SAP-Solution: ERP

SAP promotes the Autonomous Enterprise as the next step in the evolution of digitalization. But with every decision delegated to AI agents, dependence on the underlying models grows. How autonomous do companies really become as a result, and who controls this autonomy?

The podcast for the E3 cover story is a supplement and continuation of the online texts from the E3 print magazine. A dialog between two AI avatars with knowledge from the German-speaking E3 editorial team provides an insight into the processes surrounding SAP and the SAP community. Translations into English, Spanish and French are provided by DeepL and Google.

Sapphire 2026 marks a strategic turning point. Instead of cloud migration, process harmonization, and S/4 HANA transformation, this year’s focus was on the „Autonomous Enterprise“—and thus on the question of how ERP landscapes will become smarter and more autonomous in the future.

„Cloud first“ is becoming „AI first“: SAP is evolving from an ERP system into a platform for AI-driven business processes. Many companies are still a long way from this. Bridge technologies already enable AI applications in on-premises SAP systems and pave the way to the cloud.

Why the future of AI in the SAP environment isn't just in the cloud—but right where people work today.

Many companies are currently faced with the challenge of ensuring that their existing SAP HR landscape is technically future-proof. What companies can learn from the successful HR transition at Kurtz Ersa, a global technology group.

Anyone who analyzes SAP’s promises regarding the „Autonomous Enterprise,“ the Joule assistant, and autonomous AI agents with the necessary objectivity will inevitably come across a fundamental blind spot in the current AI strategy: hallucinations

According to a recent study by Fivetran, only 15 percent of companies are fully prepared for the production-level deployment of agent-based AI—even though nearly 60 percent of companies are already investing millions.

Data sovereignty has evolved from a compliance issue to a strategic prerequisite for data- and AI-driven core processes. This is the key finding of the global Barc study „Data Sovereignty 2026: Reality, Relevance, Roadmap,“ for which 320 companies were surveyed.

The U.S. government’s drastic order to block access to Anthropic’s state-of-the-art AI models, Fable 5 and Mythos 5, for all foreign nationals is serving as a massive, strategic wake-up call for the European SAP community. Following its cloud exit, this long-standing SAP customer now needs an AI exit.

SAP plans to acquire the U.S.-based data platform provider Dremio, thereby expanding the SAP Business Data Cloud to include agent-based AI. The planned acquisition is primarily intended to strengthen the SAP Business Data Cloud and help companies consolidate SAP and non-SAP data on a single platform. Financial details have not been disclosed. The deal is expected to close in the third quarter of 2026…

For companies to realize the potential of AI, more than just algorithms are needed—a robust data foundation and a well-designed architecture are crucial. Lars Hermanns, Head of SAP Analytics at Nagarro, explains what is required to achieve this.