NEWS 46 - The World Management

13 February

Joule Agents: How SAP Uniquely Delivers AI Agents That Truly Mean Business

AI agents mark the next era of AI and a quantum leap in business productivity. They stand ready to address one of the biggest roadblocks to your business growth and competitive agility — friction in true collaboration across end-to-end processes.

Every day, your people spend too much time aligning data, decisions, and actions across functional silos. AI agents can help bridge these silos, so that core processes run flawlessly and the entire organization operates more efficiently.

However, capturing this opportunity is not about creating lots and lots of siloed agents across the enterprise that help reinforce more functional independent tasks. Instead, it’s about having the right agents, grounded in the correct business context and data, that can work together, supporting human collaboration and improving end-to-end processes.

At SAP, we have been investing heavily to deliver the full promise of AI agents. From the start, we’ve architected SAP Business AI with a Suite-first principle that ensures an integrated AI strategy that brings exceptionally more value with every skill, feature, or scenario added to our portfolio of applications and platform.

Joule, our generative AI copilot, provides one seamless integrated experience across the suite, providing a unified user interface across all business functions and more than 1,300 skills to perform work across the organization. You can ask any question or present any business problem, and Joule will work across every part of your business to solve it like no other solution in the market.

These investments set a strong foundation for realizing our vision for Joule agents — a vision we first shared at SAP Sapphire in 2024. Joule agents are uniquely capable of working together and with business users in various roles to execute complex cross-functional processes with speed and reliability.

Watch the video: How Joule Agents Work

With today’s announcement of SAP Business Data Cloud, the foundation for Joule agents becomes even stronger, because AI agents are only as powerful as the data in which they are grounded.

SAP Business Data Cloud equips Joule agents with a single trusted data layer that breaks down data silos, unifying data across SAP and non-SAP sources. With SAP Business Data Cloud, Joule agents access the most complete and context-rich data sets, allowing them to reason more deeply and act with more insight to solve problems.

SAP Knowledge Graph, previously announced at SAP TechEd in 2024, serves as the semantic bridge between Joule agents and SAP Business Data Cloud. SAP Knowledge Graph reveals the connections between data and processes, helping Joule agents find all the most relevant data to ground their decisions and actions.

While knowledge graphs are not a new concept, combining them with new advanced technologies makes them extremely powerful. SAP Knowledge Graph is rapidly advancing to make SAP’s unique 50-plus years of business process expertise available to Joule agents. This process grounding further enables Joule agents to be aware of the context in which they operate and, therefore, to solve more challenging problems that involve multi-step processes spanning supply chain, procurement, finance, and more.

All these innovations turn our long-held AI agent vision into a reality, with more innovation to come, faster. Today, we announced the availability of a collection of ready-to-use Joule agents across finance, service, and sales, with more across the SAP Business Suite portfolio in 2025.

The announcement includes the planned first quarter availability of a cash collection Joule agent previewed at SAP TechEd in 2024. The cash collection agent will analyze disputes and work across finance, customer service, and operations to validate details and recommend resolutions. This Joule agent exemplifies the full promise of agentic AI — delivering new levels of operational efficiency by working cross-functionally to complete a complex, multi-step process that usually takes hours in just a few seconds.

Watch the video: Joule Agents Demo – Dispute Resolution

Today’s announcement also includes new ready-to-use Joule agents that advance efficiency across multi-step sales and service tasks. This includes a Q&A agent that continuously monitors opportunities and customer cases, proactively spotting questions and surfacing relevant answers from approved knowledge sources; a knowledge creation agent that automatically identifies novel case resolutions and creates structured knowledge articles that scale expertise across your organization; and a case classification agent that understands case context — for example, recognizing a tax-related inquiry even if the word “tax” isn’t mentioned — and correctly routes the case to the correct team.

This class of functionally focused Joule agents will become part of Joule’s collaborative agent architecture, making them available to team with other Joule agents to solve problems across cross-functional processes. For example, when the case classification agent identifies a customer billing dispute, it can route it to the cash collection agent, autonomously kicking off the dispute resolution multi-agent workflow. Through such agent teamwork, a dispute can not only be resolved in seconds but also within seconds of its receipt, further increasing process efficiency and delighting customers with unmatched response time.

In addition, SAP also previewed a custom agent builder capability for Joule studio in SAP Build. The new agent builder will make it simple for users such as citizen developers to create custom agents for their company’s unique business needs. A guided no-code workflow, informed by SAP’s business process expertise, helps ground custom AI agents in business processes and data, allowing them to solve problems through autonomous actions across a customer’s SAP and non-SAP applications. With the unique foundation provided by Joule, Joule agents, SAP Business Data Cloud, and SAP Knowledge Graph, the agent builder enables organizations to build powerful custom AI agents.

Watch the video: Building Custom Joule Agents in Joule Studio

With Joule agents, Joule is not just an AI copilot, but becomes an AI orchestrator across all your organization. Joule can now adaptively assemble and orchestrate teams of agents — including out-of-the-box as well as customer’s custom-built AI agents — from multiple business functions to perform complex end-to-end processes. With Joule agents, teams work more seamlessly, work moves faster, and businesses operate more efficiently.

To learn more, visit the Joule agents page.

Brenda Bown is chief marketing officer of SAP Business AI at SAP.

08 February

BUSINESS NEWS

Football in 3D: Elevating Match Analysis with Apple Vision Pro

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Using Apple Vision Pro, a new SAP Sports One prototype offers a unique 3D view on football matches from any player’s perspective to help gain deeper insights into game situations and boost player development.

Innovation from the Bottom-Up

It started with a hackathon for SAP engineers with the goal to create a prototype combining the power of immersive technology and SAP solutions. The SAP Sports One team won with a prototype unlocking the potential of spatial computing in football match preparation.

SAP Sports One is a comprehensive solution that helps sports organizations optimize performance on and off the field and is trusted by football clubs like TSG Hoffenheim and FC Bayern as well as the German Football Association.

Taking SAP Sports One to the Third Dimension

Imagine being able to dive into a match, not just as a spectator, but through the eyes of a player on the field. The prototype SAP Sports One Immersive allows exactly that.

Using Apple Vision Pro, analysts and players can replay and analyze match scenes in 3D from any player’s perspective. A user can switch between the perspectives of various players to better understand a specific situation during a match. This immersive experience enables a new kind of match analysis and can make it easier to identify situations where another behavior of a player would have potentially been better.

Through an app on Apple Vision Pro, this prototype aims to empower teams to optimize their performance—whether it’s preparing for the next big match or analyzing past performances. Timo Gross, head of Match Analysis for football club TSG Hoffenheim, believes there’s a huge potential in the simulation of game scenarios in immersive 3D. “This enhances player training and tactical understanding,” he said. “In fact, I believe that this has the potential to pave the way for a new approach in player development, especially in the youth space.”

Professional Feedback: TSG Hoffenheim Thinks Immersive

“TSG Hoffenheim is an innovative club, always looking for new technologies to improve match preparation and talent development,” Gross said. “Immersive match analysis could be a next big step.”

Using immersive technology, users can feel as if they are standing on the field. They can observe players, move around, and gain a comprehensive perspective of a game situation. “This immersive prototype shows a match analyst the exact perspective of a player in a specific moment,” Gross explained. “For the player, it makes the transition from viewing a theoretical situation on a tactic board to the real-life moment on the pitch much easier.”

For Gross, another powerful feature of the prototype is the 3D visualization of classical 2D tactics scenes. Using the SAP Challenger Insights mobile app, coaches and players can sketch game situations on a tablet. These 2D sketches can be transferred into the 3D immersive view.

From Hackathon onto the Stage

Winning the SAP hackathon on spatial experience was just the first step. On February 5, 2025, the prototype was presented at the SPOBIS Conference in Hamburg, Germany, Europe’s largest sports business event. In a live, on-stage presentation, Gross was joined by experts including Dr. Dietmar Blicker, deputy managing director at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Sports and Sports Science; Michael Oenning, UEFA-Pro licensed coach; and Fadi Naoum, senior vice president SAP Sports and Entertainment; to discuss the potential of immersive technologies in sports.

*On stage at SPOBIS, from left to right: Naoum, Oenning, Blicker, Gross, *moderator Achim Ittner (SAP)*. Copyright: Olivia Lehmann*

Oenning, who was head coach for German national division clubs Hamburger SV and 1. FC Nürnberg, is passionate about developing and promoting talents. “Training young people using technologies they encounter in their daily lives is something I would definitely use in my work as a coach,” he said. “Offering different perspectives of a game situation is an experience young players can benefit from tremendously.”

Blicker agreed that “3D experiences like these enhance the cognitive perception of a player.” Technology savvy by the nature of his role, he isn’t only involved in sports from an academic perspective, but also coaches the U23 team of the German second division team Karlsruher SC. “As a coach, I often sketch a tactical situation. But such a 2D drawing doesn’t easily translate to a real situation. The body height of a close opponent might cause a risk to an intended pass, or the distances on the field don’t match up in the end. Practicing situations in an immersive setting can help players to internalize certain behaviors,” he said.

SAP’s Naoum noted the importance of applying new technologies. “This prototype is a result of our continuous collaboration with partners like TSG Hoffenheim where we constantly test innovative technologies,” he said. “For SAP, sports serve as a front-runner to demonstrate new technologies that can potentially be applied in other industries as well.”

07 February

BUSINESS NEWS

Empowering Innovation: A Mutual Commitment to Skill Validation for Agile Success

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Accelerated cloud migration is not merely a technical shift; it is a vital response to broader societal and economic changes. To support businesses in their digital transformations, SAP and its partners have announced a commitment to validated skills, ensuring that companies can innovate swiftly to remain agile and successful.

As businesses increasingly adopt cloud-first strategies, their approach to IT infrastructure and enterprise applications is significantly evolving. Recent studies show that artificial intelligence (AI) adoption has more than tripled since 2017, with over 70% of companies now integrating AI into their operations.* For SAP customers, this transition presents opportunities to leverage innovative technologies and enhance business agility. However, success relies heavily on careful planning, strong partnerships, and future-ready skills.

To help customers remain agile, respond quickly to innovations, and continuously evolve their operations, SAP and its partners are committed to maintaining certified skills. New requirements, including annual certification renewals, ensure that experts stay current. By July of this year, all partner resources in key roles—such as enterprise architects, developers, business transformation management consultants, and project managers involved in RISE with SAP projects—must hold a valid SAP Certification. Furthermore, by the end of 2025, 50% of relevant partner practitioners are expected to possess at least one valid certification across the SAP solution portfolio.

Since its launch in 2021, SAP partners have been integral to RISE with SAP transformation projects, leveraging their expertise to tailor solutions to customer needs. From designing cloud transition road maps to implementing process automation and optimizing costs, partners can enable businesses to maximize the value of SAP solutions. They help ensure organizations adopt intelligent enterprise practices efficiently while addressing unique challenges and goals.

“This mutual commitment underscores SAP and its partners’ dedication to delivering exceptional value, staying ahead of evolving industry standards, and driving customer success in an ever-evolving landscape,” says Karl Fahrbach, chief partner officer at SAP. “Working with certified innovators skilled in the latest SAP technologies enables customers to achieve significant benefits—from reducing errors and risks to fostering innovation and accelerating deployment times.”

By collaborating with certified partner experts, customers can expect to adapt more readily to change and maintain competitiveness in a dynamic market. SAP and its partners’ commitment to innovative SAP skills highlights the importance of continuous learning and upskilling, working to ensure exceptional value delivery. With the latest competencies in high-demand SAP solutions, SAP’s ecosystem of partners strives to achieve our shared goal: delivering innovation excellence to customers.

*McKinsey, The state of AI in early 2024: Gen AI adoption spikes and starts to generate value, 2024

Andre Bechtold is SVP and head of Solution & Innovation Experience at SAP.

06 February

BUSINESS NEWS

Establishing a Mission and Vision for a Skills-Led Organization

by sherwin@eyeconz.com 0 Comments

It was a special moment when Caroline Hanke began her new role as global head of Organizational Growth and Health at SAP in early October 2024—though in an unexpected way. At the same time, Florida, where her and her family had moved into a new home three months earlier, was struck by Hurricane Helene, followed by Hurricane Milton two weeks later.

“We were evacuated and, fortunately, came out unscathed,” Hanke recalls. “But I had to hold the first all-employee meeting with the knowledge that we’d have to rebuild a flooded house, all while staying in a hotel with an unstable power supply.”

In her role, Hanke oversees strategic workforce planning, health, safety, and well-being, as well as the HR Trends and Innovation, People Insights, Organizational Design, and New Work departments.

Hanke also leads a new area of great importance for SAP’s future: the skills-led organization. But what exactly is a skills-led organization, and why is it important to focus on the capabilities of employees?

“A skills-led organization means moving away from rigidly defined job roles with a limited set of key qualifications and instead focusing more on the individual with their specific skills,” Hanke says. “The personal skill sets of employees will shape internal mobility, professional development, and our hiring strategies as a company.”

The skills-based approach recognizes that current job profile structures often fail to fully reflect employees’ competencies.

Hanke herself is a prime example of a personal skill set that extends beyond what a job description suggests. While she spent the past five years in the People & Culture Board area, her professional roots lie elsewhere.

Born in Germany, at the age of four Hanke moved to the U.S. with her parents for her father to work as a professor in computer science and software engineering at the University of Maryland. The planned one-year stay turned into nearly 10.

“I believe those formative childhood years in the U.S. not only gave me native-level English skills but also a deeper understanding of how culture shapes people’s thinking—and the importance of wanting to understand those differences,” she says.

While studying business information management in Mannheim, Germany, she joined SAP as a working student and gained experience in development. She later supported Daimler-Chrysler, initially as a technical quality manager and later as an engagement architect, where she served as a key SAP contact.

She then developed and led a customer management program for the private cloud, which at that point was still in its infancy. In that role, she reported weekly to the Executive Board of SAP SE and then-CEO Bill McDermott, which eventually led to discussions about her becoming his chief of staff.

“When I got the call, I thought there must be a misunderstanding because I hadn’t applied,” Hanke remembers. “The colleague on the other end laughed and said, ‘It seems someone recommended you.’”

This role took Hanke and her husband, along with their son born in Heidelberg, Germany, back to the U.S., where she had grown up. “I’ve never regretted it,” she says. “All in all, I’ve spent almost half my life in the U.S. and feel very at home here. I’d describe myself as half American, half German.”

After McDermott left SAP, Hanke worked in several roles for the new CEO, Christian Klein, before becoming COO in the then-new People & Operations Board area. Though she initially had little contact with HR, she quickly found the topics as engaging as they were challenging, especially given their impact on people and the organization.

“I think my own career path shows how much more experience and skills each of us brings beyond the role officially assigned to us,” she says. “The skills-based approach allows both the company and its employees to make better decisions. Employees want to stay relevant, and as an employer SAP aims to minimize disruptions for its people during changes.”

Skills Development with SAP SuccessFactors HCM

Two key areas impacted by the skills-based approach are training and hiring. Skills-based hiring means that while degrees won’t become irrelevant, the search for candidates will increasingly focus on individual skills and prior experiences.

But how can a company gain a clear picture of each employee’s range of skills?

This is where the growth portfolio, part of SAP SuccessFactors HCM, comes into play. All employees can conduct a skills inventory and add additional skills unrelated to their current role. These skills, often gained outside their formal roles, can now be documented.

Since it’s part of SAP SuccessFactors HCM, the growth portfolio can integrate seamlessly with functionalities like hiring, learning, career development, and talent management—areas that benefit the most from maintaining up-to-date skill data. Based on this information, the system can offer employees personalized, AI-driven recommendations for training and development, paving the way for their next career step.

The skills-based approach also brings significant advantages for workforce planning.

As Hanke explains: “For example, we want to avoid looking externally for skills that already exist within the company but haven’t been utilized or are in the wrong areas. That’s why transparency is so crucial.”

The more accurately workforce planning reflects the skills within the company, the better decisions can be made.

“Business and HR Need to Work More Closely Together”

“HR is one of those areas where everyone thinks they can weigh in,” Hanke says. “Looking back, I must admit I initially approached it with a typical business mindset: HR—how hard can it be? But I quickly learned otherwise. The topics are incredibly complex because there’s no right or wrong answer—solutions must be tailored to individuals. My respect for the HR organization has only grown since then.”

Hanke made a deliberate decision to stay in the People & Culture Board area. For her, HR is more than just a reporting or operational function; it must be deeply integrated into business decisions.

“I believe that people transformation can be a significant competitive advantage in today’s dynamic world,” she says. “And with my mix of business and HR knowledge, I can add value here because these two areas can no longer be separated.”

Hanke also emphasizes the strategic importance of health, safety, and well-being. “Employee well-being is one of the fundamental requirements for a functioning organization.”

SAP’s award-winning health management program, Run Healthy, is set to expand globally to additional countries in 2025. Mental health, especially in the context of COVID-19 and global political developments, remains a critical focus.

“I’m continually impressed by how advanced and diverse SAP’s offerings are,” Hanke says, who has personally benefited from some of them. As a leader, she feels particularly responsible for addressing health-related topics appropriately.

“It’s important to us to see employees as whole individuals and support their holistic development,” she emphasizes. “The skills-based approach, which enables employees to fully leverage their potential, offers exciting new possibilities. We’re embarking on this journey together—and I’m looking forward to it.”

06 February

BUSINESS NEWS

The Triple Crown of Strategic Procurement: Leveraging AI for Business Improvement

by wendy@eyeconz.com 0 Comments

Not a minute passes when executives don’t ask their organizations, “What are we doing for AI?” To put a spin on a famous JFK quote, “Ask not what you can do for AI, but what AI can do for your business.” While AI has enormous potential for organizations of all shapes, sizes, and industries, let’s focus on how it can drive a continuous cycle of improving risk, assurance, costs, efficiency, and sustainability. This cycle is what we call the “triple crown” of strategic procurement.

The triple crown strategy is a three-step approach that combines insights, planning, and action to revolutionize procurement processes. At the heart of this strategy lies the SAP Spend Control Tower solution, a powerful tool that helps bring together data from various sources to provide a comprehensive view of your spending.

Graphic showing the triple crown of procurement strategy: insights from SAP Spend Control Tower, planning from SAP Ariba Category Management, and action from SAP Ariba Sourcing. — 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 SAP Spend Control Tower and how it can provide crucial insights into your procurement landscape. Click to enlarge.

Step 1: Insights—Understanding Your True Business Objectives

Before diving into any initiative, it’s crucial to understand your true business objectives. These might include cost reduction, improved sustainability, increased profitability, improved customer service, or a combination of factors. The key is to identify and measure metrics that not only reflect these objectives but also help improve them.

This is where analysis and insights come into play. SAP Spend Control Tower is the engine that can drive these insights, offering a bird’s-eye view of your entire procurement landscape.

Let’s break down some of the key areas where SAP Spend Control Tower can provide valuable insights:

AI-Enabled Enrichment

Graph explaining enrichment analysis. It shows how after enrichments, the number of unique suppliers is drastically reduced, which is an important initial step in driving value for most initiatives. — *Enrichment analysis: In this example, the number of unique suppliers is drastically reduced, an important initial step in driving value for most initiatives.* Click to enlarge.

This is a leading indicator of value. Without understanding duplicate supplier names and components, achieving objectives will be much more challenging. The supplier enrichment analysis is a quick way to understand that value will be achieved by showing the true number of suppliers where spend occurs.

For example, your organization may not perceive risk if materials are coming from five companies, but the situation changes if it’s really one company with many names or misspellings. From a cost-savings perspective, we may not realize this is actually one supplier, and our spend is five times more to a single supplier instead of one times to five different suppliers. This insight can significantly impact risk assessment and cost management strategies.

Spend Trends

By aggregating data from multiple systems and sources, the solution can reveal spending patterns over time. Are certain categories of spend increasing? Are there seasonal fluctuations you need to account for? Understanding these trends can help you make more informed decisions about budget allocation and negotiation strategies.

Supply Risk

In today’s volatile market, understanding and mitigating supply risk is more critical than ever. SAP Spend Control Tower can help identify potential risks in your supply chain, such as overreliance on a single supplier or geopolitical risks in certain regions. As tariffs are a hot discussion in 2025, understanding the potential of tax fluctuations can be a strategic weapon for your business.

Supplier Fragmentation

Are you spreading your spend too thin across too many suppliers? The solution can highlight areas where consolidating suppliers might lead to better pricing or terms.

Consolidation Opportunities

On the flip side, are there areas where you’re too reliant on a single supplier? SAP Spend Control Tower can help identify opportunities to diversify your supplier base for increased resilience.

Diversity and Sustainability Targets

Many organizations have goals related to supplier diversity or sustainability. The solution can track progress towards these goals and identify areas for improvement.

Payment Terms Consolidation

Inconsistent payment terms across suppliers can lead to cash flow issues and missed opportunities for early payment discounts. SAP Spend Control Tower can help identify opportunities to standardize and optimize payment terms.

But here’s the thing: having all this data at your fingertips is just the beginning. The real magic happens when you start to connect the dots and uncover insights that weren’t visible before.

For instance, you might discover that while you’re meeting your overall spend targets, you’re falling short on your sustainability goals. Or you might find that your cheapest supplier for a critical component is also the one with the highest risk profile. These are the kinds of insights that can drive real change in your procurement strategy.

The Power of Real-Time Insights

One of the most powerful features of SAP Spend Control Tower is its ability to provide real-time insights. In today’s fast-paced business environment, waiting for monthly or quarterly reports just doesn’t cut it anymore. You need to be able to react quickly to changes in the market, shifts in supplier performance, or emerging risks.

Imagine being able to spot a sudden price increase from a key supplier the moment it happens, rather than discovering it weeks later when reviewing invoices. Or picture being able to track the impact of a natural disaster on your supply chain in real time, allowing you to quickly implement contingency plans.

This real-time capability isn’t just about reacting to problems; it’s also about seizing opportunities. Maybe you spot a dip in commodity prices that you can take advantage of, or you notice a trend in your spending that suggests an opportunity for bulk purchasing discounts.

The Human Element

While we’re talking about AI and advanced analytics, it’s important to remember that these tools are meant to augment human intelligence, not replace it. The insights provided by SAP Spend Control Tower can be invaluable, but they still need to be interpreted and acted upon by skilled procurement professionals.

This is where the art of procurement meets the science of data analysis. The solution might tell you that you have an opportunity to consolidate suppliers in a certain category, but it’s up to you to weigh that against other factors like supplier relationships, quality considerations, and long-term strategic goals.

The Road Ahead

As we wrap up this introduction to the triple crown of strategic procurement and SAP Spend Control Tower, it’s clear that we’re just scratching the surface of what’s possible. The next article will dive deeper into the planning phase, exploring how SAP Ariba Category Management can help you turn these insights into actionable strategies.

Remember, the journey to procurement excellence is ongoing. It’s not about reaching a destination, but about continuously improving and adapting to an ever-changing business landscape. With solutions like SAP Spend Control Tower, you’re equipped to not just keep up with these changes, but to stay ahead of the curve and drive real value for your organization.

So, are you ready to start your journey towards the triple crown of strategic procurement? The race is on, and with the right tools and strategies, you’re primed for success.

To learn more, check out this infographic outlining how to win the triple crown of 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.

05 February

BUSINESS NEWS

Jump Start for Volkswagen’s Battery Startup PowerCo

by jennychua@twm.com.sg 0 Comments

Volkswagen, one of the leading car makers, is driving forward the transition to electric vehicles (EVs). To be successful, the Wolfsburg, Germany-based company believes that it’s crucial to vertically integrate the battery value chain. Consequently, Volkswagen took matters into its own hands and founded the battery company PowerCo in 2022.

“PowerCo will develop and produce battery cells for the VW Group in best quality, in large numbers,” Andreas Eckle, CIO of PowerCo SE, told the audience during a live session at Hannover Messe trade fair. “The gigafactories are set up to a standard factory design.” This ensures the same processes, the same equipment, and the same workflows at all its locations, he explained.

05 February

BUSINESS NEWS

New Offering to Help Navigate Complex RISE with SAP Transformations

by jennychua@twm.com.sg 0 Comments

In the second quarter of 2025, SAP will announce an offering called “SAP ERP, private edition, transition option.” This cloud subscription service is designed to help large customers with complex installations on a RISE with SAP journey from SAP ERP systems to SAP cloud ERP.

Here, we will give a brief preview on what this offering will be about and how customers will benefit from it.

Already today, thousands of SAP customers have successfully leveraged SAP cloud solutions to transform their businesses, achieve agility, and increase efficiencies. We see our customers unlocking new innovations through modernization of their business processes and embracing a cloud operating model. For most SAP customers, it is not a matter of whether they are going to move from their legacy systems, but a question of how quickly they can do this in the overall context of their business and IT transformation.

As we approach 2030 and the end of extended maintenance for on-premise SAP ERP systems, this transformation becomes even more important. Continuing to use these systems beyond 2030 will become increasingly challenging and risk prone, as, for example, third-party products like older Java versions will no longer be supported from the respective vendors.

On the other hand, we know that SAP customers with very large and complex on-premise IT landscapes — including a large number of SAP ERP systems, some in the hundreds — require flexibility to move each part of their landscape to the cloud with the pace and agility needed to support evolving business requirements.

To help customers in this situation better prepare for the future, we will introduce a new cloud subscription offering, SAP ERP, private edition, transition option, designed to help our largest and most complex customers plan, execute and succeed in their cloud transformation.

This new offering will be an SAP ERP cloud subscription centered around SAP ECC, along with a set of dedicated services to help with the transformation to SAP cloud ERP. It will also support business continuity with patches for security, legal and software issues. It will be available for purchase starting in 2028 and will be active for usage from 2031-2033. SAP is pre-disclosing this offering because we understand that customers with complex landscapes need advance notice, hence we want to give sufficient time for planning purposes.

It is an additional and non-mandatory offering. Customers who are planning to complete their transformation journey by the end of 2030 will not need it. SAP ERP, private edition, transition option, is intended for customers who require additional time and support.

The offering will have a set of conditions, including:

The scope of products will be centered around SAP ECC; it will not include the full scope of SAP Business Suite 7 that is only available for subscription until end of 2030. SAP will make the eligible scope of products transparent starting later this year.
Systems relevant for the SAP ERP, private edition, transition option, need to be moved to SAP ERP, private edition prior to the end of 2030.
In order to be able to subscribe to the new offering from 2031 to latest end of 2033, a set of preparations are required: SAP HANA is the only supported database for the new subscription offering; there will be a set of further adjustments needed, e.g. as third-party technology, such as older versions of Java, are no longer supported.
More details will be announced closer to availability-to-purchase in 2028.

The natural next step and target after utilizing the new offering would then be a transition to SAP cloud ERP.

To clarify, we would like to emphasize that this is not a maintenance prolongation of SAP ERP. There are no changes for customers running on-premise SAP ERP systems after 2030.

The new offering, SAP ERP, private edition, transition option, will come at an expanded fee in 2031-2033 compared to a comparable ERP cloud subscription before 2031. Naturally, due to the complexity in offering such a service, this is targeted to larger and complex systems. More details will be shared with the broader launch in Q2 2025 and once we move closer to the contractual availability of the offering in 2028.

Feel encouraged to contact your SAP account executive or SAP partner to learn more and get started planning.

Stefan Steinle is executive vice president and head of Customer Support & Cloud Lifecycle Management at SAP.

05 February

BUSINESS NEWS

Intelligent Selling with Joule Now Available in SAP Sales Cloud

by twm 0 Comments

Sales teams are always looking for ways to make the most of their limited time. This is where SAP’s AI copilot Joule for SAP Sales Cloud can come in.

Joule is designed to help sales reps maximize their selling time, moments, and success, which is why we are excited to announce that Joule is available for the SAP Early Adopter Care program in SAP Sales Cloud.

With Joule, sales reps can leverage AI-powered capabilities to streamline their work and engage more effectively with customers.

Streamline Administrative Tasks

Joule can update appointments and add notes from the latest customer interactions, turning admin time into more time for selling.

Access Insights from Across SAP Systems

Joule can access business data from other SAP systems like SAP S/4HANA Cloud to provide talking points for upcoming meetings or account and lead insights during customer calls. This puts the right information at reps’ fingertips, improving credibility and trust in every engagement.

Joule surfacing accounts to click into more details

Update Deals Effortlessly

Reps can tell Joule to update a lead, opportunity, or quote with the latest information, enabling real-time forecast accuracy without friction. By assisting with these tasks, Joule allows sales teams to focus on what matters most: building relationships and closing deals. It makes updating deals effortless, giving sales leaders the forecast confidence they need.

Join the SAP Early Adopter Care Program

You can be among the first to experience the benefits of Joule through the SAP Early Adopter Care program for SAP Sales Cloud. Participants in the program will get:

Early access to Joule features
Dedicated support from SAP for a successful rollout
The chance to provide input and shape the future of Joule
Recognition as pioneers in AI-powered selling

With Joule, you have the opportunity to transform how their sales teams work, engage, and deliver.

Get Started Now

Ready to empower your sales team with Joule? The SAP Early Adopter Care program is accepting registrations until March 31, 2025. Register now through the SAP Customer Influence site.

Steven Spears is AI Product Marketing lead for SAP Customer Experience at SAP.

04 February

BUSINESS NEWS

Data Federation: Giving New Meaning to the Adage “Think Globally, Act Locally”

by twm 0 Comments

In December 2024, SAP Business Network—the world’s largest B2B platform, facilitating more than US$6.2 trillion in commerce annually in 190 countries—launched its first data center in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), representing a major step forward in the execution of SAP’s data federation strategy. SAP Business Network has now become a distributed, decentralized, and federated business network for SAP Business Network for Logistics and SAP Business Network Asset Collaboration across the EU, U.S., and KSA. With this milestone, SAP has delivered on a crucial promise made to a highly consequential set of customers.

But what exactly is data federation? And why does it hold so much promise for customers in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere?

To counter the ever-present threat to global supply chains posed by disruption—whether arising from geopolitical conflict, labor unrest, financial crisis, natural disaster, or other upheaval—businesses are turning increasingly to cloud-based solutions to extend visibility and instill resilience across their operations and those of their trading partners, particularly when managing supply chains, logistics, and dispersed capital equipment or other mission-critical assets. Yet just as businesses must assess risk on an international scale to stay competitive, they also must comply with a burgeoning set of regulations around the world requiring operational data to reside physically within a nation’s borders. By applying cloud-based solutions, businesses can transact commerce through global digital networks while adhering strictly to regional data residency requirements through an approach known as data federation.

Data federation permits operational information from disparate sources to be accessed and updated as though it resided in a single, unified location. Instead of moving or copying data from one system to another, federation provides users with real-time access unburdened by duplication.

Federation becomes crucial when an organization must unify its data across different storage platforms while ensuring the integrity and security of the underlying operational sources. This becomes particularly vital for companies with complex data architectures, whose data may reside in SAP systems, cloud data lakes, or third-party applications. Data federation brings multiple advantages, especially in hybrid or multi-cloud environments, including global access, cost efficiency, unified governance and security, and faster time to insights.

But the advantages extend still further. With the launch of our KSA data center, SAP Business Network core services have been deployed. This includes multilingual support, such as proficiency with languages read right-to-left like Arabic, and a Federated Trading Partner Index Service for routing transactions between different data centers. Saudi customers can thus adhere to local data privacy regulations while retaining the ability to collaborate and transact with trading partners around the world.

Why Is This Important?

With the deployment of SAP Business Network in the KSA data center, public sector or critical national infrastructure (CNI) customers and prospects in KSA can rest assured that regulations have been followed strictly, allowing these organizations to transact on SAP Business Network for Logistics and SAP Business Network Asset Collaboration. Data federation helps ensure that trading partners can find each other, regardless of where they may be registered.

What’s Next?

The deployment of SAP Business Network for Logistics and SAP Business Network Asset Collaboration for Saudi customers in the public and critical national infrastructure sectors, for whom data federation is crucial, marks only the initial step. Later this year, both products will become available for private-sector customers in KSA as well. SAP Business Network Commerce Automation and SAP Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration will also be deployed in the KSA data center in coming quarters. Meanwhile, SAP will continue to expand its data center footprint and data federation program across the globe, with the expansion of SAP Business Network capabilities throughout 2025 and beyond.

For information on SAP Business Network and how we are equipping enterprises with business AI and related capabilities needed to instill resilience, counter disruption, and foster collaboration, visit sap.com/businessnetwork and sap.com/ai.

Jörn Keller is chief product officer for SAP Business Network.

04 February

BUSINESS NEWS

SAP Takes Early Charge in 2025 with Innovative Spend Management Solutions

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2025 is already off to a fast start, and that’s no different for SAP.

As we dive into 2025, SAP is already making waves in the spend management arena. Building on last year’s momentum, we are constantly innovating our market-leading solutions so you can reduce costs, mitigate risks, improve collaboration, and make sure every spend decision is aligned with your business strategy to help drive your business forward.

Q4 Breakthroughs: Highlighting Our Latest Innovations

It was an honor to collaborate with so many of you last year. When your business is at its best, so is ours, and this mutual partnership is what fuels our commitment to innovation. In Q4, our solutions—SAP Ariba, SAP Business Network, SAP Concur, and SAP Fieldglass—made significant strides, particularly in SAP Business AI. Here are just a few highlights:

SAP Spend Control Tower: Now generally available, this solution can provide a single source of truth for all payment and supplier data, enhanced with AI-enabled spend classifications and supplier insights. It helps streamline spend processes, cut procurement costs, manage supplier risks, and track sustainability goals.
Generative AI in SAP Business Network Discovery: We’ve introduced generative AI capabilities to help accelerate supplier search and improve network catalog product descriptions and summaries with AI-generated content.
AI flight recommendations in Concur Travel: This new feature can suggest policy-compliant flight options based on user preferences, loyalty programs, available inventory, and other factors.
Joule, SAP’s AI copilot, got cozy in SAP Fieldglass solutions this past quarter with the introduction of new features and functionalities, including:
- Interactive guidance for creating and scheduling new reports through natural conversation, helping to navigate report creation, searches, and data insights
- Quick answers to issues or questions with concise and easy-to-digest summaries of relevant information and helpful links to learn more
- AI-assisted job posting and statement of work template selection, recommending the most relevant one and pre-filling data fields to save you time

These innovations align perfectly with the Hackett Group’s 2025 Procurement Agenda and Key Issues Study Results findings. The study highlights data and analytics reporting as the top priority for procurement transformation, a need we’re addressing head-on with our AI-enhanced solutions.

New Customer Stories and Honors

We built our solutions to elevate spend management from the most mundane part of your day to the most strategic. But don’t just take my word for it. Discover how companies like Molex, SKYTRAC, Atruvia AG, and SATORP leverage SAP solutions for better control and business resilience.