SAP Joule
SAP Joule is an AI-supported assistant (“AI copilot”) by SAP assisting employees and decision-makers with context-related insights and intelligent automations to make business processes more efficient, data-driven and productive. In this way, tasks in the SAP S/4HANA context and other SAP systems, whether for private or public edition, can be optimized.
Product Manager at FIS
How does SAP Joule stand out from other AI assistants?
Like other well-known AI chatbots (e.g. ChatGPT), the Joule copilot understands natural language and can respond to user questions or instructions. In contrast to other chatbots, however, this takes place within the scope of company data and business context.
Relevant contents ensure that Joule understands the context of a user. This includes roles and authorizations.
Reliable results using LLMs means that the answers are based on the SAP knowledge and the business reality of the respective customer and end user.
Responsibility and data security are central points. SAP controls them together with partners so that the customer data will not be used for training purposes or any other third-party use.
One AI assistant for the entire AI ecosystem
The new AI assistant is omnipresent, always available and proactive in supporting all users in all SAP cloud solutions. Your AI assistant is the wise colleague who looks over your shoulder and helps you make better use of innovations – from accounting and supply chain to human resources.
How does Joule work in the business context?
Example: A sales manager asks Joule: “Why have sales figures declined in region X?” – Joule analyzes the business data available throughout the company and recognizes, for instance, a below-average sales rate in this region. At the same time, Joule links this information to other data records and identifies a supply chain problem (e.g. delivery delays) as a cause. Joule proposes solutions to the sales manager to fix the supply chain problem, proactively provides insights across departmental borders and helps making well-founded decisions more quickly.
What technology is behind SAP Joule?
Every incoming inquiry is processed and orchestrated on the basis of the data available. Here, Joule considers three categories:
In addition, Joule protects against inappropriate use, bias and hate speech by means of “crash barriers”.
The human being always keeps their hands on the wheel so that human control and ability to act remain unchanged.
What functions does SAP Joule offer?
An overview was given in the first few sections. Focusing on the functionality, the most important SAP Joule skills can be summarized as follows:
Communication in natural language
Joule understands entries in natural language. Joule answers in the same user language and can, if required, enrich answers with graphics, charts or links to detailed data. This makes interaction with complex SAP systems as easy as a conversation.
Transactional interaction
This functionality comprises the triggering and influencing of business processes using natural language and generative AI, e.g. purchase orders that must be checked and approved, job offers that are created OR any other CRUD-based (Create, Read, Update, Delete) interaction.
Navigation
If the user would like to execute a business process themselves in the corresponding SAP screen, they can navigate directly there with the support of Joule. This is particularly helpful for users that are not very familiar with the navigation in SAP applications.
Information
Users get knowledge-based results through informative interactions. There are two categories:
One category is based on SAP contents aiming at making available the entire knowledge base via Joule, e.g. with the SAP help documentation. It is managed by SAP and made available to every Joule user by default.
It is also possible to upload individual contents. Customers can therefore upload their own HR policies, travel policies, information contents and others and, in this way, enable the copilot to access individual insights. This function is called document grounding. In this way, the quality of the answers to the users is increased by internal knowledge.
Analytics
Customers can use this function for analytical queries. They can ask Joule ad hoc for analyses (e.g. “Which of our products has the lowest sales costs?”) and AI instantly provides the evaluation – often visualized as graphics or tables.
How can procedures be automated using a system of AI agents?
With the advent of AI agents, cross-company efficiency can be considerably increased. They can make informed decisions and autonomously execute multilevel workflows on behalf of business users. Moreover, they can bridge functional silos so that core processes run without errors and the entire organization works more efficiently.
What are Joule agents?
Joule orchestrierte spezifische Agenten, um Aufgaben autonom durchzuführen. Die Library von KI-Agents wird ständig erweitert. Bis Ende 2025 sollen 40 solcher Agenten verfügbar sein.
Here, it is important to have the right agents that are based on the right business context and the right data and that can cooperate with the employees to promote more efficient cross-function processes.
How are Joule agents used in SAP Business Suite?
Artificial intelligence is part of the entire Business Suite. Intelligent information can be processed and used in all areas.
Joule is part of SAP Business AI, a strategic approach by SAP to integrate artificial intelligence (AI) into business processes of companies and make them available centrally.
SAP Business Suite in the above picture offers Joule agents the platform to automate end-to-end processes with the help of 1,300 ready-to-use Joule capabilities. AI solutions and AI services are provided globally to solve tasks with SAP Business AI.
The AI agents can communicate with each other to automate cross-divisional processes within the entire company (MRP and quotation planning including procurement negotiations as shown in the picture below). In this way, manual routine activities can be considerably reduced, and your teams will be relieved from time-consuming tasks.
Where do the Joule agents help?
Joule agents use context-related data. But it is not only a matter of technology.
Some examples of how the agents can assist employees:
Identifying discrepancies, verifying clarification cases and proposing solutions
Checking sales opportunities independently and recognizing customer inquiries
Automating job offers, designing exemptions, feedback and policy inquiries more efficiently
Use of natural language for developing code and in application logics
Integrated helpers for every business area
SAP Joule includes predefined AI functions for different business areas – from finances and HR to sales and distribution.
Therefore, the assistant in finance can give help in account reconciliation for instance or identify savings potentials in purchasing.
In the HR environment (SAP SuccessFactors or SAP HCM), Joule provides support for the creation of job offers or employee surveys; according to SAP, HR tasks can therefore be completed up to 90% faster. (source: SAP)
In SD and service (e.g. SAP Sales Cloud, SAP Service Cloud), Joule helps sellers answer customer inquiries more quickly, personalize quotations and impress customers with insights; in this way, sales can be closed more efficiently. For marketing and commerce, Joule can generate contents (e.g. product descriptions) and analyze customer segments automatically.
Even in logistics and supply chain management (e.g. with SAP EWM in the warehouse or SAP TM in transportation), Joule provides support through AI-based demand forecasts, automatic regenerative planning in case of incidents and route optimization.
Joule also assists IT development & consulting. AI supports developers in writing codes or creating data models and consultants accelerate projects.
Individual Joule agents
SAP does not only provide agents but also enables the creation of own individual agents. Your employees can use the Agent Builder tool to create tailored agents that are based on your company-specific business processes.
Extensibility with Joule Studio
Joule Studio (part of SAP Build) can be used to develop individual AI skills and agents with low code tools and integrate them into the copilot.
Integration with other agents
The integration with Microsoft Copilot enables inquiries that also concern SAP data for instance.
Conclusion
As a conclusion, the Joule AI assistant is a real allrounder in the SAP Cloud portfolio.
It unites artificial intelligence, automation and company-specific know-how to support employees across departments. From quick answers to everyday questions, the automation of tedious routine processes to the analysis of huge business data: Joule increases the productivity of users in their daily corporate routine and brings innovation to almost every business area.
This considerably increases customer experience. The controlling of SAP solutions via language commands will further increase it.
The copilot is also a game changer for digital transformation. Together with other SAP solutions, companies can start digital transformation or the migration to SAP S/4HANA more quickly and efficiently with the support of artificial intelligence.