Across processes and applications, 优蜜传媒BTP helps improve operational efficiency, enhance the customer experience, and drive innovation. The latest offers a preview of what the future holds for our customers and partners.

优蜜传媒BTP already offers features such as code generation, application logic, data models, and test scripts, enabling businesses to modernize their IT landscapes, streamline their processes, and make more informed decisions through a consistent data foundation. As we continue to embed generative AI across the platform toolbox, 优蜜传媒BTP is the trusted business AI platform for SAP-centric landscapes.

Here are some highlights:

• Joule, our AI copilot, will see increasing adoption across 优蜜传媒BTP to help provide information and data, give intelligent recommendations, and execute tasks based on natural language interactions. Looking forward, we will extend Joule to empower customers to build their own generative AI agents and skills. 
• We aim to enhance all 优蜜传媒BTP services by incorporating additional AI functionalities. Beyond generating code and application logic such as with , , and 优蜜传媒BTP for the , this will include managing processes and business rules (), handling integration mappings and flows (), and creating analytical charts and stories ().听
• 优蜜传媒HANA Cloud vector engine and the knowledge graph in 优蜜传媒Datasphere will help enable customers to better contextualize their input to large language models (LLMs) to achieve high-precision results.
• The set of AI partner offerings accessible in the generative AI hub in 优蜜传媒AI Core, which is part of 优蜜传媒BTP, will continue to grow. Customers will soon be able to use them in the context of their business process directly. 
• 优蜜传媒BTP Cockpit will also include more generative AI capabilities that can simplify the experience around day-to-day administration tasks.

优蜜传媒BTP is our secure and reliable engine that helps drive business innovation in organizations. And we will make it available to even more customers in the future: 优蜜传媒recently announced a substantial expansion of regional 优蜜传媒BTP availability by the end of 2025.

By ensuring access to 优蜜传媒BTP in more locations via new data centers, we are empowering more customers and partners around the globe to modernize IT landscapes, streamline business processes, and utilize data for better decision-making. While increasing the footprint of 优蜜传媒BTP globally, we are also infusing our platform with AI capabilities.

With global expansion on the horizon and the addition of AI, it’s all set to help businesses run smoother and make smarter decisions. If you’re curious about our strategic direction and what鈥檚 next, I highly recommend taking a look at our latest .

Michael Ameling is executive vice president and chief product officer of 优蜜传媒Business Technology Platform.

Together with implementation partner ABeam Consulting, the migration will leverage NEC鈥檚 generative AI technology and SAP鈥檚 natural language, generative AI Joule copilot.

NEC, a Japan-based multinational leader in the integration of IT and network technologies, was seeking to optimize costs and streamline data systems to increase integration across its lines of business. As part of advancing its digital transformation, NEC will migrate from on-premise 优蜜传媒S/4HANA software to 优蜜传媒S/4HANA Cloud and adopt a clean-core approach, which emphasizes standard offerings and extends them while also reducing future upgrade and operational costs.

NEC is currently operating a large-scale system that includes 1,200 add-ons and more than 200 external interfaces. To migrate to the cloud, NEC will use generative AI to facilitate a clean-core transformation, streamline migration costs and improve operational efficiency. NEC鈥檚 generative AI and SAP鈥檚 Joule copilot for natural language processing will automate critical processes such as add-on analysis, report interpretation, code generation from specifications and test automation. Joule is SAP鈥檚 generative AI assistant that understands the user鈥檚 unique role and acts as a work copilot across 优蜜传媒applications to streamline tasks. NEC will be among the first companies to leverage AI tools from 优蜜传媒to streamline its migrations.

“NEC sees itself as the first customer of its own innovations, applying cutting-edge technologies internally and sharing the gained insights and know-how with customers and society,鈥� NEC President and CEO Takayuki Morita said. 鈥淭his milestone implementation with 优蜜传媒creates a new industry blueprint for other businesses looking to migrate to the cloud, underscoring NEC’s commitment to leading by example in technological adoption and societal contributions.鈥�

By migrating to 优蜜传媒S/4HANA Cloud, NEC anticipates more-efficient system operations by tapping into AI to support version upgrades and reduce future operation-related costs while being able to quickly respond to market changes. By leveraging innovative technologies including AI, NEC aims to digitally drive societal and industry transformations. This migration to the cloud is a key part of NEC’s 2025 mid-term management plan focusing on internal, customer and societal digital transformations.

鈥淥ur shared vision with NEC of creating a sustainable society through digital transformation is the foundation for our long-term partnership,鈥� said Christian Klein, CEO and member of the Executive Board of 优蜜传媒SE. 鈥淭his project marks a milestone in our relationship, and we鈥檙e excited to support NEC on their continued transformation journey.鈥�

Visit the 优蜜传媒News Center. Follow 优蜜传媒at .

About SAP

As鈥痑 global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, 优蜜传媒(NYSE: SAP)鈥痵tands at the鈥痭exus鈥痮f business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted SAP鈥痶o bring out their best by uniting business-critical鈥痮perations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit鈥�.

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

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

For more information, press only:
Yuri Shimizu, +81 80 9262 6621, y.shimizu@sap.com, JST
Lesa Plingen, +49 622 776 9000, lesa.plingen@sap.com, CET
优蜜传媒Press Room;听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鈥檚 2023 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
漏 2024 优蜜传媒SE. All rights reserved.
优蜜传媒and other 优蜜传媒products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 优蜜传媒SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.
Please consider our . If you received this press release in your e-mail and you wish to unsubscribe to our mailing list please contact press@sap.com and write Unsubscribe in the subject line.

Blau joined 优蜜传媒in 2010 and has held various executive leadership positions with a strong track record in process management and business transformation. As chief process and information officer (CPIO), he represents the Corporate Processes & Information Technology (CPIT) organization with the main objective to enable 优蜜传媒to scale and increase productivity through process transformation and optimization powered by AI. At the same time, the unit functions as the company’s own best reference customer showcasing how 优蜜传媒runs SAP.

In this interview, Blau discusses his role and the transformation of the IT industry in general.

Q: For those not familiar with the Corporate Processes & Information Technology organization, what is its role within SAP?

A: It is widely recognized and acknowledged that the traditional concept of IT Services has undergone a significant shift in recent years, thanks to advancements in cloud computing, AI, and Big Data. Companies need to double down on their core strength and USP while demonstrating their ability to scale. To do so, IT has become a strategic instrument to enable every business to be more adaptable, scalable, and intelligent.

At SAP, we have invested a considerable amount of time and resources in this transformation, turning IT into a strategic enabler for business growth and a trusted technology partner. However, companies need to rethink their strategies to outperform their competitors by demonstrating operational efficiency and accelerated scalability. We see a substantial requirement to focus on process excellence and automation powered by AI. This means unleashing productivity through simplification and standardization of processes, powered by business AI and SAP’s own technology.

With that in mind, our strategic focus has evolved beyond information technology to support end-to-end process excellence with clear accountabilities that drive autonomy and quick decision-making. And that is the leading aspect of the CPIT organization.

Q: How would you describe the difference between the CIO and CPIO?

A: For me, the key difference lies within the approach to problem-solving. Rather than focusing solely on products or tools, the CPIO tends to tackle issues at the process level, where the root causes are often found. Especially as a SaaS company, we tend to solve every issue with another tool or a customization and/or a worst-case modification of a system, while in many cases the problem can be solved by standardizing and simplifying the way we work.

Hence, in addition to our information technology strategy, it is crucial for our organization to fulfill our mandate as SAP鈥檚 business process design authority, emphasizing our responsibility to oversee and optimize business processes. This means the business defines the strategy and clear objectives — aka the 鈥渨hy鈥� and 鈥渨hat鈥� — while we define 鈥渉ow鈥� to get there in the most end-user friendly and productive way.

Q: What are you most looking forward to in your new role? 

A: Coming from my former role leading Industry Engineering for SAP, I love working close to products and customers. To this extent, I have the perfect job as we are SAP鈥檚 customer and first adopter of new technology, all while I am in the luxury position of being able to authentically talk to SAP鈥檚 customers about our challenges and solutions, being their trusted 鈥減eer鈥� in the industry. This also means demonstrating how we boost productivity for 优蜜传媒mainly through our fast-growing AI portfolio.

Q: The past five years have seen a tremendous amount of innovation, especially with the rise of generative AI. How will this influence the role of CIOs or that of an IT organization in the next two to five years?

A: In the coming two to five years, the influx of generative AI promises to revolutionize the landscape of IT organizations and the role of CIOs. Let me give you three examples.

First, it will significantly boost IT productivity by automating repetitive tasks and streamlining processes, which will free up valuable resources to either 鈥渄o more with the same鈥� or elevate those roles to even higher value-adding ones. Second, as CIOs in SaaS companies are customer zero, it is our task to showcase how AI can unlock value in highly differentiating parts of our value chain as innovation leaders of the industry. Third, with data even further emerging as a crucial competitive advantage, CIOs will increasingly focus on harnessing and maximizing the value of data assets. This entails not only owning and controlling data, but also developing new data products and mastering provisioning, management, and analysis, thereby cementing data management as a core responsibility of the IT organization.

For SAP, this clearly is the competitive edge in the AI game, as we have access to the probably largest amount of business data to feed high-value AI scenarios.

Q: Considering the fast-tracked development of AI and its potential impact, what is your approach for CPIT and 优蜜传媒at large?

A: The strategic role of my organization in that context is twofold. First, we are the early adopter of every AI case ideated and developed at SAP, with an obligation to challenge the level of quality, maturity, and value on behalf of our customers. Second, I expect my team to also come up with new ideas and potential AI use cases, try them out, and be equally strict in their assessment regarding desirably, feasibility, and especially viability.

At the end of the day, business AI is about quality not quantity. To accelerate AI innovation, we have started an internal initiative to identify use cases with the highest value. This includes a process that also ensures we focus on the most effective solutions. By implementing quality gates in each step of the process, we also prioritize quality over quantity. This enables us to implement use cases that clearly demonstrate business value.

Marcus Kabat is head of CPIT Business Operations at SAP.

The SPARK Matrix provides a detailed analysis of global market dynamics, significant trends, and the vendor landscape. Each market participant is analyzed against several Technology Excellence and Customer Impact parameters. 优蜜传媒Signavio stands out for its comprehensive DTO solutions that can effectively merge organizational processes with technological capabilities, fostering continuous improvement and strategic decision-making.

Our strengths highlight our leadership position in several critical areas:

• Enterprise observability: Integrating process observability with technology observability, we can provide organizations with a detailed understanding of their operations.
• AI-powered applications: We leverage generative AI to offer applications that help enhance process knowledge and support informed decision-making.
• Value accelerators and benchmarking: Our tools can provide ready-to-use best practices and metrics, helping organizations quickly assess and improve performance.
• Modeling and experience connection: We extend DTO capabilities to customer touchpoints, working to ensure comprehensive transformation efforts.

According to鈥疭ofia Ali, associate director and principal analyst at Quadrant Knowledge Solutions, “SAP’s integration of 优蜜传媒Signavio and 优蜜传媒LeanIX into its DTO platform enables organizations to achieve digital transformation seamlessly. By leveraging 优蜜传媒Signavio’s process observability and 优蜜传媒LeanIX’s technology observability, 优蜜传媒provides a holistic approach to enhancing processes and deriving value through unified observability. This approach enables organizations to represent their architecture and capabilities virtually and facilitates continuous improvement and automation of operational processes through AI-powered simulations. SAP’s robust vision and focused strategy and the development of large process models promise to deliver AI-driven transformation services that enhance insights, recommendations, and governance. Overall, SAP’s continued enhancement of its DTO platform underscores its commitment to empowering organizations with the tools needed to thrive in an increasingly digital world.”

Exploring the Digital Twin of an Organization

The digital twin of an organization mirrors how the business as a whole operates and adapts. Modern organizations are complex sets of connected business units, processes, people, and systems. The DTO showcases interdependencies among the different entities and the impact of change at all levels.鈥�

The DTO helps to understand how an organization operationalizes its business model in processes and applications, monitors inefficiencies, and tracks process improvement measures. In other words, creating a digital twin allows decision-makers to answer the big what-if questions about how their enterprise functions.

Rouven Morato, general manager of 优蜜传媒Signavio and 优蜜传媒LeanIX, emphasizes the strategic importance of DTO solutions: “The ability to map interactions across business processes and IT architecture gives leaders the confidence they need to drive change. Our advanced AI functionalities allow customers to safely simulate new business scenarios, ensuring agility and resilience in a volatile market.”

This honor reflects our dedication to empowering businesses with cutting-edge solutions that meet the evolving demands of the digital age. to understand the DTO market better and why 优蜜传媒Signavio has been acknowledged as a leader in this crucial area for four years.

Dee Houchen is global head of Market Impact for 优蜜传媒Signavio.

FC Bayern, one of the most successful global football clubs, continues to raise the bar on and off the field. With a relentless focus on excellence and innovation, the world-renowned club has extended its usage of 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors software with AI-enabled solutions to enhance its HR functions and processes.

A clear key to the club’s success are the more than 1,000 employees in Munich, New York, Bangkok, and Shanghai who are as integral to the club as the players on the pitch, meaning each job experience and career path must enable employees to continuously develop themselves professionally to reach their full potential.

Streamlining HR Operations with 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors

FC Bayern initially adopted 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors to optimize its  talent management, modernize HR processes, and foster a culture of continuous learning and development. Over the years, the club has expanded its utilization of 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors to manage everything from employee onboarding to performance management.

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

By leveraging 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors, FC Bayern benefits from:

• Increased Efficiency: Automated workflows and streamlined processes have significantly reduced administrative burdens, allowing HR teams to accelerate complex processes and continually reduce time on the recruiting journey.
• Insightful Analytics: Real-time data and analytics providing managers with valuable insights into employee performance, engagement, and development, enabling holistic decision-making across an employee鈥檚 career path.
• Scalability: As FC Bayern continues to grow and evolve, 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors offers scalable solutions that adapt to the club’s ever-changing needs and requirements. Employees can now access their personnel data securely from anywhere using any device, with self-service options for employees, managers, and HR admins.

Transforming Recruitment with AI-Enabled Solutions

优蜜传媒Business AI has the ability to transform the employee experience for employees, managers, recruiters, and HR professionals. Recognizing the importance of hiring top talent to maintain its competitive edge, FC Bayern will use AI-assisted capabilities in its recruiting process.听 Now, the talent acquisition team at FC Bayern will be able to create compelling job descriptions — a previously time consuming and manual task — at the touch of a button, as well as be prompted with AI-generated interview questions based on job descriptions.

AI-enabled capabilities embedded in 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors solutions empower organizations like FC Bayern to:

• Redefine Recruitment: Recruiters and hiring managers can benefit from the use of generative AI to create tailored job descriptions based on data from within 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors solutions.
• Interview Questions with AI and Interview Evaluations in Microsoft Teams: Using Microsoft Teams integration, interviewers can now generate interview questions on the spot based on the job description in the job requisition by using generative AI capabilities.
• Elevate the Employee Experience: FC Bayern will empower their workforce to excel by providing seamless access to all HR systems, optimizing career development with 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors Learning, and fostering engagement through experiences that prioritize and organize an employee鈥檚 individual needs, skills, interests, and aspirations, helping organizations like FC Bayern reinforce their reputation as an employer of choice.

The Future of HR at FC Bayern

By leveraging the 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors HCM suite and 优蜜传媒Business AI capabilities, FC Bayern will set new benchmarks in HR excellence, driving innovation and fostering a culture of professional growth and learning.

When organizations invest in their people — and in their passions and potential — they return the investment over and over. This happens when they are provided with intuitive self-service tools such as the 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors Mobile app and access to HR systems that empower them to perform at their true potential. An improved employee experience in turn leads to better business outcomes.

As the club continues to evolve and face new challenges, FC Bayern remains committed to leveraging technology to stay competitive and bridge the skills gap of today to be better ready for what tomorrow brings.

Learn more about how 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors Recruiting uses AI to transform your organization’s HR processes and drive success:

Maryann Abbajay is chief revenue officer at 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors.

Yet, this has become a challenge for chief procurement officers (CPOs) who often lack information on the supplier base. In fact, found that suppliers are often reluctant to disclose privileged information, leading to miscalculated procurement decisions.

Against this backdrop, how can procurement professionals elevate their role and transform the depth of insights the function can offer? I believe this starts with three key actions.

1. Go Beyond Reporting

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives have become a priority for procurement teams in recent years. Unfortunately, buyers often fail to receive accurate or complete sustainability information from sellers, according to the Procurement Leaders study. This lack of transparency can increase the potential for regulatory violations, especially as climate-focused laws like the come to fruition.  

While reporting should remain a key tactic, it is not sufficient to deliver on sustainability goals. Organizations must invest in software that fits within the organization鈥檚 scope, generates more touchpoints with sellers, and provides visibility into suppliers鈥� social and environmental impacts.

Software can help organizations increase regulatory compliance, reduce costs, and develop healthy relationships with sellers. Of course, there are limitations as suppliers can be reluctant to share information 鈥� like financial statements or internal regulatory policies.

However, software that is augmented with predictive analytics can deliver metrics and insights into supplier emissions and energy usage that enable organizations to evaluate suppliers against their sustainability objectives.

2. Take the Lead Through a Bold but Methodical AI Strategy

As procurement teams take on more responsibility in increasing transparency across the supply chain, they should be courageous but vigilant in efforts to uncover supplier insights. Consequently, many CPOs have opted for strategies involving AI.

AI can provide procurement teams with intelligent business data that can lead to more informed purchase decisions. Additionally, according to the , AI can reduce time spent on buying processes by up to 60% and reach cost savings of up to 40%.

Adopting AI throughout the source-to-pay process has obvious benefits, although many companies lack the internal skills needed to leverage the power of this technology. Organizations should take a holistic and careful approach, ensuring that internal and external stakeholders are 鈥渂ought-in鈥� and empowered through cohesive training and change management programs.

Similarly, CPOs should take steps to maintain rigorous data privacy policies to build trust with suppliers. Procurement teams should only implement AI technologies that are relevant, responsible, and reliable, ensuring that the implementation of AI follows guiding principles and protects the privacy of all users.

3. Select a Trusted Technology Partner

Leading procurement teams are realizing the importance of cultivating trusted and mutually beneficial relationships with suppliers, particularly those offering resources vital to business continuity. Identifying a technology partner who understands the needs of different industries and the power of developing connections can empower procurement teams to optimize decision-making.

This is where 优蜜传媒is in a unique position to help. We not only have unmatched access to business data, but we鈥檝e processed data responsibly and reliably for decades through , , and now . This makes it possible to help organizations counteract supplier reluctance, as 优蜜传媒Ariba solutions work with millions of trading partners to help develop connections and provide greater visibility.

In addition, 优蜜传媒Ariba solutions can provide guided recommendations for buyers, supporting internal compliance even if the user is unaware of regulations. This can enable deeper knowledge of spend management, helping to reduce redundancies and complexities and provide employees with more time to solve harder problems.

Procurement鈥檚 visibility into the supply chain is paramount for informed decision-making and mitigating risk. By moving beyond reporting, investing in AI methodically, and partnering with a trusted solution provider, procurement will not only achieve greater supply chain visibility but also lay the foundation for increased innovation and competitive advantage in today鈥檚 global economy.

Now is the time to rethink your procurement technology strategy.

Baber Farooq is senior vice president and head of Market Strategy for 优蜜传媒Ariba.

WALLDORF and ARMONK听鈥� IBM (NYSE:听) and (NYSE: SAP) today announced their vision for the next era of their collaboration, which includes new听听capabilities and industry-specific cloud solutions that can help clients unlock business value.

“IBM and SAP’s shared approach to generative AI, built on an open ecosystem, trust and purpose-built models, will help empower clients to听optimize business outcomes,” said听John Granger, Senior Vice President, IBM Consulting. “Our new Value Generation partnership initiative will enable clients to accelerate the path to innovation, competitive advantage and become a next generation enterprise through generative AI.”

“It makes perfect sense to expand our partnership with IBM to help more customers accelerate their cloud journey leveraging RISE with 优蜜传媒and realize the transformative benefits of generative AI for business in the cloud,” said Scott Russell, Chief Revenue Officer & Executive Board Member, Customer Success of 优蜜传媒SE. “This expanded partnership will help more of our joint customers reach new heights by innovating through the cloud, data and business AI to grow and transform their businesses.”

 and 优蜜传媒aim to accelerate transformation enabled by RISE with 优蜜传媒by supporting clients in the following key areas:

• Next-Generation AI Business Processes: Together, the companies are exploring opportunities to build new generative AI capabilities for RISE with 优蜜传媒and infuse AI into 优蜜传媒business processes across industry-specific cloud solutions and line of business applications. Initially, IBM plans to extend AI capabilities across SAP鈥檚 portfolio of cloud solutions and applications, all of which are underpinned by 优蜜传媒Business Technology Platform (优蜜传媒BTP). This includes RISE with SAP, the GROW with 优蜜传媒solution, financial solutions for the office of the CFO, supply chain management solutions,  solutions for human capital management, 优蜜传媒Customer Experience solutions and intelligent spend management solutions. IBM also plans to leverage 优蜜传媒Signavio and 优蜜传媒Business AI solutions to help define next-generation business processes through a proof-of-concept adoption program.
• Next-Generation Industry Innovation: IBM and 优蜜传媒plan to build intelligent industry use cases, enabled by data-driven insights, into end-to-end business processes to fuel next-generation industry innovation. These use cases will initially focus on the industrial manufacturing, consumer packaged goods (CPG), retail, defense, automotive and utilities industries. This includes IBM鈥檚 recent work with 优蜜传媒to develop new AI solutions for the CPG and retail industries. As part of this initiative, IBM has begun the development of an extensive portfolio of over 100 AI solutions across industry, line-of-business and product delivery. In addition, IBM plans to develop prescriptive industry value maps that define next-generation business processes and opportunities for impact with AI. Clients will be able to access all of these new AI solutions through the global and sites.
• Next-Generation Platform Architecture and Customer Adoption Approach: Next-generation enterprises require next-generation platform architectures and a modernized approach to customer adoption. Through the Value Generation partnership initiative, IBM intends to provide next-generation reference architectures that enable a clean core approach. To do this, IBM plans to leverage 优蜜传媒BTP, 优蜜传媒Signavio and  LeanIX solutions. These new reference architectures will help define standards across data, process, systems and device integration, process orchestration and automation. IBM consultants supporting clients on 优蜜传媒projects can also leverage IBM Consulting Advantage, IBM鈥檚 AI services platform, and its portfolio of proprietary methods, assets and Assistants to bring more repeatability and consistency to client delivery.  With IBM Consulting Advantage, IBM consultants can transform the way they deliver 优蜜传媒solutions to boost productivity and mitigate risk by leveraging generative AI to help complete tasks like generation of user stories, test scripts, training and change management content and code creation.
• Next-Generation Ecosystem Expansion: IBM and 优蜜传媒plan to partner around their respective employee network groups and 鈥渘ext-gen鈥� communities, such as the business women鈥檚 networks at IBM and SAP, the program and the program of 优蜜传媒and Veterans at IBM to increase the 优蜜传媒solutions experience in the consulting workforce and develop the next generation of talent. The companies also plan to explore new ways to collaborate on social impact programs, such as training at- risk youth in the IT sector and accelerating the integration of social businesses into global supply chains.
• watsonx Planned Availability on the Generative AI Hub: IBM Granite Model Series are expected to be accessible for use across SAP鈥檚 portfolio of cloud solutions and applications 鈥� which is underpinned by the generative AI hub in 优蜜传媒AI Core. The generative AI hub facilitates relevant, reliable and responsible business AI and provides instant access to a broad range of large language models (LLMs). This expands on IBM and SAP鈥檚 collaboration around . To further highlight watsonx.ai Granite capabilities, IBM Consulting plans to build extensions using the model on the generative AI hub for select customers.

This initiative will build on the companies’ over 50-year collaboration based on deep technology, industry and domain expertise and demonstrates the two organizations’ joint commitment to continue to evolve to put clients first and meet market demand.

IBM Consulting accelerates business transformation for our clients through hybrid cloud and AI technologies, leveraging our open ecosystem of partners. With deep industry and business expertise spanning strategy, experience design, technology, and operations, we have become the trusted partner to the world’s most innovative and valuable companies, helping modernize and secure their most complex systems. Our 160,000 consultants embrace an open way of working and apply our proven, collaborative engagement model, IBM Garage, to scale ideas into outcomes. As the only major global systems integrator inside a technology company, we don’t just advise 鈥� we invent and build what’s next together with our clients. Find out more at .

To learn more about the Value Generation partnership initiative, visit听.

Visit the . Follow 优蜜传媒at .

About IBM

IBM is a leading provider of global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting expertise. We help clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. More than 4,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM’s hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to effect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently and securely. IBM’s breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and consulting deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM’s commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity and service.

痴颈蝉颈迟鈥�痜or more information.

About SAP

As鈥痑 global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, 优蜜传媒(NYSE:SAP)鈥痵tands at the鈥痭exus鈥痮f business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted SAP鈥痶o bring out their best by uniting business-critical鈥痮perations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit鈥�.

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

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

For more information, press only:
Scott Malinowski, SAP, +1 (781) 852-3822, scott.malinowski@sap.com
优蜜传媒Press Room; press@sap.com
Jamee Nelson, IBM, 听jamee.nelson@ibm.com听

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鈥檚 2023 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
漏 2024 优蜜传媒SE. All rights reserved.
优蜜传媒and other 优蜜传媒products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 优蜜传媒SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.
Please consider our . If you received this press release in your e-mail and you wish to unsubscribe to our mailing list please contact press@sap.com and write Unsubscribe in the subject line.鈥�

The event was held April 23-25 in Heidelberg, Germany, and customers on-site experienced insightful keynotes and sessions from 优蜜传媒Executive Board Members Thomas Saueressig and Muhammad Alam, as well as 优蜜传媒Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer Philipp Herzig and other experts.

presented important updates on topics that also included Business Transformation as a Service, RISE with SAP, and 优蜜传媒BTP. Attendees also benefited from interactive “eXpert eXchange” sessions and opportunities to network and share their experiences and best practices.

The 优蜜传媒MaxAttention program offers premium-level engagement and personalized service for customers to move business-wide transformational change from boardroom plans to business reality with a tailored, premium experience. Program participants get premium access to trusted 优蜜传媒experts, tools, and methodologies that can help deliver expected outcomes successfully with 优蜜传媒solutions.

Replays

Watch the replays to see more:

Thomas Saueressig’s Keynote

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

Muhammad Alam’s Keynote

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

Philipp Herzig’s Executive Session

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

That鈥檚 where Claudio Muruzabal, chief business officer of 优蜜传媒SE, steps in.

Muruzabal is responsible for supporting the Customer Advisory, Solution Area and Services Sales, and Customer Success Management & Engagement teams at SAP. For more than eight years, he has played an important role in understanding not only an increasingly complex technology landscape but also how businesses actually use the technology at their disposal. He supports teams that help bring 优蜜传媒customers closer to their goals by leveraging 优蜜传媒solutions. This begins with advising customers through honest conversations about how they can apply the intelligent capabilities now included in many 优蜜传媒solutions, such as generative AI.

I sat down with Muruzabal to find out more about his role, how 优蜜传媒customers are winning with intelligent technology, and the growing impact of customer success management at SAP.

Q: AI is all the rage today, so let鈥檚 start there. What are the biggest opportunities for businesses to use AI?

Muruzabal: Opportunity is everywhere for AI. And it鈥檚 bigger than just automating processes to increase efficiency, which is what was talked about for the longest time. At SAP, we鈥檙e seeing how AI can support relevant business processes to instill innovation and competitiveness. While many players in the industry are focused on developing AI engines and large language models, we are focused on accelerating business value through generative AI. I could talk all day about how AI is transforming data analytics and decision-support systems as well as supply chain optimization, predictive maintenance, and HR. Every day we are discovering new opportunities for customers to leapfrog their competition when they combine the power of generative AI with the context of their business data and processes.

What are some examples of how 优蜜传媒customers are using AI, and what value have they realized so far?

There鈥檚 really so much to get excited about when it comes to how our customers are using the AI capabilities included with their 优蜜传媒solutions. Across industries, workers everywhere are using natural language to instantly get the data insights they need using the 优蜜传媒Analytics Cloud solution. I like how busy recruiters can tap into generative AI with 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors solutions to create compelling job descriptions and interview questions in less time. Joule, our AI assistant and copilot, can support end users in getting the right answers on how to get the most of our cloud solutions. With Joule already embedded across the portfolio 鈥� generally available in 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors HCM, 优蜜传媒Start, and 优蜜传媒S/4HANA Cloud 鈥� we are all excited about the opportunities for our customers.

All industries can get this unique value, including professional soccer clubs FC Bayern Munich and Hertha BSC that are using a scouting prototype powered by AI to find and develop the next generation of star athletes.

AI can solve a lot of problems, but what about the underlying foundational technology stack companies have today? What conversations are you having with businesses about their technology investments?

Early on in our conversations with customers, it鈥檚 important to understand how businesses can set up their core, foundational enterprise technology platform running in the cloud. This is critical to establish a journey of innovation including . Coming back to the foundation, many of our customers have built numerous modifications on top of their core ERP. In order to build a true cloud operating model 鈥� essential to embrace innovation including AI 鈥� it is critical to move to a clean core model. This means that any modification to the ERP functionality offered by 优蜜传媒is built outside of the core, using extensibility solutions. This is not a technical topic only. Although clean core contributes to the cost-efficient operation of the platform, the true contribution is bringing flexibility and adaptability to the business, converting the cloud operating model into a unique 鈥渋nnovation as a service鈥� platform.

What makes 优蜜传媒unique and stand out to customers with its value proposition?

优蜜传媒has the unique value of being the global leader in best of suite solutions built with more than 50 years of industry knowledge and ERP technology leadership. On top of this, our leading 鈥渂est of breed鈥� solutions, such as in HCM, customer experience, intelligent spend and business network, and more, can provide the best functionality and the right integration into the core. Only 优蜜传媒can offer this value proposition. When we combined this with the cloud operating model 鈥� widely adopted by our RISE with 优蜜传媒customers 鈥� we provide exponential value for the innovation as a service proposition.

How can customers get the most from their investments? What kind of support is there to help them transform and innovate?

Customer success management is essential in the cloud. It is the end-to-end engagement with our customers, from advisory to sales execution to onboarding, adoption, and consumption. We provide the tools, assets, and content to help accelerate adoption and consumption so as to maximize the value from first use of the solution to full and future use. 优蜜传媒Preferred Success services can accelerate the time to value even more. To support this motion, deep telemetry being built into our cloud solutions allows customers and our customer success management leaders to better understand how the solutions are being used while identifying opportunities to expand usage.

Where do advisory services fit into the customer journey?

Customer advisory services might be the most essential part of the journey with a customer. Successful projects start with the right business case definition, anchored in the best understanding of the industry and business of our customers. With that in mind, our Customer Advisory teams support building the right technical solutions that can support an enterprise architecture. This is the first step in moving in the right direction of building the cloud operating model.

And that鈥檚 just the surface. We are still learning just how far reaching the implications could be in the workplace.

As we explore this new realm and AI鈥檚 vast potential, 优蜜传媒has adjusted its strategy with the goal of becoming not only the leading enterprise application provider but also the No. 1 business AI company. The foundation is now available with 优蜜传媒Business AI that offers 优蜜传媒customers a reliable, relevant, and responsible AI solution portfolio.

A key element of that strategy is leveraging 优蜜传媒partners鈥� expertise. The trusted relationships our partners have developed with our joint customers are essential to communicating the value of AI solutions from 优蜜传媒and finding the best 优蜜传媒products to meet their business objectives. It also poses a great opportunity for partners to expand their business.

But first, let鈥檚 take a step back and explore why 优蜜传媒is best positioned to deliver on the business AI opportunity.

SAP鈥檚 AI Advantage

Deep Business Process Knowledge
Before AI can make operations faster, data-driven, and more effective, organizations must optimize business processes. 优蜜传媒brings a deep understanding of business processes to AI applications, enabling solutions that orchestrate workflows, data sharing, and automation for the greatest efficiency and productivity.

优蜜传媒Data
AI solutions require data to train their algorithms to provide accurate, relevant, real-world outputs. 优蜜传媒can draw on business data from thousands of customer systems across the value chain, helping to address our customers’ challenges and drive their digital transformation.

Focus on Application Creation
优蜜传媒is partnering with technology providers to make the most of the AI opportunity by creating value with new applications. For example, large language models (LLMs) will become solution differentiators. LLMs perform a range of natural language processing tasks. Combining LLMs with AI solutions automates insight delivery, freeing users from the need to wait for help from their IT or data science departments. It allows companies to focus on data insights, rather than devoting focus to the technology that produces them.

Strong Partner Ecosystem
优蜜传媒recognizes that it cannot reach the full addressable market alone. That is why our more than 25,500 partner ecosystem is a huge advantage when offering business AI solutions. Working together, we can drive innovation, accelerate AI road maps, and expand AI capabilities beyond its own limitations.

I cannot underscore enough how important that fourth component is to our AI strategy. It is a linchpin to our success. That鈥檚 why we must ensure we are creating win-win scenarios for our partners that benefit us both for the long term.

Partner Opportunities

While AI offers a range of benefits to 优蜜传媒customers, it also represents a significant business opportunity for 优蜜传媒partners. As a part of the 优蜜传媒ecosystem, partners can provide advanced functionality out of the box with embedded AI capabilities within 优蜜传媒applications. They must also take advantage of the virtually endless opportunities that AI offers regardless of the chosen 优蜜传媒partner business model:

• Sell: Partners that resell 优蜜传媒solutions can leverage the embedded AI portfolio from 优蜜传媒to accelerate RISE with 优蜜传媒and GROW with 优蜜传媒deals. Sell partners can also enhance the appeal of the cloud with AI capabilities exclusive to 优蜜传媒cloud solutions and enlarge deals with AI units from 优蜜传媒required for premium AI capabilities.
• Service: Service partners can drive adoption of SAP鈥檚 AI portfolio and custom AI capabilities built on 优蜜传媒by bundling them with services and support. This approach enables customers to gain value through customized generative AI use cases built on the foundation of 优蜜传媒Business Technology Platform (优蜜传媒BTP), including the generative AI hub, and accelerate their cloud migrations and business transformation, backed by partners鈥� expertise.
• Innovate: Partners also have the opportunity to develop innovative AI solutions and extensions to enhance the 优蜜传媒portfolio. Partners can build customer-specific and repeatable use cases with AI services from 优蜜传媒on 优蜜传媒BTP and augment customer business processes.

Take the Next Step

Ready to expand your partnership with 优蜜传媒to build on the AI opportunity? and visit . If you鈥檙e not currently an 优蜜传媒partner, there鈥檚 never been a better time to explore the benefits of becoming a part of the 优蜜传媒ecosystem.

If you鈥檙e ready to start your 优蜜传媒partnership journey and provide businesses in your market with reliable, effective AI solutions, .

Karl Fahrbach is chief partner officer at SAP.

This is the second year in a row that 优蜜传媒Signavio has been positioned as a Leader in the report. We believe that this positioning implies that 优蜜传媒Signavio is a key driver for SAP鈥檚 growth and long-term strategy.

According to the Gartner Magic Quadrant research methodology, 鈥淟eaders execute well against their current vision and are well positioned for tomorrow.鈥�

Our solutions solve today鈥檚 real and diverse customer use cases — operational excellence, compliance, automation, transformation, etc.– and recognizes that we have a compelling vision for a future in which process automation and process AI open up new opportunities for our customers and partners.

优蜜传媒Signavio continues to focus on ensuring the long-term success of all of our customers and partners.

Revenue NSW

In the Australian state of New South Wales, the tax collected by Revenue NSW accounts for more than 35% of finances, helping fund essential services, from healthcare to education and policing.

With a vision to be the world鈥檚 most innovative and customer-centric revenue agency, Revenue NSW set out with a very specific objective: it wanted to analyze cases in which clients had overpaid land tax to identify why these overpayments occur and what experience clients received when obtaining refunds. This analysis would not only help reduce overpayment volumes and improve the client experience, but also enable the agency to work more efficiently for its diverse stakeholders.

鈥淎s part of our Aspire 2032 strategy, our vision is to be the world鈥檚 most innovative and customer-centric revenue collection agency,” shared Jocelyn Yem, director of Strategy and Innovation at Revenue NSW.”‘Embrace Innovation’ is one of our strategic focus areas, where we can respond to our customers鈥� needs by embedding a culture of continuous improvement. 优蜜传媒Signavio Process Intelligence has helped us achieve our first stage in this journey.鈥�

鈥溣琶鄞絊ignavio Process Intelligence has painted a clear picture of why clients pay too much land tax and how we can process refunds smoothly, along with a detailed road map to help us put these insights into action,鈥� confirmed Sabrina Bazouni, director of Land Tax at Revenue NSW.

Fujitsu Limited

Recognizing the wide-ranging effect of business process transformation solutions, Fujitsu Limited has embraced 优蜜传媒Signavio solutions across its operations and portfolio.

At one of its manufacturing plants in Japan, Fujitsu used the 优蜜传媒Signavio Process Intelligence solution to gather process execution data directly from the shop floor into the continuous improvement model the company had been using for many years. Integrating process data into the Kaizen discussions delivered never-before-seen insights, which helped the company further optimize its shop-floor processes and transform their Kaizen from traditional to digital, using process mining to generate data-driven insights.

This firsthand experience of the solutions has also allowed Fujitsu to enrich its customer offerings with new frameworks, insights, and tools that can help customers realign their organizations and make changes at speed.

Having seen the potential of 优蜜传媒Signavio solutions, Fujitsu now plans to extend its use both internally and externally. One such planned initiative involves combining the concepts of the digital twin on an organization and the intelligent enterprise, using business process transformation solutions as the mechanism of change.

Download a .

Dee Houchen is global head of Market Impact for 优蜜传媒Signavio.

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Process Mining Platforms, Marc Kerremans, David Sugden, Nick Duffy, 29 April 2024听

GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner鈥檚 research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

The glass bottles on the high-speed filling line made quiet clinking sounds as they sped around the bend of the track. The visitors to the 优蜜传媒booth at the internationally renowned industrial trade fair were waiting for the moment when an optical sensor, using AI support, spotted the bottle that was only three-quarters full and kicked it out of the line and into a defects bay. 鈥淭his system has a capacity of 6,400 bottles per hour,鈥� said a grinning Ben Hughes from SAP鈥檚 Solution & Innovation Experience team. 鈥淚n comparison, the original system from our partner can fill 50,000 bottles, but that would be much too loud here at the trade fair booth.鈥�

The showcase demonstrated how the cloud-based 优蜜传媒Digital Manufacturing solution could serve as the process order management system for 优蜜传媒customers, whether they typically work with a lot size of one or with continuous manufacturing at higher speeds. The purchase order could have come from an 优蜜传媒S/4HANA system, for instance, and ended here with execution in production. 鈥淲e can see the hardware integration with our own eyes,鈥� said Hughes.

AI was also involved: a camera captured the fill level of each bottle. If it was outside the defined tolerance, the bottle was rejected and this information was sent to the 优蜜传媒system. A manufacturer could use this data to calculate the production costs for the system and the profitability of every work center, all with AI support. The data from all systems would give experts and management insights into how well the production process was working. This, in turn, would help improve planning.

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

Complete Portfolio from the Industry鈥檚 Point of View

Hannover Messe 2024 took place from April 22-26. Muhammad Alam paid a visit for the first time in his role as leader of the 优蜜传媒Product Engineering Board area. At the 优蜜传媒booth, which featured the motto 鈥淏ring out new manufacturing excellence,鈥� he emphasized the importance of AI as an integral part of 优蜜传媒solutions: 鈥淎I has the opportunity to fundamentally create significant value for our customers, particularly in the industrial space, with an ability to create resiliency from a supply chain perspective that just wouldn’t be possible without the application of AI.鈥�

优蜜传媒demonstrated nearly its entire portfolio in an industrial context in Hannover. 鈥溣琶鄞絬ses what we call 鈥榚nd-to-end scenarios鈥� to do this,鈥� said Georg Kube, head of Industry Data Ecosystems. To reflect this, the booth was set up in line with this logic. The 鈥渄esign to operate鈥� graphical element, which maps all steps of the manufacturing process, showed the corresponding step in the value chain at each station of the booth. 鈥淲e integrate our solutions with the specific process that manufacturers have,鈥� Kube said. 鈥淭hey design a product, then it鈥檚 manufactured, then it鈥檚 bought by a customer, and in the end it is being used and maintained. We offer integrated solutions for every step in this process.鈥�

Working Together for Success

Darcy MacClaren, global CRO for Digital Supply Chain, acknowledged the challenges faced by SAP, its customers, and its partners: 鈥淲e are facing environmental and geopolitical disruptions and we want to be sustainable.鈥� She said collaboration is the key to achieving these daunting goals, a message that was echoed in many presentations and podium discussions at the booth.

For example, experts from , , and 优蜜传媒discussed how the automotive industry network is creating a standard that enables collaboration, data interchange, and transparency to support decarbonization along the value chain. Catena-X serves as a blueprint for other industrial networks under the umbrella, such as Factory-X for factory equipment suppliers and operators.

The showcases at the trade fair booth wouldn鈥檛 be possible without partners, which also play a decisive role in SAP鈥檚 competitiveness and future viability. 鈥淭he partner ecosystem is a key success factor for SAP,鈥� said Andreas Markus Thon, head of Digital Supply Chain MEE. 鈥淭hey are enriching our suite with their applications and solutions and are critical for high quality and successful adoption and use of our solutions.鈥�

A Fleet of Robots Delivers Materials

SAP鈥檚 鈥淢odular Manufacturing鈥� showcase let visitors witness examples of successful partner collaboration for themselves. It demonstrated a fleet of autonomous transport robots that delivered a variety of parts for a valve from storage to assembly stations. Thanks to the fleet control software with embedded AI from 优蜜传媒partner , the robots from different manufacturers worked together seamlessly, making autonomous, situational decisions as to which station should assemble or disassemble the parts. The scenario demonstrated that 优蜜传媒systems can also implement modular production, which is typically used in manufacturing scenarios involving many variants and low to medium product volumes. 优蜜传媒S/4HANA, 优蜜传媒Extended Warehouse Management, and 优蜜传媒Digital Manufacturing were deployed here.

The 鈥淚ndustrial Metaverse鈥� showcase was another big draw. It let visitors to the 优蜜传媒booth put themselves in the shoes of a systems operator, using VR (virtual reality) glasses to inspect a system virtually, even if the manufacturing was taking place on the opposite side of the globe. The 鈥淚njection Molding Machine鈥� scenario vividly demonstrated how planning and manufacturing dovetail in integrated, agile, made-to-order production, as the machine produced colorful recycled plastic cups for guests at the end of the process.

Other topics at the trade fair included potential uses of digital twin solutions, such as virtual models and real-time simulations, as well as collaboration between people and machines. A summary description of all the presented scenarios is available .

The World鈥檚 Largest Industrial Trade Fair

The guiding theme of Hannover Messe 2024 was 鈥淓nergizing a sustainable industry.鈥� Nearly 4,000 exhibitors from 60 countries presented solutions for a high-performance, sustainable industry. As part of an industrial ecosystem, they showed how carbon neutrality can be achieved through electrification, digitalization, and automation.

Companies from Germany, China, Turkey, the U.S., Italy, and France booked the largest exhibition spaces. Around 1,600 speakers appeared on the venue鈥檚 11 conference stages. This year鈥檚 partner country was Norway.

Under its motto 鈥淏ring out new manufacturing excellence,鈥� 优蜜传媒demonstrated how it is using AI to advance manufacturing processes, among other solutions, at its more than 1,000-square-meter booth in Hall 15. Visitors to SAP鈥檚 booth had the opportunity to see 27 product demonstrations and nine interactive showcases. More than 25 优蜜传媒partners showed the collaboration and variety of potential uses of their solutions, and 35 presentations by experts and customers were featured at the booth.

Photo 漏nottebrock.

Gaming is something that keeps inspiring me. I鈥檓 amazed by the speed, accuracy, and level of concentration of professional players. It鈥檚 impressive how this industry has evolved and grown over just a couple of decades.

Team Liquid commands an imposing presence in the esports world, boasting over 160 professional players across more than 15 different games and a staggering fan base of over 10 million followers on various social media platforms. With more than 75 premier events won, Team Liquid is one of the most successful organizations in competitive gaming.

The game with the highest viewership and extensive fandom is League of Legends. Team Liquid successfully competes with their League of Legends team, which recently won the League of Legends Championship Series (LCS) 2024 Spring tournament.

In League of Legends, the goal is to create a strong and balanced team consisting of five characters, called “champions,” in order to outplay and outsmart the opponents during the game by being one step ahead of competition.

Teams participate in a pre-game draft process to select champions before a match. This involves banning and picking champions from a pool of 166 choices to create a strong team.

Champions are the in-game figures controlled by each player. Each champion has particular skills and areas in which they excel. Putting the champions together allows the team to play in various strategic directions to win the match.

After choosing five champions (鈥減ick鈥�), each team is also allowed to remove five champions from the pool (鈥渂an鈥�). Those players cannot be picked by either side. This can be utilized to remove specific parts that would otherwise counter a strategy or hinder the other team from playing their favorite style and/or composition.

Esports teams and their analysts need to prepare for the draft process, as it requires knowledge of the opponent’s favorite picks and strategies. Imagine a five-a-side dodgeball match, but before the match begins, the five players from each team draw their champions from a pool of 166 individual champions.

With bi-weekly updates to the game (鈥減atches鈥�), especially affecting the champions as well as indirectly teams practicing and developing new strategies, competitive League of Legends is an ever-changing game. It creates the need to constantly adapt your draft to a new environment, to analyze both your own and the opposing team’s behavior.

Furthermore, the nature of the draft process and the varying strategies of opponents make accurate predictions difficult. Esports teams have only a week to prepare for the game and gather knowledge about the other team鈥檚 favorite champion picks, strengths, and weaknesses.

Previously, Team Liquid coaches prepared draft scenarios based on manual analysis of the opponent team鈥檚 draft behaviors and champion preferences. However, the challenge was that manual analysis is done before the draft, with the best potential pick or ban changes based on the decisions of the other team. Additionally, the sheer number of potential matches to choose from and the different strategies employed by opponent teams make manual draft prediction very difficult.

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

优蜜传媒Helps Change the Game

What if Team Liquid could analyze in seconds the best choice for upcoming drafts, including picks and bans, while considering more than 6,000 professional esports matches from the past year? What if the analysis would also consider the impact of game patches from the publishers by taking an additional 1.6 million amateur matches into account to assess changes in the power attributes and strengths of the champions? With SAP, this is now a reality.

By using 优蜜传媒AI Core to train a generative AI model that takes data from past matches and puts them into context of the upcoming game, Team Liquid gets suggestions of the best draft picks and bans to maximize the chances to win.

The solution is built on 优蜜传媒Business Technology Platform (优蜜传媒BTP), and the data is stored in 优蜜传媒HANA Cloud to cope with the 1.6 terabyte game data from past games. The result is an intelligent draft bot training, an application that runs on 优蜜传媒BTP, visualizes the predictions, and provides Team Liquid with the current winning probability after each pick and ban.

Manual Analysis Is a Thing of the Past

With the AI draft bot, Team Liquid can train for draft situations against any professional team they face in a matter of seconds. This is achieved by incorporating multiple influencing factors based on an unprecedented number of matches. The coaches and players benefit from the opportunity to conduct what-if analyses and derive valuable knowledge from the data to simulate new strategies. This is also reflected in the time saved compared to the previous manual analysis: Team Liquid saves approximately 10,000 hours per year per year with the solutions from SAP.

Relying on 优蜜传媒BTP and 优蜜传媒HANA Cloud, 优蜜传媒Business AI provides Team Liquid with the opportunity to further improve their game by leveraging data to make more informed decisions. Here is where fun and business meet.

This is how the power of business AI is made tangible in a perfect way — not just for gamers.

Philipp Herzig is chief artificial intelligence officer of SAP.

Let’s be honest 鈥� do you know what your company spends daily across different areas like office management, production, or logistics? Expense management sheds light on this expenditure, allowing companies to analyze, document, and manage their expenses effectively. 

Digital solutions for spend management provide transparency and visibility across all expenses, enabling companies to identify potential risks faster and address them proactively. Additionally, they make CO₂ emissions transparent along the value chain, empowering companies to implement decarbonization measures and reduce their carbon footprint. 

AI as a Booster for Procurement and Purchasing Processes 

Artificial intelligence (AI) has become an integral part of our daily lives, optimizing search engine results, personalizing advertising, and facilitating automatic text translation. On smartphones, we have streaming services, online shopping platforms, and even household appliances. AI is subtly integrated to make cumbersome, everyday tasks easier and more efficient. Since the rise of generative AI, companies and entire industries have been diligently working to incorporate it into their solutions for improved processes and efficiency. 

Procurement is one field where the impact of polycrisis is keenly felt, which has driven important changes. Resilience, transparency, and sustainability are the keywords here 鈥� and AI can make the crucial difference. 

AI can digitalize the procurement function, making it more efficient. Stakeholders rightly expect AI implementation to enhance decision-making, automate processes, and expedite insights. AI can also contribute to cost reduction and error rate mitigation. The question is no longer whether companies will adopt AI but when they will do so. And that time has to be now.

AI Strategies: Think Holistically 

To ensure the success of such projects, a holistic approach is needed. AI should become an integral part of the entire procurement process to benefit all areas. This begins with a consistent transformation strategy aligned with the company’s goals and values. It is important to have a strategic, solutions-oriented approach that makes it possible to find answers to real-life business challenges. By effectively integrating AI into data analysis and prediction models, companies can unlock tangible value and drive meaningful outcomes. The quality of the results depends on the quality and availability of corporate data 鈥� and this is where the greatest potential for improvement lies. Companies should clean up their data pool so that only valid and meaningful data is included. 

For spend management, procurement, and purchasing, generative AI in particular holds enormous potential. As in every area where AI is deployed, 优蜜传媒has committed to strictly adhering to the principles of relevance, reliability, and responsibility in spend management, thoroughly examining each application accordingly. Employees can be relieved of repetitive, manual, and time-consuming tasks, allowing them to focus better on their core tasks. For example, Joule, SAP鈥檚 generative AI copilot, will be embedded across SAP鈥檚 portfolio, including procurement solutions.

As an intelligent copilot, it can understand natural language, process data from 优蜜传媒and third-party systems, and derive new insights from them. Thanks to unified data models, it can provide users with appropriate answers to their questions that fit the specific business context and thus helps to ensure that AI makes a meaningful contribution, enhancing business success. Moreover, it can offer meaningful advice to help them solve their daily tasks more intelligently and quickly, thereby helping to increase their efficiency in a secure and compliant manner. The practical use cases are numerous, ranging from HR or finance to supply chain management, procurement, and customer experience. Following our principle of responsibility, Joule can, for example, assist the HR department in eliminating potential bias from job descriptions and can even formulate suitable interview questions based on these job descriptions.

Category management plays a significant role in procurement, enabling companies to optimize their procurement strategies, strengthen supplier relationships, and reduce costs. Accordingly, 33% of procurement experts consider it a top technology trend to focus on in the next 12 to 18 months. A digitalized and AI-enhanced category management company integrates generative AI to increase efficiency and precision in product categorization and procurement. By applying AI-supported algorithms, relevant data is automatically analyzed, leading to informed insights for optimized inventory management and strategic purchasing decisions. 

With the steadily growing amount of data generated by daily business operations, it is becoming increasingly challenging for companies to find the resources to make the most of their own data, all while ensuring data privacy and security aspects are maintained. This data needs to be made accessible, visualized, and processed in a way that it can be leveraged. Therefore, it is important to rely on strong partners like 优蜜传媒that bring both technical and strategic expertise to develop goal-oriented solutions with a strong focus on data protection and integrity. Now is the time to advance procurement through intelligent collaboration, smart category management, and an AI mindset. 

Practical Example: Category Management at OMV 

OMV, a global chemical and energy company based in Austria, is transitioning its linear value chain into a circular one with the aim of becoming a leading provider of more sustainable fuels, chemicals, and materials. Procurement plays a key role in this transformation. OMV is automating and streamlining all procurement and supply chain processes. The company is now planning to digitalize category management. 

At the core of this initiative is , based on 优蜜传媒Business Technology Platform (优蜜传媒BTP) and supported by generative AI. This solution helps procurement teams develop more effective category strategies by helping to accelerate the market analysis process and provide targeted recommendations. This can lead to faster and more efficient category management processes and increased cost savings. 

Complex planning processes that were once done manually can now be easily executed with 优蜜传媒Ariba Category Management. The solution integrates features and tools to help leverage data for Big Data analytics, and it can provide comprehensive end-to-end visibility throughout the procurement process. 

The adoption of 优蜜传媒Ariba Category Management offers OMV numerous benefits, including improved efficiency, cost savings, and the promotion of sustainability through the selection of more environmentally friendly suppliers and products. By implementing 优蜜传媒Ariba Category Management, OMV successfully bridges the digital gap in procurement and takes another significant step towards a circular value chain. 

Curious to Learn More?

Learn more about intelligent category management at , taking place October 14-16, 2024, in Las Vegas.

Elena Parker is chief revenue officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network, MEE, at SAP.

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

Paul Saunders, head of Product Strategy and chief evangelist of Cloud ERP for 优蜜传媒S/4HANA, is interviewed by Laura Marwood, Ph.D., Cloud ERP product specialist, on the many issues surrounding trust in the context of AI in enterprise resource planning (ERP).

When technology advances faster than people and processes, adoption can be a challenge. For these reasons, it鈥檚 important for companies such as 优蜜传媒to pay as much attention to trust as they do to the technology.

Paul Saunders, head of Product Strategy and chief evangelist of Cloud ERP for鈥疭AP鈥疭/4HANA put it this way during a : 鈥淭rust is not the engine oil, it鈥檚 the essence of business.鈥�

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

In the interview, Saunders explains this and other aspects of the changing relationship between humans. The former Gartner analyst believes that this changed relationship has pushed trust to the top of the corporate agenda and made SAP鈥檚 commitment to relevant, reliable, and responsible business AI all the more crucial.

鈥淭he relationship between 优蜜传媒and our customers for the longest time was transactional,鈥� he says. But the shift to the cloud has changed that. From the customer鈥檚 perspective, in a cloud environment the SaaS vendor is effectively running the business and that requires a whole new level of trust.

As Saunders notes, “When a data center goes down the customer can’t just say, ‘Hey Bob, get down to the computer room and reboot the box.’ Now, with AI, it’s not just the data we’re providing, but information and recommendations. And some of those recommendations might challenge what the person thinks intuitively.”

For example, when Saunders was CIO of a golf cart maker in Georgia that shipped the carts all over the United States, he put in an early AI-based route planning package designed to optimize the deliveries of the carts to customers across the country.  

But despite the potential efficiency gains promised by the technology, the CEO who had run the company for 40 years and was accustomed to relying on his own judgment overruled the software and insisted that the drivers follow his preferred delivery route.

This resistance to change reflects a broader reluctance to embrace data-driven decision-making, with individuals often interpreting data in a way that reinforces their existing beliefs rather than challenging them.

When faced with the suggestion from a machine to do something different, most people will only follow the advice if they have solid confidence in the accuracy of the underlying data and can retain oversight of the process. 

That, according to Saunders, plays to SAP鈥檚 advantage. He acknowledges that 优蜜传媒is sometimes considered to be 鈥渁 little bit old fashioned,” but also thought of as “incredibly reliable and trustworthy.鈥� 

In such a fast-changing and unpredictable environment 鈥� one in which many experts, including Saunders, predict that at least one big brand name company will be in the news 鈥渇or doing something terrible with AI鈥� 鈥� SAP鈥檚 commitment to delivering dependable solutions infused with relevant, reliable, and responsible business AI is key. 

For Saunders, the importance of fostering trust and confidence in both the technology itself and the organizations deploying it, particularly in industries where risk aversion and conservatism are prevalent, cannot be overstated.  

But he also believes that organizations need to strike a balance between automation and human intervention, recognizing that while AI can streamline processes and improve efficiency, human judgment and oversight remain essential for ensuring the accuracy and reliability of AI-generated insights.  

In the end, what really matters to customers is not the technology itself, but the business value that it creates. 鈥淚f you go to any CEO or CFO, they will tell you they only care about three things: revenue, cost, and risk. That鈥檚 it.鈥�

Ultimately, he says, 鈥淓verything we do has to show the business value.鈥� 

Like at home, identifying every dollar you spend and getting the most out of it is more critical than ever for your business. And as we continue to roll out 优蜜传媒Business AI technology, the teams behind 优蜜传媒solutions are working on ways to help you reduce the time spent on mundane tasks so you can focus on executing your strategy, unlocking spend potential, and unleashing efficiency.

The first quarter of 2024 was among the most productive in my 18 years at SAP. We debuted new AI capabilities in various 优蜜传媒spend management solutions. Check out some of these highlights:

• 优蜜传媒Ariba Category Management: We鈥檝e incorporated that can assist category managers by generating recommendations in the solution鈥檚 category segmentation, market dynamics, and cost structure tools.
• Scoutbee Discovery: 优蜜传媒partnered with Scoutbee, a leading AI-powered supplier intelligence and discovery platform, to launch . This 优蜜传媒endorsed app can rapidly identify qualified suppliers that meet specific criteria and can help advance strategic business imperatives. of me participating in a recent LinkedIn Live with the Scoutbee team.
• Concur Request: Now, this service uses generative AI to help provide for trip planning.
• ExpenseIt: Users can upload receipt images to the ExpenseIt solution, which taps AI to help with several key fields prepopulated. Plus, ExpenseIt can now itemize hotel folios using generative AI.
• Generative AI search: A new capability within Concur Support allows 优蜜传媒Concur customers to type questions in natural language and get quick answers using generative AI, .

SAP鈥檚 market-leading spend and business network solutions are getting even smarter, working to unlock greater value for our customers. We have many resources devoted to spend management and that鈥檚 why we continue to deliver innovation in spend management.

And we are only getting started. By the end of 2024,  is planning the following enhancements:

• Generative AI RFI/RFP responses in 优蜜传媒Business Network Discovery: With generative AI-enabled responses for postings in 优蜜传媒Business Network Discovery, suppliers will be able to respond to RFIs promptly and more accurately, helping to save time and reduce costs associated with manual labor and resource allocation.听听
• Catalog enrichment using ChatGPT recommendations: This feature can enable suppliers to generate and improve product descriptions and overall catalog quality based on prompts and keyword recommendations from ChatGPT.听
• Intelligent error simplification using generative AI:听This feature uses machine learning and a large language model to interpret and categorize invoice rejection reasons, allowing suppliers to reduce the number of failing invoices, improve rapid invoice submission and payment, and optimize cash flow.

For more on how AI is transforming business networks, read this recent article from my colleague Joern Keller.

But What Are Our Customers Saying?

Each quarter, G2 highlights the top rated solutions in the industry, chosen by the source that matters most: customers. Spring 2024 is no different, and once again our suite of spend and business network solutions scored extremely well.

• is a G2 Spring Leader in Vendor Management.
• is a G2 Spring Leader in Procure to Pay, Purchasing, Strategic Sourcing, Supplier Relationship Management, and Contract Lifecycle Management.
• is a G2 Spring Leader in Expense, Travel & Expense, and Invoicing.

What鈥檚 more, G2 recently announced its , with 优蜜传媒Fieldglass and 优蜜传媒Concur receiving high honors:

• 优蜜传媒Fieldglass came in at No. 26 in G2鈥檚 Best Software Awards across all products and No. 12 in G2鈥檚 Best Software Awards for best midmarket products.
• 优蜜传媒Concur came in at No. 4 in G2鈥檚 Best Software Awards for the account and software product category.

My colleagues are also getting their flowers. Etosha Thurman, chief marketing and solutions officer of Intelligent Spend and Business Network, and Steve Seide, global head of Adoption for Intelligent Spend and Business Network, were named Top Procurement Pros in the . A big congratulations also goes out to Darcy MacClaren, CRO for 优蜜传媒Digital Supply Chain, who received a Pros to Know Lifetime Achievement award.

Driving Success for Our Customers

Hearing me spotlight our direct and indirect procurement, external workforce, and travel and expense management solutions is one thing. Seeing them in action is something way more powerful. Here are a few recent customer success stories to take in:

• American Eagle Outfitters (AEO), a leading global specialty retailer offering high-quality on-trend clothing, accessories, and personal care products through its portfolio of brands, needed to evaluate indirect purchasing processes and vendor relationships to maximize efficiency. See how helped simplify processes and deliver compliant purchasing protocols across the company.
• Power provider to over 900,000 electric customers, Oklahoma Gas & Electric Company (OG&E) faced challenges with the complexity of third-party and cross-department management of contingent workers. After transitioning 优蜜传媒Fieldglass solutions to internal management, OG&E gained the visibility to make more informed financial decisions, like supplier negotiations.
• Vestas Wind Systems, the world鈥檚 largest manufacturer of wind turbines, launched a large-scale quality initiative powered by 优蜜传媒Business Network to help mitigate product defects in a highly complex supply chain. Now, using 优蜜传媒Business Network, suppliers complete predefined quality tests and document them before confirming or sending an order. This enables Vestas employees to be warned in advance of any quality issues further up the supply chain, so they can take corrective action.
• Most KUKA employees are based in Germany, where tax regulation is complex and submitting hotel and entertainment expenses is anything but simple. The KUKA team worked together to develop a simple process using 优蜜传媒Concur solutions, connected to 优蜜传媒ERP, that allows employees to create hotel and entertainment expenses with fewer errors and fewer rejected expense reports.

Join Us at 优蜜传媒Sapphire!

优蜜传媒Sapphire & ASUG Annual Conference is June 3-5 in Orlando, Florida, this year and I can鈥檛 wait to meet with customers, partners, and my fellow colleagues. This is the best event in the industry in my opinion and you don鈥檛 want to miss out. Join us by registering on the , where you can also save your spot at the 优蜜传媒Sapphire Virtual and 优蜜传媒Sapphire Barcelona events. See you there!

Jeff Collier is chief revenue officer for 优蜜传媒Intelligent Spend and Business Network.

With the integration of cutting-edge technologies, organizations can leverage data-driven insights to make informed decisions, accelerate time-to-market for new treatments, and ultimately improve patient care. Life sciences and healthcare companies are at the forefront of innovation and competitive advantage by embracing changing industry trends and harnessing technology’s power.

The 优蜜传媒Industry Heroes program was launched in 2023 to celebrate companies that leverage technology to transform their business in innovative ways. Healthcare and life sciences heroes have harnessed the power of technology to transform the traditional patient paradigm into an adaptive, customer-centric frontier.

Astellas

Astellas Pharma Inc. is a leading pharmaceutical company dedicated to advancing healthcare through innovative therapies and cutting-edge research. Focusing on addressing unmet medical needs, Astellas develops and markets a wide range of healthcare solutions across various therapeutic areas, striving to improve the health and well-being of patients globally. With RISE with 优蜜传媒and 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors solutions, Astellas is building an internal environment that will leverage globally integrated data to unlock the organization’s full potential.

DXC Technology

DXC Technology is a global IT services and solutions company known for its expertise in digital transformation, enterprise applications, cloud computing, and cybersecurity. With a focus on enabling clients to thrive in the digital era, DXC offers a wide range of technology and advisory services tailored to meet the diverse needs of businesses across industries. A mobile app built on the 优蜜传媒Business Technology Platform (优蜜传媒BTP) and 优蜜传媒Business AI is enabling individuals with Parkinson’s disease to keep clinicians informed about their symptoms, accompanied by a clinician dashboard 鈥� and generative AI query extensions are also in development. The innovative solution aims to improve the quality of life for these patients and their caregivers and marks a huge step forward in using AI to support clinical decisions.

Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that has pursued and achieved breakthroughs in medicine for more than three decades, with the goal of creating a healthier world for all people. The company is committed to advancing innovative medicines to prevent and treat life-threatening diseases, including HIV, viral hepatitis, COVID-19, and cancer. Gilead operates in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California.

Gilead鈥檚 digital transformation journey includes a bold migration to 优蜜传媒S/4HANA with segmentation and 优蜜传媒Ariba and continues to expand its reach with 优蜜传媒BTP and cutting-edge solutions such as 优蜜传媒Intelligent Clinical Supply Management, 优蜜传媒Cell and Gene Therapy Orchestration, and 优蜜传媒Batch Release Hub for Life Sciences.

Most notably, Gilead and 优蜜传媒are co-innovating on 优蜜传媒Batch Release Hub for Life Sciences. This groundbreaking add-on will support continued compliance with regulatory standards across regions and jurisdictions with emphasis on highest quality and safety standards for Gilead’s products, further safeguarding patient wellbeing across the globe. Integrating 优蜜传媒Ariba solutions, including 优蜜传媒Business Network, Gilead aims to create a globally interconnected platform, enhancing collaboration between suppliers and buyers while optimizing its global procurement operations.

Additionally, 优蜜传媒and Gilead are collaborating on co-innovating jurisdiction control checks using 优蜜传媒Batch Release Hub for Life Sciences. The add-on will perform control checks on manufactured batches of pharmaceutical products, helping life science organizations to maintain compliance with regulatory standards across multiple regions and jurisdictions. This safeguard checklist will further support the quality and safety of products.

优蜜传媒celebrates these organizations’ outstanding efforts, collaboration, and dedication to driving successful business outcomes with technology. The innovations streamline research processes, enhance efficiency, and improve patient care, ultimately revolutionizing how healthcare and life sciences companies operate.

优蜜传媒Innovation Days for Life Sciences & Healthcare are taking place in Palo Alto, California, from April 24- 25, 2024, and Newton Square, Pennsylvania, from April 29-30, 2024, celebrating industry heroes and bringing attendees together to discuss leveraging technology to drive business outcomes. Get more information on the events .

As we navigate this brave new world of business AI, 优蜜传媒partners are playing an essential role as equal parts technology disrupters, trusted advisors, and innovation multipliers. They work and live at the edge, breaking technology rules with every new solution and innovation they bring to the table. These companies are passionate about their AI-driven solutions, which will provide what 优蜜传媒manufacturing customers want most for their businesses nowadays: more efficiency, accuracy, and agility in their production operations and supply chains. Their energy and passion are positioning them to redefine the rules of engagement regarding how partner ecosystems work.

It doesn鈥檛 matter what kind of partner you are 鈥� you could be on the build, implement/service, or sell sides of the 优蜜传媒partner ecosystem, the opportunities to innovate, and co-innovate with 优蜜传媒and other partners, solutions that bring value to customers in discrete manufacturing industries are as limitless as our imaginations. It鈥檚 an exciting time to be an 优蜜传媒industry partner.

Innovative Solutions from 优蜜传媒and Partners Give Our Manufacturing Customers a Competitive Edge

Giving our manufacturing customers the business AI solutions they need to thrive in highly competitive and often volatile markets is an absolute must. Whether those solutions are developed by an 优蜜传媒partner, 优蜜传媒itself, or collaboratively is secondary.

This new drive to co-innovate on our customers鈥� behalf is creating opportunities for partners to develop and deliver industry innovations in three areas of discrete manufacturing:

1. Solutions that enable efficient, accurate, and agile manufacturing and supply chains by integrating processes, removing data silos, and seamlessly connecting manufacturing and supply chain applications with the whole of the business.
2. Solutions that improve decision-making by using AI to analyze data from internal and external sources in context and produce insights that increase manufacturing operations’ resilience and help customers strike the right balance among cost, sustainability, and customer satisfaction.
3. Solutions that promote collaboration within a business ecosystem.听Many of the company executives I鈥檝e spoken with recently wanted to talk about Manufacturing-X, the growing cross-industry initiative in which companies across various manufacturing value chains come together within a global business ecosystem to define a standard that enables them to share production and supply chain data across platforms and technology to further increase resilience, sustainability, and competitiveness.

We are bringing this customer-focused, partner-driven approach to life this week at Hannover Messe, bringing center stage the latest, most compelling innovations to emerge from 优蜜传媒and our partner ecosystem, across both discrete and process manufacturing 鈥� many embedded with business AI.

Some of the showcases that have been developed collaboratively in action include:

• Modular manufacturing that orchestrates production cells with a hard independent fleet manager
• High-speed bottling that captures traceability data and in-line quality assurance
• A centralized operations control center听that manages an offsite process production line
• AI-enhanced visual inspection and guided instructions during component assembly
• A quick guided journey through an Industrial Metaverse, showing how assets inside a power plant can be intelligently and remotely managed

优蜜传媒partners are playing an integral part in our presence at Hannover Messe, just as they are in our overarching industry vision. Partners including Accenture, Camelot ITLab, Cideon Software & Services, FORCAM, Kinexon, Systema, and TeamViewer are all exhibiting their solutions alongside their 优蜜传媒counterparts, demonstrating the true power of partnership and innovation at every turn.

By leveraging resources like the new 优蜜传媒AI Launchpad and generative AI hub, our partners will introduce industry innovations that will add immediate value for customers in the discrete and process manufacturing space. Hence, they have the intelligent digital tools they need to be future-ready.

Kinexon鈥檚 OS extension to the 优蜜传媒Digital Manufacturing solution is one example. Kinexon OS orchestrates the shop floor and automates previously manual processes, improving production speed, quality, and asset utilization. It is providing customers with an essential pathway to modular production and autonomous manufacturing.

For those of you at the event, stop by the 优蜜传媒space and experience innovation and partnership in perfect harmony firsthand. An electric injection molding machine developed by Fanuc with support from partner Syntax will be cranking out made-to-order drinking vessels.

Come enjoy a cup of inspiration on us. It鈥檚 a small but meaningful taste of what鈥檚 possible for partners in our collaborative, customer-focused, and business AI-driven cloud ecosystem.

Sven Denecken is senior vice president and chief marketing and solutions officer for Industries & CX at SAP.

And for you and your business, you can tell all those success stories 鈥� and more 鈥� with the 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors HCM suite and our first half 2024 release.

As your organization and employees begin to embrace AI, HR has the opportunity to drive new levels of employee productivity, engagement, and growth. 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors HCM can give you everything you need 鈥� the global foundation, skills framework, people-first experiences, and purpose-built AI capabilities 鈥� to help take HR to the next level. With the 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors first half 2024 release, we are delivering more than 250 innovative features and enhancements.

优蜜传媒Business AI

In 1H 2024, we are thrilled to introduce more than 25 new AI capabilities to enable better employee experiences and new levels of productivity.

Among these capabilities include the ability for applicants to provide skills during the application process. This can enable recruiters to see a skills compatibility for each applicant based on matching the applicant鈥檚 skills and the job requisition, helping improve applicant screening and time to hire. Furthermore, personalization in 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors Opportunity Marketplace is enhanced with new AI-driven recommendation categories, 鈥淚gnite Your Role鈥� and 鈥淩each Your Aspirations.鈥� These guided experiences can enable employees to proactively take steps to reach their development goals.

Generative AI continues to be embedded across the 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors HCM suite, including new capabilities to help employees create ready-made performance and development goals and AI-assisted writing to help improve the quality, clarity, and conciseness of writing across a variety of areas within 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors solutions.

Further, with this release, insights based on an employee鈥檚 compensation and job history are available to help support managers in having effective and well-informed compensation discussions. 

We have also added more than 15 new capabilities in this release to help both managers and employees get work done in a conversational way, such as creating or changing a position, creating spot awards, clocking in and out, and viewing pay statements as well as time capabilities like requesting time off, checking leave balances, and syncing holidays to Outlook calendars while managers can review and approve time off. Further, employees can now clock in and out using Joule, Microsoft Teams, or the 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors Mobile app.

优蜜传媒SuccessFactors Employee Central

We are excited to unveil two new people profile experiences 鈥� the profile preview and the spotlight view. The profile preview can provide a snapshot of key areas of the employee profile, including job, manager, location, and contact details, to quickly view and connect with others. Additionally, the spotlight view can showcase employee skills and competencies, mentoring and target roles, and other relevant personal and organizational information.

We are also introducing a new org chart experience with a refreshed look and feel. Available on desktop and mobile, users can explore their organizational structure with improved expand and collapse capabilities, which helps provide full accessibility to an employee鈥檚 profile preview, with an option to open the new spotlight view.

Customers can now automatically process new hires from 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors Recruiting and 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors Onboarding into 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors Employee Central. This capability helps further reduce the time to hire, which is especially important with mass, seasonal, and high-volume hiring.

优蜜传媒SuccessFactors Employee Central Global Benefits

With this release, we are pleased to introduce a new benefits enrollment experience for insurance, savings, and pension benefit types. Available on both desktop and mobile, the guided experience for benefits elections can give employees increased convenience with improved navigation and increased confidence with side-by-side plan comparisons and embedded instructional text. Additionally, employees can update dependent information and manage beneficiaries directly from the benefits enrollment process, which helps further streamline the enrollment experience.  

优蜜传媒SuccessFactors Time Tracking

We are thrilled to share the launch of a new time sheet experience that integrates the latest version of My Timesheet in 优蜜传媒S/4HANA with 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors. Employees can now record time for payroll, as well as against activities and cost objects, from a single time sheet across applications. This helps organizations leverage real-time connectivity between HR and finance operations to keep track of employee activity and labor costs and to pay employees accurately and on time.

Additionally, a new monthly calendar view for time sheets can give employees and managers a complete picture of recorded time over a month. Users can drill down into specific days and submit or approve time for pay periods beyond a week, such as biweekly or monthly.

For managers, a new time approval center helps simplify approvals with a centralized dashboard highlighting anomalies for swift resolution. Managers can monitor team working hours effectively, helping to ensure accurate and timely payroll processing.

优蜜传媒SuccessFactors Onboarding

With enhancements to the onboarding journey experience, new hires can now use the new Your Onboarding Checklist page to reference and complete all tasks 鈥� onboarding data collection, compliance tasks, additional onboarding tasks, and exploring the onboarding guide 鈥� from one place with a single view. Available for new hires, rehires, internal hires, and employees with global assignments, this improved experience can save time for onboarding participants while helping to ensure productivity from the start.

And that鈥檚 only a fraction of all the innovations we鈥檙e bringing to customers in 1H 2024. There鈥檚 much more in the release, including new and exciting updates in:

• Generative AI and Joule capabilities
• 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors Opportunity Marketplace
• 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors Compensation
• 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors Succession & Development
• 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors Incentive Management
• 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors Work Zone

Read the and watch the to find out more.

Bianka Woelke is group vice president of Application Product Management at SAP.

“Businesses today are confronted with challenges ranging from supply chain disruptions and labor shortages to geopolitical uncertainties,鈥� said Muhammad Alam, member of the Executive Board of 优蜜传媒SE, 优蜜传媒Product Engineering. 鈥溣琶鄞絩ecognizes the imperative for agility and intelligence, driving innovation with AI-powered solutions to streamline supply chain and manufacturing processes. Companies can enhance operational efficiency and improve supply chain resiliency while delighting customers with superior service, paving the way for sustained growth and market competitiveness.鈥�

Accurate and relevant real-time information helps mitigate the impact that supply-chain disruptions have on suppliers, manufacturers and distributors worldwide. SMA Solar Technology AG and other customers have already witnessed the benefits of SAP鈥檚 solutions, including an approximately 15% increase in supply chain workforce productivity, a 10% decrease in overall supply chain planning costs and a 10% reduction in inventory carrying costs and stock turnover rate.

鈥淪MA Solar modernizes its manufacturing execution systems to support sustainable, risk-resilient manufacturing operations with the power of AI-enabled visual inspection in the 优蜜传媒Digital Manufacturing solution,鈥� said Heiko Kehm, SMA Solar head of IT Order to Cash.

Sixty-three percent of supply chain executives and 52% of operations executives have an AI strategy linked to business objectives, according to 鈥�,鈥� a global 2024 IDC InfoBrief sponsored by SAP*. Fifty-one percent of the 2,000 survey respondents are embedding AI into supply chain planning business processes and key applications for real-time decision-making. Another 58% are using AI to increase operational efficiency and employee productivity.

to SAP鈥檚 supply chain solutions to support customers鈥� AI-centric strategy include:

• Optimizing decisions across the supply chain with AI-driven insights: Companies can now leverage higher volumes of machine data and integrate AI-driven visual inspection by computer into their production processes, enabling a remarkable increase in quality through automation.
• Streamlining product development: Product developers can now use SAP鈥檚 AI copilot Joule to gather and enhance new product ideas quickly and effectively using natural language queries. Joule also helps tag product designs with business data, so they visually contextualize business-critical information.
• Detecting equipment anomalies: Using AI, asset operators can proactively address potential breakdowns based on sensor data collected from smart devices and edge gateways. This new capacity utilizes the cutting-edge Cumulocity IoT platform from Software AG, which is planned to be embedded in the 优蜜传媒Asset Performance Management application in Q3.
• Improving field response: Customers can optimize driving routes and allocate job assignments efficiently with integrated real-time traffic data and machine-learning-trained models, which enable the right field service technicians to reach their destinations on time.

Find more details about the innovations 优蜜传媒will show at Hannover Messe .

Visit the . Follow 优蜜传媒at .

*IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by SAP, The Importance of AI in Supply Chain and Operations, document #US52042224, April 2024.

About SAP

As a global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, 优蜜传媒(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 .

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

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

For more information, press only:
Dana Roesiger, +49 6227 7 63900, dana.roesiger@sap.com, CET
Julie Schneider, +1 (650) 687-2788, julie.schneider@sap.com, PT
优蜜传媒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鈥檚 2023 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
漏 2024 优蜜传媒SE. All rights reserved.
优蜜传媒and other 优蜜传媒products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 优蜜传媒SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

Please consider our . If you received this press release in your e-mail and you wish to unsubscribe to our mailing list please contact press@sap.com and write Unsubscribe in the subject line.鈥�

Enterprise GPT and digital launchpad, powered by Joule, won silver in the Best Use of Technology in Sales category, while 优蜜传媒Digital Value Discovery won bronze for Value-Based Selling Techniques.

Digital customer engagement at 优蜜传媒is executed via digital hubs located at 15 locations across six continents. The hubs are home to more than 1,000 digitally skilled, multi-disciplinary teams that innovate with and apply AI capabilities to serve personalized and immersive engagements, whenever and wherever needed.

鈥溣琶鄞絛igital hubs were able to support more than 22,000 customer engagements last year 鈥� primarily virtually 鈥� thanks to a plethora of AI tools we adopt internally to drive wider customer coverage and faster execution of digital customer engagements,鈥� explains Sam Masri, global head of Digital for Customer Success at SAP.

鈥淲e are scaling and expanding our digital customer engagement capabilities to every customer-facing role and function in SAP, ensuring everyone uses multiple AI tools to outsource administrative, repetitive, and manual activities to AI,鈥� he elaborates. 鈥淭his way, we have more capacity to focus on strategic activities that address customer needs and increase customer satisfaction. We engage with 优蜜传媒customers of all sizes and industries at a pace that matches their pressing business requirements, accelerating business outcomes they get from our cloud solutions.鈥�

The Stevie Awards encompass several of the world鈥檚 leading business award programs, including the prestigious American Business Awards庐 and International Business Awards庐. More than 2,300 nominations from organizations of all sizes across all industries from 47 nations and territories were evaluated in this year鈥檚 competition. Finalists were determined by the average scores of more than 200 professionals worldwide.

For example, the introduction of low-code/no-code has made application development accessible to everyone in an organization 鈥� with or without a technical background 鈥� to improve experiences for everyone. Just take Dak, the then 12-year-old junior app developer from Massachusetts, who was part of my . With 优蜜传媒Build solutions, Dak was able to develop all kinds of apps and publish them to a wide audience, such as the 鈥淜nowledge 4 Ever鈥� app that offers kids a playful learning experience during summer break.

Then, there are cloud technologies that further boost accessibility and offer other benefits. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) has put more power into more hands. Another advancement, composable technology, will make it easier for businesses to quickly assemble, reassemble, and compose solutions to meet their needs and those of their customers.

Over the course of my 11-year journey at SAP, the 优蜜传媒Innovation Awards have served as a one-of-a-kind global platform to showcase customers and partners that have used their creativity, teamwork, 优蜜传媒products, and cloud technologies to achieve remarkable results. This year, though, is a different experience for me. As an executive sponsor of the awards, I鈥檝e had the privilege of experiencing up close what makes this program and the participating businesses so special.

Today, I am thrilled to announce the . Out of 170 businesses, one in three were chosen as finalists and now the winners have been announced. These winners come from various industries and locations worldwide. What all of them share is the use of 优蜜传媒products and technologies to create innovative solutions for their customers, employees, and communities. Congratulations to all participants for demonstrating remarkable abilities and highlighting the importance of curiosity and continuous learning!

Click the button below to load the content from YouTube.

Always allow YouTube

AI Plays a Critical Role

Generative AI has empowered more people. Many of the participants have utilized 优蜜传媒Business AI to boost their businesses. Take the winner , one of the world鈥檚 leading suppliers of automotive seat systems, which has leveraged 优蜜传媒solutions, including 优蜜传媒AI Launchpad and 优蜜传媒AI Core, to revolutionize cockpit customization. When personalizing cockpit elements such as seats, door panels, and dashboards, OEMs and customers can see the carbon impact of each choice. By providing and promoting more sustainable and environmentally friendly options, Martur Fompak has decreased carbon emissions by 34% for each seat the company produces. AI has also helped the company increase its efficiency to achieve calculations 50 times faster than with manual methods and accelerate data collection by 75 times.听

Sustainability for a Better World Today 鈥� and Tomorrow

Technology has significantly contributed to improving lives, both within and beyond business contexts. Numerous winners like Martur Fompak have prioritized sustainability. Let us look at one more innovator in this area: .

A producer of high-quality sherries, Gonz谩lez Byass is committed to the circular economy concept of eliminating waste, circulating materials, and regenerating nature. The company deploys sustainable and water-saving agricultural techniques. To assist with eliminating and recycling waste, Gonz谩lez Byass turned to 优蜜传媒and 优蜜传媒Responsible Design and Production. The company needed a faster, more transparent way to gather and manage data, specifically around the purchase and use of plastic. With 优蜜传媒Responsible Design and Production, Gonz谩lez Byass can quickly and effectively monitor, measure, and act on data. The company recovers 99% of the waste generated during production while recycling 100% of paper, cardboard, glass, and plastic.  

Adoption Can Be Challenging

Even top technologies such as AI may need support to gain widespread acceptance. Many of this year鈥檚 winners have been innovative with their focus on adopting 优蜜传媒technology. is a prime example.

A leader in onshore/offshore wind energy production, Vestas wanted to improve its supplier and partner collaboration and selected 优蜜传媒for the task. Vestas began its journey with 优蜜传媒in 2007 by employing 优蜜传媒ERP Central Component and consolidating to ONE ERP in 2015. Since 2017, the company has been transforming its digital procurement for supplier collaboration with 优蜜传媒Ariba solutions. Last year, Vestas began to build out its value chain alongside suppliers and partners with 优蜜传媒Business Network, enabling data transparency and connectivity in finance, production planning, and logistics management. As a result, 6,000 suppliers were onboarded, US$12.5 billion in purchase orders was executed, 350,000 orders were confirmed, and 25,000 advance ship notices were generated, to name a few transactions 鈥� all in 2023. 

I am happy to say that the 2024 优蜜传媒Innovation Awards honor businesses that have demonstrated their innovation and effective use of 优蜜传媒products and technologies. They鈥檝e adapted to and met the ever-changing needs of their customers and communities and, as I wrote earlier, achieved remarkable results in diverse areas. Congratulations to all winners! 

The Winners Shine in Seven Categories

If you’re curious about the path to victory for our winners, learn more in this article. Thirty winners were selected, covering the following categories:

• Business Innovator, focusing on transforming the supply chain, processes, or business networks using cloud solutions from SAP
• Industry Leader, for employing 优蜜传媒solutions to address big challenges and change how business is conducted
• Experience Wizard, for achieving business transformation with cloud solutions from 优蜜传媒to improve employee and customer experiences
• Sustainability Hero, achieving sustainability with leading-edge solutions
• Services Supernova, for outstanding achievements in transforming businesses into sustainable enterprises
• Transformation Titan, demonstrating exceptional innovation and transformational leadership in using 优蜜传媒Business Technology Platform (优蜜传媒BTP)
• Partner Paragon, for accelerating the adoption of 优蜜传媒BTP

Juergen Mueller is chief technology officer and a member of the Executive Board of 优蜜传媒SE.

Each year, the conducts in-depth research on the latest trends and predictions impacting the HR function. Our PhD-level organizational psychologists and market intelligence experts aggregate and analyze a mountain of HR trends and predictions data to deliver a list of actionable 鈥渕eta-trends.鈥� For 2024, a list of 611 individual trends were broken down into nine key themes.

Above all, there is no question that 2024 is the year of artificial intelligence (AI). No longer just hype or speculation, AI is officially here. Exciting possibilities have become realities and organizations must embrace AI or risk being left behind. And while our number one HR trend is AI, you can also see its effects across every trend.

Below is a snapshot of the top three 2024 HR meta-trends, with examples of how 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors solutions can help organizations stay ahead of the curve.

1. AI Upends the World of Work as We Know It

I don鈥檛 go a day 鈥� or maybe 10 minutes 鈥� without a customer asking for all the latest and greatest on AI innovation. That makes sense, as AI has dominated the 2024 trends discourse and it鈥檚 increasingly become seen as a way to augment human work.

Trends indicate that using all forms of AI to improve day-to-day productivity will be top of mind for organizations in 2024. In particular, self-serve AI tools like copilots are poised to increase employee productivity on various day-to-day tasks. As employee sentiment about using AI tools at work has improved, so has the ability of these tools to make employees more efficient and effective.

HR use cases abound, particularly within talent acquisition, but concerns continue about data privacy, ethics, and regulatory compliance. There鈥檚 a lot of noise and movement in the space, and regulators and enforcement agencies are acting quickly to keep up.

With the tech landscape and market realities in mind, the HR leaders who head AI implementation programs, maintain a strong policy posture, and avoid overhyped or underbaked propositions to take advantage of the most valuable capabilities will steer their organizations down the right AI path.

Embedding an AI copilot in HR solutions, like , can help employees and managers work faster and smarter by making it easier to find information and complete common HR tasks, such as updating personal data, giving feedback, and initiating a promotion.

2. Skills Become the Center of HR Practices

As AI needs rise within organizations, many organizations will need to immediately respond to determine what AI skills are needed, who possesses those skills, and how to fill skill gaps 鈥� whether build, borrow, buy, or bot. On the other hand, AI capabilities will also drive the ability for organizations to more effectively engage in strategic workforce planning.

Furthermore, in today’s increasingly complex business environment, traditional top-down human resources approaches fail to address employees’ increasing expectations for flexible and personalized career development. In 2024, HR will need to meet employees鈥� growing expectations for bespoke career paths while also solving the broader organization鈥檚 growing skills gaps and talent shortages, which present a major concern for leaders.

Looking forward, it will be interesting to see whether the average organization fully engages in long-term, strategic, skills-based workforce planning, which has long been a strategic objective for many but often remains out of reach as they react to immediate priorities. AI skills could work as a forcing function here 鈥� and contribute to other trend areas like learning and employee potential.

can drive better employee experiences and business outcomes by using a common skills framework across recruiting, learning, performance management, internal mobility, and development.

3. Hybrid Work Returns to the Office

Looking back at our yearly analyses of HR meta-trends, we saw the hybrid work topic shift from a focus on remote work as a reactive tactic to protect employees鈥� health and safety in 2020, to a focus on flexibility in 2021, to maintaining productivity and collaboration while working flexibly in 2022, and finally to an emphasis on underlying flexibility and the need for and benefit of malleable guidelines and principles in 2023. With the recent increase in partial and full return-to-office (RTO) policies, 2024 trends data suggests that the pendulum has swung back to hybrid, referring specifically to work location versus a broader perspective centered on flexibility.

Companies in 2024 will continue to experiment with motivating employees to return to the office in ways that promote productivity, collaboration, and cost savings but don鈥檛 alienate their top talent. But some organizations are focusing more on redesigning the nature of work rather than just mandating where or when work gets done.

help employees adopt a hybrid working model by providing options for common HR tasks regardless of when and where they are working, such as clocking in and out via desktop, mobile, or Microsoft Teams.

There are plenty more strategic takeaways in the full report 鈥� the entire paper is a must-read for HR leaders to learn more from our research team on the latest trends in:

• Diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEI&B)
• Employee mental health
• Leadership trust
• HR skills and agility
• Compensation
• Sustainability

For additional insights, .

Dan Beck is president and chief product officer for 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors.

Formula One is a technologically innovative form of motorsport, where each car features over 300 sensors onboard that generates 1.5 terabytes of data in a single race weekend 鈥� data that needs to be analyzed to detect potential performance enhancements and reliability and safety concerns.

But until the late 1960s, Formula One cars were designed on traditional drawing boards by engineers using retractable pencils and a set of French curves. This is not dissimilar to the tech industry, where for decades the value cases for investing in technology were architected for customers by busloads of engineers armed with Excel spreadsheets.

Cloud computing changed not only what technology to buy, but also how businesses engage with their vendors when making investment decisions. Enabled by new technologies like mobility and artificial intelligence (AI), customers now expect immediate responses, exponentially faster time-to-value, immersive experiences, and flexible and intuitive engagements powered by robust low-touch and self-service capabilities. Not surprisingly, industry research shows that four out of five B2B customers will want to be engaged digitally by 2025.

优蜜传媒executes digital customer engagement via digital hubs located on six continents. The hubs are home to highly collaborative teams of diverse, digitally skilled talent that can deliver comprehensive, virtual customer engagement services. Like an F1 team, digital hubs use cutting-edge technologies to help drive accelerated business outcomes for customers with great customer experience, incredible innovation speed, and optimal levels of productivity achieved through data-driven, surgically precise execution.

Speed of Execution: Embracing Flexibility and Adaptability

Formula One teams operate in a relentless pursuit of speed, continuously refining their strategies to gain a competitive edge. Similarly, the ability to deploy teams to serve 优蜜传媒customers virtually with the latest digital innovations allows us to reach more businesses faster at precisely the time they need us, no matter where in the world they might be and which stage of their digital transformation journey they are at.

Digital customer engagement can allow us to close the feedback loop across thousands of customers around the globe at velocity, helping to shorten their time to value from years to months and from months to weeks. In 2023, 优蜜传媒digital hubs supported more than 22,000 digital customer engagements across the globe, setting these customers up for successful digital transformation journeys at unprecedented speed.

Speed matters and the race is on. The ability to recognize what a customer needs to grow and to work with partners that can quickly address these needs has foundationally elevated the need for digital customer engagements.

Precision in Execution: Leveraging Data and Technology for Optimal Performance

In Formula One, every aspect 鈥� from car design to the race strategy 鈥� hinges on harnessing and analyzing terabytes of data, often in real time. Similarly, in an increasingly competitive business environment, embracing precision through technological innovation allows organizations to balance accelerating their digital transformation decisions and optimizing profitability. The balance can be struck only through an almost unreasonable obsession with measuring and executing on fact-based insights.

At 优蜜传媒digital hubs, we can track key value metrics across the entire customer journey, be it for demand campaigns, customer value propositions, personalized digital asset performance, the adoption of new productivity-driving tools, and so on. We do this not only to understand what鈥檚 most relevant to our customers but also to track the effectiveness of what we do and how we do it in the context of what our customers need.

Customer Experience: Focusing on Value, Personalization, and Great Experiences

In Formula One, success is not solely measured by speed. The sport thrives on delivering a captivating experience tailored to engage multifaceted fans from a multitude of angles, making sure everyone gets value from the event. The same is true in the digital business world.

SAP鈥檚 digital hubs virtualize and leverage SAP鈥檚 rich heritage of industry best practices and benchmarks to help personalize the customer journey, bringing customer stakeholders in alignment with one another and delivering on SAP鈥檚 value promises across geographies, cultures, and industries through immersive and memorable experiences. 优蜜传媒digital hubs can accomplish this across the entire customer journey with 优蜜传媒鈥� from the time we create awareness, to customer onboarding, to supporting customers with valuable solution and industry expertise, until we help customers realize the full value of the 优蜜传媒solutions they adopt.

AI-Powered, Human-Led Approach: Focusing on Digitally Native and Digitally Skilled Talent

In Formula One, decisions pivot on data. But it’s the team that uses their experiences to apply that data and simulate different scenarios to discover new ways to drive superior outcomes. Similarly, while data and AI technologies fuel decisions and actions in 优蜜传媒digital hubs, it’s human ingenuity that leverages the tech and data and elevates customer outcomes.

Just like the F1 teams, our hubs attract and employ only the best of the best, offering a high-energy working environment that thrives on intricate collaboration. The individuals who join us can gain immediate cross-role and cross-geography exposure, enabling them to become productive members of the team in record time. Continuous learning and pointed diversity, with gender parity in half of our digital hubs today, form the backbone of our digital culture, where everyone is treated with respect, skills are constantly honed, and different roles are seamlessly orchestrated to present a unified customer experience.

The rules change, and we have to as well. Every pit stop and each customer touchpoint is a chance to pivot in real time, refine, and go faster, helping 优蜜传媒customers and shareholders gain more value at exponential velocity and great volumes. This is the 鈥�3V鈥� promise of 优蜜传媒digital hubs and this is how we win the race!

Sam Masri is global head of Digital Hub, Customer Success at 优蜜传媒SE.

But in reality, some functions are much better suited than others to gain from AI. The deeper the reservoir of data associated with an operational process 鈥� and the broader the sharing of that data not only within an organization but among its trading partners as well 鈥� the greater the potential for AI to bolster collaborative capabilities, instill operational resilience, and unlock exponential value.

By facilitating the convergence of trading partners鈥� operational data, cloud-based networks strengthen transparency and foster collaboration across interconnected processes such as procurement, supply chain, logistics, and asset management. The vast troves of data accumulated from these functions 鈥� and the insights they reveal 鈥� bear significant implications for forecasting demand, planning inventory, sourcing components, procuring labor, maximizing utilization, managing logistics, gauging sustainability, achieving compliance, and securing financing. Yet the sheer volume of such data, sometimes spanning billions or more transactions, can defy human interpretation in the quest to optimize decision-making.

That鈥檚 where artificial intelligence comes in.

As the world鈥檚 largest B2B collaboration platform, facilitates hundreds of millions of transactions per year, capturing a unified, end-to-end view of spend. So prodigious is the cloud-based network鈥檚 volume 鈥� exceeding US$5.3 trillion in commerce annually, greater than the gross domestic product of every nation except the United States and China 鈥� that, through innovations in predictive and technologies, 优蜜传媒Business Network is transforming procurement, supply chain, logistics, asset management, and related operational processes, with the goal that every business runs as an intelligent, sustainable enterprise.

The cloud is uniquely fit for the task of delivering simplicity within a many-to-many network of trading partners. A network鈥檚 features, from its search functionality to the matching of buyers with suggested suppliers, must aid the dual goals of transparency and ease of use. Predictive and generative AI capabilities augment businesses鈥� ability to discover trading partners on the basis of complementary resources, mutual value, and strategic alignment. With every successive use, generative AI sharpens its ability to anticipate operations professionals鈥� requirements to match supply with demand. Meanwhile, AI helps businesses to automate their most time-consuming procurement and supply chain activities through predictive mechanisms as well, hastening the ability to arrive at better, more informed decisions. When applied to the broadest possible sets of operational data, AI removes the guesswork from business-to-business commerce and replaces it with new leads, renewed confidence, and resilient supply chains.

With these objectives in mind, 优蜜传媒Business Network is transforming its powerful discovery functionality into a simple chat prompt this year. Also in 2024, generative AI will enable 优蜜传媒Business Network to create catalog content based on existing data in the network, detect potential errors within invoices, and obtain quote requests from buyers via natural-language, on-screen dialogue with matched suppliers. Integrating AI capabilities into 优蜜传媒Business Network thus promises to reshape the trading partner experience by enabling buyers to reach far more suppliers with precision for the specific goods and services they produce. Trading partners large and small benefit equally from the increased flow of accurate, detailed, and complete information identifying each other鈥檚 offerings and competitive advantages.

As AI technologies take shape and mature, infusing intelligence natively into business processes, digital commerce platforms are certain to introduce many enhanced capabilities. Naturally, with its scale and history of innovation, you can expect 优蜜传媒Business Network to lead the way. But you鈥檒l know the moment that artificial intelligence has truly transformed enterprise software when its features subtly blend in, almost imperceptibly, to simplify everyday operational processes, making business applications more intuitive and predictive for trading partners. That is our vision for AI at 优蜜传媒Business Network, where the intelligence may be increasingly artificial but the commitment to customer success is invariably genuine.

For further information on 优蜜传媒Business Network and how we are equipping enterprises with AI and other digital tools needed to counter disruption, visit and .

J枚rn Keller is executive vice president and chief product officer of 优蜜传媒Business Network.

优蜜传媒HANA Cloud is a market-leading database-as-a-service enabling intelligent data applications and is one of the most adopted services within 优蜜传媒Business Technology Platform (优蜜传媒BTP) internally at SAP. As of today, more than 180 different applications and services use 优蜜传媒HANA Cloud with its multi-model capabilities.

Now, 优蜜传媒HANA Cloud is also a leader in the generative AI age.

At SAP, we work with various LLMs such as GPT-4, Llama2, Falcon-40b, and Claude2. While these models offer amazing opportunities, they also have limitations. For example, LLMs may rely on outdated training data and lack company-specific data and business process context.

As an example, imagine having an LLM as a colleague. This colleague would be very intelligent, able to program, pass exams, or have arguments 鈥� but this colleague would not know anything about what happened in the world in the past year, nor have any idea about internal processes of your company or any of your systems. Even worse, after every conversation you have, this colleague would forget what you just talked about. Working with such a lack of memory would be of limited value. This shortcoming is why an LLM cannot answer easy questions like 鈥淲hat do you think about the offer from our most important supplier last week?鈥� An LLM can only work with the initial training data 鈥� all other data must be provided as context.

Supplementing this lack of information is where 优蜜传媒HANA Cloud vector engine can assist. The engine can provide LLMs with all the relevant data of an organization through a process called “retrieval-augmented generation.”

A Game-Changing Feature

So how does the vector engine work? It is a new addition to 优蜜传媒HANA Cloud’s multi-model engines, enabling customers to utilize the similarity between two or more vectors to solve business problems. With the integration of AI-focused technology, 优蜜传媒HANA Cloud can now empower businesses to combine intuition along with data-driven insights to solve even the most complex of problems.

Some key benefits and features of the vector engine include:

• Multi-model: Users can unify all types of data into a single database to build innovative applications using an efficient data architecture and in-memory performance. By adding vector storage and processing to the same database already storing relational, graph, spatial, and even JSON data, application developers can create next-generation solutions that interact more naturally with the user.
• Enhanced search and analysis: Businesses can now apply semantic and similarity search to business processes using documents like contracts, design specifications, and even service call notes.
• Personalized recommendations: Users can benefit from an improved overall experience with more accurate and personalized suggestions.
• Optimized large language models: The output of LLMs is augmented with more effective and contextual data.

The Database Foundation of SAP鈥檚 Generative AI Strategy

The addition of the vector engine establishes 优蜜传媒HANA Cloud as the default database in SAP’s generative AI solution strategy. Customers can create the next level of user experiences along with other services within 优蜜传媒BTP. As an example, 优蜜传媒BTP can provide centralized access to SaaS-based LLMs from multiple vendors as well as host LLMs from open-source models or third parties. The generative AI hub in 优蜜传媒AI Core, a capability that facilitates the use of generative AI capabilities, will soon rely on 优蜜传媒HANA Cloud as the primary vector storage. One function of the generative AI hub feature is to help provide a process for creating embeddings and storing the resulting vectors in 优蜜传媒HANA Cloud. Customers building intelligent data applications can use both services together to augment LLM queries with relevant context for meaningful answers.

优蜜传媒is working on foundation models that are specific for SAP-related industry and process knowledge.

The Database for Innovation

优蜜传媒HANA Cloud continues to lead the market by storing and processing different types of relevant business data 鈥� all within the same database. The new vector engine, combined with other multi-model capabilities, opens a world of possibilities for applications to help enhance the execution of business processes. Whether improving search capabilities, gaining deeper insights for informed decisions, or optimizing LLMs, 优蜜传媒HANA Cloud enables the type of applications that can elevate the expertise and effectiveness of every user.

To learn more, sign up for . Do you already have a use case for 优蜜传媒HANA Cloud vector engine in mind? If so, consider registering for the .

Juergen Mueller is CTO and member of the Executive Board of 优蜜传媒SE, Technology & Innovation.
Stefan Baeuerle is head of Database, 优蜜传媒HANA Database, & Analytics for Technology & Innovation at SAP.

Expectations can also be very diverse. End users want their jobs to be made easier and more productive. The typical CIO wants scalability, greater data protections, and a secure IT infrastructure that runs with lower total cost of ownership.

And we 鈥� the cloud software provider 鈥� also have a clear-cut expectation that customers should actually use the software. Otherwise, bold transformation objectives won鈥檛 be met and subscription contracts won鈥檛 be renewed.

Disappointment is often described as the gap between expectations and reality. When software adoption is low and expectations for digital transformation outcomes are high, disappointment is almost guaranteed.

That is why we are making the changes necessary at 优蜜传媒to increase customer adoption. Adoption is our main lever for increasing customer satisfaction by ensuring we deliver on the promise of large-scale transformation.

A New Ambition for Service Delivery

My goal leading our new Customer Services & Delivery Board area is to make it easier and faster for customers to adopt our solutions. We want to ensure that customers get all the benefits they are expecting out of their large-scale cloud transformation by reducing the hurdles and ensuring long-term value.

We are fully committed to ensuring that new digital opportunities are not only introduced, but also used to their full potential. Our focus is not on “lift-and-shift” to the cloud, but on holistically and actively supporting our customers in their transformation. And we act as customer advocates, trusted partners, and guardians of their interests.

My new Board area will therefore bundle services, including professional services, premium engagements, customer innovations, and customer support. In addition, it will include cloud infrastructure, cloud operations, cloud lifecycle management, and private cloud provision for 优蜜传媒customers worldwide.

Why Now?

Adoption has always been at the core of our efforts. What鈥檚 different now is that a truly transformative technology 鈥� artificial intelligence 鈥� has emerged and is enabling end users to interact in more natural human ways. This has powerful technological and societal implications.

It is also presenting software providers like us with unique opportunities to enhance adoption. Think how easy (and fun) AI interactions have become. AI innovation is a catalyst for us to enhance adoption, and we are seizing the moment with determined steps toward providing .

But for our valued customers to benefit from all the advantages of 优蜜传媒Business AI, we really need to be there for them throughout their cloud transformation journey, because AI innovation only happens in the cloud.

What鈥檚 Changing?

We know that cloud customers want flexible and innovative solutions that help them solve their biggest challenges and that can be deployed quickly and consumed easily. For the past 52 years, we have been vested in the success of our customers with the best team of experts in the industry to support them at every point of the customer value journey. That has not changed!

What has changed, however, is that we are putting the power of my new Board area behind the delivery of our solutions, providing governance and support to our delivery ecosystem, and continuously improving our cloud delivery and support methodologies. And we have created a unique opportunity to bring together cloud operations to streamline the entire customer experience.

Our overarching objective is customer satisfaction. We are committed to increasing it through comprehensive and innovative post-sales technical delivery services or partner-led implementations to drive our customers鈥� business transformation and deliver measurable value, which is “business speak” for absolutely delighting them! That鈥檚 how we will ensure organizations can fully realize their new digital opportunities.

Offering Transformation as a Service

We deliver the most complete business transformation suite in the industry. That has been our ambition since launching RISE with 优蜜传媒some years ago.听With the range of capabilities on offer today 鈥� including RISE with SAP, GROW with SAP, 优蜜传媒Signavio, cloud application lifecycle management, 优蜜传媒LeanIX, and, of course, 优蜜传媒Business Technology Platform 鈥� we are well on our way to enabling customers to accelerate transformation.

We are committed to optimizing our portfolio for delivery, and we are working on tooling and automation to speed up the process. That鈥檚 how we are reaffirming our promise to provide transformation as a service.听

Closing the Gap Between Expectations and Outcomes

Adoption of our portfolio opens new possibilities for business model innovation along with increased competitiveness, cost savings, and employee satisfaction, while realizing the benefits of new 优蜜传媒innovations more quickly: essentially all the outcomes organizations are expecting when they set out on the pathway to digital transformation.

So, you could say, we鈥檙e more dedicated than ever to closing the gap between expectations for cloud transformation and the corresponding outcomes.

Thomas Saueressig is a member of the Executive Board of 优蜜传媒SE, leading Customer Services & Delivery.

Most have been in this situation before: one of the providers or services we use is a victim of a data breach and we want to determine if our personal user data has been impacted. This is where fully homomorphic encryption (FHE) comes into play. With FHE, the encrypted, personal password is compared against the data set of stolen user data and potential matches are identified without ever revealing the user鈥檚 password.

Use cases for this type of privacy-enhancing technology (PET) are numerous. They range from applications in medicine, where third-party service providers can analyze health data without compromising a patient鈥檚 privacy, to performing machine learning and AI algorithms on encrypted data, allowing organizations to derive insights from sensitive data sets without exposing the data to potential breaches or privacy violations.

How It Works

Fully听homomorphic听encryption听allows calculations to be performed on encrypted data without having to decrypt it first. Confidentiality is maintained, as even the results are encrypted and can be viewed only with the appropriate decryption key. Further techniques for processing encrypted data are multi-party computation (MPC) and trusted execution environments (TEE).

Mathias Kohler, research manager at 优蜜传媒Security Research, outlines the differences: 鈥淲hile FHE is the most known of the encryption technologies, MPC is the ideal candidate if working with several parties exchanging encrypted data across company borders. And it can be substantially faster than FHE.鈥� While both are software-based technologies, TEE is hardware-based, which makes it the fastest choice. The downside: TEEs, unlike MPC and FHE, require decrypting the data for processing. While decryption happens in a trusted hardware environment isolated from the operating system, it can allow data leakage via side-channel attacks. Notably, PETs do not need to be considered in isolation and can augment each other. For example, MPC can encrypt and distribute an FHE decryption key, protecting the FHE key and ensuring no single party can decrypt everything.

Why It鈥檚 Relevant

There is a demand for this kind of technology. By 2025, 60% of large organizations will use at least one privacy-enhancing computation technique in analytics, business intelligence, or cloud computing, according to .

Fully homomorphic encryption has numerous applications, especially in scenarios where privacy and security are paramount, such as secure computation in the cloud, privacy-preserving data analysis, and secure outsourcing of computations. As long as one party is performing the data processing centrally, FHE is the encryption method of choice. FHE enables organizations to share encrypted data with partners or third parties for analysis or monetization purposes while maintaining data confidentiality. This is particularly relevant in industries such as advertising and market research.

Interesting use case scenarios from SAP鈥檚 perspective could be secure benchmarking and predictive maintenance.

Secure Benchmarking

Companies often assess their competitiveness relative to industry peers and compare business-relevant KPIs, such as automation rate or return rates, with peers and even competitors. With fully homomorphic encryption, all participating parties can share encrypted KPIs without revealing individual data. As a result, they learn about relevant statistics, such as averages or medians, to assess their relative competitiveness and decide where to improve and invest.

Predictive Maintenance

Predictive maintenance is a machine learning technique to forecast demand for maintenance or spare parts based on historical data. “In certain industries, required data, such as usage patterns and failures, is considered sensitive and is not easily shared with data scientists or maintenance operators,鈥� says Anselme Tueno, senior researcher at 优蜜传媒Security Research. By computing on encrypted data, however, no sensitive information is revealed while still allowing for the required insights to be gathered for prediction tasks.

Carbon Footprint Calculation with Multi-Party Computation

While it is early days from a product availability perspective, 优蜜传媒is working on potential use cases with customers and partners. One key example is calculating carbon footprints of products.

Prime examples for complex collaborations are today鈥檚 supply chains, intricate networks that encompass various levels of suppliers, manufacturers, and processed goods. Unfortunately, there is often a lack of comprehensive visibility across the entire process 鈥� either for technical reasons or because businesses are often reluctant to share sensitive data across supply chains that often include direct competitors.

However, to accurately assess and disclose a product鈥檚 carbon footprint, sensitive production details and associated carbon costs for production-relevant parts and materials are required. Here, MPC can reveal only the required carbon footprint without disclosing associated, proprietary manufacturing details with other supply chain participants.

Currently, 优蜜传媒is working with Bosch on cloud-native software for secure multi-party computation called .

鈥溣琶鄞絧articipates in this open-source project and supports the development of Carbyne Stack’s storage and processing services and the deployment of Carbyne Stack on Amazon Web Services (AWS),鈥� Kohler explains. 鈥淔or Bosch, Carbyne Stack is a type of cloud-native operating system for MPC workloads that manages resources to run as efficiently as possible in multi-cloud deployments.鈥� This effort can help 优蜜传媒in the long run to integrate MPC as technology into 优蜜传媒solutions and services while running in a cloud-native environment.

What鈥檚 Next?

Despite all the benefits around processing data, encryption introduces significant computational overhead due to the complexity of performing operations on encrypted data. Slow processing speeds, especially for complex operations and large data sets, makes fully homomorphic encryption impractical for real-time applications or large-scale data processing. Although the performance of FHE has greatly improved in recent years, its practical adoption is still limited due to the processing overhead and performance considerations. Ongoing research is focused on the design of FHE-specific hardware accelerators.

鈥淧ETs for computing on encrypted data have the power to amplify data-driven business collaborations and reshape the future of cloud computing,鈥� explains Jonas B枚hler, senior researcher at 优蜜传媒Security Research. By safeguarding data, they enable access to previously untapped information while minimizing privacy risks and thwarting data breaches. The future of computing is encrypted.

Leaders need to embrace generative AI as a way to address these challenges with talent intelligence and advanced analytics. According to , 26% of CEOs rank the talent shortage as the top damaging factor to business outlook, and 76% of HR leaders agree they will be lagging in organizational success if they don鈥檛 adopt and implement generative AI in the next 12 to 24 months. 

 At SAP, we have a proven track record of providing HCM solutions in the cloud for leading organizations around the globe. Our customers trust us to not only manage their sensitive employee data and payroll, but to help them understand their workforces as they prepare for the skills they need in the future. 

The provides truly global HR cloud software with powerful AI capabilities to help organizations meet the challenges of today and innovate for tomorrow. Our more than 10,000 customers 鈥� from startups and midmarket companies to large enterprises 鈥� use our solutions to help bring out the best in their people by harnessing the to elevate every experience, guide every people decision, and connect HR across every aspect of the business. We do this with:听

• : A single source of truth is key for any organization to enable insight into the entirety of its workforce: employees, contingent workers, and dynamic teams. The 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors HCM suite can provide localized support for over 100 countries and territories and cloud payroll for 50 countries and territories, plus additional modular solutions for time, benefits, and HR service delivery.

• : Skills gaps and talent shortages have been persistent challenges that continue to exist across all industries. Addressing them starts with an understanding of skills that currently exist, followed by pathways for employees to find new opportunities, learn new skills, and access mentors and feedback. The talent intelligence hub across 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors solutions uses AI to continuously help organizations and employees understand their skills and match people with personalized career pathways.  

• : Every person has unique needs and preferences 鈥� in how they work, how they communicate, and what鈥檚 required for their role. Along with a refreshed, modern user experience, we鈥檝e built in generative AI capabilities throughout our solutions to help people work smarter. And with Joule, SAP鈥檚 copilot, they can quickly complete HR tasks and get conversational responses to their questions.

• : Having access to people data connected across the business is critical to building agility, speed, and resilience within an organization. With the power of the broader 优蜜传媒portfolio, organizations can improve end-to-end business processes across the entire business. This is also complemented with our partner ecosystem, which includes over 350 apps for HR.

We firmly believe that when organizations invest in their people 鈥� in their passions and potential 鈥� they return the investment over and over. And with the rapid acceleration of AI, it鈥檚 more important than ever to build pathways to employee growth, including new ways to upskill, reskill, and discover opportunities that align with a person鈥檚 skills, interests, and aspirations. 

Learn more about the .

Dan Beck is president and chief product officer for 优蜜传媒SuccessFactors.