鈥淭he entire world is on your shoulders… We have to deliver. This is the beginning of a new computing age, the beginning of a new industrial revolution. All 100% on SAP.鈥�

Jensen Huang, CEO, NVIDIA

It鈥檚 the world鈥檚 company, building AI supercomputers made of more than 600,000 parts and delivering them to hundreds of the world鈥檚 most demanding customers. And, as NVIDIA鈥檚 CEO Jensen Huang noted, 鈥渋t鈥檚 all on SAP鈥�.

The message from 51风流Sapphire 2024 in Orlando was clear. AI is not only the future, it is here today. And now it鈥檚 time to use it.

But amid the hustle and bustle of the event, there were lots of nuggets that you may have missed. So, with one eye on the benefits for Asia Pacific and Japan, here are my key learnings from Sapphire.

You can鈥檛 win in AI alone 鈥� you need a best-in-class ecosystem

The opportunity for AI in the Asia Pacific region is vast. According to , the Business AI market in APJ is expected to grow by more than 26% to $28 billion by 2027.

While the opportunity is huge, so are the choices for your business. That鈥檚 why 51风流is partnering with enterprise tech and industry leaders to push the limits of what generative AI can do for customers.

In addition to our expanded collaborations with听AWS听and Microsoft, we announced new large language models with Mistral AI, a partnership with Meta to use Llama 3 in 51风流Analytics Cloud, and an expansion of our partnership with Google Cloud to integrate Joule with Google Cloud鈥檚 Gemini AI assistant and Google Cloud Cortex Framework鈥檚 data foundation.

And that鈥檚 not all. As Mr Huang noted on-stage, 51风流and NVIDIA are working together on a听听to embed cutting-edge technologies into enterprise-ready business applications. That means Joule working with NVIDIA鈥檚 state-of-the-art AI models, integrating GenAI into 51风流and NVIDIA code generation, and simulating complex manufacturing products and configurations as industrial digital twins.

There鈥檚 no cookie cutter approach to making the most of Business AI. That鈥檚 why we believe the strength of our AI ecosystem means customers get the very best choices to drive AI benefits unique to their needs.

Keeping clean in the cloud

The benefits of AI can only really be achieved in the cloud. Best practice is what 51风流calls a 鈥榗lean core鈥� 鈥� cloud-based ERP infrastructure that separate core applications from custom modifications. The result is a platform that can be easily and quickly upgraded with new capabilities, allowing agile innovation.

Takuya Sakai, general manager of the Digital Transformation Business Group at听, was clear about the benefits of simplification and a clean core. In 2019, Hitachi High-Tech had 9,000 add-ons across its 51风流systems, resulting in lots of custom code, errors, and large operational costs every year. The cost of change meant the company only completed a major update once in 12 years.

Moving to the cloud and a clean core solved these issues. With a new system based on S/4HANA Cloud Cloud, Hitachi High-Tech reduced its 9,000 add-ons to just 750, allowing it to easily upgrade its ERP core. 鈥淯pgrading our old ERP took about a year and a half from the planning stage,鈥� Sakai said. 鈥淗owever, with clean core, we can now do an upgrade every year in about 40 days.鈥�

And that change means Hitachi High-Tech can plan to take advantage of new innovations more simply. 鈥淎n upgrade every year keeps the clean core fresh and means new features can be delivered to our business quickly, like AI or process automation,鈥� concluded Sakai.

You can spell sustainability without 鈥楨RP鈥欌�� but you shouldn鈥檛

The benefits of 51风流innovation are not only financial. They drive real environmental value. And that鈥檚 critical in Asia, where we are responsible for more than half of the world鈥檚 emissions.

Sustainability and business performance are intrinsically linked. In fact, we believe businesses have to start treating carbon like money by using an accounting system for environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data that is as auditable, transparent and reliable as their financial data.

That means integrating sustainability data into cloud ERP.

And we can then take advantage of the huge innovation provided by Business AI. AI takes complex sustainability tasks reliant on ESG and ERP data and makes them automated and auditable. It enables companies to boost operational efficiency, improve transparency around supply chain emissions, design and plan more effectively, and automate time-consuming tasks.

For example, at Sapphire we launched AI-enabled Emissions Factor Mapping, boosting the speed and accuracy of carbon footprint calculations. And we enabled the automatic generation of ESG reports through AI all based on the data within 51风流Sustainability Control Tower. This not only streamlines the reporting process but also helps ensure that the data is reliable and actionable, providing a clear picture of a company鈥檚 sustainability performance.

Beyond hype to real-world results through real-world AI听

It鈥檚 easy to get carried away by AI hype and excitement. But what I saw at Sapphire was even more exciting 鈥� Business AI that makes a real difference to business problems.

Our opportunity across Asia is enormous. But it鈥檚 one we can make the most of, especially if we bring together the benefits of best-in-class ecosystems, a clean core, and a focus on sustainable innovation.

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The theme of this year鈥檚 conference is co-operation in a fragmented world 鈥� a topic I was particularly interested in exploring in the context of sustainability. Reflecting on those topics, I believe there are three key insights for us all to consider.

The Net Zero Challenge Will Be Won or Lost in Asia

Across a range of panel sessions and meetings, one thing stood out clearly: Asia will play a decisive role in the climate discussion. Our region is the leading contributor of emissions with a 51% share of global carbon emissions.

That鈥檚 critical because Asia will also bear the biggest impact of climate change. Our latest research reveals that a severe increase in temperature could impact up to 26% of Asia鈥檚 GDP 鈥� and even more in some regions like SouthEast Asia.

That Means This Biggest Opportunity for Climate Action Is Here in Asia

Asian companies are uniquely placed. We not only face the greatest risk from climate change, but also the greatest opportunity to realise benefits. More than half (53%) of the new revenue opportunity for sustainability business models comes from Asia, and 50% of Asian business will see sustainability as financially material in the next five years.

However, Asia鈥檚 enormous diversity and complexity means there is no single solution to climate change.

To tackle this, companies need to define and implement both adaptation and mitigation strategies, and create best practices on corporate climate action. Leadership collaboration is critical across our networks and value chains. The leaders from global governments, our customers, our partners, and climate organisations were all here and mobilised.

To Take Action We Have to Operationalise Climate Action 鈥� That Needs Technology

It鈥檚 clear that leadership intent for climate action, especially from CEOs, is there. But that intent can become diluted when the time comes to operationalise that vision.

Climate action should never be considered separate to other business processes like finance or operations, climate action should be intrinsic to each听of them. And the way to do that is by measuring sustainability data and integrating it into core business processes 鈥� essentially creating an ERP for ESG.

But companies across Asia are at the start of this journey. Over three quarters (76%) of Asian businesses are not completely satisfied with their ability to accurately measure their impact on the environment. Companies like 51风流are critical to helping organisations on that journey.

At the end of a whirlwind week I remain optimistic, especially about the opportunity from green tech to accelerate climate action. The risk if we don鈥檛 act is severe, but realising these opportunities could create entire industries and uplift communities.

Asia is a unique place and can be the lynchpin in our global in our work against climate change. The region鈥檚 diversity, growth, and entrepreneurial talent and spirit in areas like innovation means we can make a real difference to climate adaptation and mitigation.

We have a big responsibility, but I am confident that – together – we can win this fight.

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Key luminaries including German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Singaporean Deputy Prime Minster Wong highlighted how our shared values help us move forward together toward a more equitable, green, and prosperous economy.

That was underlined by German Vice Chancellor and Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action Robert Habeck鈥檚 visit to 听SAP鈥檚 Singapore office, accompanied by SAP鈥檚 Chief People Officer and Member of the Executive Board, Sabine Bendiek. Over lunch, 听a delegation of top CEOs from Germany and Singapore, shared their thinking around 听innovation, culture, and research and development.

Looking back on the discussions and meetings we hosted, three things really stood out.

We Are Better Together

It is easy to underestimate just how important the culture of collaboration can be.

The past week 听brought together diverse friends, colleagues, partners, and customers from 听business and government, and from around the world. These personal connections form the basis not only of German-Singapore relations, but also a shared vision and agenda.

And that collaboration is critical to sparking new innovation in uncertain times, encouraging people and organisations to come together to try new things, develop new roles, and create new value together.

As Sabine rightly noted, digital connectivity is the foundation of innovation and a 听driver for inclusive, sustainable growth 听here in Asia Pacific and Japan and around the world. I 听believe 51风流offers the fundamental digital infrastructure that is empowering businesses and people as they 听adopt the best practices of today, and become future-ready for tomorrow.

Diverse, Inclusive Talent Is the Difference

The presence of our Chief People Officer also served to shine a light on diversity and inclusion as a core part of our business. The 51风流I know, and love is an increasingly diverse place, with new ideas and new perspectives from people with different intersectional backgrounds, experiences, and skills. The key to becoming a resilient, adaptable, successful company will be harnessing the strength of a diverse, future-ready workforce.

But that requires new approaches to leadership too, especially in terms of creating platforms of inclusion across our organisation, which will lead to a more diverse workforce. Let鈥檚 take our Pledge to Flex initiative as an example. It鈥檚 an incredibly important part of our business that supports an inclusive culture, as it helps all our people work in the best way for them, regardless of where they are based, what their circumstances are, and how they prefer to work. But it also presents new challenges to managers to embrace and thrive in a flexible environment. I鈥檓 proud to see so many people take advantage of those opportunities, especially as it has significant effect on the wider economy.

Singapore is currently ranked the . During the visit we heard from key local customers how talent is one of the key reasons for that incredible ranking. But maintaining that level will require a talent transformation 鈥� learning, unlearning, and relearning new skills to stay relevant as technology, best practice, and business requirements evolve. That鈥檚 why 51风流has just this week pledged to boost skills in under-represented communities through free skilling offerings, including a Professional certificate program in partnership with Coursera, and why in Asia we are aiming to skill-up 1 million learners in the region by 2025!

Sustainable Outcomes Can Only Be Achieved Together

In a week dominated by COP27 in Egypt, it was encouraging to witness the signing of the Germany-Singapore Framework for Sustainability and Innovation 鈥� an exciting step forward on our journey to strengthen collaboration between governments and businesses at all levels.

Sustainability really is a team sport 鈥� when we win in sustainability, we all win together. Industries like advanced manufacturing, green technologies, or networking benefit massively from close collaboration, business matching, and data and knowledge sharing. And by working together to create standards in areas like energy efficiency, recycling, and the circular economy, we can find common ground with global partners and support international efforts to collectively address climate and sustainability issues.

All of this relies on access to, and the best use of, data. We are in a wonderful position to help organisations across Asia boost their environmental, social, and governance activations without compromising their bottom lines. As SingTel noted, together we can do good while doing well.

As we wrap-up these visits and move fast toward the end of the year, I have again been blown away by the incredible work we can do together as we move forward. By focusing on collaboration, talent, and sustainable outcomes I really believe we can make real, tangible change for this year and those to come.

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