Mastering the Art of Strategic Planning with SAP Ariba Category Management

In our journey towards the triple crown of strategic procurement, we’ve explored how SAP Spend Control Tower can provide crucial insights into your procurement landscape. Now, let’s delve into the second phase: planning.

How do we incorporate your business objectives, your organization’s knowledge and skill sets, and transform those valuable insights into a robust strategy that drives real business value? Enter SAP Ariba Category Management, a powerful solution that can elevate procurement planning from a mundane task to a strategic imperative.

The triple crown of procurement: It includes insights (from SAP Spend Control Tower), planning (with SAP Ariba Category Management), and action (with SAP Ariba Sourcing). In this article, we’re focusing on planning and SAP Ariba Category Management.

The evolution of procurement planning

Gone are the days when procurement planning meant endless spreadsheets and protracted meetings. In today’s dynamic business environment, we need a more agile, intelligent, and collaborative approach. SAP Ariba Category Management can offer just that—a sophisticated solution that can harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and human expertise to help craft procurement strategies that align with your organization’s objectives.

SAP Ariba Category Management: Your strategic planning ally

Think of SAP Ariba Category Management as a highly intelligent assistant, versed in procurement best practices, capable of processing vast amounts of data, and available 24/7. Here’s how it can transform the planning process:

1. Digitalize and streamline strategy development

SAP Ariba Category Management can provide a centralized platform for collaborative strategy development. It’s akin to a virtual command center where your entire team can ideate, plan, and execute strategies seamlessly.

The solution can guide users through the process, offering frameworks and recommendations based on industry best practices. It’s like having a procurement expert at your side, helping you navigate complexities and uncover hidden opportunities.

Category strategy summary: In this example, all members of the team can contribute and collaborate on a category strategy, leveraging AI to guide each team member.

2. AI-powered analysis for enhanced decision-making

The solution can leverage AI to generate sophisticated analyses like Kraljic matrices and Porter’s Five Forces with remarkable speed and accuracy. However, it’s crucial to understand that this technology doesn’t aim to replace human expertise—rather, it enhances it.

Procurement professionals can refine these AI-generated analyses with their own insights and experience, creating a powerful synergy between machine intelligence and human wisdom.

AI-generated analysis: The above images show how sourcing best practices are intelligently embedded into your process. Left: Porter’s Five Forces; right: Kraljik.

3. Seamless collaboration for category managers

SAP Ariba Category Management can transform the often-challenging task of aligning multiple category managers into a streamlined, collaborative process. The solution can enable real-time cooperation, allowing team members to share insights, discuss strategies, and align on objectives efficiently.

Guided, insight-driven category management helps drive key procurement goals and positive outcomes

Real-world impact: From insights to action

Let’s illustrate how this works in practice. After analyzing your spend data in SAP Spend Control Tower, you’ve identified that IT hardware costs are escalating. You initiate a new strategy project in SAP Ariba Category Management.

The system automatically imports relevant data and generates a Kraljic matrix for your IT hardware category. You observe that most of your spend falls in the “Strategic” quadrant—high value, high risk. The AI suggests considering a multi-sourcing strategy to mitigate risk.

You share this insight with your global team through the platform. Your APAC colleague identifies a promising new supplier, while your European counterpart shares successful experiments with leasing options to reduce upfront costs.

Collaboratively, you develop a comprehensive strategy that includes:

  • Diversifying the supplier base to reduce risk
  • Exploring leasing options for non-critical hardware
  • Negotiating volume discounts with top suppliers
  • Implementing a standardization program to reduce variability

This entire process, which might have taken weeks traditionally, is now completed in hours. Moreover, the system maintains a clear audit trail, facilitating easy tracking of strategy execution.

The human touch in a digital world

While SAP Ariba Category Management can bring powerful digital capabilities to procurement planning, it’s essential to remember that it’s designed to augment, not replace, human expertise. The solution helps free procurement professionals from routine tasks, allowing them to focus on high-value activities like relationship building, strategic negotiations, and driving innovation.

Think of it as your procurement superpower. It can give you the insights to make better decisions, faster.

Looking ahead: The future of procurement planning

As we wrap up, we want you to imagine the possibilities. With solutions like SAP Ariba Category Management, we’re not just improving our planning process—we’re reinventing it. We’re moving from reactive to proactive, from guesswork to data-driven decisions, from siloed thinking to collaborative strategy.

Example of reinventing the process: During category strategy development, team members want to assess if the overall strategy meets objectives.

This evolution positions procurement not just as a support function, but as a true strategic partner to the business. It enables procurement teams to respond swiftly to market changes, align more closely with organizational goals, and drive sustainable value creation.

In our next article, we’ll explore how to execute these well-crafted plans using SAP Ariba Sourcing. After all, in procurement, as in any strategic endeavor, effective execution is the key to turning plans into tangible results. Stay tuned as we complete our journey towards the triple crown of strategic procurement.


Sudy Bharadwaj is global vice president of Strategic Engagements for SAP Finance and Spend.
Cindy McKendry is director of Corporate Communications for Intelligent Spend and Supply Chain at SAP.

Top image courtesy of SAP employee Karsten Hohage.

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Compass, Map, and Vehicle: Three Tools for a Smooth Move

Success, even of large-scale IT projects, can depend on much more than technical readiness and the budget to greenlight it. The move from an existing SAP ERP system to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition is one that requires careful preparation and execution. To make this transition as smooth and secure as possible, SAP provides a wide array of tools to support every phase of cloud ERP migration.

Here, three critical tools that can help prepare systems, maintain operations, and execute a migration with precision are highlighted. But remember, this is only a snapshot of the comprehensive portfolio featured in the free guide, “Mapping your journey to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition.”

The Custom Code Migration app: For preparation with clarity

Before embarking on any journey, it’s essential to know where you’re starting from—and to take stock of your current situation. The SAP Fiori app “Custom Code Migration” can act as a guide, helping IT teams assess their existing systems and custom code objects with precision. It can identify which elements are obsolete, which require adaptation, and which can seamlessly transition across.

Get a tailored-to-fit cloud ERP that adapts to your organization’s unique transformation

Custom code often reflects years of adjustments—useful in their time but not always efficient for modern systems. By shedding unnecessary complexity, this app can ensure your cloud migration starts with a lean, optimized core. It can provide clarity, helping IT leaders make confident decisions about what to carry forward and what to leave behind.

The Custom Code Migration app works hand in hand with the SAP Readiness Check toolset, which can provide a comprehensive system analysis before migration. By combining both, organizations can gain a full picture of their existing landscape, helping to ensure that custom code, system compatibility, and necessary adaptations are all factored into the transition strategy. This upfront preparation helps set the tone for a smoother transition, making the migration process more strategic and less reactive.

Every successful cloud migration needs three things: a compass to set the direction, a map to navigate the landscape, and a vehicle to carry you to your destination. These SAP tools can provide exactly that—guidance, connection, and execution for your SAP S/4HANA Cloud journey.

SAP Integration Suite: For seamless connection

A migration is never purely about the new. It’s about maintaining critical connections as you transform. SAP Integration Suite can enable consistent, reliable integration across legacy systems, cloud platforms, and third-party solutions, ensuring operational continuity throughout any transition.

Etex, a global building materials leader, is just one example of how this suite can make a difference. With operations in 45 countries, the Belgian firm needed to unify its systems during its migration to SAP S/4HANA. SAP Integration Suite delivered prebuilt connectors, low-code tools, and robust APIs that streamlined integrations and created a cohesive digital ecosystem​. This not only ensured smooth day-to-day operations but also set the stage for scalable, global growth.

SAP continuously enhances the suite with new features and updates to keep pace with evolving technology. This customer-focused approach helps minimize effort and complexity for businesses transitioning to SAP S/4HANA, helping them benefit from the latest innovations in integration. Moreover, SAP Integration Suite fully supports the clean core strategy, reducing system modifications and complementing SAP’s data migration and conversion tools to enable a more streamlined and efficient transition.

For IT leaders, SAP Integration Suite can offer functionality—and peace of mind, too. By simplifying and securing integrations, it helps support both the immediate migration and the future evolution of business processes.

SAP S/4HANA migration cockpit: For precision execution

Similarly significant when it comes to data migration is precision. SAP S/4HANA migration cockpit helps ensure that critical data is transferred accurately and efficiently, working to minimize risks and downtime during the transition.

The cockpit can provide predefined templates and a structured process for migrating legacy data into SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition. By reducing the complexity of data transfer, it helps ensure that IT teams can focus on readiness and reliability, knowing their business-critical information is secure.

SAP S/4HANA migration cockpit is one of several tools available for data migration, primarily suited for greenfield implementations. For system conversions or brownfield implementations, the Software Update Manager tool is the key, while SAP Business Transformation Center can support selective data transitions. Choosing the right approach depends on an organization’s migration strategy and business requirements.

Data migration is one of the most crucial steps in the transition journey, bringing together all the preparation and integration efforts. However, successful migration doesn’t end here—data and process validation follow to ensure everything is functioning as expected, paving the way for a strong foundation for future innovation and growth.

A utility belt of tools awaits

As mentioned, SAP’s portfolio doesn’t end there. The final section of “Mapping your journey to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition” highlights 15 essential tools designed to help assess, plan, implement, and monitor your migration. From SAP Readiness Check to SAP Data Services and ABAP development tools, these solutions can offer additional support to help ensure every phase of your project is a success.

Explore the full suite of SAP tools and learn how they can simplify your migration.


Uwe Grigoleit is senior vice president and head of SAP Customer Evolution.

The only book you need to read about SAP S/4HANA

“Mapping your journey to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition” provides IT leaders with the perfect blend of theoretical insights and practical guidance to help keep their company digitally prepared beyond 2027.

Download it for free now.

SAP Releases Integrated Report 2024 and Files Annual Report 2024 on Form 20-F with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

WALLDORF SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced that it has filed the SAP Annual Report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2024, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and it is accessible online here. SAP also announced that the SAP Integrated Report 2024 is now available and accessible online at www.sapintegratedreport.com.

This year’s sustainability information in the report is prepared in line with the requirements of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD), further detailed in the in European Sustainability Reporting Standards (ESRS), for the first time.

You can access PDF versions of the SAP Integrated Report 2024 and the SAP Annual Report 2024 on Form 20-F at our Investor Relations website: sap.com/investor. A hard copy of the audited consolidated financial statements can also be requested free of charge by sending an email to investor@sap.com or via phone +49 6227 7-67336.

Visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP at @SAPNews.

About SAP

As a global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, SAP (NYSE: SAP) stands at the nexus of business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted SAP to bring out their best by uniting business-critical operations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

For more information, financial community only:
Alexandra Steiger, +49 (6227) 7-767336, investor@sap.com, CET
Follow SAP Investor Relations on LinkedIn at SAP Investor Relations.

For more information, press only:
Joellen Perry, +1 (650) 445-6780, joellen.perry@sap.com, PT
Daniel Reinhardt, +49 (6227) 7-40201, daniel.reinhardt@sap.com, CET

For customers interested in learning more about SAP products:
Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
United States Only: +1 (800) 872-1SAP (+1-800-872-1727)

Note to editors:
To preview and download broadcast-standard stock footage and press photos digitally, please visit www.sap.com/photos. On this platform, you can find high resolution material for your media channels.

This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of SAP’s 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
© 2025 SAP SE. All rights reserved.
SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices.

New WalkMe Research Reveals Major Gap Between AI Ambitions and Employee Readiness

Enterprises lost $104 million to underused tech in 2024


WalkMe has just released our 2025 State of Digital Adoption Report: Special AI Edition. As the pioneers and leaders of the digital adoption platform (DAP) category, WalkMe has consistently tracked digital adoption’s evolution.

Transform your business for a digital and sustainable future

Aptly for our time, this year’s report focuses on the state of AI adoption in organizations across the globe. There is no doubt that AI is transforming enterprise ambitions, but its success depends on people. The human part of the equation seems to be what is standing in the way of realizing the great promises of AI.

The findings must be considered in context of the consistently missed opportunity that has characterized many digital transformation efforts. BCG research shows that while digital transformation leaders generated $9 trillion in shareholder value from 2018 to 2023, others missed $5 trillion in potential gains. Enterprises now face a choice: continue accumulating transformation debt and lag behind the competition, or embrace digital adoption as the bridge to AI-powered success.

The report outlines seven digital adoption best practices and their business impact. Implementing even a single digital adoption best practice can nearly triple digital transformation ROI from 22 to 64 percent. Success in the AI era will not be won with technology alone, but with holistic adoption excellence.

For our fourth annual State of Digital Adoption Report, we surveyed nearly 4,000 enterprise leaders and employees globally and dove deep into AI adoption trends. Likely the most comprehensive research into today’s digital adoption efforts, it provides a blueprint for harnessing AI to achieve HyperProductivity. At WalkMe, we’re committed to helping you turn the promise of digital transformation into measurable business impact.

Here’s a peak into some of the findings:

Despite AI spending projected to grow 64 percent in 2025 — from $14 million to $23 million at large enterprises — many organizations struggle to translate investment into impact. Our research highlights that while 79 percent of executives express confidence in achieving AI transformation goals, only 28 percent of employees feel adequately trained, and just 25 percent can use AI to work more efficiently. This readiness gap proves that without strategic adoption, AI investments often fail to deliver meaningful business value. The cost of the resulting digital inefficiencies at large enterprises was found to be over $104 million in 2024 alone due to underutilized technology and poor productivity practices.

While executives estimate an average of 37 applications are in use at their organizations, WalkMe data shows the average large enterprise actually has on average 625 applications in use — a 17x discrepancy or visibility gap of 1,600 percent. How can organizations effectively optimize their technology investments if they lack the visibility into what applications are actually being used and how? The answer is, of course, they can’t. Enterprises must first discover precisely which applications are in use across their organizations before meaningful productivity gains can be realized. It’s the most basic first step in setting up each individual employee, team, and business unit for success using the technology tools that are already being paid for.

Ninety-three percent of enterprises surveyed are reevaluating their IT infrastructure, software applications, and talent strategies to ensure AI success. With so much in flux at even the world’s most innovative companies, one thing is clear: AI’s promise can only be realized if people are using it. Enterprises that invest in human-centric workforce AI adoption will not only maximize their AI investments, but will also lead the charge in shaping the future of work.

The digital adoption imperative is not only motivated by ROI, employees are all but crying out for help using these increasingly complex and numerous technologies at work. The report found that employees are still struggling with the technology tools available to them, so much so they waste an average of 36 working days a year dealing with technology frustrations. That’s akin to having every single employee take almost two full months off purely to deal with digital friction.

We can do better.

I invite you to explore more of this year’s findings and talk to WalkMe about how your workforce can thrive with AI and achieve HyperProductivity. Download the full 2025 State of Digital Adoption Report: Special AI Edition here and join our webinar, “Bridging the AI Divide,” on February 25, 2025, at 11:00 a.m. ET, featuring experts from WalkMe, Accenture, State Farm, and EDF Renewables (register here).


Dan Adika is CEO and co-founder of WalkMe.

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Accelerating AI-Driven Business Transformation with SAP Preferred Success

The age of artificial intelligence (AI) is here, creating unprecedented opportunities to reshape industries. Yet, the path to meaningful adoption is riddled with challenges ranging from data complexity to organizational resistance.

This is where the latest update of the SAP Preferred Success offering comes in. It now offers a workshop designed to transform AI adoption into a structured, achievable process. Tailored support focuses on scaling AI initiatives confidently and responsibly in cloud solutions from SAP.

Adding a business AI accelerator workshop to SAP Preferred Success demonstrates SAP’s commitment to going beyond advancing technology adoption. Combining deep expertise, strategic frameworks, and cutting-edge AI capabilities, the workshop helps empower companies to unlock their full potential with bold innovations and measurable business outcomes.

Setting a transformative foundation for AI integration

Supported by a comprehensive framework, the business AI accelerator workshop provides essential knowledge, strategic frameworks, and a clear action plan to leverage AI for improved business processes, data-driven decision-making, and enhanced customer experiences. But what makes this new addition remarkable is its focus on delivering reliable, relevant, and responsible AI.

Get more done faster with AI that actually understands all your business processes and data

Enhanced with the software industry’s broadest data sets, the service can integrate AI into business processes while upholding the highest standards of ethics, data privacy, and governance. This can enable companies to embrace AI with trust and transparency while achieving tangible outcomes.

Accelerating time to value is another key benefit of the workshop. By rapidly deploying AI models and solutions, organizations can quickly realize the benefits of automation, optimization, and data-driven decision-making. They can participate in tailored sessions to identify high-impact use cases that align with their unique needs and plan a road map for simplifying the complexities of integrating AI capabilities into existing processes.

Beyond its technical strengths, the workshop emphasizes effective change management and comprehensive governance. These practices can foster organizational buy-in, strengthen compliance, and support a smooth transition to AI-driven operations. And when combined with SAP’s scalable, cloud-based AI services, businesses can gain the flexibility to grow sustainably, adapt to evolving demands, and future-proof their operations.

Guiding the path to bold innovation and simplicity

The workshop can provide a structured approach for organizations seeking effective AI adoption. It begins by introducing foundational business AI concepts, SAP’s AI strategy, and the AI services available from SAP. This initial overview highlights AI’s possibilities, helping organizations understand its potential impact on business operations.

Building on this foundation, the workshop conducts an AI readiness assessment of the customer’s SAP landscape, IT infrastructure, and overall consumption behavior. This evaluation identifies suitable AI use cases and establishes a tailored road map for AI adoption.

In parallel, the workshop can strengthen governance, compliance, and ethical considerations by establishing a comprehensive data governance framework. This helps ensure data accuracy, legality, privacy, and security across AI applications, enabling organizations to maintain high data quality, regulatory compliance, and stakeholder trust while mitigating legal risks.

Change management is another essential component of the workshop. Organizations can learn best practices for AI adoption in SAP solutions, including strategies to secure organizational buy-in, reduce resistance, and transition smoothly into AI-driven operations.

Next, a resource and skill set evaluation is conducted to help identify gaps in AI expertise. Organizations can leverage this information to build a skilled team capable of effectively adopting AI solutions and sustaining long-term success.

The workshop then focuses on strategic use-case identification, guiding participants through interactive sessions to uncover high-value AI opportunities aligned with business goals. This process can provide customers with AI use cases tailored to meet each organization’s specific needs and strategic objectives.

By the end of the workshop, organizations can gain a comprehensive action plan that helps transform insights into execution—driving AI adoption with confidence while fostering co-innovation and collaborative growth.

Shaping the future with AI and innovation at the core

We at SAP and our customers can work together to shape a future where technology drives meaningful impact with the business AI accelerator workshop. Whether identifying impactful use cases relevant for business or adopting AI-driven solutions, organizations can maximize the value of their technology investments and help ensure lasting outcomes with greater agility, scalability, and efficiency.

Discover how the SAP Preferred Success offering can guide your organization toward bold innovation, measurable outcomes, and lasting success.


Kiron Satyavarapu is global solution owner of SAP Preferred Success at SAP.

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SAP Proposes Dividend of €2.35 per Share

WALLDORF, Germany The Supervisory Board and Executive Board of SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) recommend that shareholders approve a dividend of €2.35 per share for fiscal year 2024. This is an increase of €0.15, or 6.8% compared to the dividend paid for fiscal year 2023 (€2.20).

If approved by shareholders and assuming the same level of treasury shares at the time of SAP SE’s Annual General Meeting of Shareholders on May 13, 2025, and as at December 31, 2024, the total amount distributed in dividends would be approximately €2.741 billion (2023: €2.565 billion), representing a pay-out ratio of 51.9% (2023: 43.0%).

SAP believes that its shareholders should benefit appropriately from the profit the Company made in 2024. The Company’s dividend policy is to pay a dividend totaling at least 40% of non-IFRS profit after tax from continuing operations.

The following dates are relevant for the dividend payment:

     Record date for dividend payment: May 13, 2025
     Ex-dividend date: May 14, 2025
     Payment date: May 16, 2025

Note to holders of SAP ADRs (American Depositary Receipts):
One SAP ADR represents one SAP SE share. The final dividend amount per ADR is dependent upon the euro/US dollar exchange rate. Since SAP SE pays cash dividends on the ordinary shares in euro, the exchange rate fluctuations will affect the US dollar amounts received by holders of ADRs. The final dividend payment by SAP SE to the depositary bank is scheduled for May 16, 2025. The depositary bank will then convert the dividend payment from euro into US dollars as promptly as practicable.

Visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at @SAPNews.

About SAP
As a global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, SAP (NYSE: SAP) stands at the nexus of business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted SAP to bring out their best by uniting business-critical operations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

Note to editors:
To preview and download broadcast-standard stock footage and press photos digitally, please visit www.sap.com/photos. On this platform, you can find high resolution material for your media channels.

For customers interested in learning more about SAP products:
Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
United States Only: 1 (800) 872-1SAP (1-800-872-1727)

For more information, financial community only:
Alexandra Steiger +49 (6227) 7-67336   investor@sap.com, CET
Follow SAP Investor Relations on LinkedIn.

For more information, press only:
Joellen Perry   +1 (650) 445-6780   joellen.perry@sap.com, PT
Daniel Reinhardt  +49 (6227) 7-40201   daniel.reinhardt@sap.com, CET
SAP Press Room; press@sap.com

# # #

This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of SAP’s 2023 Annual Report on Form 20-F.

© 2025 SAP SE. All rights reserved.
SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices.

Driving Efficiency and Compliance: Capgemini’s Journey with SAP Fieldglass

In 2016, Paris-based consultancy firm Capgemini was looking for ways to better manage its global network of employees using existing technology. At the time, the company had limited visibility into its contingent workforce, and its procurement team wanted a tool that would help consolidate insights and track metrics such as headcount, performance, capabilities, compliance, and more. Additionally, with legislative requirements changing rapidly in different regions, the company needed technology that could quickly adapt.

This challenge reflects broader trends in the SAP-sponsored Economist Impact report titled “Flexible Futures: Navigating the Evolving External Workforce,” which dives into how companies like Capgemini are leveraging external workers to meet skill deficits and productivity demands. The report highlights how organizations are turning to innovative technologies and strategies to seamlessly integrate external talent, ensuring they stay competitive in a rapidly changing workforce landscape.

In Capgemini’s case, it used SAP Fieldglass solutions to help manage its contingent workforce program across more than 30 countries. The cloud-based solutions can integrate with other SAP solutions and leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to help optimize external workforce management, helping companies stay resilient in an evolving talent landscape. With the addition of SAP Fieldglass solutions, Capgemini has managed contractors and temporary workers across its entire supply chain. The company has successfully leveraged data from over 50 countries, seeing a 26% increase in unitary cost savings with a 50% increase in productivity from the internal procurement services team.

“The increased visibility into all external workforce-related outcome and process steps has enabled sharpened insights, along with smaller fulfillment time frames, higher fill rates, and improved compliance,” says Andreas Hettwer, group procurement category director at Capgemini. “We have truly optimized functions around the external workforce.”

Smart and efficient talent acquisition

In today’s dynamic business environment, the external workforce—comprising freelancers, contractors, consultants, and gig workers—has become a critical component of many organizations. However, efficiently hiring and managing this diverse talent pool while staying adaptable to future workforce needs can be daunting.

This is because talent acquisition for an external workforce requires finding the right people at the right time, often under tight deadlines. The Economist Impact report also shared that internal skills and talent gaps have increased the demand for proper recruitment of the external workforce.

Transform how you find, engage, and manage contingent workers

Capgemini serves as a prime example of how this approach works in practice. When it experiences a surge in demand, its preferred suppliers are notified and SAP Fieldglass solutions pull recommendations from distribution lists of candidates who have the necessary skill sets. This helps accelerate the hiring process and can ensure Capgemini is choosing from the best possible pool of potential candidates. The data is developed in SAP Fieldglass solutions and extracted into Capgemini’s various dashboards, instantly providing a comprehensive snapshot of each supplier’s performance.

Robust data maximizes ROI

Managing an external workforce is a delicate balancing act that involves countless variables. Beyond sourcing talent, it requires tracking budgets, ensuring compliance, and measuring performance. AI-powered automation can help streamline these processes, making it easy to capture, compare, and collaborate on critical information about non-payroll labor. This empowers companies to make informed decisions that maximize their return on investment (ROI).

When inflation surged in 2023, Capgemini fielded a large volume of rate increase requests. Through constructive and fact-based discussions with its supply base, the company managed a cost-rate evolution and shared inflation impact KPIs with its board. This increased executive trust in the global contingent workforce’s ability to deliver productivity. At the end of the implementation, Capgemini fulfilled 80% of its eligible contingent worker demand.

“We have full visibility,” Hettwer says. “We know the number of contractors, we know our demand per geography, per business line, and we know the cost rates we pay for certain roles, and we measure how the cost rates evolve over time.”

Capgemini is also exploring new ways to use the large amount of data coming from the global deployment of SAP Fieldglass solutions, including AI. Economist Impact data reinforces Capgemini’s perspective, as executives cited integrating traditional systems with AI and machine learning as a top priority over the next three to five years.

“AI will certainly be an important factor in our business,” Hettwer says. “We’re being patient and methodical in order to make sure that we introduce it safely and effectively.”

Driving workforce excellence through innovation and insights

Capgemini’s journey with the SAP Fieldglass portfolio demonstrates the transformative power of leveraging advanced technology to manage and optimize an external workforce. By enhancing visibility, streamlining processes, and utilizing AI-powered insights, Capgemini has achieved significant improvements in talent acquisition, supplier performance, and cost efficiency. This resulted in the firm capturing 98% of its global contingent workforce spend with a 60% quicker fulfillment time compared to the start of the program.

As the workforce landscape continues to evolve, SAP Fieldglass solutions can equip organizations with tools that enable them to manage the complete lifecycle of their external employees, from requisition and engagement to offboarding and evaluation. These capabilities are vital to remaining resilient, agile, and data-driven while transforming external labor into a versatile, value-driving resource.

Capgemini’s strategic focus on innovation and compliance sets a benchmark for businesses aiming to unlock the full potential of their contingent workforce in today’s competitive global environment.


Amber Roth is vice president of Global Presales & Strategy for SAP Fieldglass.

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SAP’s Sovereignty Commitment: “Building a Secure and Sovereign Future, Together”

Security is in our DNA. SAP security measures meet the highest standards for cybersecurity, operations, and privacy protection tailored to the individual needs of our customers.

With SAP, meet your security and compliance aspirations while maintaining adherence to regulatory and legal requirements

We manage security and compliance risks and operate cybersecurity and physical security programs across our technology landscape, including cloud environments, facilities, events, and employees. We apply our security framework for every customer, all the time.

Recent geopolitical shifts and technological advancements have heightened the challenges for organizations responsible for society’s most critical functions, such as government, defense, and essential infrastructure. These security-sensitive organizations face growing threats from malicious actors targeting their mission-critical operations. As national security and sovereignty become top priorities, regulatory requirements are rapidly tightening. Any lapse in security could have serious consequences not only for the organizations themselves but also for the states and societies they serve.

Many security-sensitive organizations may face obstacles in their digital transformation due to these unique requirements and challenges. This has consequences, because in today’s environment, leveraging data to its full potential is just as relevant for national security and sovereignty as the highest level of protection.

At SAP, the needs and success of our customers are our focus. SAP understands the challenges these security-sensitive organizations are facing and is committed to supporting them in their sovereign digital transformation. Thereby, we are convinced that we need a new view on sovereignty in the digital age. One that goes beyond eliminating risk by actively creating value. With SAP Sovereign Cloud, we are implementing this approach.

With SAP’s Sovereignty Commitment, we underline what we at SAP consider also critical for sovereignty in the digital age: a commitment to contribute to building a secure and sovereign future, together.

SAP has been living this commitment through actions for many years. Starting in the U.S., UK, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Germany, we have highlighted our commitment to sovereign cloud solutions. The announcements of several billion-dollar investments in SAP Sovereign Cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) alone in the past months underline that.

With SAP’s Sovereignty Commitment, we underscore this commitment and dedication to supporting even the most security-sensitive organizations with specific sovereignty requirements to navigate their unique challenges in their sovereign digital transformation in the selected countries. Recognizing the urgent need for transformative action, we are determined to cooperate with those organizations on building a strong pillar for a more secure and sovereign tomorrow.  

In the Sovereignty Commitment, we outline how we do it and what we plan in the future.

“In today’s complex geopolitical landscape, digital sovereignty is not just about reducing risk; it’s about actively creating value,” said Thomas Saueressig, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, Customer Services & Delivery. “SAP is proud to be a trusted partner for most security-sensitive organizations around the world. With SAP Sovereign Cloud, even the most security-sensitive organizations are enabled to maintain control over their mission-critical workload while unlocking its full potential.”

We are an experience and trusted partner

Most security-sensitive organizations with specific sovereignty requirements need a partner that can flex to their specific regulatory needs and unlock operational value without compromising on sovereignty, protection, or control.

Backed by the world’s leading business data and a more than 50 year legacy of enterprise innovation, SAP is pioneering sovereign cloud transformation to help leaders in government, defense, and highly regulated industries comply with sovereignty requirements and seize new opportunities.

Pioneering sovereign cloud transformation, our sovereign cloud portfolio includes Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

SAP Sovereign Cloud: A holistic approach based on national requirements

At SAP, we take a holistic approach to sovereign cloud, in which we consider four major dimensions based on the national requirements: data sovereignty, operational sovereignty, legal sovereignty, and technical sovereignty.

With SAP Sovereign Cloud, we tailor solution delivery to the regarded countries’ specific national requirements — a sovereign cloud transformation is not empowered with a one-size-fits-it-all approach. We build on ​the SAP solution portfolio, which is secure by design. We offer with SAP Sovereign Cloud bespoke solutions on dedicated​ in-country infrastructure ​and operations covering the central sovereign cloud capabilities in line ​with our customers’ needs and deliver state-of-the-art solutions based on our innovation pipeline.

With SAP Sovereign Cloud, our customers can simultaneously unlock the potential of technological advancements, ensuring competitiveness and innovation in fulfillment of the national sovereignty requirements. SAP invests in and expands the SAP Sovereign Cloud portfolio, recognizing our most security-sensitive customers’ urgent demand.

Today, SAP Sovereign Cloud is available in six countries​. We are planning to further expand our established footprint with additional geographies and SAP solutions.

We take a forward-thinking approach

At SAP, we strive to think ahead, focusing on the unique and evolving needs of our most security-sensitive customers.

  • Dedicated leadership for national security: Recognizing the critical importance of national security, the Supervisory Board of SAP SE has established a dedicated Government Security Committee. This committee ensures that the specific requirements of our security-focused customers remain a strategic priority at the highest levels of our organization.
  • Centralized unit for sovereign solutions: To better serve security-sensitive customers, SAP has established the Sovereign Services & Delivery unit. This dedicated team consolidates expertise across cloud infrastructure, regulatory compliance, and digital transformation to address the most stringent sovereignty requirements. The unit ensures seamless collaboration along the entire value chain, enabling faster and more tailored responses to market demands. By fostering closer integration, we empower customers to achieve secure, compliant, and scalable sovereign cloud solutions.
  • Investing in sovereignty: We are making bold investments to support cloud sovereignty. SAP plans to invest more than double-digit billion into AI and research and development, as well as cloud infrastructure, over the next five years in Europe. In Germany alone, we plan to invest €2 billion in SAP Sovereign Cloud, underscoring our commitment to strengthening digital independence and the sovereignty of the societies we proudly serve.

Martin Merz is president of Sovereign Services & Delivery at SAP.

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SAP Debuts Business Data Cloud with Databricks to Turbocharge Business AI


Landmark Collaboration Redefines Enterprise Data Management and Unleashes the Full Potential of Agentic AI


NEW YORKSAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced SAP Business Data Cloud, a groundbreaking solution that unifies all SAP and third-party data throughout an organization, providing the trusted data foundation organizations need to make more impactful decisions and foster reliable AI.

SAP Business Data Cloud: A bold new era of data and AI 

The solution harmonizes data from organizations’ most mission-critical applications with data engineering and business analytics capabilities, paving the way for next-level innovation and insights.

This landmark partnership between SAP and Databricks marks a new era in enterprise data management as two leaders in their domains come together to redefine how applications and data platforms work together. The new solution natively embeds Databricks technology for data engineering, machine learning and AI workloads.

“SAP Business Data Cloud unleashes the full value of enterprise data for Business AI,” said SAP CEO Christian Klein. “It combines SAP’s unique expertise in mission-critical, end-to-end processes and semantically rich data with Databricks’ world-class data engineering capabilities to create a ground-breaking solution that helps organizations do more with their data than ever before.”

“Every company on the planet wants to get more value out of their data and greater returns on their AI investments,” said Ali Ghodsi, Co-founder and CEO of Databricks. “By joining forces with SAP, we’re helping organizations bring together all their data — regardless of format or where it lives — to govern, analyze and build domain-specific AI applications on the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform.”

Introducing the data product economy

SAP Business Data Cloud also helps SAP foster the growth of a data product economy. It delivers fully-managed SAP data products across all business processes – from finance, spend and supply chain data in SAP S/4HANA and SAP Ariba, to learning and talent data in SAP SuccessFactors. These data products maintain their original business context and semantics, providing immediate access to high-quality data without costly extraction processes. For example, if a CFO wants to assess the impact of rising inflation on profitability, SAP Business Data Cloud integrates real-time external data such as the consumer price index with financial data products such as general ledger accounts or cost centers to create a comprehensive financial snapshot.

SAP Business Data Cloud will also offer new capabilities called insight apps that use data products and AI models connected to real-time data to deliver advanced analytics and planning across all lines of business, including core enterprise analytics, finance and human resources.

“SAP Business Data Cloud will help us unlock the value of our data and drive innovation across our business,” said Markus Hartmann, Corporate Vice President and Head of Business Technology and regions Europe, APAC and IMEA, at Henkel, a multinational chemical and consumer goods company. “Its semantically rich data products and deep Databricks integration will enhance our existing data products and empower us to model scenarios and leverage AI insights, building a sustainable future for our data ecosystems.”

Delivering on the full promise of AI agents

SAP Business Data Cloud will improve how Joule, SAP’s generative AI copilot, accelerates cross-functional workflows and improves business decision-making with AI agents. Powered by the highest-quality enterprise dataset in the industry – and the SAP Knowledge Graph solution, which provides a business-friendly model of data – Joule agents deeply understand end-to-end processes and can collaborate across functions to solve complex business challenges, something no other agent builder technology can do out of the box.

Underscoring today’s announcement and its significance for AI innovation, SAP also unveiled a series of ready-to-use Joule agents across finance, service, sales and more to come across the SAP Business Suite. In finance, for example, agents will work together across a variety of tasks to process claims faster and improve cashflow. Joule sales agents, meanwhile, will accelerate multi-step business processes to resolve disputes and process customer inquiries faster.

SAP today also announced a powerful new agent builder capability, so customers can build and deploy their own AI agents alongside SAP’s library of ready-to-deploy Joule agents. SAP’s decades of business process expertise are built into the guided workflow so users can ground their custom agents in the most relevant data and business context.

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SAP combines AI, data and applications like never before to unleash your full potential and make you unstoppable

About SAP

As a global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, SAP (NYSE:SAP) stands at the nexus of business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted SAP to bring out their best by uniting business-critical operations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

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SAP and Databricks Open a Bold New Era of Data and AI 

Data stands as the bedrock of all modern enterprises. It is the unwavering cornerstone of all digital transformation and the driving force behind artificial intelligence (AI). Drawing on five decades of experience running mission-critical processes across every industry, we’ve seen the transformative power of business data. 

SAP Business Data Cloud: A new era in enterprise data management

Today, SAP announced SAP Business Data Cloud, a fully managed software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution that unifies and governs all SAP data and seamlessly connects with third-party data. As an evolution of our industry-leading data, planning, and analytics solutions, SAP Business Data Cloud brings together SAP Datasphere, SAP Analytics Cloud, and SAP Business Warehouse with a unified experience that delivers transformational insights across all lines of business.  

SAP also announced a landmark partnership with Databricks that brings the power of Databricks directly into SAP Business Data Cloud. This marks a new era in enterprise data management, with two leaders in their domains coming together to redefine how applications and data platforms work together.

Unleash transformative insights

Many organizations still grapple with data they cannot trust. This persistent gap in trust remains a barrier to true innovation in data and AI.

A global survey of 1,200 business and technology leaders found that 55 percent cite poor data quality as their biggest challenge. And nearly half of these leaders pointed to the difficulty of harmonizing data across ecosystems as a key reason that innovation stalls.

SAP Business Data Cloud bridges this gap with a trusted and harmonized data foundation, empowering IT and business leaders with full business context to drive more impactful decisions. 

SAP Business Data Cloud delivers fully managed SAP data products across all business processes. These curated data products align to a highly optimized and unified “one domain model,” maintaining their original business context and semantics, which means you get immediate access to high-quality data you can trust.

Since these data products are fully managed by SAP, you no longer bear the hidden costs of rebuilding and maintaining data extracts. The SaaS experience simplifies life cycle management, ensures data consistency, and enables zero-copy sharing across your data and analytics ecosystem. 

With these data products, SAP Business Data Cloud delivers a suite of pre-built analytical applications that help you uncover hidden insights and fast-track decision-making. These “insight apps” are fully managed and incorporate pre-defined metrics, AI models, and planning capabilities, simplifying how you connect and integrate every part of your business.

This accelerates use cases aligned with your most important business functions, including ERP, spend, supply chain, HR, customer experience, and finance.

Every organization needs a pulse on its most important resources. With insight apps, you can use preconfigured packages already connected to your business data, such as working capital, to gain a 360-degree view of your organization’s financial health with real-time visibility into cash flow and profitability.

Connect all your data 

SAP Business Data Cloud connects all your data by leveraging business data fabric principles, making it easier to discover, share, govern, and model your data. It includes Databricks as a first-party data service, bringing the power of Databricks directly in SAP Business Data Cloud.

  • Business semantics: Use SAP Datasphere to discover, share, and model the same trusted data across existing platforms without costly data extraction. Build a powerful knowledge graph of all your data, preserving its business metadata and semantics, so your data is easily searchable and actionable. For existing SAP Datasphere customers, your investments remain fully supported—with no disruptions—and all SAP Datasphere capabilities will natively be available in SAP Business Data Cloud. 
  • Data engineering and machine learning/AI: SAP and Databricks empower every data professional to accelerate AI models and generative AI apps on their business data. Native capabilities like Delta Sharing harmonize SAP data products with existing lakehouses bi-directionally. By integrating all your data with a zero-copy approach, you can apply advanced AI and machine learning models to finance use cases, like predicting the payment date on open receivables.
  • SAP Business Warehouse modernization: SAP Business Data Cloud gives on-premise SAP Business Warehouse customers a flexible path to the cloud. With native integration to SAP Business Warehouse, easily access your data as a data product with the object store via Delta Share—simplifying your modernization journey and maximizing your SAP Business Warehouse investment.
  • Analytics and planning: SAP Business Data Cloud brings analytics and planning together in one solution, enabling you to go from insights to actions instantly. Automate reporting, simulate possible business outcomes with AI, and unify your financial, supply chain, and operational planning—all in a connected view.

“SAP Business Data Cloud will help us unlock the value of our data and drive innovation across our business,” said Markus Hartmann, corporate vice president and head of Business Technology at Henkel. “Its semantically rich data products and deep Databricks integration will connect and enhance our existing data products, ensuring long-term adaptability. Trusted, business-ready data will empower users to model scenarios and leverage AI insights, building a sustainable and flexible future for our data ecosystems.”

Foster reliable AI 

The rapid growth of agentic AI requires organizations to first have the right data foundation. SAP Business Data Cloud brings together all your data to ensure agentic AI is built on accurate, trusted data with business context.

Joule, SAP’s generative AI copilot, is deeply integrated with SAP Business Data Cloud. The knowledge graph in SAP Business Data Cloud connects your data, metadata, and business processes, enabling AI agents, Joule, and large language models (LLMs) to understand your data within the context of its relationships.

This mapping creates clear data links, making insights more reliable for users and applications. Training AI agents and Joule on business knowledge and context drives increased productivity. For instance, users can use AI to complete cross-functional tasks, uncover insights, and summarize critical information across the business—without heavy reliance on IT support. This empowers the usage of AI to automate complex analytics and planning tasks, such as risk assessment, forecasting, and other advanced scenario simulations.

SAP Business Data Cloud ecosystem 

At the core, SAP Business Data Cloud is built to prioritize openness and customer choice. To simplify your data landscape, SAP Business Data Cloud supports an open data ecosystem. It integrates natively with leading data and AI partners like Collibra, Confluent, and DataRobot. And it doesn’t stop there; we’ll announce new strategic partnerships in the coming weeks and months to further expand the open data ecosystem. 

Supported by our large partner ecosystem, we’ve made it easier to unleash transformative insights from all your data. We have partners with deep business process and industry domain expertise that are building insight apps on SAP Business Data Cloud.
 
From data enrichment to data activation, partner insight apps build on top of the data products and the core services SAP Business Data Cloud provides. We’re thrilled to announce our first partner apps with Accenture, DataRobot, Spendscape by McKinsey, PwC, EY, Deloitte, and Capgemini. 

Get started today 

Start your journey with SAP Business Data Cloud and unleash the power of AI with trusted business data:


Irfan Khan is president and chief product officer for SAP Data and Analytics at SAP.

SAP combines AI, data, and applications like never before to unleash your full potential and make you unstoppable

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