marketing for B2C Enterprises 2026 Vendor Assessment (doc #US54113426, September 2026).

We believe this recognition reflects SAP’s commitment to helping enterprises deliver intelligent, personalized customer experiences, enhanced by AI, built on trusted data and connected end-to-end business processes, and grounded in real-life business context. Joule Agents, Joule Assistants, SAP Business Data Cloud, and SAP Engagement Cloud together provide the agentic marketing backbone to advance this vision of the Autonomous Enterprise.

AI is evolving from assisting marketers to executing and acting on their behalf, creating a fundamental opportunity for organizations to completely rethink how they engage customers. Agentic marketing enables AI agents and assistants to understand context, take action, and help brands deliver more relevant personalized experiences.

Trust is the foundation to this shift. As AI takes on greater responsibility, organizations need solutions built with security, compliance, governance, and trusted business data so customers can confidently rely on AI-driven interactions and decisions.

Why agentic marketing matters

Consumers are becoming more comfortable using AI, reshaping their expectations of the brands they love and the organizations they interact with. SAP’s 2026 Global Customer Loyalty Index indicates that 33% of consumers now trust AI assistants to complete purchases on their behalf, while 31% say interactions with AI assistants make them more loyal to a brand. The trend is even more pronounced across younger consumers. Across generations, we see AI playing an influential role in purchasing decisions and long-term customer loyalty. For example, a consumer might ask an AI assistant to reorder a household product, book a trip, or recommend a new product based on past preferences. For those interactions to succeed, customers must trust that the AI is acting on accurate information, protecting their data, and making decisions within appropriate guardrails.

Organizations from manufacturers to fashion brands are seasoned in using generative AI to create content, build audiences, and improve marketing efficiency. Attention is turning to agentic marketing: moving from AI that recommends to AI that acts.

Marketing context meets business reality

Most marketing platforms understand customer interactions well: clicks, opens, purchases, and browsing behavior. Those signals matter, but they only tell part of the story. The most valuable signals often live elsewhere across the enterprise in inventory availability, order status, fulfillment performance, product profitability, return behavior, and subscription and replenishment cycles.

Marketing often sees customer behavior, while ERP systems see business reality. The greatest opportunity for AI emerges when those worlds come together. Because SAP sits at the heart of how many of the world’s leading enterprises operate, marketers can access the operational intelligence that lives within the systems running the business, enabling AI to make decisions based not only on what customers are doing, but on what the business can actually deliver. In an age of agentic marketing, that distinction matters.

Why SAP was recognized as a Leader

SAP was recognized for the following strengths by the IDC MarketScape:

• With the agentic layer of Joule, marketers get real-time, context-aware personalization without having to reconcile SAP and non-SAP data themselves, since Joule Agents and Joule Assistants draw on a harmonized SAP Business Data Cloud foundation. Teams receive role-based guidance for navigating complex workflows across Autonomous Domains, while everyday tasks such as retrieving information, connecting enterprise data, and completing multi-step processes happen independently, freeing staff from manual execution. In SAP Engagement Cloud, this means personalization and segmentation scale on their own, and the 4Q25 CX release lets customer service issues resolve autonomously, backed by SAP’s enterprise data layer and SAP Knowledge Graph, instead of requiring escalation.
• Because Joule Studio is low code, organizations with reasonable levels of in-house development capabilities can build custom agents themselves, without waiting on IT or writing code, while still connecting to Joule, the SAP Customer Experience portfolio, and third-party systems grounded in SAP Knowledge Graph and SAP Business Data Cloud. For sales and marketing teams, this means faster deal cycles and higher conversion: a sales-assistant agent, for example, automatically surfaces buying patterns and product recommendations from purchase history, sparing reps the manual analysis.
• Marketers running campaigns across email, digital ads, wallet, conversational, and web can manage them all from a single platform instead of stitching together point solutions. Because the engagement events service connects external data sources into real-time segmentation, campaigns stay relevant as customer behavior shifts. AI-assisted tools such as natural-language product search, AI-generated consumption summaries, and an AI-assisted report builder cut down the manual work of building segments and reporting, enabling marketers to focus on strategy while AI handles recommendations, translation, prediction, and reporting at scale.

AI that drives business results

Organizations around the world are using SAP’s AI-powered customer engagement capabilities to create more connected experiences and drive business results. For example:

• Adler Mannheim uses an AI-powered data foundation to boost fan subscriptions by 50% and improve pre-game fan engagement by 80%.
• Molton Brown combines AI-enhanced commerce and personalization to create seamless customer experiences that strengthen loyalty while maintaining 100% uptime during peak periods.
• Douglas connects AI-driven shopping experiences, such as virtual beauty tools, and personalized product recommendations to deliver engaging and elevated customer experiences.

Advancing toward the Autonomous Enterprise

Being named a Leader in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Agentic Marketing for B2C Enterprises 2026 Vendor Assessment is an important milestone for SAP and the evolution of agentic marketing as a category.  As organizations move from experimenting with AI to deploying agents that can reason, recommend, and act, we believe this recognition validates SAP’s approach of combining AI, trusted business data, and connected business processes to help customers navigate this next phase of transformation.

The vision of the Autonomous Enterprise is one in which AI-powered agents help organizations connect customer, operational, and business data to make and execute decisions with greater speed, relevance, and scale. In this future, AI doesn’t replace human expertise; it amplifies it. Intelligent assistants and agents can help teams act faster and more effectively, with governance and guardrails that keep people responsible for the strategy, creativity, and judgment that build lasting customer relationships.

Ultimately, the success of agentic AI will depend not only on what it can do, but on how much customers and businesses trust it to act on their behalf.

Learn more

Download the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Agentic Marketing for B2C Enterprises 2026 Vendor Assessment excerpt.

Sara Richter is chief marketing officer for SAP Engagement Cloud at SAP.

At SAP, customer feedback has always been part of how we build our software. Our first products were developed in close collaboration with customers, and that same principle is still true today: we need to listen, understand the context, and turn feedback into product improvements that create real value.

The challenge is not whether we receive enough feedback—we receive a lot of it. The real challenge is making sure feedback reaches the right teams, with the right context, so it can create impact and customers can see where it goes.

What’s changing

On October 6, 2026, we are launching an enhanced Customer Influence experience, making feedback easier to submit, easier to follow from submission to resolution, and easier for SAP teams to act on. We’re also improving our feedback ecosystem by connecting customer feedback, usage insights, research, and market signals, so we can make better-informed decisions across SAP products.

Simpler access to customer influence

Soon, it will be easier than ever to dive into influencing SAP products via Customer Influence. S-users will find the feedback tool in the SAP for Me portal they already know, while P-users will enjoy direct access to the feedback system via an updated influence.sap.com.

A more intuitive experience

More intuitive navigation helps remove friction from the process while clear visibility into outcomes shows how your input drives innovation.

How it works

Advances in AI, automation, and real-time data processing create an opportunity to work with feedback differently than in the past. Now we can identify patterns and route feedback to the right teams faster and at a much greater scale. Individual signals become collective insight that drives more meaningful, relevant improvements grounded in real-world feedback. That means our experts can spend less time processing information and more time acting on it and delivering outcomes that matter to your business.

Meanwhile, consistent, company-wide guidelines bring a standardized approach to handling, responding to, and acting on feedback across SAP’s portfolio, tools, processes, and teams.

While AI helps us meet customer needs more efficiently, people remain accountable for understanding the context, making prioritization decisions, and deciding what we build. That is important because feedback is not only data. It reflects human experiences behind real business challenges, and it takes human judgment to turn those signals into outcomes that genuinely matter.

What changes for you

These enhancements are about clear value—not replacing what works. All five Customer Influence services you know today continue within the improved feedback experience. For example, in SAP Continuous Influence, you can find your existing improvement requests in the new experience and use any existing bookmark links you have.

Here’s what you can expect:

• Effortless feedback experience: simplified navigation, a more intuitive journey, and direct feedback service access for SAP for Me users
• Clearer line of sight: transparency from submission to resolution, with progress tracking at every step and consistent updates
• More influence: greater visibility into how your feedback shapes the SAP road map and contributes to product improvements
• The right products: unified feedback, market analysis, and user research helping SAP deliver more of what matters most

The conversation continues

The momentum doesn’t stop here. We’re also exploring agentic assistance that helps customers structure feedback, suggests clearer wording, and guides them toward the most impactful way to share what they’re experiencing—making the act of sharing feedback feel less like a task and more like a conversation.

As the relaunch of Customer Influence approaches, look for more information about the release on influence.sap.com, including access and enablement resources.

In the meantime, you can explore current Customer Influence services and continue submitting your feedback at influence.sap.com.

This is a next step, not a final one—we are still building, and the feedback you continue to share will help us get this right.

Florian Heretsch is SVP and global head of SAP Product Experience.

RFPs are common in the world of enterprise software. Truly successful ones, less so. 

Well-run RFPs get right to the heart of requirements, match enterprises with the right solutions, and build solid plans to launch those solutions. Disorganized RFPs significantly lengthen the decision-making process without adding the intended value. 

So what separates an effective RFP from the rest?  

Let’s delve into a systems integrator’s perspective of what can go right, what can go wrong, and what purposes the whole process can actually serve. 

Throughout this article, “RFP” means the document a business creates to solicit responses from vendors. “RFP response” means the reply to an RFP from a vendor.

Why do organizations still run RFPs? 

According to Michael Andrion, account executive and partnerships for BASE1, “There are really three different reasons for running an RFP: to select a vendor, to describe the problem that needs to be solved, and to end up with a well-scoped plan for solving it.”  

Let’s break that down in a bit more detail:  

• Select a vendor: You’d be surprised at how many RFPs end without a vendor decision being made. An RFP may fail to result in a decision for multiple reasons, including an unexpected business acquisition, a change in budget, timeline issues, and more. Thorough preparation and buy-in from stakeholders can help ensure a successful outcome.  
• Describe the problem that needs to be solved: An RFP can be a highly effective tool for internal interrogation, so you can clarify what problems stakeholders truly want to address.  
• Build a well-scoped plan for solving it: When done well, the RFP process will give you answers to questions about timelines, pricing, and staffing. 

RFPs can be driven by compliance requirements or internal governance, but can also act as useful early discovery activities. Organizations use RFPs as a sort of first gate, or first hurdle, to see which vendors are worth having deeper discussions with.  

What makes a good RFP, and what makes a bad one? 

What often separates a good RFP from a bad one is finding the right level of detail.  

If the RFP questions are completely generic, the business might not learn what it actually needs to know. Simultaneously, too many questions can easily result in counter-productive situations where RFPs written by AI receive responses written by AI, which are then summarized by AI.  

You need well-crafted questions that are unique to your business. That way vendors can supply responses that your experts will actually read, helping them reach the right decision for your business.  

How can an RFP achieve a level of open communication? 

Open communication between a business and prospective vendors creates better outcomes. 

However, there’s a challenge that comes with finding the right level of detail: highly detailed, nuanced questions often invite exactly the kind of deeper, looser discussion that a formalized RFP process precludes. To whatever degree possible (and that degree varies for good reasons, especially for regulated industries), think about whether the formality of the process is preventing the kind of honest dialogue that ultimately leads to better decisions. 

Two tips when it comes to RFPs:  

1. Ask yourself and your stakeholders whether you really need to go through the complete RFP process or whether 1:1 meetings and demos may be the right route.  
2. If you do go through the RFP process, plan on doing a follow-up question and answer session afterward, and/or down-select to vendors from which you’d like a more personalized demonstration.   

What does a business need to know before starting an RFP process? 

RFPs run more smoothly when the issuing company has already done some data gathering.  

Come to the table with: 

• Key metrics 
• Expectations around SLAs 
• A ballpark sense of budget 

With this information, you’ll be able to qualify (and disqualify) the right candidates more efficiently and effectively.  

Before starting an RFP, be sure you have time to run one. It’s a time-consuming process, so start with your preferred go-live date and work backwards from there. Here’s a general timeline from the Martech RFP Guide:  

Do all RFPs have to follow the traditional format? 

In the past couple of years, there’s been an interesting trend in the field: namely reversing or inverting the traditional RFP process. Rather than beginning with a detailed spreadsheet of requirements before moving to a demo phase, organizations first hold short demonstrations, introductory meetings, and high-level pricing discussions.  

This demo-first approach allows both sides to evaluate cultural fit, communication style, technical dealbreakers, and business understanding before investing significant time in detailed documentation. 

What distinguishes a strong vendor? 

After the RFP response comes the evaluation. The right vendor isn’t just the one who ticks all the functional and technical boxes and the lowest price tag, important as those factors are.  

The right vendor is willing to become a student of your business and dig into a day in the life of your stakeholders. A well-structured RFP can show you which vendors are willing to do exactly that and to step outside of their comfort zones when and where you’ll need them to. 

Ask yourself if the vendor just went through the motions, or if they actually understand your unique business needs.

What distinguishes a strong implementation partner? 

The strongest implementation partners demonstrate a clear understanding of the customer’s business before tying those requirements to any specific technology.  

Here are the green flags to look for in a strong implementation partner. The partner should:

• Arrive prepared 
• Ask thoughtful questions 
• Share relevant customer stories 
• Focus on being true partners rather than rote order-takers 

If you’re involving partners in your RFP process, challenge them to do some real analysis. Challenging questions are a good indicator that the business is truly invested in making the implementation a success. 

Final takeaway: it never hurts to ask a question! 

At its best, an enterprise CX RFP is an opportunity to improve communication, surface assumptions, encourage honest dialogue, and make better-informed decisions before implementation begins. Enter the process with eyes open and schedule planned, gather your key data and metrics before kicking off, and build a core set of meaningful questions. 

Have deeper discussions as soon as they’re relevant. Don’t be afraid to ask for numbers. And to whatever degree you’re able, shape the process to your organization’s specific priorities. Asking the right questions goes a long way toward getting the best possible answers. 

For even more insights, watch this podcast session, and for more RFP process best practices and sample questions, check out the Martech RFP Guide.  

Joe Devine is partnerships and alliance manager for SAP Engagement Cloud.
Drew Messinger-Michaels is head of Sales at BASE1.

With so many new opportunities brought about by artificial intelligence, companies need to make informed decisions, prioritize, and invest wisely in new AI technology. Not everything that is possible today makes sense in their specific business reality. That is why customer enablement is a crucial part of the global SAP AppHaus Network and its partners. Here’s a recent example of customer enablement provided by SAP AppHaus Network partner Bluestonex.

In early July 2026, SAP AppHaus Network partner Bluestonex invited customers to an immersive hands-on workshop day at the Bluestonex AppHaus Oswestry, Shropshire, UK. The focus was placed on two industries: retail and supply chain. During the event, attendees watched inspiring demos of new SAP AI capabilities powered by the SAP Experience Center and took part in interactive sessions to experience industry innovation and learn along the pragmatic, human-centered innovation approach.

Different showcases for retail and supply chain

Two different showcases shed light on different applications and scenarios from the retail and supply chain industries.

The first showed how data can be surfaced and acted on meaningfully via the use of AI and smart application functions including SAP Business Data Cloud (SAP BDC) and Bluestonex’s flagship master data management and governance solution, Maextro. The second showed different supply chain and warehouse use cases from the retail and manufacturing industry, where the participants could experience the demo with physical mobile devices and interactive stock movements as if they were in the warehouse setting itself.

Two work streams to explore AI-infused innovation

After learning about the art of the possible brought about by the latest SAP Business AI solutions of the Autonomous Enterprise, the workshop attendees split into two work streams to explore different aspects of AI-infused innovation:

1. The first group went through a process of rapid ideation and prototype development with a fast-paced innovation approach. Participants got hands-on, creating both low-fidelity and high-fidelity designs. To do so, they were shown how different AI tools, such as Joule Studio, are changing the way applications are built.
2. To explore the skills needed for successful AI adoption and to address the culture shift, the second session used LEGO® Serious Play® and explored the human side of AI transformation. The method is used for skill-building exercises to then tackle a central challenge: building a model that represents how AI could fundamentally change an existing business. The participants learned a set of guiding principles for AI that they can apply in their day-to-day business.

SAP AppHaus Network partners acting as front-runners

The workshop is a good example of how SAP partners such as Bluestonex act as front-runners when it comes to exploring the Autonomous Enterprise and adopting AI in a meaningful way. During the workshop, experts helped customer teams identify appropriate use cases, design a concept for an AI agent, and create a real business solution that can be built with the latest SAP technology, encouraging and enabling them to conquer this new environment with all its opportunities. The guiding workshop principle was to create value in their respective company context.

The feedback given by some of the participants seems to acknowledge that:

• “Wow. Mind blown! Great team showing the art of the possible. Excellent.”
• “Really great day overall. I always love the real-world scenarios. The hands-on sessions were a highlight, and it’s a great visual display of what’s possible.”
• “Great way to generate ideas, meeting other people, engaging format. The real-world scenarios stood out.”
• “The space itself—the Bluestonex church—was a highlight. Love the SAP Experience Center content on the big, beautiful screen.”

Looking back from two perspectives

Richard Henry, head of Growth, SAP BTP, Data, & Innovation at Bluestonex, looks back: “The addition of the latest demo content powered by the SAP Experience Center to Bluestonex’s industry workshop model marks another step in our mission to help customers realize the Autonomous Enterprise. By combining the latest innovation stories, industry experiences, and SAP Business AI with proven SAP AppHaus methodologies, we move beyond inspiration to action. Through hands-on workshops, design thinking, and immersive experiences, organizations can explore, validate, and prioritize real business opportunities. In the end, our focus remains the same: we want to turn innovation with the latest SAP solutions into practical outcomes and adoption, all for the benefit of our customers.”

Tobias Gollwitzer, senior director and regional lead EMEA, SAP AppHaus Walldorf, concludes: “This workshop is just another proof of the exceptional agility, the dynamic approach, and attitude of our SAP AppHaus Network partner in the UK. The team invites and motivates SAP customers to be among the first to conquer new SAP industry-specific technologies, grasp and move towards SAP’s Autonomous Enterprise solutions to their best advantage.”

Imke Vierjahn is communications lead for SAP AppHaus Network.