SAP Optimizes, but AI Revolutionizes

AI is the new Gutenberg moment

At VivaTech, the upcoming AI revolution was equated with the Gutenberg moment. AI therefore represents a turning point in time. Johannes Gutenberg's printing press was not an optimization of an existing process or technology; it was a social revolution in knowledge and education. With the printing press, knowledge could be disseminated in a completely new way. It democratized the knowledge formerly held by the ruling classes.

The phrase "knowledge is power" was coined by Francis Bacon, an English philosopher who lived in the 16th and 17th centuries. With the advent of the printing press, knowledge became widely accessible. From that point on, knowledge was no longer an instrument of power; it could emancipate itself. AI in the form of large language models (LLMs) will trigger a similar democratization, which was evident at Viva Technology in Paris.

Classic AI is sustainable optimization

For many years, SAP has been experimenting with classic algorithms from the fields of optimization, simulation, statistics, and AI. Many IT tools have been developed to optimize business processes. However, there is no holistic approach that will trigger a Gutenberg moment. At SAP, AI is used to optimize existing processes. This results in new requirements and ideas, meaning that AI at SAP continues to evolve. AI at SAP is sustainable because it creates something new from something that already exists—and so on.

What was experienced at VivaTech in Paris was not sustainable because it did not build on previous years' developments. It was revolutionary because it disregarded traditional IT. It was not about optimization, but innovation.

SAP is conservative and no longer innovative

SAP sparked a revolution with the Hana database. The concept of storing an entire ERP database in a computer's main memory was novel at the time. SAP APO had already tested the principle of an in-memory computing database, but no one had dared to anchor an entire ERP system database in a server's main memory.

Since the Hana revolution, SAP has been working conservatively. Experimentation is not the order of the day, and other IT companies are more innovative. With cloud technology and AI, SAP only follows the mainstream's safe paths. In the field of AI, SAP enters into a wide range of collaborations and adopts innovations from other IT companies. Currently, there is no indication that SAP will take a leading role as it once did with client/server computing and then with in-memory computing. SAP has been missing its Gutenberg moment for many years.

Even former SAP CEO and current Siemens Supervisory Board Chairman Jim Hagemann Snabe spoke enthusiastically about AI's potential in Paris. VivaTech celebrated AI ideas. It was a field of experimentation and a Gutenberg moment. AI is being used in everything from cosmetics (L'Oréal) to Formula 1 (McLaren), and its impact is probably comparable to the invention of the printing press. The topic is not optimization, but revolution. Can SAP keep up?