The age of AI: 2021-Present
Interconnected and intelligent systems bring together AI, data, and applications to optimize operations.
2021
RISE with SAP
SAP announces RISE with SAP, a single offering that provides a path to the Intelligent Enterprise for every customer, no matter where they are starting from or how complex their scenario. Offered on a subscription basis, it features one point of contact for service-level agreements, operations, and support for an accelerated move of core ERP processes to the cloud.
With business process intelligence a key part of the RISE with SAP package, SAP enters into an agreement to acquire Signavio, a leader in the process intelligence and management space.
New Executive Board members
Sabine Bendiek, Scott Russell, and Julia White are appointed to the Executive Board.
The world’s largest business network
At SAPPHIRE NOW, SAP announces its plans for the world’s largest e-commerce network – SAP Business Network – which will bring together Ariba Network, SAP Logistics Business Network, and SAP Asset Intelligence Network. Over 5.5 million organizations will benefit from being members of this connected community.
Connecting the automotive industry
SAP becomes a founding member of the Catena-X Automotive Network, which aims to standardize data-sharing along the entire automotive value chain for maximum efficiency and security.
SAP Fioneer
To better serve a rapidly changing banking and insurance industry, SAP partners with investment company Dediq GmbH. The two companies set up SAP Fioneer, with Dediq investing more than €500 million in the new entity. The aim is to expand SAP’s financial services portfolio by investing significantly in new solutions based on SAP software and as part of SAP’s overall portfolio and product road map.
2022
SAP turns 50
April 1, 2022, marked SAP’s 50th anniversary. We celebrated with a huge party spanning the globe and held on-site celebrations in 20 locations. The anniversary party in Walldorf rocked with a powerful blend of live concerts and stage shows, a company history trail, and more. At our 50th anniversary gala, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Prime Minister of Baden-Württemberg Winfried Kretschmann praised SAP as the flagship of the German digital economy. They called for more cooperation between government and the private sector to move society forward with innovation.
Reinvent how enterprises run
At the SAP Sapphire conference in Orlando, Florida, CEO Christian Klein and his top team present innovations that deliver business value for customers in four critical areas: supply chain resilience, sustainability, business process transformation and no-code application development.
Through its ongoing partnership with Apple, SAP announces a new suite of apps that streamline the digital supply chain and empower workers with intuitive tools. The new SAP Digital Manufacturing Cloud solution brings together the latest analytics, edge computing, automation and state-of-the-art innovations supporting manufacturing processes end to end to help customers optimize manufacturing performance.
In addition, SAP presents SAP AI solutions that deliver AI-powered innovations to optimize business processes end to end, including lead-to-cash, design-to-operate, recruit-to-retire and source-to-pay.
A new generation of developers
At SAP TechEd in November, SAP announces SAP Build and an array of other innovations, including a partnership with Coursera to train and upskill the next generation of developers. SAP Build, a low-code solution and a key component of SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), allows users with limited technical expertise to create enterprise apps, automate processes, and design business sites with an easy drag-and-drop interface. Users can integrate systems; intelligently monitor, analyze and automate processes; and build applications for the last mile of innovation – all without moving their data to an external system.
As every company becomes a technology company, SAP recognizes the increasing premium put on the skills and insights only professional developers can deliver. SAP is committed to upskilling 2 million developers worldwide by 2025 by tripling free learning offerings on the SAP Learning site, partnering with world-class learning platform provider Coursera Inc. to help people launch careers within the SAP ecosystem and empowering underserved audiences in technology.
2023
Unleashing the power of business data
SAP announces SAP Datasphere, a comprehensive data service built on SAP BTP that enables every data professional to deliver more-seamless and scalable access to mission-critical business data. SAP Datasphere is the next generation of SAP Data Warehouse Cloud. It runs in every cloud and against hybrid environments.
By closely integrating their data and AI platforms with SAP Datasphere, organizations can access their mission-critical business data across any cloud infrastructure.
Cloud ERP benefits for midsize customers
GROW with SAP is a new offering to help midsize customers adopt cloud ERP. Businesses that choose GROW with SAP get the same best practices powering the world’s industry leaders, while benefiting from rapid deployment and frictionless updates.
GROW with SAP provides preconfigured industry-specific processes and best practices that midsize companies can immediately adopt. Embedded AI and automation capabilities mean customers see rapid results. The GROW with SAP offering also brings together SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition with accelerated adoption services, a global community of experts and free learning resources, helping customers go live in as little as four weeks.
GROW with SAP also includes SAP Business Technology Platform, so customers can define their own processes in a cloud-native way using SAP Build.
Responsible AI
Announcements at the SAP Sapphire conference include responsible AI built into business solutions, ledger-based accounting for carbon tracking, and industry-specific networks to bolster supply chain resilience. At the dawn of a new AI era, SAP is strengthening its commitment to embed powerful AI capabilities across its portfolio to help customers solve business-critical problems in the flow of work.
With SAP’s new green ledger initiative, which moves companies from carbon estimates to actual data, companies can manage their green line with as much visibility, accuracy and confidence as their top line and bottom line.
Generative AI assistant Joule
SAP announces Joule, a natural-language, generative AI copilot. Joule will be embedded throughout SAP’s cloud enterprise portfolio, delivering proactive and contextualized insights from across the breadth and depth of SAP solutions and third-party sources. By quickly sorting through and contextualizing data from multiple systems to surface smarter insights, Joule helps people get work done faster and drive better business outcomes in a secure, compliant way. Joule delivers on SAP’s proven track record of revolutionary technology that drives real results.
Joule will be embedded into SAP applications from HR to finance, supply chain, procurement, and customer experience, as well as into SAP Business Technology Platform.
2024
Focus on AI strengthened
SAP creates a new growth area that oversees the entire value chain for SAP Business AI. The unit collaborates with innovators across SAP to infuse AI into every part of the company’s portfolio.
At the SAP Sapphire events in Orlando and Barcelona, attendees experience how SAP´s generative AI copilot Joule becomes SAP´s new front end.At the SAP Sapphire events in Orlando and Barcelona, attendees experience how SAP´s generative AI copilot Joule becomes SAP´s new front-end.
Executive Board restructures
Gina Vargiu-Breuer joins SAP as Executive Board Member and Chief People & Culture Officer and Labor Director. Muhammad Alam joins the Executive Board as the new leader of SAP Product & Engineering. The SAP Supervisory Board extends Christian Klein’s contract through April 2028 and promotes him to Chairman of the Board of Management.
SAP Green Ledger
SAP announces the general availability of the SAP Green Ledger solution, a comprehensive carbon accounting system that integrates directly with customers’ financial data. This innovation empowers organizations to accurately account for, analyze, and report carbon footprints across products, services, and organizational units.
Hasso Plattner’s farewell
SAP co-founder and Chairman of the SAP SE Supervisory Board Hasso Plattner officially passes the baton to Pekka Ala-Pietilä at the Annual General Meeting.
Plattner’s impact on SAP and the technology industry is celebrated at a Farewell Gala at the SAP Arena in Mannheim, Germany. Plattner had been a key architect of SAP’s success for 52 years.