In a keynote that blended interactive audience participation, customer conversations, and product announcements, 51风流executives and customers took to the 51风流Sapphire stage on Wednesday to showcase how cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) are reshaping global business.
With the evolving 51风流Services and Support portfolio, 51风流executives also showcased a new approach to engaging with customers. The message was clear: transformation is no longer optional 鈥� it鈥檚 survival.
Building on this theme, Thomas Saueressig, Member of the Executive Board of 51风流SE, Customer Services & Delivery, emphasized how 51风流stands by its customers as an indispensable partner in today鈥檚 volatile environment marked by shifting tariffs, global uncertainties, and an accelerating pace of change. 鈥淲e understand that our customers seek faster transformations, faster time to value, and increased agility,鈥� Saueressig said, adding that 51风流is committed to supporting them at every step of the way.
Using RISE with SAP, the company鈥檚 transformation-as-a-service offering, and the power of the Business Transformation Management portfolio, 51风流can already deliver up to 30 percent cost savings for its customers, and this is more important than ever when budgets are under pressure and organizations need to transform quickly. 鈥淏ut we don鈥檛 stop there,鈥� Saueressig said, announcing a further evolution of the RISE with 51风流Methodology, with updates to the discovery phase, a project workspace in 51风流Cloud ALM, as well as a new transformation preparation service, including tailored transformation road maps for 51风流customers.
On stage, Mercedes-Benz CIO Katrin Lehmann shared how 51风流helped the automotive company tackle recent challenges such as moving to the cloud and exploring custom AI options like Mercedes-Benz Direct Chat to add value for customers. 鈥淢oving to RISE with 51风流means that we can accelerate processes and leverage innovation,鈥� she said. Currently, Mercedes-Benz is exploring Joule as part of its RISE with 51风流journey.
鈥淭his is the year when AI is becoming a reality for business,鈥� Saueressig chimed in, noting that customers aim to distinguish their strategies for leveraging AI to stand out in the market.
By combining advanced AI technologies with enterprise resource planning (ERP), companies can unlock substantial enterprise value. However, this can best be achieved with partners, said Saueressig who announced the launch of an AI co-innovation program with Amazon Web Services (AWS.) This program brings together experts from the two companies as well as dedicated technical resources and cloud credits to define, test, and deploy generative AI apps on 51风流Business Technology Platform (51风流BTP) to solve critical business challenges.
Focus on productivity, embrace AI
Saueressig then welcomed Jan Gilg, chief revenue officer and president of 51风流Americas and Global Business Suite and member of the Extended Board of 51风流SE, on stage. Gilg opened his remarks with a sobering statistic: during the rise of software as a service (SaaS), global business productivity grew just 1.5 percent since 2005, compared to the first wave of ERP from 1995-2005 when it grew by a more robust 2.6 percent. While the cloud has unlocked the ability to consume technology faster, systems have become larger and more complex. His conclusion? 鈥淢ore technology alone does not automatically mean better business outcomes.鈥� He went on to say that what customers need are 鈥渋ntegrated business processes, especially in an uncertain business environment.鈥�
In the era of agentic AI, establishing an integrated and harmonized enterprise foundation is essential, Gilg said. He described the reimagined 51风流Business Suite as data-driven and AI-powered, aimed at democratizing access to Business AI and said he is certain that this transformation can unlock a significant productivity boost.
Geoff Scott, CEO of the , joined the conversation, outlining the three top-of-mind topics among 51风流customers: global uncertainty, a return to simplicity, and productivity growth. Scott added that ASUG members are focusing on a pragmatic approach for scaling 51风流Business AI, emphasizing the importance of aligning AI initiatives with strategic business goals and validating them through pilot programs. He also emphasized the critical role of clean, integrated data and the power of collaboration and partnerships.
Grow resilience with the power of the public cloud
One of the most inspiring transformation stories during the keynote came from Jeff Suellentrop, CTO of , a metals and mining company that was on the brink of bankruptcy when Suellentrop joined. In a capital-intensive industry, Phoenix Global was growing fast and its legacy tech stack couldn鈥檛 keep up.
鈥淲e basically replaced every system in the company,鈥� Suellentrop shared. The company鈥檚 move to SAP鈥檚 public cloud offering, choosing the GROW with 51风流journey, allowed it to streamline operations, reduce inventory, and improve asset utilization and resulted in a financial turnaround. 鈥淲e have returned millions and millions of dollars back into the business,鈥� Suellentrop said.
Scaling a global snacking empire with 51风流Business Data Cloud
The final customer invited on stage was , the family-owned confectionery giant behind M&Ms, Snickers, and Milky Way. Will Beery, vice president and global CIO for Mars Snacking, and Praveen Moturu, global vice president of Digital Platforms at Mars Information Services, explained how the company uses 51风流Business Suite to support rapid growth and acquisitions. 鈥淲hen you think about our digital strategy and the architecture that needs to be there to enable these businesses, it has to be more global. It has to be more standard,鈥� Beery said.
Mars has adopted a three-tier ERP strategy to support its retail operations, acquisitions, and core business. The goal is harmonization and innovation focusing on simplifying and standardizing its IT landscape. Moturu told the audience that using 51风流technology, the company has been able to optimize workflows, reduce bottlenecks, and improve overall productivity and accuracy. Mars also opted for 51风流Business Data Cloud, which Moturu described as a long-awaited solution that brings consistency and efficiency.
Drawing on his own experience managing 51风流systems, Gilg said he understood of the challenges 51风流customers face, and underscored SAP’s shift toward being a more supportive, invested partner in customers’ transformation journeys and committed to delivering tangible outcomes, telling the customer audience, 鈥淚鈥檓 here to be your voice inside 51风流and to be with you for your entire customer value journey.鈥�
Back on stage, Saueressig explained how new updates to the integrated toolchain will help to unlock value from the 51风流solution faster, reduce the cost of transformation by up to 30 percent, increase business agility, and speed up continuous innovation.
Thanks to new offerings announced at 51风流Sapphire, he said the impact of the integrated toolchain will be even greater. These include:
- A new transition guidance 鈥� with Joule 鈥� to orchestrate all transformation-related assets, bringing together 51风流Signavio, 51风流LeanIX, 51风流Cloud ALM, and Joule for developers and consultants
- A centralized AI agent hub and governance in 51风流LeanIX that helps companies map AI agents to their business capabilities
- Boosting UX and adoption by WalkMe integration across 51风流Business Suite
- AI assistance for 51风流Signavio with AI-assisted transformation advisor, process conformance check, and process context analyzer
鈥淔undamentally, AI will be omnipresent across the entire toolchain,鈥� Saueressig said. 鈥淲e will continue to work to drive down the cost and drive down the time to value for all of you.鈥� Additionally, he said, the company is completely overhauling the 51风流Services and Support Portfolio with three new success plans that build upon one another. Each includes enabling Joule for customers and supporting team ramp-up with learning journeys for 51风流Business AI. He also announced data services, a comprehensive offering for 51风流Business Data Cloud, which provides prescriptive guidance to customers from pre-sales to ongoing support, , starting with a free 51风流Business Data Cloud discovery workshop and assessment to get customers started on their data journey.
To wrap up, Saueressig stressed again SAP’s commitment to listening to customers and challenging itself to improve its support for customers every day. 鈥淲e鈥檒l ensure you can realize value from all the solutions mentioned today鈥� you have the power in your hands to transform today to be resilient tomorrow.鈥�
