SAP CTO : SAP is at the Forefront of Generative AI Advancements

• Blockchain Council
• November 08, 2023

In a dynamic and ever-evolving landscape of technology and business, SAP is taking bold steps to ensure that every developer is an AI developer. This proclamation comes from none other than Juergen Mueller, Chief Technology Officer and member of the Executive Board of SAP SE. SAP, a global leader in enterprise software, recently unveiled a series of groundbreaking generative AI capabilities and advancements at the SAP TechEd event in 2023. The objective is to empower developers of all skill levels, providing them with the tools and resources to revolutionize how businesses operate in the age of AI.

Juergen Mueller emphasized the importance of these innovations by stating, “The innovations we’re launching at SAP TechEd, from AI-infused pro-code tools to a one-stop shop to create generative AI extensions and applications on SAP Business Technology Platform, support the developers at the heart of the AI revolution and provide them with resources they need to transform the way businesses run.”

One of the key highlights of SAP’s new offerings is the introduction of SAP Build Code solutions. These tools are specifically designed to enhance collaboration between developers and business experts. By providing AI-powered productivity tools optimized for Java and JavaScript development, SAP empowers developers to streamline their efforts. What makes these tools truly unique is their integration with SAP’s generative AI copilot, Joule. Joule is described as “the copilot that truly understands business,” and it significantly boosts productivity by embedding code generation capabilities for data models, application logic, and test scripts.

These innovations don’t stop at coding; SAP Build Code also offers pre-built integrations, APIs, and connectors to both SAP and non-SAP systems. This feature ensures that developers can seamlessly integrate their solutions into a wide range of applications, making it a versatile tool for businesses.

Furthermore, SAP is also taking strides in enhancing data management with SAP HANA Cloud. By incorporating new vector database features at no additional cost, SAP allows organizations to manage unstructured data, including text, images, and audio. This innovation adds a layer of long-term memory and context to AI models, simplifying the process of finding and retrieving similar objects quickly. For example, users can now search for suppliers based on the language in their contracts, providing insights into payment history and individual orders. These enhancements are poised to put SAP developers at the forefront of delivering new levels of data insight within a secure, private framework.

In addition to the tools, SAP is introducing the AI Foundation on SAP Business Technology Platform. This is a one-stop shop for developers to create AI- and generative AI-powered extensions and applications. The AI Foundation includes ready-to-use AI services, access to large language models, vector database capabilities, and AI runtime and lifecycle management. It aims to increase developers’ impact and efficiency while providing them with the tools they need to create business-ready AI solutions securely.

Mueller elaborated on these advancements, stating, “SAP BTP is the choice for infusing SAP and partner applications with AI. By embedding generative AI into our solutions and giving developers, partners, and customers access to all our technology and learnings through SAP BTP, SAP is the go-to partner for business AI and generative AI-powered enterprise applications.”

The SAP ecosystem is pivotal to these efforts, with over 2,100 partners on SAP BTP and 2,000 innovative partner solutions on the SAP Store today. A significant number of these solutions offer AI capabilities that drive business value.

The major announcements made at the event reflect SAP’s unwavering commitment to becoming the leading generative AI enterprise application ecosystem. SAP Build Code, which offers AI-powered productivity tools for developers, is a notable evolution of the SAP BTP low-code solution SAP Build. This unified lobby of tools facilitates enhanced collaboration between citizen developers, professional developers, and IT departments, enabling developers to create new applications or extensions for SAP solutions using the generative AI assistant Joule to generate code, create data models, and test data for applications.

SAP’s efforts in enhancing data management through SAP HANA Cloud are equally significant. By adding new vector capabilities, SAP is enabling developers to enrich business data with unstructured data, such as text, images, and audio. This innovative offering empowers customers to combine large language models with their business-specific data, providing accurate, relevant, and insightful responses. SAP HANA Cloud serves as the database management foundation of SAP BTP.

The AI Foundation on SAP BTP is an encompassing resource for developers, providing them with everything needed to create business-ready AI applications and extensions. From ready-to-use AI services to AI runtimes and lifecycle management, SAP is committed to providing the tools necessary for managing enterprise-grade generative AI with security, governance, and trust. As part of the AI Foundation, there will be a generative AI hub in SAP AI Core to provide developers with instant access to a broad range of large language models from different providers.

These announcements reflect SAP’s vision to be the leading business AI company by 2025. With these innovative tools and resources, SAP is poised to drive generative AI development and reshape the way companies operate. The close collaboration between professional and citizen developers, alongside the power of generative AI, is set to revolutionize the business landscape.