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SAP Business AI

SAP Business AI

SAP Business AI is the comprehensive approach by SAP to seamlessly integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into business processes and enable central access to AI technology. The following specialist article explains what SAP Business AI stands for, how it differs from previous AI approaches by SAP and how new AI assistants and agents, such as SAP Joule, make companies more successful.

Florian Mahlmeister

Product Manager at FIS

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What is SAP Business AI?

SAP Business AI (Artificial Intelligence) is the strategic approach by SAP to directly embed AI functions in corporate applications and business processes and provide them centrally. It means that artificial intelligence supports areas such as supply chain, finances, human resources, procurement etc. directly within the SAP systems.

SAP Business AI is closely linked to the business data of the company and uses the full context of the company-wide data to make well-founded decisions. In this way, insights can be gained in real time, processes automated and forward-looking analyses made. Consequently, SAP Business AI provides real-time insights, automates routine tasks and enables Predictive Analytics on the basis of existing data.

SAP Business AI comprises a wide range of AI solutions and scenarios. Today, more than 130 AI-supported scenarios are already available for numerous business areas and SAP is planning to increase this number to approx. 400 scenarios by the end of 2025. This means that SAP offers one of the most comprehensive AI portfolios for corporate applications, ranging from forecasts to intelligent assistants and agents.

Today, SAP Business AI already optimizes processes and user experience in diverse SAP Cloud products. SAP SuccessFactors, for instance, uses AI to automatically summarize performance reviews. SAP Analytics Cloud offers the “Just Ask” option to ask analytical questions concerning data in natural language. These examples show that SAP Business AI is directly integrated in the daily routine and creates added value.

What is the difference between SAP Business AI and former AI approaches?

Evolution of the SAP AI strategy

Artificial intelligence is no new feature of SAP solutions. For many years, AI functions and machine learning services have already been available in SAP solutions, be it, for instance, in the context of SAP Leonardo or individual services for Predictive Analytics. With SAP Business AI, however, SAP pursues a new and more comprehensive approach. The fundamental strategy is to enrich all SAP products with embedded AI functions and provide partners and customers with an AI eco system for developing individual AI applications in a secure and protected environment. Business AI therefore stands for the seamless integration of AI into existing business processes.

Whereas separate AI tools or add-ons were preferred by users in the past, SAP Business AI is no independent product but an integral part of SAP Business Suite. It brings together AI functions, data and central business apps. This means that the AI functions run behind the scenes of the well-known SAP software (such as S/4HANA, SuccessFactors, etc.) without the user having to switch between different systems.

Suite first principle by SAP

Right from the beginning, SAP Business AI was developed on the basis of the “suite first” principle. This means that AI functions behave in the same standardized way in all SAP solutions and are able to have global access to data without switching between different SAP solutions. Here, AI agents specialized in one business area work together with other AI agents. This close interaction differs from the previous approach where AI solutions were often developed selectively for individual applications.

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What SAP AI technologies are a part of SAP Business AI?

SAP Joule – AI copilot

SAP Joule, the generative AI copilot by SAP is in the center of SAP Business AI. Joule is an intelligent assistant that is integrated into the SAP user interfaces and can be addressed by the user via natural language. It understands questions in the context of the corresponding business task. It can provide information, navigate or execute transactions and even support the development of new applications. With more than 1,300 predefined “skills”, Joule can execute various tasks across all business units – from data evaluation to posting a business process – and, as a consequence, it accelerates processes by up to 90 %. Joule works as AI-supported colleague that helps employees to make well-founded decisions more quickly and do routine tasks.

Joule agents

The AI strategy by SAP relies on a system of AI agents. As global assistant, Joule uses specific Joule agents that refer to relevant and context-rich data to decide and act more reliably. With their ability to make informed decisions and independently execute multilevel workflows on behalf of a business user, AI agents can bridge functional silos so that core processes run smoothly and the entire organization works more efficiently.

SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP)

AI Core & AI Launchpad
SAP Business Technology Platform is the technical foundation for SAP Business AI. SAP AI Core is an SAP BTP service for the secure provision and management of artificial intelligence models. Here, AI models can be trained, rolled out and operated. In addition, SAP AI Launchpad offers a central cockpit (software-as-a-service) to manage AI-supported scenarios and services across different environments. Customers can use the launchpad to view, for instance, which AI services are running, provide models or monitor the state of AI applications – everything within BTP. These platform components ensure that corporate-specific AI solutions can be integrated seamlessly and monitored centrally..

Generative AI Hub
The Generative AI HUB tool is also available on BTP. It offers central access to the latest generative AI models. Via Generative AI Hub, companies can use a wide selection of Large Language Models (LLMs) of leading providers – for instance GPT-4 (provided via Azure OpenAI) or Anthropic Claude 3 – and integrate them safely into their SAP business applications. The hub is used as abstraction layer: Developers can use it to address different AI models without having to directly deal with the APIs of the different AI providers. Moreover, SAP uses this middleware to ensure that security, data protection and governance are maintained when using external models.

Predefined AI services
Apart from Joule and the development tools, SAP Business AI also includes many predefined AI services that fulfill specific tasks “out of the box” and are available on BTP. Examples of services: Document Information Extraction service (automated document and invoice recognition), SAP Cash Application (AI-supported clearing of open items) or Service Ticket Intelligence (automatic categorization and routing of service requests). These AI services can directly be used by customers or integrated into their processes without having to train AI models of their own. They extend the SAP Business AI range by immediately operational modules for frequent business problems.

How do companies benefit from SAP Business AI?

  • Increased productivity and efficiency:
    SAP Business AI can be used to automate routine tasks and accelerate processes. AI agents take over repetitive activities or support the user with automatic data entries, comparisons or proposals. Employees gain time for value-adding activities while the company as a whole works more efficiently.
  • Cost savings:
    Process optimization via AI directly results in measurable cost advantages. SAP estimates the potential of savings worth millions due to reduced error rates, shorter processing times and better use of resources. Delivery costs, for instance, can be halved through automated goods receipt inspections. In Financial Accounting, manual efforts for the coordination of incoming payments can be reduced drastically. Both immediately result in lower process costs.
  • Optimized data-based decisions:
    SAP Business AI enables an intelligent evaluation of huge amounts of company data and its provision as decision-making aid. AI models recognize patterns and anomalies a human being would hardly note and provide deep insights into business processes. The management benefits from real-time dashboards and forecasts and can make well-founded decisions. The combination with SAP Business Data Cloud provides Joule with comprehensive, accurate and context-rich data. SAP Business Data Cloud is a fully managed SaaS solution, which standardizes and manages all SAP data and creates a seamless connection to external data. The ability to link data across department and system boundaries considerably improves planning and risk management.
  • Seamless user experience:
    A great advantage of SAP Business AI is the user-friendly integration into existing processes. The users do not have to learn new programs; they interact with AI in their familiar SAP user interface – be it with natural language or through the provision of AI-based proposals in the existing UI. This increases the acceptance of employees and AI becomes a productive tool more quickly. Moreover, the SAP approach of providing AI as a service in the cloud ensures that customers can use the functions immediately without having to build up their own AI infrastructures first.
  • Reliability and compliance
    It is essential for companies that AI solutions are safe, transparent and rule-compliant. SAP Business AI attaches great importance to Responsible AI, i.e. the responsible use of AI. In the context of Business AI, SAP ensures, for instance, that the AI models comply with the data protection and security standards required in the respective industries. Companies can rest assured that their sensitive data remains protected and AI decisions are transparent (AI Governance). This confidence in AI creates acceptance and reduces risks when using new technologies. Reliable does not only mean data security but also “grounded AI”, i.e. AI optimized in such a way that it uses data and no hallucinations. Moreover, ethical framework parameters must be noted, which is ensured by SAP Business AI.
  • Relevant results:
    The big difference with the private use of AI is the business context. The results delivered by AI must be relevant in the context of business data. Here, SAP is optimally positioned as business-critical data is in the core of the ERP system.

Where can SAP Business AI be used?

  • Supply Chain & logistics:
    In supply chains and production, SAP Business AI helps make processes more resilient and efficient. Computer vision models, for instance, can recognize quality defects in production at an earlier stage and, as a consequence, reduce scrap. For goods receipts, AI enables the automatic entry and update of deliveries, which reduces processing times and delivery costs by up to 50 %. Requirements planning also benefits from it: Delivery times forecast by AI and optimal purchase order quantities help companies optimize warehouse stocks and avoid bottlenecks.
  • Financial Accounting:
    As far as finances are concerned, SAP Business AI handles numerous tasks that required manual activities in the past. One example is accounts receivable accounting: AI automatically compares incoming payments with open invoices (cash application) and achieves a hit rate that automatically assigns over 70 % of the items. This is an enormous relief for accountants. Moreover, AI models can recognize anomalies in payment transactions or expense reports, which helps detect frauds or incorrect postings at an early stage. In the field of controlling, AI provides forecast support by analyzing historical data and forecasting trends. This makes financial budgeting more precise.
  • Human Resources (HR):
    In HR processes, SAP Business AI ensures speed and improved candidate experiences. Generative AI, for instance, can create high-quality job ads and job descriptions within seconds, which saves the recruiters a lot of time (up to 85 % time saving when creating job ad texts). Incoming job applications are prequalified by AI so that HR departments can identify suitable candidates up to 80 % more quickly. In addition, AI enables self-service offers so that employees can have access to the corresponding information or file requests without effort.
  • Customer service and Sales and Distribution
    SAP Business AI improves the customer experience through faster and personalized services. In the field of customer service, AI automatically classifies inbound support tickets according to topic and urgency, forwards them to the responsible employees and, at the same time, proposes suitable solution approaches. This accelerates processing and increases customer satisfaction. In the field of Sales and Distribution, AI analyzes customer data, previous purchases and interactions to show sales employees sales opportunities and cross-selling options. Joule, for instance, can answer questions such as “Who of my customers suffered a sales decline in this quarter?” and help SD to take counteractive measures proactively. Quotations and contracts can also be created more quickly through AI support (automatic drafts, risk analyses etc.).
  • Marketing and e-commerce:
    In the marketing area, AI creates a fine segmentation of customer groups from big datasets to address them individually. AI models segment customers according to their behavior for instance and, consequently, enable specific campaigns (right person, right time, right channel). Moreover, generative AI can be used to create contents such as product descriptions or personalized newsletter texts, which relieves the marketing team. In e-commerce platforms, Business AI ensures personalized recommendations and search results (e.g. image recognition for visual product search) so that customers will find what they need more quickly. All this results in higher conversion rates and more satisfied customers.
  • Procurement:
    In the purchasing department as well, SAP Business AI helps take better decisions. An AI model can propose alternative and more sustainable sources of supply on the basis of purchasing and vendor data for instance. Automotive supplier Martur Fompak, for instance, has trained an AI model in SAP AI Core, which shows the purchasing department more environment-friendly material options. In addition, ordering processes can be automated. Everything will be controlled by AI: from need recognition (if, e.g., warehouse stocks fall below a specific threshold value) to purchase order triggering and digital release. This accelerates the procure-to-pay process and saves costs.

Why is SAP Business AI of strategic importance for companies?

  • You gain competitive advantages through innovation
  • AI plays a key role in digital transformation
  • Your company becomes more attractive for young employees
  • Even lateral entrants can fill the skilled workers’ gap through easy onboarding and assistance by employees
  • Highly motivated employees that are relieved from routine tasks

Conclusion

Together with the utilization of data available in the company, SAP Business AI is the logical development step of SAP Business Suite. Through the fusion of data, processes and AI, SAP creates added value reflected in faster processes, better decisions and innovative business models. For companies, this is the chance to drastically increase their efficiency and agility accompanied by high reliability and seamless integration into existing systems. In short: SAP Business AI unites decades of SAP business process experience with state-of-the-art AI technology to make companies fit for the future. Whoever uses this strategic connection between cloud, data and AI lays the foundation for competitiveness in the digital age and full exhaustion of growth potentials.

FAQ – Frequently asked questions

SAP Business AI is closely linked to SAP BTP as many AI functions are provided as cloud services via the platform. If you use advanced SAP cloud applications (such as SAP S/4HANA Cloud, SuccessFactors, etc.), you automatically use Business AI, i.e. the underlying BTP infrastructure runs in the background. However, BTP becomes directly relevant for individual AI projects or the management of AI models: companies can use services such as SAP AI Core and AI Launchpad (components of BTP) to develop, roll out and monitor their own AI scenarios. In short: Out-of-the-box AI functions in SAP solutions are provided via BTP without having to take care about it. If, in addition, AI is to be individually extended or integrated, the BTP tools can specifically be used for this purpose.

The full functional scope of SAP Business AI is mainly available in the cloud offers by SAP. SAP pursues a “cloud first” strategy for AI because fast further development and scalability are only guaranteed in this way. Some selected AI functions (such as specific ML algorithms in SAP HANA) can be used on-premise but customers benefit much more from these functions in the cloud. Companies with on-prem landscapes can nevertheless have access to Business AI using hybrid models (e.g. RISE with SAP or side-by-side extensions on BTP). However, they should consider a cloud migration in the long run in order not to miss anything.

A useful initial access is to check first which SAP cloud products in the company already include AI functions: many AI features are included by default in the current versions of SAP S/4HANA Cloud, SuccessFactors etc. and only have to be activated or configured. Next, pilot projects can be defined. Areas with high manual efforts or data-intensive processes are often suitable to test first AI applications (e.g. invoice recognition, forecasting or chatbot in the service). Moreover, SAP provides comprehensive resources to facilitate the start. Predefined contents, missions and services are available in the SAP Discovery Center. It is also important to involve employees at an early stage: training courses on AI-supported functions (e.g. how to work with the Joule copilot) promote acceptance. Summed up: Start small with specific use cases, use the tools/services offered by SAP and then scale the successful solutions to further areas.

Many AI functions of SAP Business AI are already included in the existing SAP cloud solutions. This means that if you have licensed, for instance, SAP S/4HANA Cloud or SAP SuccessFactors, the AI features integrated there (such as Joule as copilot or automatic analyses) can usually be used without any surcharge. In addition, optional AI services and extensions are offered that might be licensed separately (SAP Premium AI Services). It depends on the respective scenario whether additional costs arise for a specific AI function. In the discovery center, costs can be estimated prior to the implementation using AI Estimator. It can be helpful when estimating costs and benefits (ROI).

For all AI functions – particularly generative AI – SAP pursues the approach of reliable AI. This means that customer data remains protected and is not transferred to third parties without any control. The Joule AI copilot, for instance, runs within the secure SAP environment and only has access to customer data that are accessible according to the SAP Security Policies. If external AI models (e.g. GPT-4 via Generative AI Hub) are used, SAP will act as a mediator: Requests to LLM are sent in anonymized and secured form and results are returned without the external model being given direct access to confidential company data. Moreover, SAP logs the interactions and therefore ensures traceability (important for audits and compliance). In addition, SAP has defined ethics guidelines for AI – e.g. no tolerance of distortions or discriminations in algorithms – and implements technical controls (such as filters for inappropriate contents of generative AI answers). As a consequence, companies can benefit from SAP’s generative AI while data protection, IT security and compliance remain ensured.