SAP TechEd 2023 attracted packed audiences, both in-person in Bangalore and virtually around the world.
The event was marked by a significant announcement by SAP’s CTO and Executive Board Member, Juergen Mueller. SAP unveiled its daring vision to secure its position as the foremost business AI company by 2025.
In a recent interview, Mueller provided insights into the remarkable journey that SAP has undertaken with partners and customers in the realm of generative AI. This journey is significantly transforming generative AI development and the way companies operate.
Key Takeaways from SAP TechEd 2023
1. Empowering Developers with Generative AI: One of the central pillars of SAP’s vision is to make every developer in the SAP ecosystem an AI developer. In pursuit of this goal, SAP is introducing new tools that harness the power of generative AI. These tools are designed to assist developers in building and deploying intelligent data applications at a massive scale. By empowering developers to leverage AI, SAP is effectively democratizing access to AI capabilities within its ecosystem.
2. Enhancing Interactions with Large Language Models (LLMs): SAP is actively simplifying the interaction between developers and large language models (LLMs). This advancement enables developers to seamlessly integrate intelligent data into generative AI applications. SAP is taking this a step further by expanding the capabilities of its SAP HANA Cloud database with a vector engine. This enhancement allows developers to merge generic LLMs with real-time, company-specific data, providing a more contextual and powerful AI experience.
3. SAP BTP as the AI Partner of Choice: SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) plays a pivotal role in this AI-centric vision. SAP aims to embed generative AI into its solutions and offer access to its technology and expertise through SAP BTP. This strategy positions SAP as the primary partner for businesses seeking AI solutions. The strong adoption of SAP BTP is evident, with over 22,000 live SAP BTP customers in the cloud. Furthermore, SAP’s extensive ecosystem of over 2,100 partners on SAP BTP and more than 2,000 innovative partner solutions on the SAP Store underscores its commitment to providing AI-driven business value.
Major Announcements at SAP TechEd 2023
SAP TechEd 2023 witnessed several groundbreaking announcements that align with SAP’s goal of becoming the leader in generative AI:
- SAP Build Code: SAP is introducing AI-powered productivity tools for developers, building upon its previous SAP BTP low-code solution, SAP Build. This comprehensive set of tools fosters collaboration between citizen developers, professional developers, and IT departments. Developers can harness the generative AI assistant Joule to automate tasks such as generating code, creating data models, and testing data for applications.
- New Vector Capabilities for SAP HANA Cloud: SAP HANA Cloud, the database management foundation of SAP BTP, is gaining the ability to enrich business data with unstructured information, such as text, images, and audio. This unique feature allows customers to combine the power of LLMs with their organization-specific data, resulting in more accurate, relevant, and insightful AI responses.
- AI Foundation on SAP BTP: SAP offers a comprehensive solution for developers to build enterprise-ready AI applications and extensions. This includes ready-to-use AI services, AI runtimes, and lifecycle management tools. These tools come with essential features like security, governance, and trust. SAP is also introducing a generative AI hub within SAP AI Core, providing developers with instant access to a wide array of LLMs from different providers.
- Role-Based Certification: SAP’s commitment to upskilling professionals is evident through role-based certification for ABAP Cloud back-end developers. This certification aims to foster expert skillset growth, particularly in the context of agile cloud business transformation. Additionally, SAP is enhancing its SAP BTP Guidance Framework with a new developer’s guide, offering insights into building and implementing business applications on SAP BTP.
The Impact of SAP Solutions on Personal and Organizational Growth
SAP is already at the forefront of generative AI advancements. Over 24,000 cloud customers actively use more than 130 AI scenarios built on SAP BTP. The essence of SAP’s solutions lies in their ability to empower individuals and organizations for success and growth.
- Business AI for Real-world Scenarios: SAP’s unique position in the business world, with access to valuable business data, processes, and customer relationships, allows it to provide unparalleled automation and seamless human-machine collaboration. This ensures that SAP’s Business AI solutions are not just relevant but also reliable and responsible. These AI use cases are rooted in a deep understanding of both business data and processes, making them invaluable in real-world scenarios. Additionally, SAP’s AI solutions adhere to the highest ethical and data privacy standards, ensuring they are responsible and secure.
Customers and Partners: Driving Business Results with SAP BTP Generative AI Capabilities
SAP’s partner ecosystem plays a pivotal role in harnessing generative AI capabilities to deliver real business results. Partners like HCLTech, Mahindra & Mahindra, SDW, and Henkel are pioneering multiple generative AI use cases.
- HCLTech: This partner is leveraging AI to streamline tasks like recruiting through SAP SuccessFactors software, significantly improving efficiency in identifying the best job candidates. HCLTech is developing a range of generative AI-infused processes spanning different industries and line-of-business use cases.
- Mahindra & Mahindra: This Indian conglomerate has automated over 250 business processes in just three months using SAP Build Process Automation. They have successfully piloted two generative AI use cases, showcasing the transformative power of AI.
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