SAP unveils major generative AI advances, collaborations

SAP has unveiled a new suite of generative AI solutions and strategic partnerships aimed at enhancing creative problem-solving for businesses.

These developments underline SAP's dedication to advancing business AI, with the AI copilot Joule now being expanded throughout SAP's solution portfolio.

Joule, which sorts and contextualises data from various systems to boost automation and decision-making, was previously launched in SAP S/4HANA Cloud and SAP SuccessFactors solutions. The scope of Joule will now extend to SAP Ariba and SAP Analytics Cloud solutions by year-end.

In a series of strategic partnerships, SAP is set to collaborate with Google Cloud, Meta, Mistral AI, and NVIDIA to advance generative AI on an enterprise level. These partnerships are aimed at driving innovation in key areas such as supply chain management, analytics, and cloud infrastructure.

With Google Cloud, SAP aims to utilise Business AI to predict and mitigate supply-chain risks, thereby minimising disruptions and ensuring optimal inventory levels. The integration will involve SAP's Joule and the SAP Integrated Business Planning for Supply Chain solution working in tandem with Google Cloud’s Gemini models AI assistant and its Cloud Cortex Frameworks data foundation.

Meta’s Llama 3 will be leveraged by SAP to generate scripts that produce highly customised analytics applications within SAP Analytics Cloud. The model's capabilities in language nuances and contextual understanding are expected to transform enterprise business requirements into practical outcomes.

Mistral AI, known for its expertise in generative AI, will contribute new large language models to SAP's generative AI hub within the SAP AI Core infrastructure. This will facilitate the building of generative AI use cases for SAP’s applications.

Through its partnership with NVIDIA, SAP will integrate cutting-edge technologies into enterprise-ready business applications. The collaboration will see the AI capabilities of NVIDIA employed to enhance several SAP initiatives, including the training of Joule to act as an AI assistant for RISE with SAP solution implementations and the automation of ABAP code generation for developers through NVIDIA’s accelerated infrastructure.

Further, as SAP incorporates generative AI into its SAP Intelligent Product Recommendation solution, NVIDIA Omniverse Cloud APIs will provide simulations of complex manufacturing products and configurations as industrial digital twins.

CEO of SAP Christian Klein, expressed confidence in these new AI innovations and partnerships, stating that they will redefine business operations. He emphasised the potential for these technologies to provide users with rich insights and thus facilitate improved outcomes and enhanced creative problem-solving.

SAP is also reinforcing its adherence to the principles of relevant, reliable, and responsible AI. At the Sapphire event, SAP adopted the 10 guiding principles of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence, which advocate for the development and usage of AI technologies in ways that respect human rights, promote fairness, and contribute to sustainable development.

In addition to the AI advancements, SAP has introduced several new cloud capabilities aimed at promoting agility and sustainability.

They include initiatives designed to assist customers with SAP S/4HANA Cloud transformations and new features to support organisations in tracking and managing their sustainability strategies. Solutions such as the SAP Sustainability Control Tower and SAP Sustainability Footprint Management will now facilitate the large-scale tracking of carbon footprints and aid businesses in meeting regulatory requirements.