SAP, Google Cloud expand zero-copy data access for BigQuery

SAP and Google Cloud have made SAP Business Data Cloud Connect for BigQuery generally available, giving customers direct access to data across SAP Business Data Cloud and BigQuery without copying it.

The launch extends the companies' data partnership by linking SAP business data with Google's data platform for analytics and AI workloads. It targets organisations that want to work with current operational data without using traditional replication processes that can create delays and duplicate storage.

The service creates a two-way connection between SAP Business Data Cloud and BigQuery. Users can access SAP tables, metadata and business semantics in BigQuery and Knowledge Catalog, while also making data available in the other direction.

The approach reflects a broader industry shift towards so-called zero-copy architectures, where data is queried in place rather than moved between systems. For large companies running finance, supply chain and planning workloads on SAP systems, the challenge is often less about raw data volume than about preserving business context when the information is used in analytics and AI tools.

The system is intended to support AI agents and natural-language business queries across both environments. Customers can also combine SAP data with external datasets held in Google Cloud, including Google Trends and Google Maps geospatial data, then publish enriched data back into SAP.

Customer use

Among early users is ElringKlinger, an automotive supplier with manufacturing and supply chain operations across multiple countries. The company has been testing the service to work with ERP data in real time without replicating it, as it looks to simplify its data setup and support production analytics and local inventory reporting.

"Operating a global automotive footprint means managing vast, complex supply-chain and production data. Today, the majority of that data sits in SAP BW/4HANA, our established reporting backbone. Testing SAP BDC Connect for BigQuery showed a powerful new path forward: BigQuery as an analytical layer on top of our existing BW/4HANA assets - no data copy, no migration - unlocking AI-based conversational analytics while fully preserving our prior investment. This also lays the groundwork for agentic use cases that automate supply chain processes, giving teams real-time visibility into manufacturing signals worldwide," said Cleve Bankston, Project Manager, and Dirk Brümmer, Head of IT Architecture, at ElringKlinger.

Preview users have been applying the product to operational issues such as global data silos, supply chain disruption forecasting and demand shifts. Faster access to live business data can also shorten the time needed to build working prototypes for AI projects, according to the companies.

Partner interest

Consultancies and systems integrators are also positioning the launch as a way to connect SAP data with wider enterprise information inside Google Cloud. Their comments focused on procurement, planning, analytics and the use of AI agents in business processes.

"As enterprises accelerate their reinvention agenda, the ability to unify data across business systems is foundational to scaling agentic AI. And that's where SAP Business Data Cloud Connect for BigQuery is quite powerful. It enables enterprises real-time access to trusted financial, operational, and sustainability data, eliminating traditional data silos. This, combined with Gemini Enterprise and Accenture's deep industry expertise, allows organizations to build intelligent agents, drive autonomous operations, and modernize their digital core faster while unlocking new levels of business value," said Chetna Sehgal, Global Practise Lead, Accenture Google Business Group.

"Organisations don't want a data science project; they want concrete business outcomes like working capital improvement and reduced operational costs. By leveraging this zero-copy integration, we built an autonomous procurement agent for a client. Because the agent reads live SAP inventory levels and market data inside BigQuery simultaneously, it autonomously re-routed orders during a recent supplier shift - saving millions in potential downtime and demonstrating that agentic AI tied to real-time data can deliver bottom-line impact," said Bhandari.

"Based on a recent assessment and prototyping experience with a KPMG member firm energy client, we believe there is strong potential for SAP BDC Connect for BigQuery to help organizations modernize enterprise planning, analytics, and data integration on a scalable foundation. KPMG firms' evaluations indicate that this integration can support higher-volume analytical workloads at enterprise scale, helping to provide a critical data foundation to allow exploration of future AI and agentic use cases. As with any transformation, realizing the full business value can depend on the implementation approach, data quality, and organizational readiness," said Shank.

"Our clients aren't just looking for more information; they're looking for better business decisions. At PwC, we're helping organizations unify SAP business data with broader enterprise data sources inside Google Cloud. This creates a single, trusted foundation for AI that strengthens analytics, supports robust governance and compliance, and drives intelligent workflows across the enterprise. This unified approach is how organizations move from isolated AI experiments to true, enterprise-wide business transformation," said Pugh.

Cloud footprint

The launch is global for Google Cloud customers, while SAP Business Data Cloud availability on Google Cloud spans regions including Australia, Brazil, India, Israel, Germany, Japan, Saudi Arabia and the United States. The connection supports SAP Business Data Cloud instances hosted on Google Cloud and AWS, with Microsoft Azure support planned.

The companies also presented the service as a cost issue as much as a technical one. By keeping data in place, customers can avoid maintaining duplicate copies and reduce the overhead of moving data between platforms.

For SAP, the move is part of a broader effort to make its operational data easier to use in third-party analytics and AI systems without forcing customers into large migrations. For Google Cloud, it strengthens BigQuery's role as a layer for analysing business data that often still sits in core enterprise applications.

"Every enterprise is striving to inject intelligence and automation into the core of their business operations. By uniting SAP Business Data Cloud with BigQuery and Gemini, we are breaking down one of the biggest walls in enterprise data. We are going far beyond raw data access by actively sharing rich semantic metadata and agentic context across platforms at zero data-sharing cost. This ensures our joint customers can deploy autonomous AI agents that operate with complete, real-time business awareness - executing complex supply chain and financial processes with absolute precision," said Andi Gutmans, VP/GM, Agentic Data Cloud, Google Cloud.

"SAP Business Data Cloud Connect for Google BigQuery delivers real-time, bidirectional, zero-copy data sharing that brings SAP's mission-critical data to Google BigQuery, making it accessible to Google Gemini and Gemini Enterprise Agent Platform. With SAP BDC Connect, customers can unify SAP and non-SAP data without complex extracts or custom APIs, reducing data complexity, strengthening governance, and accelerating trusted, AI-powered business outcomes," said Irfan Khan, President and Chief Product Officer, SAP Data & Analytics.