Companies Still Wary of SAP Joule

A large proportion of companies are still in the process of converting their business processes to SAP S/4 Hana. An international and cross-industry study by Horváth of 200 companies that use SAP and have an annual turnover of 200 million euros shows that six out of ten organizations are still in the transformation phase.

"This is actually a good starting point for planning and implementing the integration of AI tools directly, such as the AI agent Joule from SAP. However, this aspect is usually neglected in the changeover or the organizations are not agile, efficient and flexible enough to integrate the topic in a holistic and well-founded manner," says Stefan Maus, SAP expert and partner at the management consultancy Horváth.

The system changeover often turns out to be more challenging than initially assumed, even without extensive „AI add-ons“. Almost every second company (46 percent) would estimate more time and a higher budget in retrospect in order to meet all the requirements associated with an S/4 Hana transformation and, above all, to have enough time for readjustment and optimization. Nevertheless, automation and AI are at the top of the management agenda in almost all companies - it's time to act.

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"In the next five years, Joule will be an integral part of the business processes in companies that use SAP software."

Stefan Maus,
Partner,
Horváth

AI optimization after changeover

The targeted use of the AI agent Joule is particularly effective in greenfield scenarios, where processes are initially set up in a new and optimized way before the system changeover. However, according to the Horváth expert, it also makes sense in the optimization phase to individually test and make targeted use of the functions of the AI agent for standardization and automation, which is fully integrated into the system and included as standard in various license models.

Initial projects are already showing efficiency gains through more specific search results tailored to the individual user within the system, fewer manual activities and faster decisions thanks to a more precise presentation of decision-relevant data. At the same time, SAP Joule is still at an early bird stage: much of the experience to date has been based on tests and proof-of-value projects. According to Horváth expert Stefan Maus, comprehensive practical experience is not yet available across a broad range of companies.

Competitive advantages for early birds

However, it is worthwhile for companies to take a close look at the potential and benefit from experience and efficiency advantages as an early bird user. „Joule can be a game changer for the standardization and automation of processes if it is used where it brings real benefits,“ says Maus.

What makes its use particularly attractive are the low or non-existent acquisition costs. For example, the AI agent is already fully included in the Rise license model in the public cloud, with basic functions in the private cloud. In addition, there is no implementation effort as the agent is already firmly integrated into the S/4 Hana environment. No interfaces need to be created either. „There is virtually no risk - apart from the risk of getting bogged down,“ says the expert.

He recommends initially focusing on mass processing or processes with standard cases, where the use can bring the greatest immediate benefit. „It's better to select specific business processes and automate them properly and completely than to do everything a little bit at a time.“ An example from purchasing: here, the AI agent can obtain quotations from suppliers, compare them and draft an order proposal completely automatically. „In the next five years, Joule will be an integral part of business processes in companies that use SAP software,“ Stefan Maus is convinced.

Source: Horvath