SAP unveils new Business AI tools & partnerships for growth

SAP has announced a range of Business AI advancements and partnerships aimed at enhancing productivity and democratising access to artificial intelligence for its customers.

The company introduced several updates, including enhancements to its generative AI copilot, Joule, which now features an omnipresent action bar designed to offer users proactive support in their workflow. SAP stated that Joule would be available everywhere users work, learning from their activities and presenting relevant information or actions as needed.

SAP formed a new partnership with Perplexity to further develop Joule's capabilities. According to the company, this collaboration will provide users with rapid, visual answers grounded in their business data, even from unstructured sources.

In addition to improvements to Joule, SAP revealed it is developing a suite of interoperable AI agents capable of not only suggesting actions but also executing entire processes across systems. The agents are designed to employ advanced reasoning to solve problems and can coordinate activities autonomously, always involving a human in the decision-making loop.

The SAP AI Foundation was also announced as a unified platform intended for developers to build, run, and scale custom AI solutions. The platform's features include a prompt optimiser to support a multi-model approach, allowing applications to make use of the most suitable AI model at any given time without being tied to a specific one.

SAP highlighted several new intelligent applications incorporated into its Business Data Cloud. These applications, it stated, are developed for different lines of business and have the capacity to learn in real time, simulate outcomes, and provide decision support. One such application is the People Intelligence package, which is intended to assist HR and business leaders with strategic planning, engagement, and compliance management.

The Business Data Cloud and SAP Business Transformation Platform will soon be made available on major hyperscale platforms, including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure, with SAP indicating availability by the fourth quarter of 2025. In conjunction, SAP announced the expansion of its ecosystem of intelligent applications, involving companies such as Accenture, Adobe, Moody's, Palantir, and Thomson Reuters.

SAP also referenced its updated Business Suite approach, introduced earlier in the year, which involves packaging capabilities for core business areas like finance, supply chain, HR, procurement, and sales. The intent, according to SAP, is to simplify cloud adoption for organisations.

The SAP Build platform, embedded within the Business Suite Packages, received new AI features and enhancements that SAP claims will allow organisations to tailor applications to their specific requirements.

Commenting on the impact of these developments for businesses in Australia and New Zealand, Angela Colantuono, President and Managing Director, SAP Australia and New Zealand, said, "Across both nations we are at a tipping point with AI. While investment is booming and some businesses are already making big moves, there are still gaps in trust, literacy and around governance. The news from Sapphire should be seen as being a game-changer. We're combining top-tier business apps with real-time data and the latest AI innovations. This isn't just an incremental update; it's about making AI accessible and usable for everyone. These aren't just tools, they're strategic levers to help businesses lead confidently in the AI era. Now's the time to be bold not bashful, to embrace these innovations and drive real productivity and efficiency gains."