What finance and procurement teams can expect

For finance and procurement departments, this means taking targeted, practical steps to address the new technologies and regulations.

AI becomes an everyday tool

It is hardly surprising that AI will remain a dominant topic in 2026. What is more surprising is how rapidly the nature of AI has changed. An abstract software topic just two years ago, it has become an everyday tool, out of the privileged sphere of data scientists and software engineers and into the general public. A pattern already observable in 2025 is thus being continued. Many companies will not start with large generic AI projects, but will instead first use AI functions that are already included in the solutions already in use.

Agentic AI dominant driver

Agentic AI will dominate the agenda the most. In other words, AI agents that not only analyze processes, but also actively control them and carry out work steps independently. This combines two previously separate strands: AI for decision-making and context and automation for execution. The idea that AI can do everything on its own as a miracle cure is receding into the background. Instead, a pragmatic approach is gaining ground: Combination instead of dogma.

AI recognizes, prioritizes or generates - and programmed logic executes what AI has prepared. The result is a level of automation that goes far beyond what was previously possible. Especially in the SAP environment, processes such as procurement, master data maintenance or invoice processing benefit enormously from such hybrid AI approaches.

The mandatory introduction of electronic invoices will be omnipresent among German SAP user companies in 2026. As recently as October 2025, an xSuite survey revealed sobering results: out of 174 respondents, only 24% were already able to send e-invoices at that time. This will have to change drastically in the coming months. From January 1, 2027, companies in Germany will have to send B2B e-invoices. An extended deadline until January 1, 2028 only affects small companies with a maximum annual turnover of 800,000 euros. So not the typical SAP user.

In addition to the outgoing side, companies must also take a close look at the incoming side. The BMF requires them to only accept and process EN-16931-compliant invoices. Those who fail to do so risk losing their input tax deduction - a risk that no company can afford to take. It is therefore important to check whether the existing process for accepting e-invoices really works and, above all, whether it is scalable. Because the volume of incoming e-invoices will increase significantly in 2026, that much is certain.

SAP Public Cloud is growing

The public cloud version of S/4 will continue to grow in popularity this year, although more add-on solutions (such as the invoice workflow from xSuite) for S/4 are still being sold in the private cloud and on-premises. But the public cloud plant is clearly growing. The migration from ECC to S/4 remains a perennial issue, regardless of the hosting question. Eleven years after the launch of the new product generation, SAP is in a phase of constant communicative optimism. The manufacturer celebrates cloud backlogs and new contracts in press releases. However, it rarely specifies how many existing customers have already migrated - or not.

Migration remains a marathon

According to analyst figures from the end of 2024 (more recent figures were not available), just under 40 percent of ECC customers had either already migrated to S/4 or signed a license agreement. Their share is likely to have increased in the meantime, but certainly not exponentially. The fact that SAP itself offers extended ECC options speaks for itself. So the migration remains a marathon, not a sprint.

The fact that this will change in 2026 is due to the unchanged shortage of resources, in other words: there is a lack of consultants who could adequately satisfy the global demand for consulting in migration projects. Therefore, 2026 will not be the year of S/4 Hana either. Rather one of steady, less spectacular progress. Technologies will become tangible, automation will become more robust and AI will finally be used in such a way that it has a tangible impact.n