SAP Seeks to Strengthen its AI and Expand Customer Solutions

SAP has doubled down on its mission to infuse AI into every part of the company’s portfolio, creating a 'new end-to-end growth area' focused on the technology.

Under the leadership of Dr Philipp Herzig in the newly-created role of Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer (CAIO), the new unit will oversee the entire value chain for SAP's Business AI offering, extending from product development and research through to customer implementation.

In recent months, SAP has made a number of announcements relating to its increased use of AI. According to AI Magazine SAP has invested more than US$1bn in AI-powered start-up companies via its investment arm, Sapphire Ventures. while the company recently announcing a restructuring process aimed at helping it focus on high-growth areas such as AI.

Redefining businesses with the power of digital transformation

SAP is one of the world's leading producers of software to manage business processes, developing solutions that facilitate the effective data processing and information flow across organisations. 

SAP shares have increased dramatically by 7% in the wake of the company forecasting cloud revenue growth of more than €21.5bn (US$23.5bn). The company also anticipates a total revenue of more than €37.5bn (US$41bn) in 2024.

Last year the organisation announced its natural-language, generative AI (Gen AI) copilot tool, Joule. Hear from Darcy MacClaren, SAP’s Chief Revenue Officer in the below video from our sister publication, Supply Chain Digital, about how Joule has the power to redefine both the way businesses and people work.

The company expects that AI will continue to transform all aspects of its business. Within the new business unit, Herzig’s team will collaborate with innovators across SAP to infuse AI into every part of the company’s portfolio. With this new setup, SAP is aiming to further accelerate the pace at which customers can benefit from ground-breaking business AI solutions and services. 

The newly established division also underscores the central importance of business AI as a strategic driver for SAP’s ongoing growth.

Herzig’s team consists of a number of strong leaders, including Walter Sun, who continues to lead all product engineering efforts on business AI, as the Global Head of AI. With a proven track record of driving technological innovation and strategic business leadership, Sun joined SAP from Microsoft in September 2023.

“SAP’s increased focus on business AI marks the start of a completely new generation of enterprise innovation, and I’m honoured to have the chance to help customers make the most of this unprecedented opportunity,” says Philipp Herzig, CAIO at SAP, who will report directly to SAP's CEO Christian Klein. 

“I look forward to working with our team, as well as our ecosystem of customers and partners, to drive the development and delivery of relevant, reliable, responsible business AI that fundamentally changes the way business runs.”

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