A factual overview of AI in SAP and the services available
Three levels of AI integration
SAP Joule
Joule is SAP’s omnipresent, proactive AI copilot, built on harmonised business data and designed to support every employee across any SAP cloud or third-party application. Key capabilities include:
- Contextual actions: automatic suggestions before the user even asks (e.g., dispute follow-up, purchasing recommendations).
- Collaborative agents: multi-step workflows powered by AI agents chaining several “skills” to execute an end-to-end process(announced at Sapphire 2025, available in beta)
- Simple personalization: low-code configuration of actions and deployment of business skills via the Joule Studio embedded in SAP Build.
- Instant insights: lightweight visual reports and charts from SAP Analytics Cloud, plus OSS notes or best-practice recommendations surfaced directly in chat.
SAP embeds pre-trained AI features directly in its applications (S/4HANA, SuccessFactors, Ariba, IBP, etc.) with no heavy configuration or development required.
- Ready-to-use models: trained on common business scenarios (demand forecasting, fraud detection, customer segmentation).
- Seamless integration: insights and recommendations appear directly inside standard SAP transactions in real time.
- Typical use cases include:
- Predictive MRP: automatic adjustment of planning parameters to prevent shortages or excess stock.
- Automated invoice processing: data extraction, matching with purchase orders and payment posting.
- Financial forecasting: cash-flow predictions based on historical and external data.
- Natural-language search: simple text queries to access transactions or create records.
AI Foundation is SAP’s unified platform to build, extend and orchestrate customised AI solutions at scale. It provides:
- Agent Builder: creation, testing and deployment of AI agents capable of dynamic planning and complex reasoning.
- Skill Builder: design of atomic skills (defined inputs/outputs) through drag-and-drop, deployable in Joule or custom applications.
- Centralised portal: a single workspace for development, deployment and operations (monitoring, governance, security).
- AI Playground: a safe environment to experiment with prompts, models and parameters before going live.
- Compliance and security: built-in tools for handling sensitive data, enforcing SAP’s ethical guidelines and optimising resource usage.
SAP Joule as a native copilot on SAP BTP
For administrators
Current features are still limited: global account management, sub-accounts, roles and instances. Only available on Cloud Foundry environments and require manual activation.
For functional users
Business users can rely on a conversational assistant that performs back-office SAP operations in natural language (creating deliveries, updating statuses, cancelling invoices).
Results include confirmation messages and direct links to the relevant screens.
Joule can also generate lightweight visual reports from SAC and surface relevant SAP Notes or best practices to help troubleshoot issues.
For developers
Embedded directly in development environments (Business Application Studio, Eclipse ADT), Joule speeds up code generation and explanation (ABAP, UI5, CAP), test-data creation and documentation.
It removes friction on repetitive tasks while keeping developers fully in control of quality and compliance.
Semi-autonomous agents: Sapphire 2025 announcements
14 agents in beta covering five domains:
- CX: ticket classification and routing
- Logistics: route optimization and shipment tracking
- HR: onboarding and training management
- Procurement: grouping and automated PO creation
- Finance: dispute processing and bank reconciliation
11 agents on general availability between Q2 and Q4 2025 for :
- Automated proposal creation
- Industrial maintenance planning
- FSM intervention monitoring
- Group travel preparation
- Expense reporting and validation
- Skills and performance tracking
Goal: 40 agents by end-2025, orchestrated through an Agent Hub (agent-to-agent coordination) using the Agent2Agent protocol and WalkMe integration.
Additionally, integration with Microsoft Copilot is now active. From Q3 2025 onward, Joule is accessible from Copilot (and vice versa), always available through WalkMe’s persistent bar in SAP interfaces.
Analysis: benefits, limitations and outlook for developers
Operational benefits
- Near-perfect execution of simple tasks (format adjustments, removal of leading zeros).
- Strong support for complex tasks (multi-screen navigation, data aggregation across services).
- Acceleration of both pro-code and low-code development (UI5/CAP/RAP templates, unit tests, TDD).
- Diagnostic assistance (stack-trace analysis, project tree inspection).
- Embedded OSS note search and suggestions.
- Automated documentation and mock data to strengthen CI/CD pipelines.
Limitations and watchpoints
- Hallucinations and outdated code: occasional references to non-existent or deprecated libraries.
- Prompt-sensitive quality: accurate outputs require detailed context.
- Developer validation remains essential for compliance and reliability.
- Restricted admin features: manual activation, limited coverage.
- GDPR governance: tenant isolation and audit trails required.
- Slow adoption curve: S/4HANA compatibility not yet universal.
These findings show that AI in SAP is already creating daily value for both business and technical teams. But its impact depends heavily on clear scoping, robust governance and the right skill development to turn these tools into sustainable performance drivers.
How AI is reshaping—not replacing—SAP development roles
Rather than replacing developers, AI is transforming their responsibilities:
- From coding to governance: prompt engineering, CI/CD pipeline design and compliance checks.
- From execution to architecture: orchestrating dynamic workflows and building custom agents.
- From silos to collaboration: integrating Copilot, WalkMe and A2A hubs for cross-system processes.
Looking ahead to 2026
Developers will increasingly act as AI architects and orchestrators of intelligent workflows.
To successfully navigate this shift, organisations should:
- Launch fast-ROI pilots
- Establish strong AI governance
- Use Joule Studio to build custom skills and agents
- Train teams on the hybrid ecosystem (Copilot, chat interfaces, WalkMe, multimodal tools)
By following this roadmap, companies can unlock the full value of AI within SAP while ensuring quality, security and rapid adoption.