SAP Sapphire: Business AI Targets 30% Productivity Gains
SAP has launched a set of AI innovations at its annual Sapphire conference, with claims the new technologies could drive productivity increases of up to 30% for enterprise customers.
The software giant has presented an expanded version of its Joule copilot and introduced additional AI agents designed to work across multiple systems and business functions, forming part of what it describes as a broader strategy to make Business AI accessible throughout organisations.
“SAP combines the world's most powerful suite of business applications with uniquely rich data and the latest AI innovations to create a virtuous circle of customer value,” said SAP CEO Christian Klein. “With the expansion of Joule, our partnerships with leading AI pioneers, and advancements in SAP Business Data Cloud, we're delivering on the promise of Business AI as we drive digital transformations that help customers thrive in an increasingly unpredictable world.”
Muhammad Alam, who leads the SAP Product & Engineering Board area, described the company’s approach as a “flywheel of apps, data and AI” that enables organisations to overcome fragmented IT environments. “In the age of AI, true differentiation will lie in how you create value from this end-to-end context for your organisation,” he said. “This can only happen when you simplify and innovate your core and not add another layer of complexity to your landscape.”
According to SAP, this integration strategy addresses a significant challenge for enterprise technology leaders. “Most organisations have a very disparate and heterogeneous application landscape built over time, often because of acquisitions or because one application may offer a few extra features than another,” says Muhammad. “We estimate that organisations can spend up to 80%of their effort and budget putting together this fragile balance of apps and data, leaving only 20% of your resources to focus on value creation.”
SAP Joule expands beyond application boundaries
The company has positioned its AI agent Joule as an “omnipresent” AI assistant that now extends beyond SAP's traditional application environment. The copilot has been enhanced to provide contextual support throughout a user's workday, regardless of which applications they are using.
A new action bar powered by WalkMe technology – one year after announcing the company’s acquisition – monitors user behaviour across applications, enabling Joule to provide proactive assistance based on anticipated needs. The company states that this functionality adheres to SAP’s ethical AI guidelines.
A collaboration with Perplexity, an AI-powered answer engine company, enhances Joule’s ability to draw on structured and unstructured data to solve complex business problems. Powered by Perplexity and the SAP Knowledge Graph, Joule now instantly answers questions with structured, visual answers - such as charts and graphs - grounded in real-time business data within SAP workflows. For example, a user could ask the tool how recent external events might impact their business and get a forecast based on both current events and the company’s own business data.
SAP has also announced integration plans to extend Joule’s reach across its product portfolio. By Q3 2025, the company says Joule will be integrated with SAP Ariba Procurement solutions to assist with supplier bids and purchasing information. The company plans to make Joule available in SAP Service Cloud and SAP Enterprise Service Management solutions in the same timeframe.
A notable integration announced at Sapphire is a bi-directional connection between Joule and Microsoft 365 Copilot. The first phase of this integration is planned for Q2 2025, with complete integration expected by Q3 2025. This will allow users to access Joule capabilities from within Microsoft 365 Copilot, creating what SAP describes as a unified AI experience across both environments.
- SAP's prompt optimiser in AI Foundation aims to eliminate manual prompt engineering, reducing what previously took days to minutes by automatically generating effective prompts for large language models.
- The bi-directional integration between Joule and Microsoft 365 Copilot will begin in Q2 2025, with complete integration expected by Q3 2025, creating a unified AI experience across both environments.
- SAP plans to release a suite of specialised AI agents by Q4 2025, including maintenance planners, shop floor supervisors and expense report validators that can operate autonomously with human oversight.
AI foundation drives business AI development
SAP has introduced AI Foundation, described as an operating system for Business AI that consolidates tools for building, extending and deploying AI solutions at enterprise scale. The foundation combines existing SAP technologies with new capabilities designed to simplify AI development and operations.
The AI Foundation incorporates several components, including Joule Studio for creating custom AI capabilities. A new skill builder for Joule is planned for Q3 2025, while custom AI agent development tools are scheduled for Q4 2025. The foundation also includes SAP Knowledge Graph, which helps Joule provide more contextual answers by exploring connections within enterprise data.
For organisations working with structured data, SAP is introducing a tabular AI service based on SAP Foundation Model. This service, planned for the second half of 2025, consolidates multiple AI capabilities such as data-attribute recommendations and matching functions. The company positions this as a solution to the challenge of fragmented, siloed structured data that lacks interoperability.
SAP expands AI agents across business suite applications
Beyond the Joule copilot, SAP has introduced an expanded library of AI agents designed to work across different systems and business functions. These agents operate with the ability to anticipate requirements and act autonomously within defined parameters.
The company has developed agents for specific business domains, including customer experience, supply chain management, spend management, finance and human capital management. Two customer experience agents planned for Q2 2025 include a Quote Creation and Management Agent that transforms email requests into ready-to-send quotes and a Catalog Optimization Agent for product data management.
We're delivering on the promise of Business AI as we drive digital transformations that help customers thrive in an increasingly unpredictable world
For supply chain operations, SAP plans to release three agents by Q4 2025: a Maintenance Planner Agent that adjusts maintenance schedules based on real-time data, a Shop Floor Supervisor Agent that addresses production disruptions, and a Field Service Dispatcher Agent that optimises service order scheduling.
In finance operations, SAP will introduce a Dispute Resolution Agent and an Accounts Receivable Agent in Q3 2025. These agents aim to streamline financial processes by automating dispute validation and accounts receivable follow-up tasks.
According to SAP, these agents go beyond providing suggestions to users. They employ reasoning capabilities to analyse business problems, coordinate across systems, determine appropriate actions, and operate autonomously with human oversight. The agents leverage SAP Business Data Cloud to access enterprise data and act across both SAP and third-party systems.
SAP Business Data Cloud introduces intelligent applications for function-specific requirements
The announcement included new Intelligent Applications for SAP Business Data Cloud, each targeting specific business functions. These applications use continuous learning capabilities to simulate outcomes and guide decision-making based on business data.
SAP is also enhancing Joule within SAP Business Data Cloud. Data professionals can now use Joule within the SAP Datasphere solution to query metadata and receive immediate responses. Integration with SAP Analytics Cloud is planned for Q3 2025.
Alongside these AI innovations, SAP announced Business Suite packages intended to simplify cloud adoption for customers with specific business challenges. These packages incorporate SAP Build to enable customisation without extensive development resources.
The company also revealed a new solution for accelerating cloud transitions. This offering utilises Joule alongside insights from SAP Signavio and SAP LeanIX to deliver personalised guidance for organisations undergoing digital transformation. SAP claims this approach can reduce time to value by up to 35%.
“With the expansion of Joule, our partnerships with leading AI pioneers, and advancements in SAP Business Data Cloud, we're delivering on the promise of Business AI as we drive digital transformations that help customers thrive in an increasingly unpredictable world,” said Christian Klein.
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