SAP today announced an expansion of its generative AI copilot, Joule, now capable of supporting up to 80% of its customers’ most common business tasks. This enhancement will position Joule as a collaborative agent adept at executing complex workflows.
To maximize the benefits of Joule and future innovations, customers are encouraged to transition to SAP's cloud platforms. SAP is accelerating product innovation on the cloud through its RISE with SAP initiative, designed to facilitate customers' shift from on-premises ERP systems to a more modern cloud environment. As evidence of its success, SAP reported a 25% increase in cloud revenue in Q2 2024, with the Cloud ERP Suite growing by 33%.
Joule’s latest features underscore SAP's commitment to moving customers to the cloud. While on-premises customers can still access Joule, they must utilize the SAP Integration Suite to connect their existing systems with SAP’s cloud services, allowing Joule to process data effectively.
At TechEd 2024, SAP also introduced support for open-source large language models (LLMs) through the SAP Generative AI Hub. This initiative included the SAP Knowledge Graph and enhancements in SAP Build, alongside a commitment to upskill 2 million people by 2025.
SAP's strategic focus on Joule demonstrates its intent to leverage the strengths of AI agents. Designed as a cloud-native assistant within the Business Technology Platform (BTP), Joule can integrate with current and future applications, facilitating a smoother transition to the cloud.
SAP is making a strategic investment in BTP, anticipating that customers will appreciate the benefits of a unified cloud platform over traditional on-premises ERP systems, which often struggle with real-time data integration. By doubling down on Joule, SAP aims to transform its operations into a more open cloud-based architecture that enhances accuracy, speed, and scalability.
Embedded within SAP’s ecosystem, Joule understands business contexts and delivers data-driven insights, utilizing advanced natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) capabilities. With 80% of common business tasks integrated, SAP is confident that Joule will encourage more customers to adopt RISE and migrate to the cloud.
During TechEd 2024, SAP showcased two key use cases for these AI agents:
- Dispute Management: AI agents can autonomously handle invoice, credit, and payment disputes, minimizing manual intervention.
- Financial Accounting: Specialized agents streamline billing, ledger updates, and invoice processing, ensuring accuracy and efficiency.
“Collaborative AI agents from SAP represent a new era in enterprise productivity,” said Philipp Herzig, Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer at SAP. “Our integration of specialized AI agents into Joule automates intricate workflows, allowing businesses to focus on tasks that require human ingenuity.”
SAP also announced the integration of three new open-source models into the SAP Generative AI Hub: Meta’s Llama 3.1 70B model, Mistral Large 2 (available by the end of 2024), and Mistral Codestral. This commitment to open-source LLMs positions SAP alongside rapid innovation in the field.
The SAP Generative AI Hub serves as a central point within SAP’s Business Technology Platform (BTP), offering a seamless connection between proprietary and open-source models. Tools such as the Extensibility Wizard and SAP Build enhancements make integration user-friendly, reflecting SAP’s commitment to a developer-centric environment.
SAP's focus on support for open-source LLMs aims to establish enterprise-level standards, ensuring reliability, scalability, security, and performance within the SAP AI Core.
In summary, SAP is embracing a new AI era, leveraging its expertise in the ERP market to reinvent itself. The company recognizes the need for a more open, adaptive architecture and greater flexibility for customers in data utilization, including the option to adopt open-source LLMs. The Business Technology Platform and SAP AI Core exemplify a more customer-focused approach that prioritizes freedom and innovation.
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