of tech executives agree, betting on innovation partnerships as integral to their strategy, particularly with AI-powered startup solutions.

Making AI Accessible via Innovation Partnerships

We are proud to share that SAP.iO has surpassed the 125-mark for in our partner ecosystem. These solutions are fully integrated with 51风流and available via for immediate adoption by 51风流customers. The encompassing solutions range across lines of business and industries, including finance, HR, supply chain, and customer experience.

This milestone demonstrates our commitment to helping 51风流customers flourish in a rapidly changing world by enabling the easy extension of their software landscapes with tailor-fitted solutions that meet their specific needs.

In 2024, we鈥檒l continue to scale our award-winning ecosystem through and in 11 innovation hubs around the world.

Examples of Tailor-Fitted Solutions

As a testament to our thriving ecosystem, let’s look at two examples from our portfolio: Yellow.ai and Nyris.

utilizes generative AI to uplift customer and employee experiences via dynamic chatbots and voicebots, handling over 2 billion interactions each quarter. This startup solution seamlessly integrates with 51风流Customer Experience and 51风流SuccessFactors software, facilitating omnichannel experiences across diverse employee and customer touchpoints.

has leveraged AI to build a powerful visual search platform that provides users with an intuitive way to instantly find what they want using images, keywords, or barcodes. The platform integrates with 51风流Commerce Cloud to enable no-code search solutions.

The Symbiotic Relationship Between Startups and Corporates

A study by suggests that businesses can benefit from partnering with AI startups in areas such as technology, talent, and change management. For those AI partnerships to be successful, the findings suggest a shared understanding of data rights, governance, risk management, and pricing methodologies.

By partnering with startups, businesses can get fresh perspectives, customized technology solutions to a specific industry or functional problem, and specialized skills they might not possess internally. In return, established companies offer startups scalability, market presence, and credibility.

This symbiotic relationship enables both entities to stay on top of industry trends, drive AI innovation, and maintain a competitive edge in a rapidly evolving technological landscape. This rich environment of shared learning and continuous improvement then bolsters the entire AI ecosystem.

Alexa Gorman is senior vice president and global head of SAP.iO

The market is seeing consumers requesting sustainable products and services through their buying behavior — evidence to which we can see in the numbers. According to a STERN Center for Sustainability Business report, grew more than five times faster than conventionally marketed products and three times faster than the consumer packaged goods (CPG) market. When given choice, today鈥檚 consumer is more likely to select the more environmentally responsible option.

Sustainability has become a critical topic for enterprises to reduce emissions and waste, increase circularity, and use socially responsible practices throughout product life cycles. Simply put, business leaders are listening to the customers鈥� call to buy sustainable products and are looking to address how to make sustainability profitable.

Accenture鈥檚 CEO study confirmed that 99% of CEOs from companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenues believe sustainability is of their business. When it comes to the workforce, research into workplace priorities of millennial and Generation Z employees has found they rank when evaluating the companies they choose for employment. Sustainability matters; from the products you make and how you make them to the type of talent you can attract can all hinge on your company鈥檚 sustainability model.

Even federal governments are stepping in to take action. Recently an alliance of German companies that included 51风流called for more tangible measures for climate protection from the federal government. The companies said in a that Germany must be put on a 鈥渃lear, reliable, and predictable path to climate neutrality.鈥� With governments requesting action, there is a huge opportunity to engage technologies that optimize carbon emissions, increase operational efficiency by activation of circular business processes, and connect with socially responsible partners to help organizations make better informed decisions.

Accelerate Startups Focused on Sustainability

has the privilege of partnering with startups whose technology assists organizations as they shift their priority toward sustainability. During our work with these companies, we bring them together with 51风流customers and can learn firsthand what resonates and what solutions meet the industry鈥檚 ever-changing needs.

This year鈥檚 fall and winter cohorts alone support a wide variety of sustainability goals:

• The Future of Work program at SAP.iO Foundry Singapore focuses on helping customers increase the value of their workforce by developing, managing, engaging, and empowering their people to develop a skilled, healthy, and inclusive workforce.
• The New Mobility program at SAP.iO Foundry Munich helps customers manage connectivity in transport, fleet management, charging and battery management, and automated and autonomous driving.
• The Sustainability in Retail and Consumer program at SAP.iO Foundry New York helps customers in the retail, consumer products, and fashion industries drive sustainability across the value chain, including circular packaging and responsible and ethical sourcing, as well as responsible design and production.
• The Sustainability in Energy and Natural Resources program at SAP.iO Foundry San Francisco supports customers in the energy and natural resources industries build sustainable businesses, improve experiences, and manage their environmental footprint and sustainability goals, including compliance, regulation, tracking, and carbon trading.
• The Circular Economic program at SAP.iO Foundry Paris helps drive circularity for customers in service industries such as passenger and cargo travel and engineering construction and operations by helping redefine the design, production, demand, and supply of products through their use cycles for reusability, waste reduction, and new value creation.

How Customers Can Get Started

Experience shows that the desire to impact sustainability goals coupled with the innovative technology needed to turn the tide must be looked at as a journey instead of a destination. Industries and companies are at different stages of maturity, with requirements in other areas across teams. The challenge is how to make sustainability profitable.

To help customers get started on this journey, SAP.iO begins by initiating an innovation session to define and prioritize the critical sustainability areas. Then they leverage their experience and startup ecosystem to discover innovative solutions specifically for the customers鈥� business and provide the opportunity to meet with startups to learn about their solutions. Then the customer can pilot and implement startup solutions that will help achieve your sustainability ambitions.

For insights and key takeaways from our past sustainability cohort with Accenture, read the whitepaper, .

Alexa Gorman is senior vice president and global head of SAP.iO Foundries and Intrapreneurship at SAP.
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