SAP Business AI: Q2 2024 Release Highlights

SAP Business AI is making remarkable progress in our effort to redefine the way businesses run. More than 27,000 customers already rely on SAP Business AI to achieve unseen business outcomes and achieve real-world business results.

At SAP, Business AI is embedded across our enterprise solutions, grounded in contextualized business data and process knowledge, and built on ethical AI practices.

With Joule, our generative AI copilot, users can work in natural language, revolutionizing the user experience. By the end of this year, we will have over 100 new high-value AI use cases across the SAP portfolio and 80% of the most-used tasks will be infused in Joule, helping our customers be more productive and efficient.

SAP also provides now access to all frontier and leading open source models through the generative AI hub in SAP AI Core on SAP BTP, the only platform on the market that allows customers and partners to extend embedded generative AI use cases with full large language model (LLM) flexibility while relying on deep business process integration and secure data access.

This year at SAP Sapphire, we announced a myriad of new business AI capabilities throughout our cloud portfolio, new integrations of our generative AI copilot Joule, and partnerships with companies to lift enterprise software in the era of AI.

I'm incredibly proud of the innovations that our engineering teams are delivering, and there's much more ahead in the coming months. The following summarizes Q2 2024.

• Human Resources
• ERP & Finance
• IT & Platform
• Sales, Services, Marketing, and Commerce
• Industries
• Procurement
• Supply Chain
• Sustainability

SAP Business AI in Human Resources

SAP SuccessFactors HCM
General Availability

As organizations and users begin to embrace AI, HR teams can achieve higher employee productivity, engagement, and growth. SAP SuccessFactors HCM provides the global foundation, skills framework, and the purpose-built AI capabilities to allow a people-first experience and take HR to the next level. In the first half of 2024, we've delivered more than 25 new AI capabilities to our SAP SuccessFactors HCM suite.

Here are some highlights:

AI-assisted personal goal generation helps employees create meaningful and aspirational performance and development goals in a fraction of the time. Managers and employees can save up to 60%* of their time on goal creation.

[Link]Create development goals in SAP SuccessFactors

AI-assisted writing empowers employees to enhance the quality and tone of writing across a variety of areas within SAP SuccessFactors solutions, saving up to 30%* of their time in crafting written communications.

[Link]Get suggested texts to make feedback actionable in SAP SuccessFactors

AI-assisted person insightsgive managers the employee insights they need to help
drive more productive discussions and informed decisions.

Managers also benefit from AI-assisted person insights that summarize complex compensation data, make recommendations, and provide talking points for discussions with employees - saving time and improving retention rates. They can save up to 10%* of their time on compensation discussion preparation.

AI-assisted Q&A/support helps employees to get answers to natural language questions about an organization's HR policy documents. Thanks to the document grounding capability in Joule, answers are grounded in the customers' structured and unstructured business data. With this capability, HR teams may expect a 35%* faster HR ticket resolution and a reduction of up to 60%* in volume of HR tickets submitted by employees.

[Link]Instant answers to HR policy questions with Joule

AI-assisted applicant screening helps recruiters improve the time to hire by extracting and inferring candidate skills from resumes and matching them with the skills on a job requisition.

New use cases supported in Joule help both managers and employees get work done in a conversational way, such as creating or changing a position, initiating spot awards, clocking in and out, and viewing pay statements.

Watch the video below to see the latest innovations in action, and leverage the interactive value journey and the product documentation to get started.

SAP Business AI in ERP & Finance

Joule in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition
General Availability

Already available in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition through the SAP Early Adopter Care program since Q1 2024, Joule is now generally available in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, streamlining user interaction and enhancing employee productivity.

Joule can offer quick, contextual access to content and applications; users can simply ask Joule for guidance in natural language and get pointed in the right direction. The navigational pattern can help complete goals by navigating the users to the relevant SAP Fiori app and letting them work directly in the app's web UI, where they can take advantage of all features.

[Link]Navigate to applications with Joule in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition

Get started with the product documentation.

AI-Assisted Matching of Employees to Projects in SAP S/4HANA Cloud for Projects
Beta Release

Engagement and resource managers can now match employees to projects, using generative AI capabilities embedded in SAP S/4HANA Cloud for projects. This feature helps streamline the skill-based search for employees and reduces the time to staff them on suitable projects. By using this capability, organizations can save 15 to 30 minutes* per request by identifying the candidates with the required skill set without reviewing their profiles in detail.

[Link]Leverage advanced skill matching when assigning resources to projects

Watch the demo and get started with the interactive value journey.

AI-Assisted Hands-Free Production Order Management in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition
Alpha Release

Production supervisors are now able to increase the output of a production order - even being outside of the plant. They can interact with the system using natural language and react quickly to unplanned demand from sales colleagues.

This new generative AI-powered capability allows faster access and retrieval of relevant information on production orders, efficient release of production orders by chatting with the system, and quick check, review, and change of production orders directly at the facility via voice or text.

The time needed by employees to confirm production orders can be reduced by up to 50%*. This would result in a 30 to 50%* gain in operational efficiencies and time saved for companies in the manufacturing industry.

This feature is now available as an alpha release and will be shipped globally later this year. Watch a demo here.

For a deeper look at the released and upcoming AI capabilities in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition announced at SAP Sapphire, read Unlock Tomorrow's Potential with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition. Visit the Customer Influence program to experience the latest features.

SAP Signavio
Co-Testing with Selected Customers Only

Business process consultants using SAP Signavio software will soon be able to leverage generative AI-powered capabilities to get instant best practice recommendations and discover metrics relevant to their processes.

The process recommender capability will enable consultants to obtain preconfigured process models based on a database of more than 5,000 best practices from SAP, allowing them to move fast from initial exploration to process design, and removing the need for consulting-heavy services to define the first process draft to start the modeling activity.

[Link]Get instant best practice recommendations in SAP Signavio

Also, the performance indicators recommender capability will let consultants obtain quick recommendations on process performance indicators (PPIs) relevant to their business processes and problems. This will help them move easily toward solving problems through a measurement approach based on a repository of thousands KPIs and PPIs.

These two capabilities are currently co-tested with select customers and will be available in Q3 2024. Visit the SAP Signavio website to learn more.

SAP Business AI in IT & Platform

Joule in the Regulatory Change Manager Tool on SAP BTP
General Availability

Joule's integration with the new regulatory change manager tool on SAP BTP enables compliance and IT professionals to evaluate regulatory updates within the context of their business and SAP solutions. Typically, over 1,000 annual regulatory changes across SAP products and business processes occur annually. With Joule, users can get quick answers and therefore save up to 70%* of the time usually spent on understanding local and global regulations.

The tool also provides an impact analysis across SAP products and solutions, helping customers maintain compliance and seamlessly manage their day-to-day operations.

[Link]Get insights on the regulatory changes across SAP products with Joule in the regulatory change manager tool on SAP BTP

Get started here.

SAP Enable Now
General Availability

IT administrators, training managers, and content developers can cut the time spent writing content by up to 20%* with automatic content generation and enrichment in SAP Enable Now.

Customers can use the digital adoption platform to improve the adoption, productivity, and efficiency of their software by providing in-application help and e-learning content to users. New generative AI capabilities enable them to improve user-friendliness, consistency, and quality of text-based learning content​, while reducing time and effort required to author it.

[Link]Improve the adoption, productivity, and efficiency of software with SAP Enable Now

Get started with product documentation.

SAP Automation Pilot
General Availability

SAP Automation Pilot helps developers generate DevOps automation flows based on a simple prompt and implement projects faster without the need for expertise in various SAP tools, coding, or pursuing a long onboarding process. With this tool, developers can increase their SAP application management productivity by up to 75%* and reduce the time to onboard new application management team members for DevOps tasks by up to 70%*.

[Link]Generate DevOps automation flows in SAP Automation Pilot

Get started here.

SAP Integration Suite
General Availability

System integration is foundational to the success of enterprise automation initiatives and effective ecosystem collaboration, but connecting heterogeneous systems inside and outside the enterprise is an onerous task.

The new AI-enabled anomaly detection feature in SAP Integration Suite makes it easier for developers to identify a sudden surge or drop in API calls, an increase in latency, or an increase in the number of errors detected.

By making users aware of anomalies in API performance, this technology helps identify and address issues before they escalate. This minimizes disruptions, optimizes the system performance, and achieves greater operational efficiency.

[Link]Identify system anomalies in SAP Integration Suite

Get started here.

Generative AI Hub (in SAP AI Core and SAP AI Launchpad)
General Availability

Available on SAP BTP, the generative AI hub in SAP AI Core and SAP AI Launchpad enables developers to access market leading LLMs in a governed environment, run AI models securely and cost-effectively, and maximize value creation from generative AI use cases for SAP applications. Developers can benefit from new capabilities and models that are now available, including LLMs from the Amazon Bedrock model family, and leading AI models from vendors such as Meta and Mistral AI. The full list can be found here.

With SAP BTP, customers can now establish a safe, enterprise-ready playground for employees so they can experiment and innovate with generative AI. Since this quarter, developers can interact in a chat interface within the generative AI hub, allowing a more intuitive interaction with available generative AI models, multi-model support, contextual awareness with uninterrupted dialogue, and customizable settings. Developers can expect to become more productive and enhance problem-solving abilities while maintaining data security and privacy.

[Link]Leverage the new chat interface within the generative AI hub in SAP AI Launchpad

Get started with the interactive value journey and the product documentation.

Joule in SAP BTP Cockpit
Beta Release

SAP BTP cockpit helps platform administrators manage resources, services, and security. They can also monitor application metrics and perform actions on cloud applications.

Joule in the SAP BTP cockpit supports them in finding information much faster and execute transactional tasks or navigation more quickly. It increases system reliability with consistent and accurate configurations, reduces administrative costs through automation and recommendations, and improves user onboarding efficiency with automated processes.

[Link]Accomplish tasks and onboard new users easily with Joule in SAP BTP cockpit

Get started with the interactive value journey and the product documentation.

ABAP AI Business Objects Generator
Restricted Beta Release

The integration of generative AI with ABAP Cloud will simplify the work of the 5 million-strong ABAP developer community, accelerating the development of extensions that interact with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, and SAP BTP, ABAP environment. Available as restricted beta release since Q2 2024 and planned for general availability in the second half of this year, this feature lets software developers create ABAP business objects using generative AI in SAP BTP, ABAP Environment.

[Link]Create ABAP business objects using generative AI in SAP BTP, ABAP environment (Labs preview; available later this year)

Learn more about the ABAP Cloud announcements at SAP Sapphire.

SAP Business AI in Sales, Services, Marketing, and Commerce

SAP Sales Cloud Version 2
General Availability

Sales teams are now able to get survey insights such as summary, recommendations, and differences for upcoming visits, saving them up to half* of the time spent in compiling and analyzing the store surveys. This feature equips the sales team with information on an account's competitive landscape and facilitates targeted and relevant customer interactions by addressing specific challenges.

[Link]Generate survey insights in SAP Sales Cloud version 2

Get started with the product documentation and get to know the released capabilities with the interactive value journey.

SAP CX AI Toolkit
General Availability

Launched at the end of last year, SAP CX AI Toolkit provides a comprehensive, configurable AI solution for e-commerce, marketing, sales, and service teams. These professionals can use it to streamline content creation tasks and analyze data from across the enterprise - with e-commerce teams experiencing productivity increases of up to 50%*, larger average order values, and higher conversion rates.

With the new "Ask About This Product" AI tool in SAP CX AI Toolkit, e-commerce teams can ask questions about products and will receive answers based on the product details, attributes, and further content.

[Link]Get answers about products in SAP CX AI Toolkit for Commerce

Get started here.

In addition, sales and service teams are now able to build personalized AI tools within the SAP CX AI Toolkit using the "AI tools builder" to solve industry-specific business challenges.

[Link]Build custom tools for specific use cases with the AI tool builder in SAP CX AI Toolkit

Get started here.

SAP Business AI in Industries

SAP Field Service Management
General Availability

In SAP Field Service Management, field service technicians can access a detailed equipment service history quickly with self-diagnostics, streamline issue resolution to minimize unplanned downtime or outages, and optimize maintenance planning.

[Link]Generate equipment insights in SAP Field Service Management

Get started with equipment insights.

Intelligent filtering increases the first-time resolution rate achieved by field service technicians by implementing real-time, automated workforce scheduling, planning, and dispatching. Consequently, dispatcher productivity can be increased by streamlining order search processes and optimizing resource allocation through identifying and assigning orders swiftly.

[Link]Perform intelligent filtering in SAP Field Service Management

Get started with intelligent filtering.

To deep dive into these two capabilities, follow the interactive value journey.

SAP Intelligent Product Recommendation
General Availability

Sales engineers in the manufacturing sector can benefit from more precise product configuration recommendations for complex, configurable products through SAP Intelligent Product Recommendation.

By describing their requirements in natural language, they can generate tailored recommendations that better meet customer needs. Generative AI services can analyze text from diverse sources, such as emails and notes captured in SAP Customer Experience solutions or multi-page specification documents such as request for proposals or requests for quotations.

SAP Intelligent Product Recommendation also provides suggestions based on estimated parameters for lead times and CO2 footprints, enhancing accuracy and efficiency of product configurations, and ultimately improving customer satisfaction and operational efficiency.

With this feature, sales engineers can expect to reduce the cost of the quoting process by 10%* and the cost of sales representative training by 20%*.

[Link]Quickly gather product configuration recommendations with SAP Intelligent Product Recommendation

Get started with the interactive value journey and the product documentation.

SAP Business AI in Procurement

SAP Fieldglass
General Availability

Recruiters can easily be overwhelmed with the volume of candidates, job postings, and the matching process, spending countless hours manually sifting through resumes.

New generative AI capabilities in SAP Fieldglass help procurement departments to streamline the recruitment of external workers. Hiring managers can generate and maintain effective job descriptions, while project managers can deliver detailed statements of work (SOWs) more rapidly. This enables businesses to quickly identify and engage contractors with the right skills and qualifications.

Job descriptions can be translated into 21 different languages, which are supported by SAP Fieldglass solutions, and a new resume-matching capability can surface the most promising candidates, leading to a reduction in work orders by as much as 15%*. This flexibility allows customers to react to fluctuating workloads and rapidly fill expertise gaps.

[Link]Enhance SOW descriptions in SAP Fieldglass

Get started with the interactive value journey and the product documentation.

SAP Business Network
General Availability

Business owners and sales executives can now benefit from new generative AI capabilities in SAP Business Network to generate accurate and timely RFI responses to potential buyers in a consistent manner, leading to up to 2-4x* higher lead conversion and reducing effort responding to requests by up to 75%*.

[Link]Enhanced responses to discovery postings in SAP Business Network

Get started here.

In addition, suppliers can generate effortless, detailed, and accurate product summaries and descriptions of network catalog products. This can reduce content creation costs by up to 50%* and up to 20%* less lost business.

[Link]Generate product summary and description for network catalog products in SAP Business Network

Get started here.

SAP Business AI in Supply Chain

Automatic Outlier Correction in SAP Integrated Business Planning
General Availability

Demand planners can benefit from the new AI-powered automated outlier correction feature available in SAP Integrated Business Planning (SAP IBP) for Supply Chain.

By automatically pinpointing and adjusting outliers in sales history data, the automatic outlier correction feature in SAP IBP minimizes the time spent on data cleaning while increasing the accuracy of sales forecasts. Using machine learning algorithms, the system ensures that each data point is cross validated before being classified as an outlier, enhancing the reliability of the data.

Get started here.

SAP Digital Manufacturing
General Availability

By simplifying and optimizing visual inspection processes, visual inspection for SAP Digital Manufacturing assists production workers in finding defects faster and more accurately. They can save up to 14 hours* per error correction and reduce the human error rate by up to 20 to 30%*, while increasing customer satisfaction and reducing warranty claims.

[Link]Perform visual inspections in SAP Digital Manufacturing

Get started with the interactive value journey and the product documentation.

SAP Product Lifecycle Management
Beta Release

With generative AI, product owners can now create compelling and comprehensive campaign and idea descriptions faster. This ensures clear, engaging, and impactful product messaging for customers.

[Link]Create campaign and idea descriptions in SAP Product Lifecycle Management

Follow this step-by-step guide.

SAP Business AI in Sustainability

SAP Sustainability Footprint Management
General Availability

At SAP, we are determined to harness the benefits of AI while minimizing its energy footprint and helping our customers do the same.

One example is a new capability in the SAP Sustainability Footprint Management solution that enables sustainability teams to significantly reduce their internal manual efforts of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting using generative AI.

This feature enhances the accuracy and speed of carbon footprint calculations through automated, intelligent suggestions. By reducing the manual effort involved in mapping emission factors, businesses can achieve more precise measurements and make informed decisions faster.

[Link]Accurately speed up carbon footprint calculations with SAP Sustainability Footprint Management

Get started with the product documentation.

Philipp Herzig is chief AI officer at SAP.

*Disclaimer: Values mentioned in this blog post are estimates based on average industry benchmark numbers, resulting from an SAP analysis. Customers interested in a specific business case calculation can consult their SAP account team.

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