What happens in Vegas doesn’t have to stay in Vegas, especially when it’s about the future of enterprise technology. At last week’s SAP Connect event in Las Vegas, SAP Executive Board Member and Chief Operating Officer Sebastian Steinhaeuser took to the keynote stage on the final day to share how SAP is creating a new era of productivity, intelligence, and business outcomes for customers worldwide.
Before diving into the heart of the keynote, Steinhaeuser invited SAP solution area CMOs to deliver lightning-fast recaps of news from the various SAP Connect event tracks. In just under two minutes each, they covered finance, procurement, supply chain, HR, and customer experience. From autonomous accounting and next-gen procurement to AI-driven talent acquisition and smarter customer loyalty, the message was clear: SAP is innovating across every business function.
The real challenge: connecting priorities
As Steinhaeuser pointed out, “The reality is each business area has its own unique priorities and, of course, all-important urgent matters.” The real challenge is not just launching new features; it’s aligning processes, data, and teams to conquer uncertainty and achieve true customer focus. “Simply putting an [AI] agent on top of a broken process will solve nothing,” he said.
The flywheel: AI, data, and apps in motion at SAP
So, how does it all work together? Enter the “flywheel” model: the dynamic cycle of AI, data, and applications that drives synergy across the enterprise. This is not just a theoretical approach. Steinhaeuser showed how “SAP runs SAP” using the flywheel model.
First, he said, SAP uses “role-based AI assistants, powered by specialized agents, [to] support team members across all areas of SAP.”
Next comes data. Earlier this year, SAP became “customer zero” for SAP Business Data Cloud (SAP BDC), connecting all enterprise data in a single layer to generate faster and better insights across financial, workforce, and sales planning. “We’re excited to go live with the first set of intelligent apps, starting with People Intelligence,” he added.
Finally, the app layer: SAP has moved from SAP ERP Central Component (SAP ECC) to SAP Business Suite and SAP Cloud ERP, through RISE with SAP. “The SAP Business Suite is where data is created and where AI delivers impact,” Steinhaeuser said.
But processes continuously evolve with AI, he said, noting that business transformation management, powered by solutions like SAP Signavio and SAP LeanIX, helps SAP and its customers continually improve processes and architecture, with AI embedded everywhere. The company also uses WalkMe to ensure employees stay informed and engaged at every step.
“Driving SAP’s own transformation, I understand the challenges you face,” Steinhaeuser said. “I am convinced leveraging the flywheel of AI, data, and apps across the entire SAP Business Suite is how we win together.”
Embedded AI: tangible value, secure, and seamless
Brenda Bown, chief marketing officer of Business AI at SAP, took the stage to highlight how business AI is showing up in day-to-day work. “I’ve heard three consistent themes in conversations [with customers]: first, you want AI that can provide tangible value; second, that is secure and properly governed; and third, that works seamlessly across your teams and business. We’re here to deliver just that,” she said.
Joule is now embedded in use cases in trusted SAP applications and is making work faster and easier across the enterprise. “By the end of this year, we will have more than 400 of these AI use cases,” Bown said. Joule Agents automate tasks across departments, and the new agent builder in Joule Studio (generally available in December) helps customers extend, build, or customize their own agents. SAP LeanIX AI Agent Hub and agent mining capabilities in SAP Signavio provide governance and transparency for AI agents.
Bown noted that customers like Matur Fompack are using Joule in SAP SuccessFactors to hire faster and improve career development. “The results are phenomenal: a 48 percent reduction in HR process execution time and 40 percent faster employee development and career planning, and, most importantly, a better employee and candidate experience,” she said.
For processes that require multi-step workflows and nuanced decisions, SAP introduced a new generation of role-based AI assistants. “They know your role in the organization, because they are role and context aware,” Bown said. These assistants tap into the right agents for the job, removing any guesswork and helping humans unlock new levels of insight and productivity.
She also showcased how agents collaborate across departments, automate workflows, and even extend SAP’s business logic to autonomous devices like robots. Early pilots with partners like NEURA Robotics are already showing Joule Agents planning and executing real work in the real world.
Data and intelligent applications: unified and actionable
Data is only valuable when it is actionable. Irfan Khan, president and chief product officer for SAP Data and Analytics, highlighted SAP BDC, which unifies enterprise data and powers intelligent applications. “SAP BDC offers the most powerful foundation for connecting your existing data, building next-generation applications, and the ability to foster and deploy reliable AI,” he said. And the new SAP Business Data Cloud Connect solution enables secure, bi-directional data sharing with partners like Databricks and Google Cloud.
Intelligent applications bridge the gap between people and AI. They support smarter decisions and collaboration. “These applications learn from your data and include business simulations to support every business leader with smarter decisions,” Khan explained. “If we don’t have a reliable data foundation built around trust, having reliable and resilient data, it becomes very debatable whether or not AI will succeed.”
From insight to action: transformation in practice
How do organizations turn strategy into action? Michael Ameling, president of SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), demonstrated how SAP Business Suite helps drive innovation by uniting core applications, data, and AI, all powered by SAP BTP and Business Transformation Management solutions. “Let’s say you want to understand and improve a business process,” he said. “SAP Signavio lets you dive deep and understand every detail, and can suggest concrete actions. Then, use those insights to improve the process in SAP Build by automating processes and building your own agents.”
He demonstrated how SAP BTP and the Business Transformation Management portfolio can help organizations connect systems, gain visibility, and automate processes. Tools including SAP Signavio, SAP Build, and SAP Integration Suite are helping customers like Blue Diamond Growers streamline operations and accelerate transformation.
Services and support: accelerating innovation and realizing value
SAP’s Anja Schneider, SVP and global head of Premium Engagement and Advisory, wrapped up this segment of the keynote by focusing on how the company’s services and support teams help customers realize the full value of their SAP investments.
“We’re with you every step, like a personal trainer,” she said, highlighting how SAP’s suite methodology, integrated tools like WalkMe and SAP Cloud ALM, and expert guidance help customers realize the full value of their SAP investments. She pointed to IBM’s transformation project as proof: working with SAP MaxAttention teams and a clean core approach, upgrades went smoothly with low incidents for more than 150,000 users across 175 geographies.
Customer perspective: Southern California Edison’s journey
Real-world impact matters. Southern California Edison (SCE) SVP and CIO Todd Inlander shared how the utility company’s transformation journey with SAP is helping modernize its foundational systems and optimize back-office processes. Facing unprecedented demand and environmental challenges, the company is leveraging SAP solutions, including SAP Business AI capabilities, to transform its operations.
“We need to adhere to our mission: to deploy safe, reliable, affordable power,” he said. “We can’t do that by doing things the way we’ve always done. We have to incorporate SAP. We’re using it to transform the way we work in our environment. We need to leverage AI because we don’t have enough humans to do all the work. We have to scale.”
As SCE deploys SAP Business Suite over the next year, it’s focusing on keeping a clean core and reducing customizations. “When we implemented ECC 15 years ago, about 66 percent of our enhancements were never used. We’re learning from that experience,” Inlander said. He went on to note that SCE will use the SAP deployment time to continue to transform its back-office operations. “We’ll be integrating Joule and other AI solutions because doing things the way we’ve always done them and expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity.”
Steinhaeuser closed the keynote with a look to the future: “We’ve made great progress across all lines of business to deliver a unique experience for you—with AI becoming your personal assistant, powered by data that defies boundaries and applications that take insight to action. The cross-capabilities you just saw now make the flywheel spin.”
The future is here, and is powered by the synergy of AI, data, and applications. Every business can turn innovation into impact.
