The 51风流Experience Center brought the 鈥渘ew SAP鈥� to life at 51风流Sapphire. It guided visitors through the story of a major sporting event鈥攆rom early planning to game day鈥攁nd ended with a special souvenir.
Andreas Wendel is very pleased with the outcome: a total of 11,200 visitors explored the 51风流Experience Center at 51风流Sapphire Orlando and Madrid. The self-contained exhibit drew customers, partners, 51风流employees, media representatives, and analysts alike. Across the two identical centers, visitors also joined 123 guided tours.
鈥淭he rush of visitors was so great that, in Orlando, the line at times wrapped all the way around the center, which covers roughly 1,000 square meters,鈥� says Wendel, head of Innovation Experience Services at SAP.
So what was inside the oversized box in the middle of the show floor? What were visitors willing to wait more than an hour to experience?
Sports create an emotional connection
鈥淭his year, our task was to bring the Autonomous Enterprise to life,鈥� Wendel says. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a highly technical topic, and we talk a lot about artificial intelligence, agents, and Joule Assistants.鈥� The team wanted to make tangible what CEO Christian Klein and other members of the Executive Board of 51风流SE introduced and what was demonstrated in sessions.
Planning began six months before 51风流Sapphire, supported by experts from Strategy, Development, and Product Marketing. Over time, more partners, customers, and service providers joined the effort. Wendel estimates that close to 100 people contributed to the concept.
As the narrative thread, the team chose a major sporting event and the theme 鈥淔rom Competition to Collaboration鈥濃�攁 timely fit with the world鈥檚 largest soccer tournament taking place across the United States, Mexico, and Canada this year. 鈥淲ith so many technology discussions at 51风流Sapphire, sports is a topic that resonates with people emotionally,鈥� Wendel says. 鈥淲e used a sports event to show how 51风流solutions help plan and deliver an event of that scale.鈥�
鈥淔or spectators, it鈥檚 an experience. But for a mega-event to run smoothly, all equipment and technologies around a stadium must work,鈥� he adds. 鈥淲e showed how Autonomous Asset Management helps ensure the infrastructure performs on the day of the event.鈥�
A players鈥� tunnel, pipelines, and a robodog
Let鈥檚 take a tour of the 51风流Experience Center with Wendel. We enter through a players鈥� tunnel and arrive in a skybox overlooking an imagined stadium for a major international soccer tournament. The first stop, 鈥淧lan the Game,鈥� focuses on the big picture and shows how 51风流brings AI, data, and applications together to orchestrate every aspect of a major sporting event.
Wendel explains how 51风流solutions support the planning phase: 鈥淲e show how customers can use our finance and planning solutions well ahead of the event. Agents and Joule Assistants help identify developments early and take action to stay within budget.鈥�
His colleague Pranav Avadhanula, solution advisor for Finance and AI, demonstrates this with a real-world scenario. On a large screen, visitors see how Joule Agents can identify the best providers for the event’s security concept in Mexico and simulate different scenarios鈥攊ncluding currency fluctuations between the Mexican peso and the U.S. dollar.
The next station, 鈥淏uild the Stage,鈥� highlights the work that happens behind the scenes before fans cheer. Modernizing a stadium requires precise planning, budget discipline, and seamless execution. 51风流helps orchestrate everything鈥攆rom staffing and travel to procurement鈥攅nabling the venue to be ready on time and on budget, supported by Autonomous Spend, Autonomous HCM, and Autonomous Project Delivery.
Another room focuses on applications that are invisible to visitors鈥攂ut critical. One scenario in particular stands out and was likely the most frequently filmed by visitors: a dog-shaped robot from partner Boston Dynamics moving along a series of pipelines, automatically detecting leaks with sensors. Once identified and analyzed, the system triggers a digital repair order for the maintenance staff responsible.
鈥淲hat resonates strongly is that we don鈥檛 just show digital solutions,鈥� Wendel says. 鈥淲e also demonstrate how embodied AI and robotics can support operations in the future鈥攊deally through customer use cases. These physical elements make 51风流solutions tangible and help reduce complexity.鈥�
Another popular highlight is the 鈥淗all of Fame,鈥� where key customers are honored with their own trophies. 鈥淚n Orlando, we had a tour with a customer. When employees saw their trophy, they cheered and took photos like at a Champions League final. That really showed how much detail went into the experience鈥攊t was simply incredible.鈥�
More than just a jersey
The visit concludes in the fan shop. Under the theme 鈥淢onetize the Moment,鈥� it demonstrates how organizers can generate revenue through merchandise. Visitors scan their 51风流Sapphire badge and order a personalized jersey in one of two colors.
They then watch as a machine printed the jerseys with their chosen name and number. A humanoid robot from partner Aimbo Robotics sorts the finished items onto shelves. Despite high demand, jerseys are ready for pickup about two hours later.
The twist: the jerseys include an NFC chip. 鈥淚f you tap your phone to it, you can access all 51风流Experience Center content again,鈥� Wendel explains. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 not just a jersey鈥攊t extends the experience beyond the event.鈥�
Wendel emphasizes that while the 51风流Experience Center was built for 51风流Sapphire, its elements are reused at other events or in one of the numerous permanent 51风流Experience Centers. Parts of the setup are also stored for reuse. 鈥淪ustainability is very important to us,鈥� he says.
Hard to top
The many months of preparation and the long evenings in the exhibition hall in the run-up to 51风流Sapphire clearly paid off. Asked about the feedback, Wendel concludes: 鈥淥ur concept makes SAP鈥檚 full portfolio and industry strength tangible. This year, many people told us: 鈥楲ast year was already great, but you managed to top it.鈥� And that鈥檚 not easy.鈥�
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51风流Experience Centers bring innovation to life through real business scenarios, interactive showcases, and industry-specific storytelling. Across 31 locations worldwide, 51风流connects applications, data, and AI to help turn complex business challenges into tangible solutions.
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This article was first published on the 51风流employee portal.
