The discussion unpacked what it takes to scale AI responsibly, embed it into everyday government operations, and build the trust required for long-term impact:

Artificial Intelligence has dominated headlines this year, but for governments and public institutions, the question is no longer what AI can do, but how we make it work in practice and at scale.��

At SAP, we recently released our Value of AI Report with Oxford Economics, providing a checkpoint on where organisations stand today. Across Australian government and business, AI now supports about one in four tasks, a figure expected to exceed 40 percent within two years. Encouragingly, three-quarters of organisations anticipate a positive return on AI investment within one to three years.��

These findings highlight significant momentum, but also a challenge. Too many AI projects remain trapped in proof-of-concept stage. The real opportunity lies in moving from prototype to production, where innovation can scale, deliver measurable value and build public confidence.��

Three priorities for progress��

Three priorities will enable Australian government agencies to move AI from experimentation to enterprise-wide impact:��

1. Adopt embedded AI capabilities. By using applications that already contain AI, public sector organisations can deploy AI easily and scale rapidly.��

1. Build capability and confidence. Success depends on equipping the public service and its technology partners with the skills to implement, monitor and govern AI responsibly.��

1. Earn and maintain public trust. AI ethics policies are now widespread, but policy alone is not enough. Trust is earned when we demonstrate that those guidelines and guardrails are being put into practice.��

Adopt embedded AI capabilities��

Globally, we’re already seeing transformative outcomes being delivered with custom AI.��

In Germany, Hamburg’s Ministry of Finance uses machine learning to support processing of social benefit applications, saving 33,000 hours of manual review.��

In France, the city of Antibes uses AI to align budgets with the UN Sustainable Development Goals, making over 138,000 decisions with AI assistance, work that would be impossible for humans alone.��

But for enterprise AI deployments to become more widespread, organisations need to shift to adopting AI capabilities that are embedded in business applications. For governments, this means switching on the AI that already exists in enterprise applications for HR, finance, procurement and citizen services, rather than building custom AI solutions using technical platforms.��

Build capability and confidence��

As we move toward agentic AI – systems that operate autonomously – the need for transparency becomes even more important.��

We must ensure that AI augments, rather than replaces, human judgment. This means giving users visibility into the reasoning behind AI decisions. At SAP, our applications include AI Analysis that shows which data sources were accessed, what steps the AI took, and how recommendations were generated, giving humans the insight they need to make informed decisions.��

Building this kind of transparency into every AI scenario is critical for governments that must demonstrate accountability to citizens.��

Earn and maintain public trust��

At SAP, we assess every new AI scenario against our global AI Ethics Policy, which is aligned to UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.��

Several years ago, for example, we developed an “emotional AI” prototype capable of detecting human emotion through facial expression and tone of voice with 70 percent accuracy. Despite its potential, we chose not to productise it, determiningthat the risk of harmful or biased outcomes was too high.��

This experience demonstrates how the right kind of regulation can accelerate innovation. Clear guidelines and guardrails focus experimentation on use cases that genuinely improve people’s lives.��

Australian Research Alliance for Enterprise AI��

51����is an industry partner in a new Australian Research Alliance for Enterprise AI with the University of Queensland, QUT, UNSW, the University of Sydney, and the University of Melbourne. We’re exploring how AI agents can make enterprise systems more intuitive, responsive and productive across government and industry.��

AI’s potential for the public sector is immense, but to realise it, we must move beyond experimentation. By adopting embedded AI, investing in skills, and building public trust, we can shift from isolated prototypes to scalable impact and unlock a new era of productivity and confidence in digital government.��

For more information or to engage with the Australian Research Alliance for Enterprise AI: .

The post From Proof-of-Concept to Production: Scaling AI Responsibly in the Public Sector appeared first on 51����Australia & New Zealand News Center.

This was the strategic context that drove discussions during the recent executive roundtable dinner hosted by 51����in partnership with Connect Media. The roundtable convened industry leaders to explore the latest strategies, trends and digital innovations for driving growth and success for the next era of retail. Conversations were led by Ross Bark, Director – Digital, Enterprise Wide, with exclusive insights from Achim Schneider, Global Head of Retail Industry Business Unit, 51����and Elise Sharpley, Partner, Deloitte.

AI & The Future of Customer Experience

The discussion around AI has moved decisively beyond hype towards identifying pragmatic, high-value applications. According to research by Boston Consulting Group, 74% of companies have yet to show tangible value from their AI initiatives (1). This gap exists largely because investments often lack strategic focus. Businesses see the greatest return on investment when embedding AI into core customer engagement and operational functions. Data integrity, however, is an essential prerequisite. Before AI can be integrated effectively, leaders must address fragmented customer data silos across online, in-store, and partner channels. Addressing these gaps requires building a unified customer data platform, which serves as the foundational layer for all subsequent AI initiatives. With a unified platform in place, AI emerges as a powerful driver of commerce. The most promising applications include intelligent shopping assistants that provide relevant, real-time product advice and dynamic content creation that scales personalised marketing across numerous channels.

Maximising AI’s impact also requires embracing a culture of human-centric design. The goal is to augment human capability, not to replace it. By equipping frontline staff with rich, AI-driven customer insights, retailers enable staff to deliver superior, data-driven service. This approach positions AI as a key collaborative partner, enhancing efficiency while preserving the essential human touch that builds deeper customer loyalty.

Resilience & Risk: Diversifying the Retail Supply Chain

In an era of geopolitical volatility and disruptive regulatory changes, supply chain resilience has shifted from a tactical concern to a strategic imperative. This is a top concern for retail leaders today, as recent data from McKinsey has shown that 93% of businesses plan to increase their investment in supply chain resilience for the future (2).

The focus must be on diversifying sourcing strategies and moving from a purely cost- centric supplier evaluation to one that prioritises reliability, ethical alignment, and strategic partnership.

This involves a fundamental re-evaluation of supplier relationships. Leading retailers are increasingly willing to invest more for long-term resilience, which can include nearshoring or onshoring critical production, dual-sourcing key materials, and deepening collaboration with a core group of strategic partners. Technology plays a pivotal role in navigating this complexity. A modern, cloud-based supply chain management system provides the end-to-end visibility required to model the impact of potential disruptions, such as new tariffs, and pivot sourcing strategies rapidly. This capability to proactively manage risk, rather than simply react to it, is what separates resilient retailers from vulnerable ones. The supply chain is no longer a back-office function but a dynamic, competitive advantage.

Balancing Innovation & Integrity: Building Consumer Trust

Today’s consumers demand more than just products; they seek alignment with their core values. As younger generations who place a higher priority on corporate values gain economic influence, the expectations of businesses to be leaders of positive societal change will continue to intensify (3). Ethical transparency is no longer a niche concern, but a fundamental component for establishing brand trust and commercial integrity. Innovation pursued without consideration for ethical implications or environmental footprint is now a significant liability.

The challenge lies in moving from ESG as a marketing statement to embedding it into core business processes. This requires deep collaboration with suppliers to ensure alignment on standards for traceability, ethical labor practices, and carbon emissions. Technology is a key enabler, with platforms emerging that can track a product’s journey from raw material to end consumer, providing verifiable proof of claims. For retailers, this means making conscious choices about where not to apply technology if it compromises customer privacy or data security. Building a reputation for integrity is a long-term investment that often involves forgoing short-term gains for sustainable growth. A trusted brand, one that can demonstrate authentic commitment to its stated values, will command greater loyalty and resilience in a competitive market.

Conclusion: A Strategic Blueprint for Action

The journey to boundaryless retail demands strategic discipline across three interconnected imperatives:

1. Organisations must establish a trusted customer data foundation by dismantling internal silos- this is the essential prerequisite for consumer personalisation and seamless service delivery.
2. Leaders must also architect an agile operating model through core modernisation, creating the flexibility to adapt supply chains and embrace innovation.
3. Success is contingent on a pragmatic technology roadmap where targeted AI investments deliver measurable value, governed by frameworks that strengthen consumer trust and advance ESG commitments.

By mastering this balance, leaders can move beyond transactions to unlock more resilient, trusted, intelligent retail enterprises of tomorrow.

Endnotes

1. Boston Consulting Group, “” October 24, 2024.
2. TradeVerifyd, “Supply Chain Statistics” September 6, 2025.
3. Deloitte, “Buying into Better: The Future of the Consumer Industry” 2024.

The post Grow Without Boundaries: The Future of Retail appeared first on 51����Australia & New Zealand News Center.

AUSTRALIA, Sydney — 10 October 2025 — Australian organisations are already achieving a 15% return on their business AI investments, yielding an average return on investment this year of US$3.2 million on an average US$19.1million spend, according to a new study by 51����SE (NYSE: SAP). The global research, ‘The 51����Value of AI Report,’ undertaken by Oxford Economics, also found ROI is expected to nearly double to 29% within two years, translating to an average return of US$8.2 million per organisation.��

Angela Colantuono, President and Managing Director, 51����Australia and New Zealand said, “AI isn’t what’s next, it’s here now and it’s already delivering results. But doing AI well takes more than hype. Businesses investing strategically in people, data and AI are already unlocking measurable ROI. With nearly three quarters of organisations expecting returns within three years, the message is clear: this is only the beginning. AI will get smarter, faster and more transformative from here.”��

AI-First Business Expectations��

The report shows that AI is already supporting a quarter of business tasks, a proportion expected to reach 41% within two years. Nearly two thirds (62%) are finding AI effective in helping their business overcome key organisational challenges. Benefits include seeing significant improvement in driving insights and decision-making, engaging with customers and prospects and improving time to value.����

The majority of Australian respondents expect AI to become central to business processes, decision-making and customer offerings by 2028, a year ahead of their global peers. Only 3% of businesses say AI will never become a core part of how they operate.��

“We’re witnessing the biggest business transformation since the internet,” added Colantuono. “The question isn’t whether AI will transform your business, it’s whether you’ll lead that transformation or be transformed by your competitors.”��

The US$19 Million Question: Are Australian Businesses Thinking Too Small?��

Despite these positive signs, the study also reveals Australian business AI spend being significantly outpaced by global peers. Compared to the average US$19.1 million Australian spend, Chinese organisations lead the way with an average US$42 million spend, with US$37 million as the average US spend.����

“This isn’t just about technology, it’s about competitive survival. Those that don’t crack the AI code now risk being left behind for good. In addition to boosting revenue, AI is about building smarter operations and empowering people to focus on the work that matters,” continued Colantuono.��

The Game-Changer: AI Agents����

The next frontier, agentic AI, could further revolutionise business operations entirely. A key finding of the report was that these intelligent, autonomous systems that can plan, act and collaborate on complex business processes, are expected to deliver 10% ROI, equating to an average of US$3 million, for Australian organisations in the next two years.��

Interestingly, at present, only 6% of Australian businesses are fully prepared for AI agents, but 75% recognise their transformative potential.

The Strategic Crisis Hidden in Plain Sight��

When it comes to AI adoption, alignment with business strategy is ranked the most important factor for optimising ROI. However, the research shows this is just one of a range of make-or-break areas where organisations are falling short:��

1. Business Strategy: Only 10% of Australian businesses are investing in AI in a strategic and holistic manner, with the majority taking a piecemeal approach (46%) or leaving it to individual departments (32%).��

1. Data Readiness: Despite 64% claiming sufficient data readiness for AI, critical departments like legal (84%), finance (74%), and HR (67%) flag they remain unprepared.��

1. Skills Investment: Over two thirds (68%) believe insufficient AI skills are a key reason organisations are not gaining maximum ROI for AI. That said, 73% note that they are integrating AI into their workforce planning by upskilling or reskilling current employees.����

When a coordinated AI strategy is left by the wayside, not only are opportunities impacting the bottom line similarly discarded, but security risks prevail. Three quarters of Australian organisations surveyed are concerned about “shadow AI”, where employees use unauthorised AI tools. According to 69%, Shadow AI is being used at least occasionally by employees.����

“When organisations take a strategic approach aligned with their long-term vision, building AI into the fabric of how they operate, it deters shadow AI use and elevates the most powerful competitive weapon at their disposal,” concluded Colantuono. “Organisations with strategic AI adoption are seeing faster implementation across business functions and significantly higher returns, while future-proofing themselves to keep pace with rapid changes across the tech and business landscapes.”��

About the Research

The 51����Value of AI Report, conducted by Oxford Economics, surveyed 1,600 business leaders across eight countries, including 200 Australian executives from enterprise and mid-market companies.��

Customers using 51����Business AI include Lion Group, SA Power Network and Energy Queensland.��

Visit the . Get 51����news via  and .

About SAP

As a global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, 51����(NYSE:SAP) stands at the nexus of business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted SAP to bring out their best by uniting business-critical operations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit .��

# # #��

This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of SAP’s 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F.��

© 2025 51����SE. All rights reserved.

51����and other 51����products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 51����SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.����

Note to editors

To preview and download broadcast-standard stock footage and press photos digitally, please visit . On this platform, you can find high resolution material for your media channels.��

For more information, press only

Rebecca English, +61 (0) 438 520 181, rebecca.english@sap.com, AEST

51����Press Room; press@sap.com��

��Please consider our . If you received this press release in your e-mail and you wish to unsubscribe to our mailing list please contact press@sap.com and write Unsubscribe in the subject line. ��

��

��

The post Aussie Business AI Investment Poised to Deliver 29% ROI by 2028, 51����Study Finds appeared first on 51����Australia & New Zealand News Center.

��At its flagship event , (NYSE: SAP), today highlighted the five most widely adopted AI use cases among its Australian customers. Based on analysis of all 51����customers in Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) between May 2024 to May 2025, the most popular AI use cases in ANZ, these include:��

• Automated expense generation using receipt images��

• Automated invoice processing����

• Expense verification and compliance checks��

• Real-time alerts for supply chain disruptions��

• Sales demand forecasting powered by predictive analytics��

“My conversations with CEOs are increasingly revealing how they are looking to embed AI into some of the most fundamental parts of their business,” said Angela Colantuono, Managing Director, 51����Australia. “These applications are helping Australian organisations make faster, smarter decisions, reduce risk and unlock new value. But to fully realise AI’s potential, we need to invest just as much in people as we do in technology.”��

Dr Catriona Wallace, AI Ethics Expert and Founder, Responsible Metaverse Alliance, who keynoted at the event shared, “AI is the number one existential risk we face today. Yet only a small fraction of Australian organisations are equipped to use it responsibly. If we want AI to drive innovation, productivity and public trust, we must move beyond ambition to action. That means embedding responsible AI frameworks that are transparent, ethical and human-centred, and doing it now, before the gap between use and governance becomes too wide to close.”

Customers and partners across Australia and New Zealand show AI momentum��

From education to manufacturing, 51����partners and customers are also showcasing strong momentum in AI and cloud transformation.��

La Trobe University has become the first university in the ANZ region to go live with 51����S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition leveraging the GROW with 51����transformation journey.�� From the move, La Trobe has been able to modernise its core operations across Finance, Procurement, Logistics, Sales, R&D Engineering and Real Estate and lay the groundwork for future innovation, including AI-driven insights and automation.��

“This transformation is a major step forward in how we operate,” said Shainal Kavar, Chief Information Officer, La Trobe University. “It’s helping us simplify complexity, streamline processes, improve reporting and decision-making and free up our people to focus on higher-value work. Most importantly, it sets us up to embrace innovation and unlock the potential of AI in the years ahead.”��

Lion, one of Australia and New Zealand’s leading brewers, is accelerating its cloud-first transformation with RISE with 51����on AWS. By adopting a clean core, the 51����principle of keeping core ERP system free from customisations, as well as SAP’s Business Technology Platform, Lion has improved order-to-cash cycles, scaled digital channels, and empowered teams with real-time insights. The company also partnered with 51����to build ‘Joey’, an AI-powered beer recommendation app, in under 10 days, demonstrating the speed and value of SAP’s generative AI tools.��

“AI is helping us move faster, make smarter decisions, and deliver better customer experiences,” said Ram Kalyanasundaram, Group Technology and Digital Transformation Director at Lion. “It’s not just about automation, it’s about enabling our teams to focus on what matters and giving them the tools to innovate. SAP’s AI capabilities have been a game-changer in how we think, operate and grow.”��

51����Intrepid Women AI Tour 2026��

51����is also proud to announce the return of the 51����AI Intrepid Women Tour in January 2026. This four-day executive study program is designed to empower female leaders with the skills, confidence, and strategic insight to lead in the age of AI.��

Following the success of the 2025 tour, the 2026 program will bring together Australia’s most influential female technology executives to explore AI innovation across SAP’s global innovation hubs.��

“Less than 15% of senior AI executives are women today,” said Colantuono. “Last year’s program proved that when you bring female leaders together to build AI literacy and share experiences, the impact is extraordinary – not just for their businesses, but for the future of innovation in Australia.”��

Visit the . Follow 51����at . �į ��

 Media Contact:��

Rebecca English (+61) 438 520 181, rebec@sap.com, AEST
51����Press Room; press@sap.com��

About SAP 

As a global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, 51����(NYSE:SAP) stands at the nexus of business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted SAP to bring out their best by uniting business-critical operations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit . ��

# # # ��

This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of SAP’s 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F. 

© 2025 51����SE. All rights reserved. 

51����and other 51����products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 51����SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.  ��

The post AI Moves from the Margins to the Core of Australian Business, Says SAP�� appeared first on 51����Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Improving the ease and speed of accessing benefits is key to government efforts to extend social and economic safety nets to what the International Social Security Association (ISSA) refers to as the “”. Self-employed and gig workers, as well as rural, migrant, and domestic workers are typically time-poor, not already engaged in social protection systems, and are often not included in targeted outreach programs. This makes them vulnerable to economic shocks and cost-of-living increases that can tip them into poverty and homelessness.

As such, many government agencies and not-for-profit organisations are looking at ways to make social services more accessible and responsive by reducing the “hassle costs” associated with claiming benefits.

How AI can help

Governments around the world have been realising significant efficiency gains through applying artificial intelligence (AI) in the back-office to improve workforce productivity. Encouragingly, there are also recent examples of AI being leveraged in the front-office to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of citizen engagement.

1. Quicker time to payment with AI-supported assessment processes

At , a combination of Machine Learning (ML) and Generative AI (GenAI) support staff to efficiently process applications for more than €3.5 billion in financial aid.

51����Machine Learning is used to link citizen application data to supporting documentary evidence, enabling case workers to expedite processing for the bulk of applications and to focus their attention on those most likely to be non-compliant. Across two programs, Hamburg reports that nearly 180,000 benefit applications have been processed, with more than 10 million pages of supporting documents automatically evaluated and classified by AI.

51����Generative AI Hub has also been introduced to summarise inbound applications and to generate draft outbound correspondence, further reducing time to payment for customers while minimising the burden of repetitive manual work for staff.

2. Improved customer service with AI-powered workflow automation

Similarly, uses 51����AI to automate workflows and to recommend potential benefits based on customer circumstance data. AI has contributed to a 20% increase in user productivity, which amounts to a substantial efficiency gain when applied to an agency of 9,000 public employees managing €1.8 billion in monthly payments. These efficiencies flow through to citizens, as described by the Deputy Director General of Benefits and Subsidies, who reports their AI-enabled system “…has empowered me to shift focus from administrative tasks to truly enhancing citizen service, allowing for quicker responses and more meaningful interactions.”

3. Faster query resolution with AI-enabled chatbots

At , an 51����AI chatbot responds to 50% of citizen inquiries with no human intervention, resulting in 77% being answered and closed within the same day. While social services inquiries would typically be more complex, there’s certainly potential for AI to categorise and prioritise inbound communications and to route them to the appropriate channel or group. This is the case for more than 83% of the inquiries being received by the Office every day, which embassy staff say “…means efficient communication, satisfied customers and a gain in personnel resources for other tasks.”

Reducing the barriers to adoption with embedded AI

To date, the types of use cases described above have been delivered as custom AI solutions, limiting uptake to agencies that are sufficiently resourced to assemble AI systems from Large Language Models (LLMs) and other necessary components. This is further exacerbated by the additional work needed to protect customer data, prevent bias, and ensure the reliability of AI recommendations.

Thankfully these barriers to adoption are being reduced as AI capabilities become embedded into enterprise software, enabling agencies to adopt out-of-the-box solutions. For example, something as simple as supporting staff to retrieve information using AI-enabled natural language search could reduce the time customers spend waiting on hold while their case worker struggles to locate their file.

Revolutionising social services with agentic AI

The advent of agentic AI could be a tipping point for social services AI use. By virtue of their ability to take multiple paths and iterative steps towards achieving an outcome, AI agents are particularly suited to the type of complex case processing inherent in social services. We can imagine a future where benefit applications are picked up and processed by a team of specialised AI agents that can autonomously validate compliance, determine eligibility and entitlement, identify potentially fraudulent claims, and present reasoned recommendations to human case workers for approval.

Such a future could be just around the corner. predicts that, “by 2028, 33% of enterprise software applications will include agentic AI, enabling 15% of day-to-day work decisions to be made autonomously.” Similarly, it notes, “by 2029, agentic AI will autonomously resolve 80% of common customer service issues without human intervention, leading to a 30% reduction in operational costs”.

In summary, AI is already enabling early adopters like Hamburg’s Ministry of Finance to improve the efficiency of application processing for social benefits. AI adoption in social services is now set to scale as AI capabilities are embedded into enterprise software, and this could lay the groundwork for a big leap forward with agentic AI. AI will be increasingly capable of reducing the “hassle costs” associated with claiming benefits, helping to ensure that social and economic supports reach the people that need it, when they need it.

The post Leveraging AI to make social services more responsive appeared first on 51����Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Over four days in two countries, we asked one of the most critical questions in business today: How do we lead responsibly, visibly, and boldly in the age of AI? The 51����Intrepid AI Women’s Tour was never just about AI as a technology. It was about people, mindset, and showing what’s possible when women have a seat at the table and shape the agenda.

We began our tour in Walldorf, Germany, at SAP’s headquarters and wrapped up at 51����Paris. Along the way, something incredible happened. Conversations that started with hesitation, fear of AI, lack of skills, and unclear strategies turned into conviction. Not because we solved everything in four days but because we gave each other permission to step forward and lead.

One participant said it best about their Aha moment: “Australians are fearful of AI. But there is so much opportunity from generative AI to enterprise innovation. We just need to start.”

Across both countries, a consistent theme emerged: AI and data cannot be afterthoughts; they go hand in hand. AI is not just a project or an initiative, it is core to business strategy. Several women reflected on how AI strategies in their organisations were still siloed or disconnected from the broader business plan and what their role will be going forward in changing the narrative. It starts with leaders willing to ask better questions and push for integration, not isolation.

We examined how AI platforms, applications, and data interact in real scenarios. We discussed the trade-offs, the challenges across organisations and practical ways to bring AI into business. Many left with clear ideas on unlocking value with AI immediately, from improving internal insights to creating more space for innovation.

One of the most potent conversations we had wasn’t about technology; it was about female visibility in AI, about who sees us. Who sees themselves in us? Being present is one thing, being heard is another, and creating opportunities for other women across the organisations is a must in the age of AI.

Many women on this tour have worked for years to get to where they are. They’ve had to push back, speak up, and support themselves often without seeing many others like them at the table. Yet, what we heard repeatedly is this: it’s time to stop being quiet about it and support each other.

One participant said, “The tour has really inspired me to be louder. To hire more women. To actively encourage others to step up.” That kind of ripple effect is exactly what this tour was about. Not just learning about AI, but leading with visibility, so future generations of women in AI know this path is possible and worth it.

There’s no denying that AI can be overwhelming, with multiple AI platforms and vendors around, figuring out the best way to use the technology and the new possible risks it can bring to business. However, we proved on this tour that fear doesn’t have to be a blocker. With the correct exposure, mindset, and support, fear becomes fuel.

Attendees shared bold commitments to take back to their businesses. Some pledged to start educating their teams and removing fear through clear roadmaps. Others planned to dive into AI tools themselves to “actually use it,” not just talk about it. One attendee captured it beautifully when she said, “We’re setting ourselves up now for the future. The choices we make today, good or bad, will shape our AI outcomes for years to come.”

They’re right. This is the moment to get intentional about responsible governance, upskilling teams, and linking AI to things that matter, such as security, sustainability, ethics, and economic inclusion.

The end of the tour is only the beginning of what’s to come next. We’re back in Australia with new energy, sharper ideas, and a stronger network, knowing that we are the ones who will shape how AI gets adopted in our organisations and across our country.

AI can drive economic growth and innovation, and it is also a tool to empower people, especially women, to step into new roles, new industries, and new futures. That only happens when we’re intentional, when we lead visibly, and when we support each other in taking bold steps. So, what did we learn on the 51����Intrepid AI Tour? Leadership, strategy, and visibility in AI matter, and leading in the age of AI is more important than ever.

The post “We Just Need to Start”: What the 51����Intrepid AI Tour taught us about women, leadership, and the future of AI appeared first on 51����Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Governments in Australia have always taken pride in furthering a strong service culture. Whether it’s healthcare, social services, or public infrastructure, Australians expect seamless interactions with government agencies. However, as digital technologies rapidly evolve, the public sector must keep pace to meet rising expectations—both at the front- and back-end.

For the Australian Public Service (APS), this digital transformation must be done within tight budgets, strict procurement processes, and government priorities. While citizens expect government services to match the convenience of banking or retail, IT projects face intense scrutiny to ensure value, security, and compliance.

The challenge is clear: How can agencies modernise digital services while staying within financial and policy constraints?

Doing more with less

The first method that many agencies have employed is to deliver new services from the cloud.

This alleviates the need for the upfront capital investments required when building on-premises solutions and shifts purchasing to a pay-as-you-go model that can deliver a greater lifetime value return.

The cloud model has an additional benefit since it provides agencies with immediate access to the latest technical enhancements from cloud providers.

This includes the many AI-based capabilities that are now a core offering of cloud-based services, delivering new capabilities to analyse data and automate processes. These developments improve decision-making and streamline service delivery, freeing workers from mundane tasks to focus on more rewarding activities.

Importantly, AI-based services are fast to deploy and can, in some instances (such as AI-assisted code development), accelerate service creation without raising costs.

AI is already delivering important new capabilities such as enhanced fraud detection, where AI quickly identifies patterns and anomalies in large data sets.

AI is also automating the onboarding of new staff, ensuring they enjoy a smooth arrival process and can quickly become productive contributors. We are also seeing agencies experiment with generative AI, which provides a conversational interface into complex systems in finance, procurement, Information and Communications Technology (ICT), HR, and other business units. AI can automate routine tasks in finance, procurement, and other processes, freeing employees to focus on higher-value activities using automated data entry, predictive analytics, and AI-driven bots for common tasks.

Fighting complexity for long-term benefits

The ability to generate value can be further enhanced through the adoption of agile development methodologies which emphasise shorter project development cycles to accelerate the time to outcome.

Breaking large digital transformation goals into modular parts means they can be delivered incrementally, reducing the risk in their delivery.

This combination of the cloud, AI, and agile methodologies is proving critical for helping government agencies around the world meet mandates to do more with less, by enabling them to implement cost-effective, modular projects in preference to traditional large-scale system replacements.

But there is another way that public sector agencies are solving the challenge of improving services without raising costs; by taking a standardised approach to service design. This is often described as taking a ‘clean core’ approach to service design using a foundation of standardised best practice processes, with agency-specific customisations moved out to the edge.

This approach is not only faster to implement, but ensures upgrades and extensions are easier to implement as future designers do not need to untangle the customisations of the past.

Keeping the way clear for future optimisation is more important now than ever thanks to the rapid advances in process design and delivery that are being enabled by advances in AI.

A more efficient future state

When these new capabilities and developments come together, they unlock incredible potential for agencies to quickly modernise services while reducing costs and risk, and even smaller agencies can gain rapid returns on investment.

Furthermore, by creating development programs that focus on standardisation and iterative processes, agencies gain the potential to share learnings that can further accelerate outcomes and come together in collaborative projects that reduce process duplication. They prioritise those activities that will have the most impact – a critical factor in periods of constrained spending – as returns are delivered much faster than with traditional methods.

Reducing customisations and implementing shorter-term development cycles creates more opportunities to share insights and avoid duplication. When done correctly, automation not only ensures that data readily moves across an agency’s environments but also relieves staff from performing time-consuming activities. This is especially critical for larger departments, where many requirements might be duplicated across smaller agencies.

While each of these new developments holds significant potential for accelerating outcomes and reducing costs, agencies still need to create compelling business cases to support them.

Therefore, it is critical that government planners and architects embrace these concepts as quickly as possible and weave them into the fabric of the business case.

Over time, this focus on iterative development and rapid returns on investment can lead to the creation of dynamic business cases where services development programs match evolving goals and with increased likelihood of successful delivery.

Modernisation as protection

While the benefits of modernisation to citizens and agencies alike are compelling, there is an additional benefit that can be gained, which in some instances may be the most critical of all.

Agencies today face an unprecedented level of cyber threats, which are delivered using attack methods that were barely conceived of when many of their current systems were implemented.

Despite cyber teams’ best efforts, rapid evolution in the threat landscape has created a scenario where constant patching and monitoring is needed to ensure that aging systems are protected from modern attacks, creating a costly, high-risk security scenario.

Modernisation can not only ensure services are elevated to the best standards, but also makes them easier to defend from attack through the adoption of automated patch management, which is a core aspect of cloud offerings.

Modernisation can also ensure that new services comply with regulatory requirements – a factor that can be further enhanced using Sovereign Cloud environments that are specifically tailored to local regulations and can be readily updated as those requirements are adjusted.

All these developments allow agency leaders to meet their obligation to continuously improve citizen services within an environment of budget constraint.

And by delivering smaller projects that provide a rapid return on investment, they not only reduce ongoing expenditure in the long term, but also reduce the risk and cost to ensure that services are secure in the short term.

The post How can Governments Modernise Operations for Greater Efficiencies? appeared first on 51����Australia & New Zealand News Center.

The ability to solve complex problems using tried and tested processes is a skillset that has been honed over time by Chris Rae and his team at DalRae Solutions, a Brisbane based technology consultancy specialising in tools and services from the enterprise software maker .

A developer by training, Rae’s exposure to 51����stretches back to the early 2000s, when he was working for a Queensland farming business called Mulgowie Farming Company. An 51����sales rep had approached Rae and won him over to the idea that an enterprise software company could improve the processes of even a small agricultural business like Mulgowie.

That was the beginning of Rae’s journey of learning the 51����system – a journey that was assisted by the owners of Mulgowie giving Rae latitude to change its business processes in line with SAP’s best practice guidelines.

“The only rule they had was if I want to change a process for the farm, I had to do the process first,” Rae says. ��“So I went out and I drove tractors and I picked corn and beans and packed it on produce lines. That gave me this amazing practical understanding of time in motion.”

Simply solving problems

Are’s interest in systems and processes led him to Super Retail Group, where in 2011 he implemented what might have been the first click-and-collect system to be deployed in Australia, in a project that took just three months to build.

The reason he says he was able to implement the service both quickly and cheaply was his realisation that 51����already contained the processes needed to bring it into being.

“You’ve just got to have a bit of a creative lens to be able to fill in the blanks,” Rae says. “In that case, it resembled sales order and delivery notes, which are standard processes. All you’re doing is just creating a user experience using the standard 51����features to move things around.”

Success on projects like this saw Rae asked to join the 51����Mentor team, which gave him inside access into the SAP’s product roadmap, including an early introduction to the Fiori application development system.

Then in May 2015 Rae formed DalRae Solutions as a standalone 51����services organisation.

One of DalRae’s earliest engagements was the development of support services for the , a project that he and his team would work on for the next three and a half years. Through this project DalRae was able to use its advanced knowledge of 51����to create the world’s first end-to-end Fiori application.

“It was an amazing project,” Rae says. “Through that time we were building the DalRae team and building our business in Canberra. I built my team around public sector projects, solving some really large problems.

“A lot of this stuff isn’t actually that hard. There are complexities, but it is not really that hard.”

Bringing standardisation to complexity

Critical to DalRae’s success has been the experience he and his team have gained in being able to see standardised processes where seemingly none exist.

This skill proved especially valuable when DalRae was invited to build a system to manage the New Zealand Government’s gun buyback scheme.

“We looked through the client’s process and what they were trying to achieve, to determine if 51����had something to match,” Rae says. “And the answer was that the process to hand back and get paid for a firearm, and to ultimately have that firearm destroyed, is a return sales order.

“It’s a completely standard business process. It’s the equivalent of walking into a hardware store and returning something without a receipt. That asset of that firearm exists in SAP, and every other business process, including auditing and security and all those things that are critical, work completely out-of-the-box. It’s a completely standard finance process. ”

In March 2023 DalRae joined the 51����AppHaus network, which is a group of 51����locations and partners around the world dedicated to sustainable innovation.

“The AppHaus has been amazing because it’s put a brand and a formality on the creativity that that we’ve done forever,” Rae says. “It gives us the creative licence to really solve problems.”

In November last year Rae was also appointed to the 51����BTP Global Partner Advisory Council, alongside 11 other members, which has provided him with further insights into the development of the 51����product stream.

From rural Queensland to the world

Opportunities such as these have provided DalRae with the confidence to view itself as a global leader in the implementation of 51����tools such as and , and to look for business opportunities beyond the APAC region. The company is now expanding into North America and has already found work with one of the US’ largest utility companies.

“We’re taking the same approach we’ve taking to solving problems in Australia, taking our style of creative thinking,” Rae says. “I don’t want to be all things to all people. I want to be a specialist, and provide that advice on how 51����can solve problems, not on how I can solve problems with any technology available in the world, because that doesn’t give you the best outcomes.”

The post How DalRae and 51����bring simplicity to complexity for public sector success appeared first on 51����Australia & New Zealand News Center.

But while the sector is dominated by several major players, it is also home to an ever-changing crop of up-and-comers.

These so-called junior minors are often born to prove the economic viability of speculative ventures. Should their initial returns prove promising, they find themselves needing to quickly adopt the systems and processes of a much larger business, and that includes the software systems that run them.

However, according to Jason Heaney, co-CEO of the Australian technology consultancy , these fast growth businesses often lack the time, funding, and experience to manage a full

Jason Heaney, DyFlex Solutions

“A lot of these companies are initially run on very basic accounting software, and that’s fine when you’ve only got a handful of people and a few dollars of expenses,” Heaney says. “But once you start on a feasibility study, you need a bit more rigour and control.”

DyFlex was founded in 2010 with a vision of bringing to mid-market businesses in the resources sector, using a templated approach that could be both quickly applied and easily repeated. Heaney says Dyflex’s initial goal is to deliver a core set of capabilities that provide a solid foundation for the business’ growth.

“Then we bring on additional functionality as they go through their mining life cycle,” Heaney says. “For example, when they get into construction, we bring on the projects module, and when they get into operations, we bring in supply chain functionality and maintenance functionality.”

The early success in mining has been the springboard for Dyflex to now be a national business with over 180 people across all states.

Heaney adds “this experience has enabled us to spread to many industries well beyond mining. It’s remarkable how growing businesses can be very similar in their constraints and core needs. Take a wind or solar renewable energy business for example: basic accounting quickly leads to projects, procurement and maintenance.”

Heaney says the challenge is often made greater by the fact that many of the business leaders in these organisations have never implemented an previously and need to be carefully guided through the process.

It’s a collaborative journey, rather than the customer just telling you what they need – they are looking for advice,” Heaney says. “And what’s interesting about the mid-market is that generally they’re almost as complex as the bigger guys but working at a smaller scale and often on a limited budget. It takes business expertise and not just software knowledge to guide them.

“It’s interesting how you take that complicated business model and fit it into a world where you don’t have the free capital to spend whatever you want, but we’ve sold 51����into companies that had only five users when they first bought it. Any myth that 51����is too complex or too expensive has been well and truly busted.”

Heaney says the factor that has enabled DyFlex’s approach to succeed is that despite the complexity of junior miners, there are generally many points of commonality in how they operate. Hence a solution that is applicable to one miner, such as accounts or the master data model, will usually be applicable to many more.

This template approach has also meant that DyFlex has been able to implement 51����in as little as three or four months.

“Most CEOs now see the benefit of the whole fit-to-standard idea,” Heaney says. “It’s been accepted that they’re not different, and if we’ve already done it elsewhere and it’s proven, they’ll take that as accepted.”

Heaney says this approach has been sufficiently compelling to dissuade miners from assembling their own solutions from smaller best-of-breed suppliers, especially once they understand that the ongoing integration costs of that approach are unattractive in comparison to the ease of management that comes with an integrated system such as SAP.

Heaney says the templated 51����approach also provides a more stable platform that enables miners to remain compliant with the regulatory and reporting regimes within which they operate, including for cross-border transactions.

Furthermore, Heaney says the presence of 51����within a mid-market business can give comfort to both investors and bankers that the business performance data they are provided with is accurate.

“It’s rock solid with controls and compliance and all these sort of things,” Heaney says.

The lean, agile, fit-to-standard approach has proved to be just as successful in other industries that Dyflex has worked with over the last ten years.

DyFlex has also expanded what it can offer to its customers by building out its skills across the 51����range, including with SuccessFactors and Ariba, using the same templated approach that has proved successful with core ERP. The success of DyFlex’s template approach, and across the resources sector specifically, has in turn strengthened its relationship with SAP.

“Whenever we’ve spotted gaps, we’ve always had access to the development team back in Germany,” Heaney says, “Even though we’re talking to the biggest ERP company in the world, there is a channel for us to get our customers’ ideas and our issues resolved. ��51����has been very generous in how they’ve made people available to us.”

Heaney says he has never doubted his company’s decision to build templated solutions on the 51����platform.

“We have confidence that 51����actually does the job,” Heaney says. “It’s reliable, it’s robust, it’s fit for purpose, and the 51����tool set has never let us or the customer down.”

The post How Dyflex is growing the next generation of Australian miners and other mid-market businesses with SAP appeared first on 51����Australia & New Zealand News Center.

Using the knowledge gained working with tens of thousands of clients around the world, we ensure agencies – and the citizens they serve – can benefit from the latest in best practice thinking.

Each customer also benefits from close to $10 billion dollars we spend each year on research and development. This investment ensures our software incorporates the latest processes and technologies, implemented in a safe and effective manner, including the rapidly emerging field of .

This experience means we are very familiar with the pressures that public sector agencies face to transform and improve their service offerings. We have also worked hard to ensure we remain at the forefront of innovation and have evolved with our clients through the different eras of computing, from mainframe and client/server deployments to today’s cloud-based environments, ensuring we can meet demands for agility and cost-effectiveness.

Resetting Perceptions: Solutions for Agencies of all sizes

However, our heritage in delivering large and complex systems for some of the world’s most sophisticated organisations has at times overshadowed the value we can bring to smaller organisations and the speed at which we can deliver it.

We believe it is time to reset thinking when it comes to who we are, what we can do, and who is supported by our business.

Cost Effective for All Sizes

While has found success assisting some of Australia and New Zealand’s largest government departments, we have also helped some smaller agencies achieve remarkable results on limited budgets.

For example, at Fire & Rescue NSW, is bringing together data from multiple systems to underpin new financial planning and management reporting processes. The implementation has automated and accelerated numerous processes and shortened the delivery of month-end reports by a whole week. Staff can focus on making strategic decisions rather than crunching numbers, and the agency is well placed to harness and predictive analytics to support its role protecting the people of NSW. It’s estimated this has saved them over 20,000 hours of effort each fire season.

And at Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO), the implementation of is delivering more than $1 million in projected savings in the first six months thanks to improvements in product allocation and import scheduling. The solution also uncovered a $500,000 revenue opportunity, showcasing how 51����solutions drive both operational efficiency and growth.

Speed to Value: Rapid Cloud Adoption

Our rapid adoption of cloud-based delivery means organisations can now access the latest technologies at unprecedented speed. This capability has been instrumental in supporting governments during national crises where fast turnarounds are critical.

This was demonstrated repeatedly during the COVID-19 pandemic, where quickly developed government support programs demanded similarly rapid turnarounds to create the systems that would deliver them.

In Germany for instance, the Federal Government quickly realised that COVID-19 lockdowns would have a dramatic negative impact on the country’s cultural industries and responded by allocating 2.5 billion euros in aid. The money was to be distributed by the 16 German states, but some lacked the capability to deliver it efficiently.

A solution was proposed by the Hamburg Ministry of Finance, which offered to develop a platform using and that could be used by the 15 other states. A comprehensive solution was developed spanning self-registration, screening, application, entitlement, dispute handling, and payment, the platform was up and running in just three weeks.

This same system later evolved to incorporate generative AI, which was critical in helping Hamburg accept and interpret the hundreds of pages of information that applicants supplied when applying for grants, saving between 13,300 and 33,100 hours of manual processing per year.

Another story of SAP’s agility was told in Japan in the wake of the 2024 New Year’s Day earthquake. ��51����Japan stepped up to develop and implement an application on 51����BTP in just 72 hours consolidating and visualising data from a wide range of sources to support the government’s response. This capability underscores 51����ability to deliver rapid solutions in times of need.

Supporting Local IT Growth

No software company knows Australian and New Zealand governments and agencies better than SAP. We have been supporting the Australian Government since 1988 and today we are assisting everyone from the largest departments to regional councils.

SAP’s contribution to the Australian economy is not limited to technology alone. We employ more than 1,400 staff across Australia, and our ecosystem of over 625 partners – half of which are small businesses – helps bring our solutions to life.

Whether it be FAIR Consulting Group’s focus on delivering value for its customers while driven by its values, Dyflex’s support to the growth businesses at the forefront of Australia’s energy transition, or DalRae’s strength in delivering innovation for Government customers, these Australian businesses driving local growth and employment by helping our customers integrate 51����solutions.

In 2023, 51����further strengthened its commitment to Australia by launching an Australian sovereign cloud capability, generating 70 new local jobs. That service is now live for local clients with specific needs for localised data hosting, including commercial organisations such as Toll Group.

Collectively, Oxford Economics has estimated 51����Australia has contributed more than $900 million to the local economy. And that doesn’t include the productivity benefits our solutions have delivered for our customers across various sectors.

Public Sector investment in 51����solutions delivers benefits across the Australian economy, creating jobs while ensuring citizens benefit from systems that embody the latest developments in AI-powered technologies.

A Proven Partner for Public Sector Success

SAP’s systems and processes have been developed from best practices learned through decades of collaboration with Australia’s public sector and organizations around the world.

If you’re looking for cutting-edge solutions, backed by SAP’s nearly $10 billion annual investment in R&D and deep expertise in running public sector agencies cost-effectively, while also contributing to local economic growth, then talk to SAP.

The post Building a Smarter Australia: How 51����is Powering Government and Local IT success appeared first on 51����Australia & New Zealand News Center.