SAP-Solution: Hana

With its product updates for Q1 2026, SAP is continuing to drive the integration of artificial intelligence into business processes and development environments. The focus is on the Joule AI platform, which is increasingly becoming the central user interface for various solutions.

The SAP Integration Suite is moving closer to the shop floor. With the Edge Integration Cell and SUSE Rancher, it bridges the gap between cloud innovation and local control—a must for regulated industries and PI/PO migrants.

The debate on AI in Europe is shifting from pure innovation to issues of sovereignty, infrastructure, and long-term strategic control. How will Europe’s position within the global AI ecosystem become a factor in technological independence and geopolitical influence?

Analysts confirm Boomi’s importance: The company helps businesses make trustworthy data actionable, manage APIs, and deploy AI productively at scale. Boomi continues to strengthen its position as a provider of data enablement and enterprise integration. In recent months, Boomi has received awards in the categories of integration, API management, data management, and agent-based AI. IPaaS leader according to Gartner…

First, my colleague Christof Kerkmann reported in the *Handelsblatt* on the restructuring of SAP’s Executive Board: CEO Christian Klein plans to focus on AI technology going forward, as Executive Board member Muhammad Alam (Product and Engineering) will be leaving the company in early 2027. Klein is supported behind the scenes by a strategic advisor.

"The Beginning of Better": Christian Klein expressed his hope for an improvement in SAP's difficult situation on the Sapphire stage in Orlando.

SAP is leading its existing customers on a journey of its own accord (autonomously) while they strive to reach the summit with their ERP system.

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.