SAP hosted a virtual session, unveiling significant innovations in enterprise data, AI, and business processes.
Below is a recap of the key solutions, insights from leading industry figures, and why these developments matter for organizations everywhere.
Table of Contents
- Opening Remarks: Christian Klein (CEO, SAP)
- IDC’s Perspective: Mickey North-Rizz (Group VP Enterprise Software, IDC)
- SAP Business Data Cloud: Muhammad Alam (SAP Executive Board, Product & Engineering)
- Henkel’s Experience: Dimitri Lerner (Corporate Director Value Chain Platform, Henkel)
- In-Depth Demo: Orla Cullen (Senior Director of Product Marketing for Data & Analytics, SAP)
- Agentic AI & Joule: Dr. Philipp Herzig (CTO & Chief AI Officer, SAP), Sarah Buerkle (Head of AI Advocacy, SAP)
- Databricks Partnership: Ali Ghodsi (Co-Founder & CEO, Databricks)
- Industry Adoption: Bosch & Accenture - Florian Haustein, Head of Digital Customer Experience at Bosch Power Tools and Karthik Narain (Technology Group CEO & CTO, Accenture)
- Key Takeaways & What’s Next
1. Opening Remarks: Christian Klein (CEO, SAP)
Christian Klein opened with a clear vision:
“The future is not something we wait for—it’s something we create. We continue to push boundaries and today we are launching a game-changing data and AI offering.”
He underscored SAP’s mission-critical role in running core business processes across finance, HR, supply chain, and more. By introducing a comprehensive new data and AI portfolio, SAP aims to connect these processes seamlessly and eliminate costly silos.
2. IDC’s Perspective: Mickey North-Rizz (Group VP Enterprise Software, IDC)
Mickey North-Rizz provided an analyst viewpoint on enterprise data challenges:
- Cloud Migration: 58% of organizations are moving data to the cloud in the next 12–18 months.
- Data Growth: By 2028, data usage will surge, driven by AI/ML initiatives requiring both structured and unstructured sources.
- Why SAP Business Data Cloud: Harmonizing data in context—and doing so without endless replication—can drastically cut complexity and cost.
3. SAP Business Data Cloud: Muhammad Alam (SAP Executive Board, Product & Engineering)
Muhammad Alam unveiled SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC), calling it a “breakthrough innovation” to unify all data—SAP, non-SAP, structured, and unstructured—in a single semantic layer.
Key Highlights
Zero-Replication: Access data wherever it lives, reducing overhead.Data Products: Pre-built, fully managed data models for finance, HR, supply chain, etc.
Open Ecosystem: Integration with leading data partners, especially Databricks.
Muhammad stressed that BDC provides the foundation for advanced analytics, generative AI, and “agentic AI” capabilities, as it retains full business context in every data element.
4. Henkel’s Experience: Dimitri Lerner (Corporate Director Value Chain Platform, Henkel)
Dimitri Lerner shared how Henkel, a global consumer and industrial products giant, has been piloting BDC:
- Longtime Databricks User: Blending Henkel’s SAP data with unstructured data at scale.
- Semantic Layer: Getting a shared data definition across finance, supply chain, and more—cutting the need for repetitive data engineering.
- Smooth Evolution: BDC’s architecture allows Henkel to seamlessly extend existing SAP models without massive rework.
5. In-Depth Demo: Orla Cullen (Senior Director of Product Marketing for Data & Analytics, SAP)
To illustrate BDC in action, Orla Cullen showcased a scenario focusing on CFO requirements—particularly cash flow and working capital analysis:Pre-built Packages: Finance-focused dashboards come out-of-the-box, including “Working Capital” and “Liquidity & Cash Flow.”
Combining Multiple Sources: Integrate SAP S/4HANA data with external repositories (e.g., Google BigQuery, Moody’s risk ratings).
Predictive Models: Embedded Databricks capabilities forecast when customers are likely to pay invoices—no heavy IT overhead.
The result: real-time analytics with less duplication, fewer data silos, and immediate insights for the finance team.
6. Agentic AI & Joule: Dr. Philipp Herzig (CTO & Chief AI Officer, SAP) and Sarah Buerkle (Head of AI Advocacy, SAP)
Joule: The Next-Gen AI Co-Pilot
Dr. Philipp Herzig introduced Joule, describing it as far more than a standard chat interface:
“Joule Agents are virtual co-workers that can collaborate across end-to-end business processes, grounded in real-time data. They can autonomously handle multi-step workflows—an evolution we call ‘agentic AI.’”
By leveraging SAP’s knowledge of business processes (finance, supply chain, HR, etc.), Joule Agents can manage tasks cross-functionally, not just in isolated domains.
Agent Builder Demo: Sarah Buerkle
Sarah Buerkle then showcased Agent Builder, a new Joule Studio feature allowing custom agent creation:
- Goal Definition: For example, “Negotiate better prices with a key supplier.”
- Select Data Products: Pull in finance, purchasing, and external risk data from SAP Business Data Cloud.
- Assign Collaboration: Link the new agent with other Joule Agents or even external AI services (like Microsoft Copilot).
- Test & Deploy: Instantly simulate negotiations or approvals, then roll out to real users.
With built-in semantic understanding, Joule Agents handle tasks more intelligently and autonomously than traditional “chatbots.”
7. Databricks Partnership: Ali Ghodsi (Co-Founder & CEO, Databricks)
Ali Ghodsi spoke about the synergy between Databricks and SAP:
“Uniting SAP data with the Databricks lakehouse model unlocks advanced ML and analytics potential—especially when it’s grounded in business semantics. This partnership finally makes that easy.”
He noted:
Structured + Unstructured: Bringing ERP data together with IoT logs, documents, and more in one environment.Unity Catalog: Ensuring governance and security across all data sets.
Agentic Workflows: The best ML models and generative capabilities require robust, cleanly integrated data.
8. Industry Adoption: Bosch & Accenture
Bosch Power Tools: Florian Haustein (Head of Digital Customer Experience)
Florian Haustein showcased how Bosch is modernizing customer service with Joule Agents:
- Millions of Tickets: Automatic routing to the correct team, using language and context analysis.
- Embedded AI in S/4HANA & Service Cloud: Real-time classification, knowledge retrieval, and next-step recommendations.
Accenture: Karthik Narain (Technology Group CEO & CTO)
Karthik Narain outlined Accenture’s collaboration with SAP and Databricks:
- Own Transformation: Migrating finance to SAP S/4HANA Cloud to enable real-time AI capabilities.
- Data Readiness: Emphasis on a single source of trusted, governed data for all AI use cases.
- Joint Co-Innovation: Accenture, SAP, and Databricks are forming dedicated teams to accelerate enterprise adoption of BDC, Joule Agents, and modern data architecture.
9. Key Takeaways & What’s Next
Unified Data & AI: SAP Business Data Cloud offers a single semantic layer for SAP + non-SAP data, slashing duplication and cost.Agentic AI: Joule and its specialized agents orchestrate multi-step workflows, delivering actionable intelligence (not just fancy text outputs).
Open Ecosystem: Partnerships with Databricks, Confluent, DataRobot, and others reflect SAP’s commitment to flexibility and choice.
Industry-Leading Expertise: Enterprise powerhouses—Henkel, Bosch, Accenture—are already shaping these solutions in real-world use cases.
Future-Proofing: From older data warehouses to next-gen AI, SAP’s approach provides a smoother modernization path.
As Christian Klein reiterated: The future isn’t about waiting; it’s about unleashing possibility. With SAP’s new suite of data and AI capabilities, enterprises can move from reactive to proactive—anticipating trends, optimizing operations, and thriving in a rapidly changing digital landscape.
The Qellus team stands ready to assist
Bringing Unstructured Data into Your AI Strategy
While structured data captures transactions and master records, unstructured information often holds the deeper context that can supercharge AI training models and improve decision-making. For years, SAP and OpenText have worked together to integrate this unstructured content with core business processes, unlocking richer analytics, more accurate recommendations, and stronger user trust in AI results.
At Qellus, we specialize in OpenText Extended ECM solutions, helping enterprises combine structured and unstructured data into a cohesive, well-governed repository. By bridging these data worlds, organizations can achieve faster adoption of AI-driven processes, enhance the quality of insights, and ultimately raise the ROI of their AI investments. If you’re looking to optimize your business processes and accelerate your AI journey, Qellus can help you unlock the full potential of your information assets.
Because, as SAP says, “The future is not something you wait for—it’s something you unleash.”
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