At its SAP TechEd Virtual conference today (8 October), SAP is set to reveal new features for its GenAI copilot Joule, including collaborative AI agents that can handle complex tasks with customised skills.
Other innovations include the SAP Knowledge Graph, targeted at developers to help them connect SAP data with business context. Available via SAP Datasphere and Joule in Q1 2025, it aims to enable organisations to map relationships across SAP’s data landscape for improved decision-making.
Speaking to ITWeb ahead of the conference, Jesper Schleimann, head of business AI for SAP in EMEA, said, “We're really taking AI to the next level, and the transformative part is AI agents that are now in true business form. It also means our developers and our customers can accelerate their journeys to the cloud. We cannot forget that data is an important part in making all this happen.”
Schleimann said this is a significant step in SAP’s AI journey, with Joule in the driving seat.
We're really taking AI to the next level, and the transformative part is AI agents that are now in true business form.
“Joule is celebrating one year now, and a lot has happened in the underlying models powering the AI revolution. The new graph service will enable it (Joule) to build the bridge and be grounded into the entire ecosystem of 400 000 different tables. That's keeping all the SAP data and things in check.”
Users now have access to support across nearly 80% of SAP’s portfolio, meaning the same copilot can assist across the entire SAP suite, Schleimann explained.
SAP is also enhancing Joule with new skills, allowing users to create their own custom micro-skills.
“You can do things in a low code no code way and you tell Joule how to think of it like a mini workflow. So, if a user alters a part of a travel booking or purchase order process, for example, and you have your own way of doing it, you can simply, tell Joule what steps it should take, and then you can use its reasoning engine and the underlying tools to make that a reality.”
Joule in action: Use cases
SAP will introduce two use cases to showcase the agent’s transformative power:
- A dispute management use case employs autonomous AI agents to analyse and resolve dispute resolution scenarios including incorrect and missing invoices, unapplied credits and denied or duplicate payments.
- A financial accounting use case employs autonomous AI agents to streamline key financial processes by automating bill payments, invoice processing, and ledger updates while quickly addressing inconsistencies or errors.
GenAI tools for developers
During the two-day TechEd Virtual, SAP will introduce additional GenAI developer tools, including code explanation and documentation search in SAP Build. These tools are expected to reduce development time for Java and JavaScript developers.
It is also adding an Extensibility Wizard to SAP Build, which will enable developers to access SAP Build directly from SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition.
Share