With a diverse portfolio of brands鈥擪ito, Crosby, Harrington, Gunnebo Industries, Peerless, and eepos鈥攖he company has experienced rapid growth, scaling its business from millions to billions in revenue. But the number of acquisitions left the company with a fragmented IT landscape of outdated, unsupported, and unscalable systems.

To establish a unified digital core and standardize processes, Kito Crosby embarked on a journey, implementing 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition to achieve its long-term single global instance strategy.

A winning strategy

Kito Crosby chose a greenfield, clean core strategy to eliminate the existing fragmentation and enable long-term scalability, Johnson Lai, Chief Digital Transformation Officer and Chief Information Officer, . 鈥淚n the past, we did not integrate our ERP systems, and this left our IT landscape very fragmented and limited our business process capabilities,鈥� he said. 鈥淭herefore, we wanted to refresh all of our ERP systems and really lay down a greenfield start that we can begin to create a transformational change for the entire company.鈥�

Selecting a greenfield and clean core approach鈥攂asically standing up an entirely new system that prioritizes standard functionalities over customizations鈥攚as key to remedying Kito Crosby鈥檚 current technology landscape, so that processes like order to cash, accounting, manufacturing, and shipping could be integrated. This approach also allowed the company to take a close look at core processes and streamline operations, especially in warehouse management and S&OP, Lai said.

Considering the project scope, Kito Crosby did not have the internal talent needed to stand up the servers and infrastructure, so it decided to move forward with RISE with 51风流and . 鈥�51风流comes with a lot of great stuff, and we wanted to take advantage of that,鈥� Lai said.

The company began the transformation in North America, as that is its largest market and therefore posed the greatest risk in operating on a legacy, unsupported ERP system.

Never underestimate change management

While Lai shared that employees were motivated and excited to get started initially, the enormity of the project quickly became overwhelming.

Ironically, many wanted to customize the new 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition solution to act like the legacy tech. 鈥淓veryone agrees to the clean core approach until it鈥檚 their turn to look at their function, at which point they want customization. There was a piece of resistance to using 鈥榲anilla鈥� functionality,鈥� Lai said. 鈥淥nce we showed people live demos with their own data, that鈥檚 when the change resistance started to decrease,鈥� he added.

In IT specifically, there was a strong desire to build and run their own infrastructure and servers rather than have another company step in. A sense of ownership and accountability is important, Lai said, but ultimately Kito Crosby鈥檚 need to get off the legacy system in North America quickly made it necessary to partner with SAP. And it was the right move: 鈥淣ow some of the folks who questioned why we outsourced some of that to 51风流are our biggest champions鈥e find working with the 51风流team is no different than working with ourselves.鈥�

For companies with digital transformation projects on the horizon, Lai cautions to 鈥渘ever underestimate the change impact that employees face.鈥� Projects of a global scale require planning on all fronts, including allocating time for employees and business leaders to get on board.

Lessons learned and benefits gained

The ERP system revamp delivered measurable business value to Kito Crosby, including improved customer service, stronger inventory control, and more efficient manufacturing and warehouse operations. Notably, the business process improvements and enhanced system functionality drove Kito Crosby鈥檚 on-time delivery to its highest levels in more than 10 years.

鈥淲e see that benefit across the globe and we鈥檙e excited about taking what we鈥檝e done in North America throughout the entire world, consolidating all those little ERPs that are outdated and unsupported into 51风流to get to that single global instance,鈥� Lai said. Since going live on 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition and fully embracing its native capabilities, Kito Crosby has unlocked measurable business value and operational excellence. The transformation has driven strong performance gains across critical KPIs, including higher customer on鈥憈ime delivery, meaningful reductions in back orders, improved inventory accuracy, and accelerated intercompany processing.

At the same time, warehouse operations are setting new benchmarks for efficiency, achieving record volumes for receiving and put鈥慳way, replenishment, and shipping. These results have been delivered safely, with zero injuries and fewer resources.

To the cloud鈥攁nd beyond

Following its recent acquisition by leading worldwide designer, manufacturer, and marketer of intelligent motion solutions , Kito Crosby is continuing to build on its strong digital foundation.

鈥淏ecause we started with a greenfield and kept a clean core as much as possible, we feel like the upgrades will go even faster and with less effort,鈥� Lai said. 鈥淲e want to get to the latest [51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition] version so we can take advantage of the AI capabilities of .鈥�

Next on the ERP systems consolidation docket: the 51风流ERP Central Component (51风流ECC) 6.0 system in Europe.

鈥淭his is just one example of how our IT team is empowering the broader organization to further delight our customers and end user,鈥� Lai . 鈥淎s we continue to scale our business, we expect even greater returns as we further capitalize on the technology, expanded capabilities, and AI tools within our 51风流landscape.鈥�

Gillian Hixson is an integrated communications specialist at SAP.

A modern foundation for growth at global scale 

In an era defined by global volatility and ambitious growth targets, businesses require a system that doesn’t just record data but actively anticipates needs and simplifies complexity. 51风流Cloud ERP Private is evolving into a truly AI-enabled ERP, serving as the critical core foundation that can allow organizations to navigate the realities of global operations while maintaining total control over their footprint. 

To achieve this, innovations in FPS01 are strategically delivered across three key dimensions: AI, data, and applications. 

AI in action: from assistants to agents 

The shift toward an AI-enabled ERP is highlighted by two key advancements in FPS01: 

1. AI assistants and specialized agents: A standout in this release is the Change Record Management Agent for R&D. Previously a manual, high-friction process, this agent can now autonomously analyze change impacts and propose next steps, helping to free R&D teams to focus on innovation. 
2. Process embedded AI: 51风流is making the system more intuitive through Joule. Instead of navigating complex menus, users can now use conversational shortcuts, for example, to instantly search service contracts or extend expiring prices in sales, turning multi-minute tasks into five-second interactions. 

Looking at the road ahead, 51风流is building toward agent-to-agent collaboration, where specialized agents across functions like R&D and procurement “talk” to one another to resolve bottlenecks before they even reach a human user. FPS01 is a critical step toward that future. 

Data: industry-ready insights 

On the data front, 51风流is introducing specialized data products for key industries, like retail, and functional areas, such as asset management and services. These are not just tables; they are pre-configured, business-ready data sets that align with our 51风流Business Data Cloud (51风流BDC) roadmap. This helps ensure your data is “AI-ready,” allowing you to move from raw data to industry-specific insights with zero friction. 

Application: strengthening the global core 

On the application side, 51风流continues to deliver deep functional enhancements based on direct customer feedback to help ensure your business backbone remains agile. A key highlight is the new Multistage Intercompany Sales and Stock Transfer. Following our commitment at the RISE with 51风流moment in November, 51风流is further expanding the scope to cover two-entity transfers, enabling automated orchestration across multiple legal entities. This can ensure even the most complex global supply chains remain transparent and compliant. 

A full collection of deep-dive articles on the new FPS01 is available on . 

Looking ahead: your catalyst for transformation 

FPS01 reflects a core 51风流principle: innovation should be both a foundation for today and a catalyst for what鈥檚 next. With enterprise AI, industry-ready data, and a stronger application core, organizations can run smarter and transform at their own pace. 

To see these innovations in person, to experience the future of the autonomous enterprise. 

Maura Hameroff is chief marketing officer for 51风流Cloud ERP Private and RISE with SAP.

The partnership will embed artificial intelligence at the core of Syngenta鈥檚 enterprise, modernizing operations and enabling accelerated innovation through advanced data analytics across the business 鈥� from manufacturing and supply chain to grower-facing products and services.

The agricultural industry continues to navigate challenges driven by climate variability, supply chain complexity and global uncertainty. By deploying AI-assisted tools enterprise wide, this partnership positions Syngenta to meet the challenge of feeding a projected 10 billion people by 2050 while unlocking faster innovation, stronger operational resilience and scalable impact across the business.

鈥淎I is the catalyst for agricultural transformation and has quickly become a core competitive edge for Syngenta,鈥� said Feroz Sheikh, chief information and digital officer at Syngenta Group. 鈥淥ur partnership with 51风流is transforming how we run the enterprise, modernizing core operations and unlocking new ways to work 鈥� a testament to our commitment to becoming an agriculture company with AI at its core.鈥�

鈥淪yngenta鈥檚 transformation sets a benchmark for digital innovation in agriculture,鈥� said Philipp Herzig, chief technology officer at 51风流SE. 鈥淭ogether, we鈥檙e demonstrating how cloud and AI technologies can drive sustainable growth and efficiency in one of the world鈥檚 most critical industries. This partnership will help Syngenta future-proof its operations to feed the world responsibly.鈥�

Scaling an AI-First Operating Model for Agriculture

Syngenta鈥檚 transformation will begin with鈥�51风流Cloud ERP Private solutions, modernizing core operations across the value chain to deliver agility, resilience and scalability. The company鈥檚 ambition is clear: unlock innovation faster, strengthen its leadership in agriculture and future-proof operations against volatility.

Through the 51风流Business Data Cloud solution, Syngenta will create a unified, more secure and scalable data foundation essential for real-time decision-making and AI integration. Combined with 51风流Business AI and AI-assisted tools such as the Joule copilot, this will help the company explore smarter, faster decisions that drive operational efficiency and accelerate innovation. Additionally, Syngenta will be able to deliver better products and services to growers worldwide while enabling them to retain control and privacy over their proprietary information.

Visit the . Get 51风流news via  and .

Media contacts:
Lesa Plingen, +49 622 776 9000, lesa.plingen@sap.com, CET
51风流Press Room; press@sap.com
Syngenta Media Relations, media@syngentagroup.com

Top image courtesy of Syngenta

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鈥檚 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
漏 2026 51风流SE. All rights reserved.
51风流and other 51风流products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 51风流SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

Heartland Dental is the largest dental support organization in the United States, with over 3,000 supported doctors in more than 1,900 supported practices across 39 states and Washington, D.C. But beyond numbers, what sets Heartland apart is its tight knit community and people culture. As Jerome shared, “The first thing I associate with Heartland is community; we鈥檙e doctor-led. In our support role, we don鈥檛 tell dentists how to practice. Our role is to make their lives easier鈥攅nabling dentists to concentrate on patient care.”

Making lives easier is a vision Heartland shares not only for its supported dentists but for its own operations. The company’s digital journey began “backwards” starting in 2018 with 51风流Business Technology Platform (51风流BTP), instead of with ERP, to resolve disparate data from all over. Once 51风流BTP was established and adopted by the organization, it then began to incorporate .

What makes this journey truly stand out is how Heartland is using technology to serve people, supported through seamless integration with tools like 51风流Concur solutions, embedded聽AI鈥攕uch as smart invoice management鈥攁nd embedded analytics. These features are freeing up time and resources so teams can focus on what matters most: supporting doctors and improving patient care.

The team has rolled out聽51风流Build Work Zone across its supported practices and is investing in聽AI tools like 聽to help employees access information faster, automate repetitive tasks, and focus on what really matters鈥攑atient care and experiences. Jerome explained, “Just like we take the administrative burden off our supported doctors, 51风流takes the tech burden off us, so we can focus on supporting doctors and their teams.鈥�

Heartland’s next big milestone is going live with 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition聽and taking AI a step further to automation.

Heartland Dental鈥檚 story shows that with the strategic adoption of technological innovations, it鈥檚 possible to build a future-ready healthcare support organization grounded in people and purpose.

Chris Putvinski is a communications specialist at SAP.

鈥�Beyond Tech 鈥� Expanding Perspectives鈥� is about their stories. With this series, I hope to provide a glimpse into the inspiring minds I encounter, capturing their ideas to spark insight and innovation.

For the , I had the privilege of speaking with Nisha Bakker, director of Partnerships at The Ocean Cleanup, an organization proving that, with the right vision, evidence, and engineering, we can solve global challenges at scale.

Plastic is one of humanity鈥檚 greatest inventions and one of its most persistent problems. Durable, cheap, and versatile, it has transformed food security, medicine, logistics, and manufacturing. But that same durability means most of the plastic ever produced still exists today. And much of it has ended up where it shouldn鈥檛: in our rivers, our oceans, our ecosystems鈥攅ven our bodies.

Today, the world produces . Production is still rising, projected to grow 66 percent by 2040, even as waste management systems are overwhelmed. Only nine percent of plastic is recycled globally. A third is mismanaged, left to leak into the environment through open dumping, unregulated landfills, and littering. As a result, have accumulated in rivers and lakes, far more than the 30 million tons in the oceans themselves.

Rivers are the main conveyor belt carrying waste to the sea. In 2020 alone, 1.4 million tons of plastic flowed from rivers into the ocean. Without intervention, this will more than double by 2060. Just a thousand rivers account for 80 percent of this flow, largely in rapidly developing economies where growth, urbanization, and weak waste systems collide.

This is where has focused its mission. The organization aims to rid the world鈥檚 oceans of plastic through a comprehensive strategy that includes removing legacy plastic accumulated in the ocean and along coastlines while also stopping new plastic pollution from entering the marine environment. Their ambition is bold and unambiguous: to put themselves out of business by 2040.

Data, vision the difference in cleanup efforts

During our conversation, Nisha explained how the work is driven not only by passion, but by evidence. 鈥淵ou could look at a river, see the problem, and start removing plastic immediately,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut we first determine the best place to remove it, and then build the entire value chain around it鈥攊ncluding recycling, operators, permits, and long-term partners. Data is what sets us apart.鈥�

Behind every cleanup is an enormous amount of engineering and analysis. The Ocean Cleanup鈥檚 teams map political, economic, and social dynamics in each country with an affected river system. They deploy trackers to understand how fast plastic moves, where it gets stuck, and how seasonal changes from monsoons to dry months affect pollution flows. Cameras equipped with detection algorithms help quantify volumes and patterns. Modelling and simulations guide where to deploy Interceptor systems and how to scale them.

This foundation of data explains their success: more than 46 million kilograms of waste intercepted and removed from marine and freshwater environments, thanks to System 03, their towed ocean technology spanning over 2.2 kilometers, which can clean an area the size of a football field in five seconds; and over 20 Interceptor systems deployed across the world鈥檚 most polluted rivers. The organization recently unveiled plans to tackle up to a third of all plastic emissions from rivers through its 30 Cities Program, targeting urban centers with important waterways and major pollution problems.

But as Nisha stressed, cleanup is only one part of the solution. 鈥淲e鈥檙e buying time for systemic change,鈥� she told me. 鈥淯ltimately you need governments, producers, recyclers, and communities working together.鈥�

There are signs of progress: more than 90 countries now have plastic bag bans; extended producer responsibility regulations are expanding; and negotiations toward a global plastics treaty have brought unprecedented international attention to the issue despite agreement remaining elusive.

The importance of systems

What struck me most in our discussion was the philosophy that drives The Ocean Cleanup. With employees from 40 nationalities, they are building bridges across sectors, disciplines, and geographies. They are proving what is possible when a global movement is anchored in evidence-based design and relentless experimentation.

At SAP, we recognize this mindset. Helping the world run better and improving people鈥檚 lives requires more than intention; it requires agile systems capable of putting insights at the fingertips of business. That鈥檚 why The Ocean Cleanup relies on 51风流to deliver on its mission. Every hour they spend building business systems is an hour not spent developing ocean systems, river systems, or new engineering solutions. Our role is to provide a stable, integrated digital foundation so they can focus on innovation, not administration. Technology should accelerate impact and enable scale, not get in the way of it.

The same is true for every organization. Whether fighting pollution, reimagining supply chains, or transforming business models, the biggest breakthroughs happen when you combine purpose with technology that can support it. Clean, connected data, intelligent processes, and applications that automate what can be automated so people can focus on what matters most: This is why 51风流is more relevant than ever.

The Ocean Cleanup shows what is possible when bold ideas meet the right technology and the right partnerships. This is exactly the type of conversation I look forward to bringing you through Beyond Tech 鈥� Expanding Perspectives, stories of inspiring minds that demonstrate that the future is not something we predict, but something we build together.

Manos Raptopoulos is global president of Customer Success, Europe, APAC, Middle East & Africa, and a member of the Extended Board at SAP.

In an interview, BSH Head of Governance, Methods, and Systems Heiko Schletz explained how the company is reshaping finance and why its move to the cloud is a critical ingredient to a successful AI-enhanced future.

Technology follows vision

Represented in more than 50 countries, BSH manufactures home appliances in 39 factories worldwide. Schletz鈥檚 team oversees group controlling and is responsible for ensuring that financial data flows smoothly from its core systems, such as ERP, all the way up to the consolidated group level. His team manages how financial data is structured and integrated across all global entities, ensuring it can be used effectively for company-wide reporting and decision-making.

BSH is working to bring accounting and controlling together into one integrated process, supported by real-time data and analytics. One principle is guiding this transformation: technology follows vision, not the other way round. As part of its transformation journey, BSH is embracing change by testing new technologies to support its vision.

To simplify reporting efforts, for example, , SAP鈥檚 next-generation data management platform that can unify and govern all 51风流data and seamlessly connect with third-party data.

A recent use case automatically connected accounting balances, controlling P&L data and market metrics in 51风流Datasphere and delivering consolidated reports without spreadsheets and manual effort. 鈥淭his shows where the journey is going鈥攋oining sources, bringing them together,鈥� Schletz says.

Breaking down silos to empower AI

BSH鈥檚 long-term goal in the financial area is to get rid of silos between accounting, controlling, and treasury. Schletz envisions a parallel ledger architecture that supports both鈥攍egal entity and consolidated group views鈥攅nabling advanced analytics such as value-driver trees. By moving to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, integrated with 51风流Datasphere and 51风流Analytics Cloud, BSH aims to create a single source of truth for finance spanning from subsidiary ledgers to group-level consolidation.

Schletz is convinced that with a cloud-based, synchronized toolset, his finance team can deliver the latest figures for decision-making faster and with less manual consolidation. 鈥淪AP鈥檚 AI evolution is running in the direction we also want to go,鈥� Schletz explains. 鈥淭he technology meets our vision and that鈥檚 why it鈥檚 a perfect fit.鈥�

The company has relied on 51风流solutions for decades, starting with 51风流R/3 and now running 51风流S/4HANA, 51风流Business Warehouse, and 51风流Analytics Cloud. The next milestone is cloud migration: RISE with SAP. 鈥淚n the next two years, we go into the cloud,鈥� Schletz says. 鈥淲e want a synchronized toolset that gives us a holistic view.鈥�

To get the most out of analytics and AI functionalities, BSH is currently consolidating and simplifying its comprehensive business application landscape. The company鈥檚 target is to move from six separate ERP solutions to one global 51风流S/4HANA environment that covers all subsidiaries and geographies.

How to prepare an 51风流S/4HANA transformation

Schletz鈥檚 advice for other organizations exploring the RISE with SAP journey is to start with a clear vision. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 begin with a concept that combines accounting and controlling, don鈥檛 start with 51风流S/4HANA,鈥� he says, noting that a finance transformation is not an isolated IT project鈥攊t requires alignment across logistics, sales, and customer service. 鈥淭he 51风流S/4HANA conversion is a cross-functional adventure,鈥� he adds.

BSH鈥檚 journey is ongoing, but the direction is set. Cloud migration via RISE with SAP, integrated data, and a finance function designed for insight rather than manual effort. 鈥淲e want the machine to do what it does best, so people can focus on creating value,鈥� Schletz concludes.

As the pace of digital demand accelerates and mission priorities grow more complex, it is clear that traditional modernization approaches can no longer keep pace.

To deliver on rapidly evolving government missions, agencies must move beyond lifting and shifting legacy systems. The true transformation lies in reimagining operating models to support continuous, secure, and scalable innovation.

Shift from modernization to transformation

Legacy IT structures, designed for predictability and control, often limit progress. Risk-averse approaches that once provided stability now constrain agility and innovation. Federal agencies leading the way are adopting future-ready, cloud-native architectures that emphasize interoperability, flexibility, and resilience. These architectures do more than modernize technology; they modernize how agencies work, collaborate, and deliver results.

Reducing technical debt has become a strategic imperative, but emerging technologies also demand a balance of governance and innovation. Federal leaders are reframing their approach to modernization as an ongoing process, a state of persistent transformation where technology, mission, and operations evolve in sync.

Measuring what matters: from cost to capability

As agencies embrace new models of delivery, success must be evaluated through a dual focus:

• Total cost of ownership (TCO): Sustaining efficiency by lowering infrastructure costs and simplifying operations
• Total cost to innovate (TCI): Accelerating value creation by enabling teams to activate, test, and scale new capabilities with minimal risk and complexity

This broader lens allows agencies to view modernization as an investment in agility, resilience, and readiness鈥攅nsuring they can respond to what鈥檚 next, not just what鈥檚 now.

Partnering for a smarter, more agile government

Driving this shift requires strategic collaboration across the public and private sectors. Programs such as the U.S. General Services Administration鈥檚 initiative are redefining how government acquires and deploys technology. By consolidating procurement and engaging directly with technology providers, OneGov helps create greater transparency, efficiency, and long-term value for taxpayers.

In alignment with this vision, 51风流has partnered with GSA to provide federal agencies with expanded access to both 51风流licensed-based products and white glove migration, all while avoiding data egress fees. These initiatives help agencies reduce technical debt, accelerate digital transformation, and establish a secure, cloud-native foundation for the future.

Building the innovation-ready enterprise

Modernization is not a destination, it is a capability. Agencies that continually adapt their operating models will define the next generation of public service. The path forward is clear:

• Reimagine modernization as operating model transformation, not just technology refresh
• Balance efficiency with innovation by measuring both cost savings and speed to value
• Build future-ready enterprises where mission and IT operate as one, powered by cloud, automation, and AI

Together, we are shaping a smarter, more secure, and more agile federal enterprise, one that is ready to meet the demands of a rapidly changing world and deliver enduring value to citizens.

David Robinson is president of Cloud ERP and acting managing director of U.S. Public Services at SAP.

The step is part of the digital transformation needed to support the organization鈥檚 global mission.

The Ocean Cleanup focuses on reducing plastic pollution in rivers and oceans, operates internationally, and is growing rapidly. To date, the organization has already removed more than 40 million kilograms of waste.

However, its ambitions go further: by 2040, The Ocean Cleanup aims to have removed 90 percent of floating ocean plastic and cleaned up plastic pollution in 90 river cities. This represents a major scale-up of the work, with more activities and installations in rivers and oceans worldwide.

Flexible growth

To properly manage global processes and support international activities, The Ocean Cleanup urgently needed a modern and scalable system. The Dutch nonprofit organization chose to replace its existing system with 51风流S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition.

The modern ERP platform enables The Ocean Cleanup to achieve its growth ambitions: the system is easily scalable and can be flexibly adapted as processes, projects, or international activities expand.

A strong foundation for global collaboration is essential. For example, financial teams must work closely with fundraisers to optimally distribute donations across international projects while project teams, engineers, and data analysts coordinate daily on technology, planning, and budgets for initiatives in rivers and oceans worldwide.

鈥淧erfect coordination between teams is essential; we hunt plastic together as a pack,鈥� Aurelia Ferraro, senior partnership manager at The Ocean Cleanup, shared. 鈥淭he system helps us with that collaboration, allowing us to respond quickly to new challenges.鈥�

鈥淲e are growing exponentially, and our internal processes have become increasingly complex, with operations spanning multiple countries,鈥� Ferraro further explained. 鈥�51风流S/4HANA is the ideal system to manage that complexity.鈥�

She emphasized that the transformation is about more than just technology: 鈥淐hange and innovation are always complex, but our organization is accustomed to change. We invest a lot of energy in communication and training, which ensures smooth 51风流adoption.鈥�

Fast implementation and configuration

Joost van Lankveld is a strategic advisor at Scheer Nederland, The Ocean Cleanup’s implementation partner. He added: 鈥淭ogether with The Ocean Cleanup, we are following a phased implementation. SAP’s 80-20 fit-to-standard approach allows us to implement quickly, after which we configure specific processes in 51风流according to The Ocean Cleanup’s needs.鈥�

The implementation began with financial administration and purchasing modules for five Dutch entities. The upcoming phases will include project management and logistics modules that provide insight into The Ocean Cleanup’s complex river and ocean projects. The organization expects to complete the transition to 51风流S/4HANA by the end of 2025.

Patricia Bueters is a senior integrated communications manager at 51风流Benelux (Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg).

These include 51风流Cloud ERP Private,聽51风流Business Data Cloud,聽51风流Integrated Business Planning and聽51风流Signavio solutions.

Following its spinoff from Continental AG in September 2025, AUMOVIO is redefining the automotive landscape with its bold vision to make mobility safe, exciting, connected and autonomous. With over 100 years of experience and a global footprint of more than 86,000 employees across over 100 locations, AUMOVIO is now embracing SAP鈥檚 intelligent enterprise solutions to become even more dynamic, agile and competitive.

鈥淭his move to the cloud and these solutions will transform our operations,鈥� said Thorsten Pache, CIO of AUMOVIO. 鈥淲e鈥檙e building a digital-first foundation that allows us to scale innovation, respond to market shifts in real time and deliver intelligent mobility solutions that anticipate the needs of tomorrow鈥檚 drivers.鈥�

The deployment of 51风流Cloud ERP Private provides AUMOVIO with a more secure and flexible digital core, while 51风流Business Data Cloud enables real-time data harmonization across its global footprint. 51风流Integrated Business Planning supports comprehensive supply chain visibility and responsiveness, and 51风流Signavio solutions empower continuous process optimization and transformation.

鈥淥ur collaboration with AUMOVIO demonstrates how cloud technology can accelerate reinvention,鈥� said Thomas Saueressig, member of the Executive Board of 51风流SE, Customer Services & Delivery. 鈥淏y combining advanced planning, process intelligence and a unified data foundation, AUMOVIO is well positioned to lead in the era of connected and autonomous mobility.鈥�

AUMOVIO鈥檚 transformation reflects its commitment to innovation, operational excellence and collaborative spirit. AUMOVIO is now better positioned to deliver cutting-edge solutions, from sensors and displays to autonomous driving platforms, while maintaining operational excellence and customer-centricity.

Visit the . Get 51风流news via  and .

Media Contact:
Lesa Plingen, +49 622 776 9000,聽lesa.plingen@sap.com, CET
51风流Press Room; press@sap.com

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鈥檚 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
漏 2025 51风流SE. All rights reserved.
51风流and other 51风流products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 51风流SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

We believe this recognition reflects SAP鈥檚 completeness of vision and ability to execute in the Cloud ERP Finance market.

Why we believe 51风流Cloud ERP is recognized as a Leader

At the core of this recognition is , built on a unified, dimension-driven architecture that provides real-time planning and decision-making across global entities. With localization for 60 countries, embedded analytics to enhance compliance and controls, and advanced capabilities including treasury, subscription billing, and joint venture accounting, 51风流Cloud ERP equips organizations to operate with confidence and scale with agility.
 
This recognition comes to life in the stories of our customers.

Customer spotlight: Bain & Company

One example is Bain & Company, a global consultancy that implemented 51风流Cloud ERP to standardize and future-proof its finance foundation across 40 countries. By unifying core financial processes and adopting a 鈥渃lean core鈥� approach with minimal customizations, Bain accelerated its global close, strengthened governance with transparent KPIs, and simplified the integration of acquisitions.

As Stephen Mackey, EVP of Global Finance at Bain, explained that 51风流Cloud ERP 鈥渨as the best fit for Bain. It future-proofed our technology stack, enabled us to get the data we needed to make business decisions, and positioned us to grow.鈥�

And from a CIO perspective, Ramesh Razdan added: 鈥淲e wanted a platform that solves the problems of today and sets us up for the future. With SAP, we鈥檝e built a strong foundation, and this is just the beginning.鈥�

A key differentiator is the integration with , which enables customers to automate critical finance processes such as validating account balances, processing invoices, and reconciling payments. With prebuilt bots and no-code tools, CFOs can accelerate the financial close and improve efficiency, while laying the foundation for SAP鈥檚 next wave of AI-driven financial analysis and automation planned for 2026.

When we speak to customers about 51风流Cloud ERP, they appreciate the seamless integration with (51风流BTP), which allows them to extend, customize, and connect finance processes without disrupting their core. They highlight the leading capabilities delivered with , enabling finance teams to gain natural language interaction, contextual financial insights, and task automation that reduce manual work and support faster, smarter decision-making.

Looking ahead

We believe being named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP Finance highlights SAP鈥檚 commitment to continuous innovation. From enhanced localization and compliance support to intuitive and embedded AI, 51风流Cloud ERP is designed to help finance leaders stay ahead of regulatory, technological, and business change.

With SAP, CFOs can streamline operations, strengthen controls, and drive resilience — leading finance into the future with confidence.

.

David Imbert is head of Product Marketing for Finance at SAP.
Lawrence Martin is chief product officer for Finance at SAP.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner鈥檚 research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner and Magic Quadrant is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from SAP.

The first of three upgrades, this one involved more than 50,000 employees and was completed in under 20 hours. Supported by a standardized technology landscape that enabled minimal downtime, this smooth transition to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition sets a new benchmark for digital transformation in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry.

A long-time 51风流customer, Nestl茅 since 2000 has used 51风流software as its single unified system to manage its global operations and moved to the cloud in 2022. The upgrade to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition is a strategic leap in its transformation journey to future-proof the company as consumer expectations evolve and new technologies reshape the marketplace.

鈥淲e are building a future-ready enterprise鈥攐ne that works smarter and faster,鈥� said Chris Wright, Nestl茅鈥檚 head of IT and CIO. 鈥淗aving a common ERP system as our backbone is already a tremendous advantage for Nestl茅. It provides a unified platform and data foundation that allows us to execute end to end across the value chain and have visibility across the entire company and beyond. With the upgrade, we gain new capabilities and insights that will help scale new products faster globally to meet the needs of our customers and consumers, and with AI and automation at scale, we鈥檒l drive efficiency and effectiveness across our value chain.鈥�

With a portfolio that includes global icons such as Nescaf茅, Kit Kat and Maggi, Nestl茅 chose to upgrade to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition to accelerate the rollout of new products and innovations across the group. The upgrade also supports it in making data-driven insights and improving processes to drive efficiency and effectiveness across the company鈥檚 business operations to better serve consumers worldwide who rely on its products every day.

鈥淣estl茅鈥檚 successful go-live of 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition showcases how scale can be a strategic advantage for innovation,鈥� said Thomas Saueressig, member of the Executive Board of 51风流SE, Customer Services & Delivery. 鈥淎s one of the world鈥檚 most recognizable and forward-thinking companies, Nestl茅 exemplifies how cutting-edge technology empowers global brands to anticipate consumer trends, optimize operations and deliver exceptional experiences at scale.鈥�

The upgrade also provides a robust digital core ready for AI and automation at scale across the company鈥檚 value chain, enabling Nestl茅 to gain real-time data insights for smarter decision-making. By harnessing AI and the Joule copilot at scale across its operations, value chain and product portfolio, Nestl茅 can personalize consumer engagement and optimize operations with greater agility. This helps ensure it remains responsive to evolving consumer expectations and lays the foundation for a truly omnichannel experience.

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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鈥檚 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
漏 2025 51风流SE. All rights reserved.
51风流and other 51风流products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 51风流SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.

For our customers鈥攎anufacturers, consumer goods leaders, and high-tech innovators鈥攖his recognition is more than a placement on a chart. We believe it reflects how 51风流Cloud ERP is helping enterprises become more agile, resilient, and innovative in a world shaped by supply chain disruption, shifting customer expectations, and the imperative for sustainable operations.

This recognition comes to life in the stories of our customers.

Customer spotlight: FUWO

One example is , a fast-growing global manufacturer that turned to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition to unify its operations. By automating dozens of financial and supply chain processes, FUWO shortened its monthly close by nearly half, improved forecast accuracy by 30 percent, and boosted on-time delivery rates by 15 percent.

As Luo Jianyong, director of Business Transformation and IT at FUWO, explained: 鈥�51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition has enabled us to automate our process from production to delivery. The resulting agility and efficiency have helped us gain greater trust and more collaboration opportunities with customers worldwide.鈥�

And from a finance perspective, Director Zhao Ziqiu added: 鈥淚n a market that changes rapidly, real-time data control gives us a critical advantage in decision-making.鈥�

Why this matters now

Cloud ERP today must go far beyond core finance. Product-centric enterprises need end-to-end capabilities to manage design, manufacturing, supply chains, logistics, and sustainability in one integrated system. That鈥檚 why 51风流Cloud ERP is not only the鈥痜oundation of the , but also the gateway to the world鈥檚 largest , connecting companies to suppliers, logistics partners, and customers in real time. By extending processes beyond the enterprise, customers can anticipate disruption, improve resilience, and unlock new opportunities for collaboration.

These benefits come even faster with our new . Out-of-the-box integrations such as 51风流Integrated Product Development bring design, manufacturing, and supply chain closer together, reducing time to market while cutting complexity. Combined with for integration, data harmonization, and AI-driven insights, enterprises gain the ability to both run intelligently today and continuously adapt for tomorrow.

When we speak to customers about 51风流Cloud ERP, they appreciate our global network of partners that enable customers to scale, extend, and innovate. They highlight SAP鈥檚 strong road map for agentic AI, as well as comprehensive ERP capabilities that go far beyond core finance.

For us, recognition as a Leader is an important milestone, but not the end of the journey. Customers tell us they want deeper industry-specific functionality, simpler pricing, and even greater clarity in roadmaps. We are acting on that:

• Industry depth: In 2025 we are delivering expanded capabilities for discrete manufacturing, consumer products, and high-tech.
• Clarity and simplicity: With new commercial models, customers gain more predictable and transparent ways to adopt innovation.
• Customer experience: Through our 鈥淪uite-First鈥� approach, we are simplifying how customers consume innovations across ERP, supply chain, and spend management.

From cloud ERP to the suite

What makes 51风流unique is that cloud ERP is not a standalone product, it is the鈥痙oorway to the entire 51风流Business Suite. By connecting processes across finance, supply chain, procurement, HCM and CX, we deliver outcomes that no single application can achieve in isolation. This is where 51风流customers gain confidence: with harmonized data, AI at scale, and innovation that spans industries.

Looking ahead

We are proud of this recognition, but even more excited about what lies ahead. Together with our customers and partners, we are shaping the next decade of intelligent, modular cloud ERP – harmonizing data, automating at scale, and innovating across industries.

.

Dominik Metzger is president and chief product officer for 51风流Supply Chain Management.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner鈥檚 research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner and Magic Quadrant鈥痠s a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.

Ahlstrom is a large international manufacturer of specialty materials, with 36 plants around the world and about 7,000 employees. The company鈥檚 strategy is to be a global leader in its field.

The business transformation project, called Stella, is the largest single investment in company history. Its purpose is to transfer operations, except HR and product development, to the new 51风流S/4HANA Cloud environment. The old group business system dated back to the 1990s and no longer met the needs of global manufacturing. Ahlstrom also uses 51风流Ariba for its procurement, which had already been implemented.

鈥�51风流S/4HANA Cloud was clearly the best solution for us, especially for production management and planning,鈥� shared Ahlstrom CIO聽Kristiina Lammila, who is responsible for the project. “With it, we can harmonize our operations and bring all our plants under the same system.”

Unifying systems and data

One of the main challenges of the project was integrating different systems and unifying fragmented data. With modernization, processes can be streamlined, daily work made easier, and time freed up for more strategically important tasks.

鈥淲e have managed to make significant progress with 51风流S/4HANA Cloud standard solution,” Lammila said. “We use private cloud, which also allows for fairly flexible modifications. One plant is already live, and next year seven more plants will join. The goal is to complete the entire transformation within five years.”

According to Lammila, the system enables flexible transfer of production from one plant to another and global optimization of the supply chain.

Benefits for both employees and customers

systems benefit all stakeholders. Streamlined production processes reduce waste and improve quality. Harmonized purchasing brings savings and the most visible change for Ahlstrom鈥檚 customers is smoother supply chains and better availability of products. The use of AI and analytics is expanding. Especially in sales support, AI solutions built on 51风流Sales Cloud data are already in use at Ahlstrom.

鈥淲e can integrate even more closely with our customers, as many of them also use SAP,鈥� Lammila explained. “This facilitates and streamlines the flow of information between companies.”

From the employee鈥檚 perspective, 51风流S/4HANA Cloud makes teamwork easier. For example, order and inventory balances can be checked conveniently based on real-time data. Lammila also pointed out that the updated system supports employer branding, as job seekers expect to have appropriate and up-to-date tools at their disposal.

Strong change leadership is key to success

Lammila advises companies planning similar projects to approach transformations as comprehensive initiatives that must engage all employees, including management, not just the IT department.

鈥淪trong management commitment and a shared vision of where we are going and how to get there are needed. The project must be led as a deep transformation, and the end result must not be compromised due to haste. Poorly executed work is difficult to fix later,鈥� she concluded.

Ellen Vig Nelausen is an integrated communications expert for 51风流Regional Communications.

This recognition is based on our Completeness of Vision and Ability to Execute in the cloud ERP market for service-centric enterprises.

As businesses navigate constant change, they need systems that connect every function, scale intelligently, and provide infrastructure for continuous innovation. I believe this recognition underscores SAP鈥檚 commitment to deliver exactly that.

51风流Cloud ERP is the foundation of our broad portfolio of applications, and the centerpiece of the . It鈥檚 an out-of-the-box enterprise management solution with embedded AI, real-time insights, and the agility to support growth at any stage. Verticalized from day one with industry-specific best practices and capabilities, 51风流Cloud ERP helps organizations scale intelligently, stay compliant, and adapt quickly.

When we speak to customers, they appreciate that 51风流Cloud ERP is part of a broader portfolio, including our cloud platform 51风流Business Technology Platform (51风流BTP), and that it allows customers to quickly take advantage of the latest AI innovations with Joule. In addition, 51风流stands out for our extensive, global network of implementation partners.

For us, this recognition is a milestone, but it also pushes us to keep innovating and delivering even greater value to our customers. We hear from customers that we need to be clearer in our value proposition, make adoption easier, and speed up innovation delivery. We take this feedback seriously:

• Cross-functional complexity: We are accelerating the 51风流Business Suite strategy to deliver tighter native integration, a unified user experience, and simplified end-to-end processes across finance, supply chain, procurement, HCM, and CX.
• Live customers in complex organizations: Building on global deployments like Bain & Company, we are expanding programs, references, and accelerators to further invest in our industry and geographic scale.
• Pricing clarity: To make planning and TCO more predictable, we have launched persona-based bundles that simplify pricing and clarify the path to adopting AI and extensibility at scale.

Pursuing innovation

Today, the need for clarity and alignment across every business function is critical. Businesses run on a unique mix of applications and data sources, often creating heterogenous landscapes that are difficult to connect. To meet their goals, businesses need a solution that goes beyond isolated applications for individual challenges. 

51风流Business Suite offers a path to connecting every business function, including: an end-to-end portfolio that unifies connected applications, powerful AI agents, and contextualized data on 51风流Business Technology Platform. Together, they orchestrate cross-functional processes across an interconnected landscape.

And as the foundation of 51风流Business Suite, 51风流Cloud ERP ensures seamless integration across finance, supply chain, procurement, and more. With 51风流Cloud ERP at the core, 51风流Business Suite streamlines critical business functions into a unified system. Our scalable, flexible solutions ensure businesses of all sizes benefit from modern, tailored ERP. 

I believe this recognition from Gartner highlights the need for intelligent, modular cloud ERP. With SAP鈥檚 integrated approach, organizations can harmonize data, automate at scale, and expand across regions and industries. As we celebrate this recognition, we remain focused on continuing to lead through innovation and impact. 

.

Eric van Rossum is chief marketing officer of 51风流Business Suite and CPO Globalization & Industries at SAP.

Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Cloud ERP for Service-Centric Enterprises, 13 October 2025, Robert Anderson Et Al.
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner鈥檚 research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner and Magic Quadrant鈥痠s a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
This graphic was published by Gartner, Inc. as part of a larger research document and should be evaluated in the context of the entire document. The Gartner document is available upon request from SAP.

As the pace of innovation accelerates, enterprises must not only become more agile, but also modernize their technology foundations to keep pace鈥攕implifying landscapes, embracing cloud architectures, and ensuring continuous access to the latest capabilities.

With AI, enterprises face widening skill gaps that challenge their ability to drive meaningful business transformation. This is where 51风流stands at the forefront as a trusted partner, empowering businesses with process- and context-aware AI, underpinned by semantically rich and unified data. Together, these elements form a robust foundation for outcome-driven and sustainable business transformation.

With the 2025 release of 51风流Cloud ERP Private, we鈥檙e translating this vision into action. The release delivers innovations that matter most to our customers, from a strengthened data foundation to embedded AI and intelligent agents that enhance how work gets done. It enables enterprises to run smarter, modernize faster, and realize the full potential of applications with data and AI across end-to-end business processes.

Interconnected applications as the core foundation

A business suite that delivers best-in-class capabilities with a harmonized data model is essential in the age of AI. ERP continues to evolve to meet today鈥檚 industry needs, strengthening our customers鈥� ability to compete and grow with confidence. There are a number of such innovations, including:

• Supply chain: Manufacturing customers achieve faster, more reliable order fulfillment through intelligent automation that links order promising with logistics execution. The enhanced advanced available-to-promise (ATP) capability reduces manual effort and optimizes inventory use.
• Finance: For multinational enterprises, universal parallel accounting and value chain analysis provide real-time profitability insight and automate intercompany flows, helping finance leaders steer performance proactively and improve transparency.
• Asset management: Maintenance planners improve equipment reliability and reduce downtime through enhanced visibility into open preventive and corrective maintenance requirements. Additional insights into maintenance orders and planning buckets enable proactive scheduling and optimized resource use.  
• Operations: Organizations improve efficiency, transparency, and compliance across entities through the new multistage intercompany sales and stock transfer process. It automates critical steps, enhances visibility, and streamlines execution, enabling faster, more reliable, and scalable supply chain operations.

Data that fuels AI鈥檚 transformative power

Trusted, connected, and context-rich data turns AI鈥檚 potential into measurable results. When organizations can rely on consistent high-quality data, they gain the confidence to act on insights that drive efficiency and growth.

The semantically rich data foundation within 51风流Cloud ERP provides this advantage, serving as the platform for building insights and driving actions. 51风流Business Data Cloud unifies 51风流and third-party data, delivering insights through pre-built data products and intelligent applications.

With the 2025 release, more than 200 pre-delivered data products are available out of the box, preserving business context and metadata so leaders act on insights, not raw extracts. The result is an AI-ready foundation of trusted, compliant, reusable data assets that accelerates decision-making. Looking ahead, we are developing more intelligent applications through Cloud ERP Intelligence Private that leverage these data products across every business function, expanding the reach and impact of data-driven intelligence.

AI in and across your key business processes

AI is becoming every enterprise鈥檚 most powerful assistant, helping people work smarter, make faster decisions, and achieve better and informed outcomes. Embedded in core processes, it provides contextual guidance, intelligent recommendations and reasoning, and automation where it matters most.

With the 2025 release of 51风流Cloud ERP Private, we鈥檙e embedding AI across key end-to-end business processes. Built on a unified data and application foundation, our AI innovations bring precision, predictability, trust, and security to every decision鈥攁cross finance, supply chain, manufacturing, and service.

At the center is Joule, now evolving into a role-aware assistant, that tailors insights and actions to each user鈥檚 responsibilities. It ensures every interaction is relevant, governed, and grounded in business context, helping teams act with clarity and confidence. We are building a growing library of specialized Joule Agents. Here are a few examples:

• : Improves liquidity by accelerating collections, reducing overdue invoices, and recommending next-best actions
• : Shortens resolution cycles by identifying inconsistencies, proposing responses for quick approval, and executing follow-ups
• : Builds on enhanced maintenance insights to boost uptime by recommending maintenance events and coordinating schedules based on integrated and interconnected data across production planning and procurement

Grounded in SAP鈥檚 unified data and process model, these agents connect workflows across functions and roles, enabling organizations to act faster, operate smarter, and scale intelligence across the enterprise.

Faster upgrades, faster value

The 51风流Cloud ERP Private 2025 release is fully compatible with previous scopes, eliminating multi-step upgrades. Customers can move to the latest version with minimal effort and immediately benefit from advances in applications, data, and AI. With near-zero-downtime upgrades and automated updates, maintenance windows are shorter, delivering faster adoption, lower disruption, and quicker time to value.

Looking ahead together

We continue to co-innovate closely with our strategic and beta customers to turn these innovations into business reality. Our commitment extends beyond technology delivery: we guide every step of modernization, AI adoption, and process transformation.

If you鈥檙e ready to be an early adopter, join us to co-innovate, learn, and shape the future together, unlocking new ways of working and sustainable outcomes.

Excited about our innovations? Learn more

For a deep dive into the 2025 release and what it means for your business, join our upcoming webinar: . on innovations across finance, supply chain, procurement, and beyond, along with resources to help you get started.

Uma Rani T M is president and chief product officer for Private Cloud ERP at SAP.

However, the pace of change has made traditional approaches, like best-of-breed point solutions, no longer sufficient to help finance teams keep up.

That is why the future of finance technology should act as an orchestra, not disjointed soloists.

Finance teams require a unified experience where applications, data, and AI work seamlessly together. With 51风流Business Suite, these elements come together as one orchestra, enabling finance to operate in harmony and deliver outcomes that point solutions alone cannot achieve. This means not only faster close and stronger liquidity, but also tighter compliance and credible plans that hold up under change.

To strengthen collaboration across finance and bring innovation to the CFO鈥檚 office, 51风流unveiled Joule鈥檚 next stage as the AI force at the center of 51风流Business Suite鈥檚 value creation. A new generation of role-aware assistants in Joule are designed to partner with people in their specific business roles by tapping into the right agents behind the scenes for the job. For finance professionals, 51风流introduced the next round of automation support using agentic AI.

51风流is embedding AI-powered reasoning directly into finance processes to automate routine work and elevate the strategic role of finance with the following new agents:

• The Accruals Agent will calculate accruals and deferrals based on system data and present the accountant with a proposal for review, along with a detailed explanation of the calculation logic.
• The Cash Management Agent will automate daily bank statement reconciliation tasks and recommend opportunities for optimization.
• The International Trade Classification Agent will reason over product characteristics and trade regulations and act to classify goods for international shipping, recommending customs tariff numbers and commodity codes

By bringing automation to critical but repetitive finance processes, these agents underscore SAP鈥檚 commitment to equipping the office of the CFO with AI-driven innovation that strengthens resilience in an increasingly complex business environment.

Finance as the conductor of the enterprise

The role of the CFO has expanded far beyond closing the books or reporting quarterly earnings. Today, finance teams are expected to bring together data, processes, and people from the entire business to enable seamless collaboration.

With SAP鈥檚 AI-first, suite-first approach, applications and data flow seamlessly, allowing finance leaders to coordinate business operations with confidence. This unified foundation ensures that insights are not siloed, but instead shared across the enterprise, enabling faster and smarter decisions.

Take working capital management, one of the biggest pressure points for finance leaders: A recent of 480 CFOs found confidence levels were strong in almost all areas, including revenue, profit, and customer retention, but only 36 percent felt confident in their ability to achieve working capital targets. 51风流Business Suite can help organizations meet their targets by automating manual work and enabling actionable decisions — all by leveraging dynamic, autonomous, and action-oriented solutions in 51风流Business Suite.

When an organization manages incoming receivables, outgoing payables, as well as cash and inventory within SAP, that connected experience creates data that provides real-time visibility into liquidity through 51风流Business Data Cloud.聽 That data fuels 51风流Business AI to analyze situations, recommend actions, and even resolve issues like disputed invoices automatically, which would otherwise slow the cash collection process. And with the integration of Joule and intelligent agents, 51风流Business AI not only automates, it senses, reasons, orchestrates, and acts 鈥� turning insights into outcomes that free capacity and accelerate the business.

As AI agents take on more of the behind-the-scenes work, finance professionals can step fully into their role as the conductor of the enterprise. They can guide strategy with foresight, aligning every function in harmony and shaping outcomes that extend far beyond revenue or cost goals.

CFOs and their teams can then move beyond reactive decision-making toward shaping strategy in real time. This will position their office as a driver of growth, resilience, and innovation.

Looking ahead

51风流is laying the foundation for a new era of autonomous finance, where routine processes are automated, insights are delivered in real time, and finance teams are empowered to focus on strategy and growth.

These innovations mark just the beginning of SAP鈥檚 commitment to helping businesses navigate an increasingly complex financial landscape with agility, intelligence, and confidence.

Lawrence Martin is chief product officer and head of Public Cloud Engineering at SAP.
David Imbert is head of Finance Product Marketing at SAP.

This collaboration marks the next milestone in the longstanding partnership between ADP and 51风流and illustrates a shared commitment to help enterprises transform their payroll operations.

Working in close partnership with the professional services team from SAP, ADP has seamlessly upgraded the first wave of 50 global payroll clients to 51风流Cloud ERP.

鈥淭his achievement is a testament to the power of collaboration and the shared vision between ADP and SAP,鈥� said Frank Smits, senior vice president of ADP Global Payroll. 鈥淭ogether, we are setting a new standard for global payroll, empowering organizations to focus on supporting their people and driving growth.鈥�

Maryann Abbajay, chief revenue officer of 51风流SuccessFactors said, 鈥淓very business depends on flawless payroll to run smoothly. The 51风流and ADP partnership delivers cloud innovation to transform how organizations manage their most valuable resource: their people.鈥�

Through the partnership, clients can benefit from:

• Global reach: Payroll solutions supporting millions of employees through ADP Global Payroll in over 140 countries
• Trusted expertise: Combining ADP and SAP鈥檚 leadership in payroll and enterprise cloud technology
• Future-ready payroll: Providing security and scalability for global enterprises
• Accelerated cloud migration: Successfully partnered to migrate first wave of clients in less than 12 months

The partnership offers ADP a reliable and scalable technological foundation for its global payroll solutions to meet the specific client needs in each country. This includes ADP localized templates and expertise, managed services and additional HR offerings. As part of ADP鈥檚 continued investment in the global payroll experience it provides clients, the partnership leverages ADP鈥檚 well-established expertise in payroll implementation, managed services and compliance, laying the groundwork for integrated AI assistance to boost productivity.

To learn more, visit .

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About ADP (NASDAQ: ADP)

ADP has been shaping the world of work with innovation and expertise for more than 75 years. As a global leader in HR and payroll solutions, ADP continuously works to solve business challenges for our clients and their workers, from simple, easy-to-use tools for small businesses to fully integrated platforms for global enterprises鈥攁nd everything in between. Always Designing for People means we鈥檙e focused on just that鈥攑eople. We use our unmatched AI-driven insights and proven expertise to design innovative solutions that help people achieve greater success at work. More than 1.1 million clients across 140+ countries rely on ADP鈥檚 exceptional service to support their people and drive their business forward. HR, Talent, Time Management, Benefits, Compliance, and Payroll. Learn more at .

About SAP

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

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That is the reality. Behind all the talk of faster deployments and streamlined processes lies a deeper shift. It requires rethinking your data, core processes, and how teams work together. And this shift does not begin at go-live. It begins months earlier, with the questions asked and the foundations put in place.

Many companies still approach cloud ERP as an IT upgrade. But the success of these programs rarely comes down to just technology. It comes down to how well you prepare, how you approach process standardization, data readiness, governance, and change leadership.

Even with the best intentions, challenges still show up. Teams struggle to balance global templates with local needs. Subject matter experts do not always have the time to fully participate. Expectations around timelines and automation can be misaligned from the start.

In a , Abhishek Vasudevan, head of 51风流S/4HANA at Westernacher, shared his perspective on what separates successful ERP transformations from the rest — from the most critical prerequisites to the common mistakes and what ERP looks like when it truly enables the business.

Breaking down business challenges and expectations

鈥淒isconnected systems cause poor integration, data delays, and isolated teams,鈥� Vasudevan explained. 鈥淭he fragmentation creates barriers to real-time data visibility and integration, forcing reliance on manual work to piece together information from disparate sources. This slows decision-making and enforces artificial walls between business functions.鈥�

Switching to an integrated, modern cloud ERP platform helps businesses break down barriers and provides real-time, cross-functional data flow.

Vasudevan also highlighted a critical hurdle: 鈥淭here is a clear disconnect between how legacy users operate and the demands of moving to an integrated ERP system. The key question is whether the workforce can adapt to these changes and take on the challenges of adopting a new system and new ways of working.鈥�

But one misconception is expecting a fully integrated ERP to be operational quickly by simply activating system functions. Faster implementations — which can sometimes take weeks or months instead of years — depend heavily on an organization’s ability to standardize processes across sites while retaining competitive differentiators.

鈥淪uccess requires a phased “crawl, walk, run” approach focusing on processes, people, and standardization,鈥� further explained Vasudevan.

Before a company ever starts configuring a system or training users, there is foundational work that must be done to set the stage for success. These are the conversations and actions that happen behind the scenes 鈥� months before go-live 鈥� that ultimately determine whether the implementation will deliver value.

Essential prerequisites for a successful ERP implementation

An effective cloud ERP adoption starts long before go-live. Based on extensive experience across industries, Vasudevan outlines six critical areas organizations must focus on early:

1. Start with your data: Data is often the Achilles鈥� heel of ERP projects. Companies must start by understanding where their data lives, how clean it is, and whether it covers all critical business processes. That means assessing your sources early, ensuring completeness, and working with ERP experts to understand what fields matter and how your data should be structured.
2. Understand the technical preparation, especially for upgrades: Even if you are doing what feels like a technical upgrade — like moving from 51风流ECC to 51风流S/4HANA — there is still deep preparation involved. Organizations must think through customer-vendor integration, system sizing, platform readiness, and historical data decisions. These technical topics are not just backend items; they directly affect the ability to execute a project smoothly.
3. Rethink and standardize your processes: ERP implementations are a golden opportunity to simplify operations and remove legacy complexity. The more standardized processes are across regions, business units, and functions, the easier it becomes to scale and automate.
4. Set up strong governance from the start: You need the right structure in place to guide the program, enable fast decisions, and stay aligned. That includes a clear steering committee, empowered business leads, and a process for how deviations will be evaluated and approved.
5. Identify your internal change agent: Your system integrator will support change management, but someone from within your organization must to champion the change. This person should understand how things work today and be able to work across teams to bring clarity and alignment.
6. Start identifying key and end users and prepare a plan for them early: Do not wait until testing or training to engage end users: start early. Understand their day-to-day, shape the design through day-in-the-life scenarios, and roll out MVPs that invite feedback.

Listen to the full podcast episode here:

Coming up, we will explore the most common challenges businesses face during and after ERP implementation. From data readiness gaps to change resistance, we will unpack the patterns that often derail projects 鈥� and how to stay ahead of them.

The solution was clear: implement a cloud-based ERP architecture designed to adapt, scale, and drive a full-scale transformation.

Building strategy on speed and people

E.ON Digital Technology鈥檚 move to the cloud was never about chasing modernity for its own sake, but about seizing control in a fast-moving world. The company understood that transformation is not only about technology; it’s about people and their needs.

Together with employees, E.ON Digital Technology crafted a strategic vision to keep pace with rapid technological change while empowering teams to deliver real solutions. At the core of this transformation was the Digital Lighthouse Project, which became the guiding force through the complexities of digitization.

As Athanasios Tabakis, the lead of the Digital Lighthouse technology at E.ON Digital Technology, explained, 鈥淲e鈥檙e not just implementing isolated solutions; we鈥檙e building a platform that integrates speed, planning, reporting, cost transparency, and AI into one seamless ecosystem.鈥�

This cloud ERP foundation shattered old habits, igniting true transformation by putting agility and speed at the heart of the business.

Today, E.ON Digital Technology boasts an intuitive, adaptive, finance-first design, built around how people actually work. The company鈥檚 guiding principle remains unchanged: transformation doesn鈥檛 start with systems; it starts with trust and clarity.

Max Englisch, manager of Finance Transformation at , emphasized the human and scalable nature of the project: 鈥淭his has never just been about technology. It was about creating a vision that scales, brings people in, and drives real impact — not only for E.ON Digital Technology, but also across the entire company.鈥�

PwC Germany continues to support E.ON Digital Technology in rolling out this vision, ensuring the Digital Lighthouse remains a catalyst for change.

Beyond technology: culture, process, mindset

Standardizing across a complex group like E.ON Digital Technology involves far more than technical upgrades. It requires navigating cultural, operational, and political layers. The S/4 United Program, the backbone of Digital Lighthouse, launched the company鈥檚 journey toward 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition as the 鈥渕other ship鈥� guiding the entire enterprise.

Innovation layers were carefully added on top to balance strategic consistency with the flexibility to differentiate. Early work focused on identifying where processes could deliver efficiency and value, laying a solid foundation for future-proof operations. As Tabakis put it, 鈥淭he future of ERP is invisible. It anticipates your needs, speaks your language, and acts when it truly matters. It is not just digital; it is almost human.鈥�

E.ON Digital Technology鈥檚 transformation challenges the entrenched mindset of 鈥渢his is always how we鈥檝e always done it.鈥� In a heavily regulated and complex energy sector, data consistency is critical for both compliance and for confident decision-making. By building a semantic layer aligned with business logic, the company moves from fragmented inputs to coherent, faster decisions with increased accountability.

鈥淪uccess comes from those who relentlessly pursue their vision until it becomes a reality,” Englisch added. “That鈥檚 exactly what E.ON Digital Technology has achieved.鈥�

E.ON Digital Technology embraces AI and flexibility for the future

E.ON Digital Technology鈥檚 innovation journey did not stop at cloud ERP. Early adoption of transformed data into conversational insights. Now, the company is advancing toward agentic AI, where AI proactively supports decision-making by alerting teams to deviations and nudging interventions before the issues arise. In energy finance, where timing is everything, this responsiveness is a game changer.

Trust in AI remains paramount. Tabakis noted that 鈥渢rue confidence in AI comes when it aligns with how people think and work. Our mission is to build that trust step-by-step, helping people see AI not as a threat, but as a powerful ally to accelerate their work.鈥� This human-centered approach is essential in a world where half embrace AI鈥檚 promise and half fear its impact.

The energy transition itself demands agility. Renewables introduce volatility, and new consumption patterns like heat pumps and electric mobility add complexity. The grid must balance supply and demand in real time, pushing E.ON Digital Technology鈥檚 business units — and adding their IT teams — to stay flexible.

To manage this, E.ON Digital Technology relies on , a real-time financial management engine that mirrors actual usage, supports dynamic modeling, and scales with demand within the ERP. This technology allows the company to trace billions in value flows accurately and auditable, ensuring flexibility and compliance go hand in hand.

Englisch summarized the future vision: 鈥淭he future of ERP lies in creating an open, connected data foundation that integrates 51风流and non-51风流sources, enabling scalable data products and AI-ready architectures. It鈥檚 about moving beyond process efficiency to real-time insights that empower business users to unlock true value.鈥�

E.ON Digital Technology鈥檚 transformation journey shows how cloud ERP, combined with human centered approach and cutting-edge AI, can drive speed, trust, and agility in the complex, rapidly evolving energy landscape. It is a blueprint for how companies can not only adapt but also lead in the digital age.

Since these first announcements in February and March, we have received encouraging feedback from the 51风流community.

Today, we are providing additional details about this offering to better support our customers and partners in evaluating it as part of their RISE with 51风流transformation journey. We鈥檙e also pleased to share that customers that subscribe to a new instance of 51风流ERP, private edition in 2025 鈥� or have done so already 鈥� can take advantage of a special promotion for 51风流ERP, private edition, transition option.

What is 51风流ERP, private edition, transition option?

As part of the RISE with 51风流journey, many organizations are transitioning to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition and 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition to modernize their operations and stay competitive. 51风流recognizes that our largest and most complex 51风流ERP customers may not be able to complete this transformation by the end of extended maintenance for their installed 51风流Business Suite 7 in 2030.

To support these customers, 51风流has introduced 51风流ERP, private edition, transition option 鈥� a time-bound subscription offering designed to provide business continuity from 2031 to 2033 while enabling a structured path to 51风流Cloud ERP or 51风流Cloud ERP Private.

The offering includes an 51风流ERP cloud subscription for specified products 鈥� centered around 51风流ERP Central Component on 51风流HANA 鈥� and is combined with services designed to facilitate the transition to RISE with 51风流via the max success plan (to be generally available in January 2026). It will help customers focus on the setup and optimization of their new and future system landscape. Business continuity services will cover elements like legal changes, security patches, and bug fixing. The specifics of which products are eligible are detailed in .

Key prerequisites for adopting this offering

To take advantage of the 51风流ERP, private edition, transition option, there are a few prerequisites to keep in mind:

1. Move to 51风流ERP, private edition: Systems must be migrated to 51风流ERP, private edition on 51风流HANA before December 31, 2030.  51风流strongly recommends this move now in order to start preparing systems based on the additional prerequisites outlined below.
2. Database requirement: 51风流HANA will be the only supported database for this offering.
3. System size: Minimum 2 TB for systems subscribed with 51风流ERP, private edition, transition option.
4. Technical readiness: Systems must be prepared for the transition option, namely mitigation coverage for products not included in the new option. See 51风流Note 3591251 for details.
5. Max success plan: The transition option is only available in combination with the max success plan during 2031-2033, including additional transformation services. This success plan will be generally available in January 2026.

Pricing and promotions

51风流ERP, private edition, transition option will be a new subscription, priced at an uplift compared to the 51风流ERP, private edition pricing valid end of 2030. The detailed conditions are outlined below:

51风流is offering a special promotion for customers that commit to 51风流ERP, private edition by the end of 2025 or have done so already. These early adopters will be eligible to adopt the 51风流ERP, private edition, transition option in 2031 under commercially equivalent terms to their then existing subscription.

Customers that sign up for 51风流ERP, private edition in聽2026聽will receive a standard聽20 percent uplift聽in pricing when switching to the transition option in 2031. For those who sign up in聽2027 or later, the uplift is not yet disclosed, final pricing will be communicated only closer to availability to purchase in 2028.聽

In all cases above, the max success plan fee will come in addition to the respective final price of the 51风流ERP, private edition, transition option.

Call to action

Now is the time to act. If your organization anticipates needing more time beyond 2030 to complete its transformation to 51风流Cloud ERP or 51风流Cloud ERP Private, taking the first step in 2025 is critical. Here鈥檚 why:

• Secure the 2025 promotion: Customers that sign up for 51风流ERP, private edition by the end of 2025 (with a start date no later than 2026) will be eligible for a 1:1 move to the 51风流ERP, private edition, transition option in 2031 — without any uplift. This provides a significant financial advantage and provides cost predictability for long-term planning.
• Gain valuable lead time to prepare your systems and teams: Moving now to 51风流ERP, private edition allows your organization to address technical prerequisites 鈥� such as migrating to 51风流HANA and mitigating unsupported technologies like Java 鈥� at a manageable pace. It also gives your teams time to align on transformation goals and build internal readiness.
• Reduce risk with a phased, structured transformation path: Starting now enables a smoother journey: first moving to 51风流ERP, private edition, then leveraging the transition option if needed, and ultimately adopting 51风流Cloud ERP or 51风流Cloud ERP Private. This phased approach minimizes disruption and supports continuous business operations.
• Ensure eligibility for the transition option: The transition option will only be available to customers that have already moved their systems to 51风流ERP, private edition before the end of 2030. Acting now guarantees that your organization meets this prerequisite.

For most of our customers planning to complete their transformation by 2030, this option won鈥檛 be necessary. Nevertheless, this option is tailored for those requiring additional time and support due to the complexity of their systems.

Learn more

To learn more about this offering, please refer to the following resources:

• Visit this聽 and .
• Reach out to your 51风流account executive or partner contact to discuss how the 51风流ERP, private edition, transition option fits into your transformation strategy.
• On the future direction of the 51风流Services and Support portfolio, including the max success plan to be available in January 2026, see here.

Stefan Steinle is executive vice president and head of Customer Support & Cloud Lifecycle Management at SAP.

Since its humble beginnings in 1971, Merrifield has flourished into one of the largest full-service garden center, nursery, and landscaping companies in its region, employing more than 600 individuals and comprising over 70 acres of plants, property, and storefront in northern Virginia. Its business includes three brick-and-mortar locations carrying plants, gardening supplies, and home and holiday d茅cor; an online store; a wholesale division that supports other local landscape contractors; a materials production division that recycles materials from landscaping jobs; and a line of private-label products tailored specifically for the environmental conditions in the greater Washington, D.C. area.

Clearly, the business has expanded and evolved over the years to meet changing industry and customer standards, but its founding principles of providing the highest quality customer services and unparalleled plant and product selection remain steadfast. The same is true for the systems supporting the products and services in Merrifield鈥檚 retail operations. With its omnichannel strategy, it鈥檚 critical that Merrifield delivers a consistent, seamless, and personalized experience across all its customer touchpoints.

Blooming into a modern, tech-savvy enterprise

Luckily, CFO Lynn Warhurst has made it one of her personal goals to bring technology into the company since joining in 1978. 鈥淭here was zero technology鈥o we knew going forward that if we wanted to grow and be successful, we needed to change something,鈥� she said.

After coming across 51风流at an NRF event in the early 2000s, Merrifield went live with 51风流ERP Central Component (51风流ECC) in 2013 to replace its 20-year-old garden center legacy system, providing the company with modern audit trail capabilities and increased data reliability.

Continuing its long-standing innovation journey and partnership with SAP, Merrifield is now transitioning its 51风流ECC system to the cloud with .

Merrifield Garden Center sees up to 300 transactions per hour per location, Warhurst said, and so the company needed a solution with enhanced processing speeds that can handle a high volume of retail transactions. What鈥檚 more, the company also wanted a system that supports Apple Pay and Google Pay, has customer loyalty tracking and data analytics capabilities, and ensures enterprise security and compliance.

Merrifield also wanted to bring together its retail and wholesale divisions onto one platform as opposed to hosting them on fragmented solutions. 鈥淲e knew [51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition] could handle our complexity and give us the detail we needed to run and grow our business,鈥� Warhurst said. 鈥淎fter 54 years in business, both divisions will run on the same platform. It鈥檚 very exciting that we can interchange cashiers for retail and wholesale, which means being more efficient as a company.鈥�

51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, retail, fashion, and vertical business is a new solution introduced in January of this year. Built specifically for retailers, the ERP solution is tailored to the industry鈥檚 unique complexities around scaling, merchandising, store operations, and supply chains. The flexibility of its public cloud architecture helps unify and integrate industry-specific processes with out-of-the-box integrations.

Merrifield is also implementing 51风流Omnichannel Sales Transfer and Audit to help ensure the completeness of sales transactions across multiple channels, improve data reporting, and comply with local regulations.

Strong partnerships build a foundation for success

To facilitate its cloud transformation, Merrifield engaged as its implementation partner. 鈥淗aving a trusted partner is very important,鈥� Warhurst said, explaining that Merrifield has worked with Syntax since 2018.

For the move to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, retail, fashion, and vertical business, Syntax came on-site to Merrifield to experience its current system first-hand and better understand what the business sees as mission-critical during this transformation, Warhurst said. Together, they identified solution provisioning and integration, data migration, and business continuity as priorities. With this insight, Syntax is working with 51风流to integrate any remaining project gaps into an upcoming solution release in August.

鈥淪yntax and 51风流have been great. We are one of the first to go public cloud for retail and they have been there for us,鈥� Warhurst said. 鈥淚t was very important to find somebody who believed in us and was there for us, and I feel that that鈥檚 really one of the most important things for our success.鈥�

While the new system is projected to go live in September, the project is currently in the configuration and realization stage and Merrifield is excited for the future. Adopting this holistic, omnichannel, cloud-based solution will help the garden center achieve its goals of expanding into more locations and online offerings by having trusted, complete data from across its divisions available in one place.

Gillian Hixson is an integrated communications specialist at SAP.

Top image courtesy of 51风流employee Tom Lennart-Krupp.

Philipp L眉bcke, CIO at Th眉ringer Energie AG, has worked in the industry for 20 years and is thrilled by the dynamism it is currently going through. But that wasn鈥檛 always the case. 鈥淲hen I got started in the energy sector, the business was relatively static, and I鈥檒l admit that I was tempted by other industries over the last decade,鈥� he says. Today, he no longer sees any need to change. Just the opposite, in fact: in recent years, the business 鈥渉as become extremely exciting, and it will stay exciting,鈥� L眉bcke adds.

To understand his enthusiasm, all it takes is a look at his current employer, TEAG. The company, headquartered in Erfurt and with over 2,200 employees, supplies households and businesses with electricity, natural gas, heating, and water. It also added a telecommunications subsidiary to its portfolio several years ago, which offers broadband access, mobile telephony, and additional services such as storage. It has a new subsidiary for electromobility and another for photovoltaics.

In addition to these new business areas, the company鈥檚 core business鈥攕upplying electricity鈥攊s undergoing drastic changes. L眉bcke emphasizes: 鈥淭he energy transition is irreversible, and that doesn鈥檛 only mean the end of nuclear power, but also the end of coal-fired generation in the long term.鈥�

Decarbonization requires decentralization and digitalization

The future lies in the central supply of natural gas and hydrogen through power plants, along with decentralized power generation through photovoltaics and wind power, according to L眉bcke. 鈥淲e give the municipalities in Thuringia all the support we can when it comes to executing the transition locally,鈥� he says. To succeed, this energy transition requires perfect coordination of what experts refer to as 鈥渢he three big Ds鈥�: decarbonization requires decentralization, which in turn is only possible with maximum digitalization. 

Which brings us to SAP, TEAG鈥檚 largest and most important strategic partner. In 2022, TEAG decided to move all its core processes for the energy sector鈥攎eter reading, billing, device management, contract and customer management, information exchange, and subledger accounting鈥攖o 51风流S/4HANA Cloud in the long term. 鈥淭hat made us the first energy supplier with a comprehensive聽,鈥� L眉bcke says. 鈥淭he energy sector is undergoing fundamental change, and data interchange within the companies will increase significantly. Decentralization and maximum digitalization mean that we will be processing much more data much faster, offering a variety of new cloud services based on AI, and creating many more automated decision-making processes.鈥� All of which will require maximum integration and high-quality master data. And they also need the right partner.

Learning to manage complex projects

TEAG intends to migrate all seven of its deployed systems that manage master data to the new platform incrementally, a plan that has been divided into three large-scale projects. The first involved the implementation of the 51风流S/4HANA core鈥攊nitially on premise鈥攊ncluding master data cleansing and version management of large amounts of legacy data. This project, which has been completed in the interim, involved around 200 internal employees and externals. Along the way, the team gained the ability to manage even complex 51风流projects.聽

In the second step, TEAG implemented 51风流S/4HANA Utilities, an ERP solution specifically for energy suppliers, together with the 51风流Customer Experience portfolio based on 51风流Service Cloud, divided into the three market roles of electricity supplier, grid operator, and metering point operation. This project has been underway for 18 months, and TEAG will go live with it on December 1, 2025, initially with the role of electricity supplier.

Last but not least, the third transformation project involves implementing聽 for workforce management. To this end, the company developed a road map in 2024, 鈥渟o we can optimally leverage everything we need for this,鈥� L眉bcke says.

Demographic change is forcing the transition

The utility company aims to decommission all its current 51风流systems by the end of 2027 and move them to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud. The fact that TEAG has decided to run its central applications in the cloud in the long term, in addition to going all-in on SAP, is a result of the fourth 鈥渂ig D鈥� in this story: demographics. 鈥淲e won鈥檛 be able to completely replace the many employees who will be retiring in the next 10 years,鈥� L眉bcke says. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why we need to become more independent of labor-intensive processes overall.鈥�

Working in the cloud means getting a boost from AI

The company鈥檚 cloud strategy supports this goal, because it means TEAG will not only need less expensive hardware in the future but it will also require fewer highly-trained people to run and provide the systems. 聽

And people who work in the cloud鈥攚ith the resulting consistent focus on platform strategy and standardization鈥攃an take advantage of artificial intelligence in many areas. Take , for example. This copilot is based on generative AI and learns from 51风流data to help give users context-sensitive support.

All in all, 鈥淚T will take center stage more than ever for energy suppliers,鈥� L眉bcke says. 鈥淎nd business IT is also getting closer to key business decisions than ever before. That鈥檚 what gives the job so much variety and makes it so exciting.鈥�

And it will certainly protect the TEAG CIO from temptation from other industries in the future.

鈥淭he business will always rely on its industry-leading team selling through an institutional business model but has evolved in recent years to be more consumer-facing, data-driven, and insight-driven, so we can help the coaches and the players with relevant information on how they can improve performance,鈥� Aravind Kashyap, Chief Information Officer, Riddell, said. For example, Riddell innovated with smart helmets that utilize the Internet of Things (IoT) to get deeper insights into head impact exposure and athlete performance. 鈥淭he company itself has gone through several routes of transformation because the game and its players demand it,鈥� he said.

Riddell is now transforming its enterprise foundation, embarking on a robust, three-year enterprise solutions revamp. The company has used 51风流solutions for almost 20 years, and its current solution is highly customized and very complex. 鈥淲e really want to get to a situation where we鈥檙e not uber customized and difficult to upgrade,鈥� Kashyap said. To benefit from technologies like data visibility, process automation, and AI, the company is working with 51风流and , a global 51风流consulting company, to adopt a cloud-first, clean core approach.

Legacy built it, strategy will fix it

Riddell is modernizing and simplifying its ERP system via a greenfield approach with . 鈥淥ur IT strategy is primarily looking at the next three years and what can we do at a foundation level, what are the things we鈥檙e doing on the information aspect, and what things we are doing for greater efficiency,鈥� Kashyap said. The renewed IT strategy will enable the business to focus on growth, efficiency, and automation projects by leveraging information and advanced technologies while still driving down IT operation costs.

The project is as much about improving Riddell鈥檚 IT foundation as it is about improving the experience for employees who use the systems, many of which are remote. Kashyap explained the focus on delivering a modern digital experience across the company: 鈥淒igital experience is huge for us. In fact, that鈥檚 one of the big themes that I鈥檓 driving in the organization. How do I bring experience to our business users鈥攚hether they are in a warehouse, whether they are in a sales position, whether they are a finance clerk, whether they are in the manufacturing location or plant鈥攁nd give them the best experience as a solution user?鈥�

This is in alignment with the strategic business transformation and change management approach KaarTech recommended to Riddell. Connecting the technical ERP transformation to the consumer experience and sales side of the business was key. 鈥淚f you just do a technical assessment and try to understand the IT landscape without connecting with the business, the transformation will go wrong,鈥� Parameswaran N, vice president, KaarTech, said. He added: 鈥淲e wanted this to be a business-led transformation and the business priorities and vision were much more than just a technical upgrade, so we mutually agreed that a greenfield approach was the right approach.鈥�

As a result of a thorough migration readiness assessment exercise undertaken with , a KaarTech proprietary digital transformation as a service (DXaaS) automation platform for 51风流digital transformations, available on , Riddell鈥檚 IT landscape was found to have 1,270 custom objects, 556 custom reports, 794 enhancements to standard programs, and 10 third-party integrations. The current endeavor, called Project STRIDE, aims to streamline these customizations and instead take a fit-to-standard approach wherever possible.

The team has identified about 180 global scope items and is looking at each one individually to compare the out-of-the-box scenario with the customization opportunity, Kashyap said. This process of determining what in the current system stays and what goes is time consuming and involves about 10% of the company鈥檚 850 employees, he explained, but it鈥檚 also necessary to prioritizing the fit-to-standard and clean core approach. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not easy, but that鈥檚 the only way it鈥檚 going to happen,鈥� he said, adding that it鈥檚 a 鈥渙ne team, one platform鈥� mindset. Keeping 51风流S/4HANA as the core allows for a 鈥渓imitless plane鈥� on which Riddell can take advantage of innovative technologies like AI.

In addition to the Riddell team, who supplies the internal expertise, knowledge, and working experience to Project STRIDE, 51风流helps with the valuation of each scope item and KaarTech helps with implementation.

鈥淥ur partners KaarTech and 51风流are making it possible. It鈥檚 a long journey,鈥� Kashyap said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 about making the business comfortable with using the new enterprise solution.鈥�

Project learnings鈥攕o far

Riddell鈥檚 Project STRIDE demonstrates the potential behind a fit-to-standard approach, how digital experience drives user adoption, and the need for strong governance to accelerate decision-making.

The path to the cloud and a clean core is a worthy cause to achieve long-term agility, but it鈥檚 as much a method shift as it is a mindset shift, Kashyap said. 鈥淚t is an IT transformation; more importantly it is a business transformation.鈥�

Gillian Hixson is an integrated communications specialist at SAP.

The company, which employs 37,000 people and had revenues last year of DKK 31.7 billion (EUR 4.2 billion), can trace its origins back to 1982 and a small family-run shop in Copenhagen.

In the 42 years since then, Pandora has grown into the largest jewelry brand in the world, with jewelry sold in more than 100 countries through retail stores and online.

鈥淧andora is the brand that鈥檚 all about love, and it is about gifting to your loved ones but also celebrating yourself when you have had an amazing achievement,鈥� said Mariane Heidingsfelder, Pandora鈥檚 senior vice president of Business Transformation.

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As an omnichannel retailer with ambitious growth plans, Pandora鈥檚 digital strategy is focused around enhancing consumer experience. 鈥淭hat’s our number one priority,鈥� Heidingsfelder said. Pandora selected to support its ambitious digital journey and serve as part of the foundation for the company鈥檚 future growth.

51风流S/4HANA Cloud will serve as the core of Pandora’s new ERP system, which will enable the company’s business processes to be standardized, simpler to manage, and more connected.

鈥淚 truly believe that business is technology, and technology is business,鈥� Heidingsfelder said. 鈥淚n our journey of growth, we are really digitalizing our business end-to-end, from manufacturing all the way to our offices and our colleagues, and all the way to our stores and the way that consumers interact with us in a very personalized way.鈥�

As part of this journey, Pandora is aiming to simplify the lives of its employees. Lean and digitized processes in combination with user-friendly dashboards are only some of the initiatives that will allow employees to spend more time with customers or undertake more innovative tasks and complex problem-solving. 鈥淎t the store, we are leveraging multiple technologies,鈥� Heidingsfelder said. 鈥淲e definitely want to simplify the way our stores operate, so we’re trying to have one place for the store associates to be able to get all the information they need in order to have those conversations with the consumer.鈥�

When it comes to digitalizing the backbone, she added, 鈥淲e also want to make sure that our store associates spend more time with the consumer and less time in the back office.鈥� Pandora is already looking at ways that it can use the embedded AI capabilities in 51风流S/4HANA.

鈥淲e’ve consciously decided to start small, learn, and then leverage where we can find efficiencies to support the way that our colleagues work,鈥� Heidingsfelder explained.

鈥淔rom there, I think the sky is the limit,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e are really a bold organization, and we want to make sure we leverage the best that there is out there from a technology point of view to boost our business and accelerate our growth.鈥�

鈥淚 think Pandora is a very open company,鈥� she added. 鈥淲e are a company that believes in our core values. We dream, we dare, we care, and we deliver.鈥�

The dressings were so well loved, customers could be seen leaving the restaurant with bottles of their favorites. By 1955, the restaurant鈥檚 upstairs kitchen had become a full-scale salad dressing factory and Marzetti dressings could be found in grocery stores throughout Ohio. Today, Marzetti produces many of the salad dressings, fruit and vegetable dips, frozen baked goods, and specialty brand items found on U.S. store shelves.

Liam Durbin, Marzetti鈥檚 Chief Information Officer, was brought onboard in December 2018 by Marzetti鈥檚 CEO, Dave Ciezinski, who had worked with Durbin previously at Heinz. Durbin was charged with replacing Marzetti鈥檚 legacy green-screen PRISM software, which had become outdated, with a modern ERP system.

After a competitive bidding process, 51风流was chosen as the new ERP system. Durbin says 51风流was selected in part because of its dominance in the industry, which aligned well with Marzetti’s business requirements.

Tailwind

The transformation project, known as Project Ascent to reflect its aspirational nature, received board approval within months of Durbin joining, and by April 2019 the company had begun hiring personnel for the project with Capgemini as the system integrator.

Durbin emphasized the strong support the project received from both the CEO and the board鈥攕upport which he said 鈥渃reated a lot of tailwind鈥� for a project they saw as crucial to ensure the company’s future success.

鈥淭he CEO and the board were clear that they wanted the 鈥楢 players鈥� for the project, creating a dream team to ensure its success,鈥� Durbin said, so they rented a new building to house the project team, providing separation from the main office and allowing the team to focus on the project. This approach ensured that the project team had the necessary resources and environment to work effectively and deliver the project on time, Durbin said.

The initial plan was to execute the project and move to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud running on Microsoft Azure in four waves, but it eventually became six waves because of COVID-19. The pandemic forced the team to send everyone home, adding an extra year to the project timeline.

Implementation waves

To adapt, they created wave zero, which involved moving a facility in New Jersey鈥攐ne of about 16 facilities overall鈥攐nto 51风流from a technical perspective. 鈥淭his allowed us to kick the tires and make sure the functionality worked,鈥� Durbin said.

The project team also implemented during this extra time. Overall, the phased approach allowed the team to manage risks and ensure that each wave was successfully completed before moving on to the next.聽For example, wave one covered finance, trade, procurement, and customer support鈥斺�渆verything touching the customer,鈥� Durbin said, adding that waves two, three, and four went pretty much as planned. 鈥淲e chose to split wave four in two to de-risk it because it contained two large facilities,鈥� he added.

Project Ascent is now considered complete, and over the past two years the IT team has focused on standing up the product organization and building relationships between product owners and department heads. The product owners, who were part of the project team, now work closely with their respective departments to prioritize and implement enhancements. Durbin said this structure ensures that the company continues to optimize and improve its ERP system, delivering ongoing value to the business.聽

Master data project and analytics

As part of the final wave, the team undertook a master data project to ensure data accuracy and consistency across the organization. By standardizing and cleaning the master data, the company improved its ability to make data-driven decisions and enhance overall business operations.

The company chose Microsoft for its analytics platform, which, Durbin said, 鈥渁llowed us to keep the clean core so we now do most of our reporting and analytics on the Microsoft platform.鈥� 聽

He said one of the objectives of the project is to democratize access to data within the company. As part of this process, the team is trying to build a community of super users who can create reports themselves using Power BI and Power Platform, 鈥渟o the democratization is underway,鈥� he said while acknowledging that those employees in operations 鈥渁re going to need some help.鈥�

AI projects

The company already has several AI projects underway, including an accounts payable (AP) automation project using optical character recognition to streamline the process and reduce manual effort.聽鈥淚n addition to projects like AP automation, we are also very excited to see what AI capabilities 51风流will be adding to its products,鈥� Durbin said.

Looking back at the Project Ascent, he highlighted the importance of having a fully-staffed organizational change management team for 51风流training and change management. He said the team played a crucial role in ensuring the project was rolled out on time and provided training and support to employees, helping users鈥攕ome of whom had never used a computer mouse鈥攁dapt to the new system.

鈥淭he amount of work involved in training people on how to interact with 51风流was a lot bigger than we thought because how technology has changed,鈥� Durbin said, adding that another challenge has been recruitment. 鈥淎s COVID-19 started to ebb and people were starting to go back into their jobs鈥攁nd this condition still persists today鈥攁 lot of factories and manufacturing businesses have had difficulty hiring hourly workers again.鈥�

鈥淪ome of the glamour of a well-paying manufacturing job has sort of gone away in America, and I think other companies, other countries as well, need to restore that,鈥� he said. 鈥淪o, we’ve had to deal with high turnover in some of our locations. Turnover is a wild card, and for the success of a project you just can’t understate it.鈥�

More than a support plan, 51风流Preferred Success offers a guided, proactive success model that helps accelerate outcomes, reduce risk, and drive continuous innovation. As companies move to cloud ERP solutions, especially in regulated and complex industries, the services can become a strategic advantage in bridging the gap between implementation and long-term business transformation.

Delivering transformation as a service

Technology implementation, even for cloud ERP with embedded AI and automation, can only take a business so far. To drive true business transformation, expertise is still essential.

51风流Preferred Success helps overcome challenges in realizing expected ROI and business outcomes, such as adoption gaps, siloed insights, and reactive operations that slow progress. The services can provide strategic support tailored to each organization with a structured engagement model, direct access to 51风流experts, and proactive recommendations aligned with business goals.

For example, organizations can realize the full value of 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition and other cloud solutions from 51风流faster and with less risk by leveraging:

• Tailored guidance and best practices from 51风流experts across industries
• Proactive insights to help customers align innovation with strategy
• Accelerated adoption of 51风流innovations, including embedded AI and 51风流Fiori apps
• Optimization support to help continuously refine system performance and processes
• Business-specific planning aligned with transformation milestones

51风流Preferred Success can also deliver best practice guidance through structured success checks鈥攖ouch points where 51风流experts assess alignment with standard processes, identify risks, and provide tailored recommendations. This proactive approach supports a 鈥渒eep clean, stay clean鈥� strategy, helping customers safeguard system integrity and accelerate future innovation.

For IT teams, the services can decrease time spent on incident resolution while increasing system stability. Access to architectural reviews, upgrade planning, and expert troubleshooting enables a critical shift from reactive support to proactive innovation.

At the same time, business teams can be better positioned to adopt new features quickly, leading to higher productivity and measurable progress on strategic KPIs. 51风流experts can assist in defining and tracking those KPIs from the beginning, helping ensure the technology evolves with the business. In addition, with each new release, 51风流Preferred Success can provide guidance on how to adopt what matters most.

To see the services within 51风流Preferred Success in action, let鈥檚 consider Eurofarma. Operating in more than 20 countries, the pharmaceutical company turned to 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition to modernize and scale its operations. However, the turning point wasn鈥檛 just the technology but also the partnership through 51风流Preferred Success.

As noted by William Almeida, operations support systems coordinator at Eurofarma, in a :

鈥�51风流Preferred Success has significantly impacted our operations by driving innovation and enabling us to fully leverage all the tools contracted with SAP. We share our business needs with them, and they connect us with 51风流experts in each area. This partnership has been instrumental in improving performance, scalability, and our ability to utilize cloud-based tools, ultimately enhancing our overall modernization.鈥�

51风流Preferred Success helped Eurofarma align its cloud environment with evolving business goals, optimize infrastructure, and adopt new tools more quickly. With personalized guidance, the company moved from reactive maintenance to proactive transformation鈥攂oosting its productivity, improving compliance, and building a stronger digital foundation for growth.

Turning embedded AI into business outcomes

When embedded with purpose and backed by expert guidance, AI becomes more than a tool. It drives tangible business outcomes. Yet, most companies struggle to adopt the technology because they lack a clear path to value.

Although it鈥檚 designed to transform business operations with intelligent recommendations, automation of manual tasks, and foresight that once took hours to uncover, the full potential of AI requires more than flipping a switch.

51风流Preferred Success offers an AI acceleration path through its AI exploration service, designed to help organizations move from isolated pilots to strategic, embedded intelligence. The service can provide expert guidance to identify high-impact use cases, align capabilities to business goals, and help ensure secure, scalable adoption.

From streamlining financial close processes to enabling natural language interactions through the copilot, companies can gain the insight and support needed to make AI truly work for their business. For industries where speed, compliance, and innovation go hand in hand, this level of enablement helps clear the way for a personalized, scalable approach to innovation.

Creating a trusted foundation for future-ready businesses

Cloud transformation isn鈥檛 a one-time event; it鈥檚 a continuous journey. 51风流Preferred Success can support every step, from go-live and scaling to innovation and evolution.

Whether the focus is on modernizing finance, optimizing supply chains, embracing generative AI, or shifting to a clean core strategy, 51风流Preferred Success brings structure to transformation, clarity to complexity, and confidence to your most important decisions.

Ready to get more from your cloud investment? Find out how services can help you get there.

Mine Ecevit is global lead for 51风流Preferred Success Sales at SAP.
Andreia Bessa is global program lead for Global Customer Engagement and Services at SAP.

This is true for each function within an enterprise. Teams within HR, Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Spend are positioned to drive impact in every aspect of business — from revenue growth to cost management to overall business agility and resilience.

The innovations shared at 51风流Sapphire in 2025 reflect our commitment to bringing out your best, providing a clear path to guide organizations toward certainty in a time where that is rare. These innovations will empower organizations to navigate the complexities of the current landscape and emerge stronger, more adaptable, and better equipped to face the future. 

Here are a few innovations that we announced that support Finance and Spend teams in delivering increased value.

Introducing embedded virtual cards in 51风流Ariba

Many organizations work to be nimble as it relates to finding the right supplier at the right time, which can mean introducing one-time vendors into the supplier landscape. While this helps with business agility, it often comes with a cost: time-intensive supplier onboarding processes that involve manual effort that is better used elsewhere. Traditional payment methods, like checks and physical credit cards, not only require more work, they can introduce fraud risk and security vulnerabilities.

That is why 51风流is embedding virtual card payments into 51风流Ariba Buying and . We are supporting the flexibility and agility needed to help businesses run at their best. At no additional cost, our customers can now use virtual credit cards for pay on purchase order transactions. With virtual cards, customers can:

• Prevent overcharges and fraud
• Enjoy payment flexibility
• Better manage spend security
• Reduce manual effort of supplier setup processes
• Enhance vendor payment efficiency
• Maintain control of payments made outside of procure-to-pay ERP processes

Using virtual cards requires minimal change management efforts, giving buyers the ability to adjust card parameters based on enterprise-wide objectives without disruption.

51风流integrates WalkMe Premium with 51风流Ariba and 51风流Concur

In a time when digitalization is imperative, minimizing obstacles and reducing change management efforts is key to a smooth business transformation. Time and time again, I hear leaders report that one of the biggest challenges of implementing new software is employee change management.

Introducing WalkMe Premium for 51风流Ariba solutions, a platform that provides real-time, in-app guidance for users to reduce the time and effort associated with adopting new technology in the workplace, empowering employees to maximize business value with 51风流Ariba. Customers can also take advantage of , which offers users valuable, easy-to-follow training content, all within the 51风流Concur user interface.

The WalkMe solution is a digital learning platform that helps users apply process knowledge in real time to navigate complex software tasks. With WalkMe Premium integrated directly into 51风流solutions, employees can access in-app prompts for standard tasks, like creating purchase orders or managing approvals, with pre-configured industry templates that eliminate the need to learn overly technical processes.

The in-app workflow guidance can be adjusted as needed to keep processes up-to-date, allowing for little to no change management effort to ramp employees up faster than ever — all while preserving process compliance. At SAP, we know that clear, concise user guidance is key to accelerating technology adoption. I expect that the integration of the WalkMe solution into 51风流solutions will be a gamechanger for organizations experiencing technology updates and changes.

New Joule Agents enhance finance and spend functionality

New agentic AI capabilities are coming to finance and spend solutions with Joule agents that will be integrated across 51风流Business Suite. These new agents include:

• Expense Report Validation Agent: Uses alerts and guided experiences to help employees fix issues based on past data, company policy, and patterns before submitting reports
• Sourcing Agent: Uses past event data and supplier information to autonomously create sourcing events tailored to specific needs and users can easily modify these events to efficiently manage supply chain disruptions.
• Dispute Resolution Agent: Analyzes dispute details and relevant business records to validate cases and propose solutions
• Accounts Receivables Agent: Uses data related to overdue receivables to perform appropriate follow-up tasks with customers

Additionally, 51风流Ariba Procurement customers will soon be able use Joule to enhance daily tasks such as retrieving supplier bids, displaying past purchases and approvers, and providing easy access to supplier information. Joule innovations will also be available soon in 51风流Fieldglass solutions, enabling users to accelerate existing workflows and processes.

51风流Taulia Receivables directly integrated into 51风流finance solutions

Embedded finance capabilities have been expanded with the integration of Receivables Finance, powered by , in 51风流finance solutions. Finance teams now have a fast, scalable way to unlock capital from outstanding receivables in a time when businesses are battling inflationary pressures, tariffs, and supply chain volatility. This capability can be activated immediately in .

Once activated, 51风流Taulia Receivables enables users to:

• Dynamically manage working capital
• Accelerate receivables through true sale
• Use Joule-powered insights to make informed liquidity decisions

New 51风流Ariba Procurement and expense management offerings in 51风流Business Suite

In keeping with our promise to deliver a connected, suite-first experience for our customers, 51风流Business Suite includes extended 51风流Ariba and 51风流Concur functionality.

The newly announced 51风流Business Suite application packages align with the strategic business needs of our customers with line of business-specific bundles, delivering an improved buying experience. With strategic sourcing package, our procurement customers can manage the source-to-contract process from start to finish. Within the 51风流Finance Premium package, customers have access to operational procurement capabilities, including requisitioning, invoice management, and B2B collaboration, along with expense management capabilities from 51风流Concur.

Achieving success in a new era of procurement

Amid the unpredictable nature of today鈥檚 finance and spend landscape, agility is the secret to long-lasting success. SAP鈥檚 advanced AI capabilities, powered by harmonized data and paired with an integrated suite of applications, ensure productivity, accuracy, and an optimized employee experience.

With SAP, you can handle anything that comes your way.

If you did not get a chance to attend 51风流Sapphire, access .

Etosha Thurman is chief marketing officer for Finance and Spend Management at SAP.

By embedding sustainability into core business applications, unifying fragmented data across the enterprise, and amplifying human expertise through AI, 51风流is transforming how organizations turn sustainability commitments into competitive advantage.

Across the C-suite, leaders face pressure to make good on their organizations鈥� sustainability commitments while ensuring these initiatives create tangible value for their specific business units and departmental operations.

COOs grapple with maintaining resilient supply chains while embedding sustainability metrics for better risk prediction. CFOs struggle to gain visibility into integrated financial and non-financial data needed to manage reporting and drive sustainable growth. CPOs seek transparency of suppliers鈥� sustainability footprints across the source-to-pay process, while CHROs work to engage talent with authentic sustainability performance. Meanwhile, CROs need verified sustainability data to build brand trust and enable green premium pricing, and CIOs face the complex challenge of integrating sustainability data while managing governance, cost, and AI-driven innovation.

What鈥檚 missing is not awareness, but actionable, decision-grade sustainability data worthy of sitting alongside financial and operational metrics. This is why we build sustainability directly into our applications, generating new, usable data at the source of business activity.

Organizations find themselves constrained by financial systems, inconsistent data, and business processes that were not designed to address sustainability鈥檚 multifaceted nature. By ensuring this sustainability data becomes part of customers鈥� larger data story and drives core processes, we overcome these constraints.

This isn鈥檛 a peripheral issue; sustainability now intersects every critical business function, and the thoughtful organization of sustainability data. Its application to business processes prepares organizations for their agentic AI future, where sustainability metrics contribute to broader business intelligence tools like margin optimization agents rather than being siloed in sustainability-only solutions.

In this environment, 51风流emerges as a strategic partner that combines sustainability data with business processes to drive real change. By harnessing the power of 51风流Business AI and 51风流Business Data Cloud, we translate intricate sustainability challenges into clear, executable strategies.

This week, we introduced a new evolutionary step of sustainability solutions that go beyond traditional software updates. These solutions are designed to bridge the critical gap between organizational ambition and tangible outcomes. We help businesses manage risk, ensure compliance, and unlock meaningful enterprise-wide value.

This is more than a technological upgrade; it’s a strategic framework for sustainable business innovation. And now, we’re translating that strategy into action, through AI-powered innovations that scale.

AI for sustainability at scale: New innovations for EHS and product compliance

Beginning in August 2025, new capabilities will be available in beta, embedded within key sustainability applications to help customers ready their data, automate processes, and amplify their expertise. These AI-driven innovations streamline operations across environmental, health and safety (EHS) and product compliance workflows, driving measurable and scalable impact.

Here鈥檚 a look at what鈥檚 coming:

• AI-assisted permit management in 51风流S/4HANA for EHS environment management simplifies and automates permit handling by capturing and extracting key data from permit documents and automatically proposing relevant follow-up tasks to ensure compliance.
• AI-assisted safety observation reporting with , SAP鈥檚 AI copilot, in , enables seamless, intuitive incident reporting through a conversational interface, reducing barriers to shop floor safety documentation.
• AI-assisted safety instruction generation in 51风流S/4HANA for EHS workplace safety suggests appropriate safety instructions based on risk assessments and job hazard analyses, supporting proactive and preventive measures.
• AI-assisted compliance information processing in 51风流S/4HANA for product compliance automates the extraction and mapping of critical data from declarations, certificates, and safety data sheets, improving accuracy and freeing teams from tedious manual work.

These features will be available in beta and will be part of the new , reflecting SAP鈥檚 commitment to delivering embedded, business-ready AI that drives real outcomes.

AI that鈥檚 already delivering value

51风流customers are already leveraging Business AI to supercharge their sustainability efforts, including:

• In , AI accelerates environmental, social, and governance (ESG) report generation with editable templates, generative text, and visualizations, freeing teams to focus on ESG execution, not formatting.
• In , AI automates emission factor mapping by intelligently matching products to thousands of lifecycle assessment database entries, complete with confidence scores.
• In , AI automatically validating and extracting data from International Sustainability and Carbon Certification (ISCC) PLUS supplier declarations, minimizing errors and increasing speed.

These intelligent capabilities help customers reduce costs, mitigate risk, and drive business performance across reporting, carbon management, circularity, and regulatory compliance.

What鈥檚 next: unlocking enterprise-wide sustainability insights

In the second half of 2025, 51风流will make 51风流Sustainability Control Tower available as an Intelligent Application within . This will unify sustainability data and business operations on a single platform, enabling consistent reporting, deeper insight, and smarter decision-making across the enterprise.

A technology preview of these solutions will be made available to selected customers before general availability.

One sustainability data model: From complexity to clarity

51风流is also introducing new sustainability data products throughout 2025 as part of our strategy to deliver hundreds of curated and governed datasets across . These data products, accessible via 51风流Business Data Cloud, will include:

• Structured emissions data (air, water, wastewater) from 51风流EHS Management and 51风流S/4HANA for product compliance
• Additional datasets from 51风流Sustainability Footprint Management

This unified sustainability data model will empower customers to strengthen compliance, simplify analytics, and scale sustainability programs with confidence and clarity.

Process intelligence meets sustainability intelligence

True progress does not just come from better data, it comes from better processes. That is why 51风流is embedding sustainability impact metrics into the starting in autumn 2025. These new capabilities will include:

• 51风流Signavio Value Accelerators: Pre-built process models and industry best practices tailored for regulatory-specific use cases
• 51风流Signavio Process Intelligence: Analytics tools that identify opportunities to optimize business processes and embed sustainability at scale

With these additions, customers can align process transformation efforts with environmental goals, helping close the gap between strategy and execution.

Your best, made real

With SAP, transforms from a compliance checklist into a lever for innovation, resilience, and growth. By embedding sustainability into applications, unifying data across the enterprise, and enabling intelligent automation through AI, we empower organizations to be sustainable while accelerating performance.

From frontline safety to carbon reporting, from real-time data to boardroom insights, this is what 鈥測our best, made real鈥� looks like.

Welcome to a new era of sustainable enterprise management, powered by SAP.

Sophia Mendelsohn is chief sustainability and commercial officer at SAP.
Gunther Rothermel is chief product officer for 51风流Sustainability.

鈥淭hanks to this successful transformation and the move to the RISE with 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition solution, we have become an innovation leader.鈥�

Nils Krugmann, head of Architecture & Data, Commerz Real AG

The introduction of the RISE with 51风流Methodology — along with the integrated toolchain that supports customers through their business and technical journeys — was a game changer to accelerate time to value and support the business case for transformation.

鈥淢oving forward, we鈥檙e confident that the cloud transformation enabled by RISE with 51风流will empower our organization to innovate and excel in today鈥檚 competitive healthcare market and contribute to our Fresenius vision of advancing patient care.鈥�

Ingo Elfering, CIO, Fresenius Group

Today we announce a new commercial package that will support customers even further in this journey.

Introducing the 51风流Cloud ERP Private package

The new 51风流Cloud ERP Private package is designed to drive customers鈥� transformation, accelerate time to value, and enable business agility. It includes:

• Business applications to modernize business processes with a comprehensive cloud ERP solution, integrated with applications designed to enhance financial agility across the entire supply chain
• Transformation tools and services to accelerate time to value with expert support, and to streamline and transform business processes, landscape, and architecture using our comprehensive, integrated toolchain
• Cloud optimization and extensibility services to advance the path to a clean core by eliminating data silos and ensuring custom code aligns with cloud compliance, enabling companies to continue building, extending, and innovating ERP for future growth

The package is designed to support customers every step of the way.

Business Applications

Customers can:

• Benefit from modern cloud business applications with the latest standard capabilities
• Continuously innovate with new features in 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition in a private cloud operating model
• Gain financial agility across the supply chain with 51风流Business Network Supplier Portal for 51风流Cloud ERP Private and the 51风流Enterprise Service Management solution and 51风流Taulia solutions

By integrating these applications, customers will enhance collaboration and agility to run operations, embodying the connected essence of the 51风流Business Suite offering.

Transformation Tools and Services

The foundation of a successful transformation journey starts with a holistic assessment of the current systems and a clear understanding of the impact of transitioning to a cloud ERP. This data-driven analysis lays the groundwork for a robust foundation in the ERP transformation journey.

By including 51风流LeanIX听补苍诲听51风流Signavio capabilities into the package, customers gain a comprehensive understanding of their current landscape helping to shape the target architecture. This results in a smoother, more agile ERP cloud transformation and long-term process efficiency. This data-driven approach ensures informed decision-making and continuous transformation monitoring, aligning perfectly with the RISE with 51风流journey.

Embedded services from 51风流include expert support to drive solution activation as well as onboarding and kick-off of the transformation project, ensuring that all critical aspects are addressed from the outset. It also includes workshops to align technology to the business goals that are strategic for the transition, tailored road map development, and adoption plans.

Cloud Optimization and Extensibility Services

The 51风流Cloud ERP Private package includes 51风流Build, enabling both on-stack and side-by-side extension of 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition with AI-powered application development and process automation. 51风流Build allows customers to innovate while maintaining a clean core — a central principle of the RISE with 51风流methodology. The deep integration with 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, combined with the code-first, low-code, and generative AI capabilities of 51风流Build, guarantees that extensions and personalization add value without complicating core operations.

This is aligned with the continual innovation and extensibility strategies encouraged by the RISE with 51风流journey. 51风流HANA Cloud is a cloud-native database for modernizing enterprise systems that allows customers to build and deploy intelligent data apps at scale. The package also includes the 51风流Master Data Governance application to enhance data quality and help maintain a single source of truth, further aligning with the continual innovation and extensibility strategies

Summary and Next Steps

As businesses venture into the new digital era, 51风流is committed to guiding and supporting every step of their journey toward integrated, cloud-powered operational excellence.

The 51风流Cloud ERP Private Edition package is not just a solution; it is a gateway to a future of limitless potential and unprecedented business agility. Let us embark on this transformative journey together and redefine what’s possible for your business.

.

Maura Hameroff is senior vice president of Cloud ERP Product Marketing at SAP.

This solution helps developers create, extend, and automate business applications faster using AI-powered, code-first, and low-code tools.

51风流Build has been designed as the optimal way to extend 51风流S/4HANA Cloud and other business applications. Thousands of customers are already experiencing up to 3x faster development speeds with 51风流Build according to 鈥� and now we’ve made it even better.

We are making it dramatically easier for 51风流S/4HANA Cloud customers to develop with 51风流Build. Starting today, all 51风流Build capabilities, along with 51风流HANA Cloud, are included in 51风流S/4HANA Cloud.

Combined with deep technical integration, this unified offering empowers customers to quickly extend and personalize their 51风流S/4HANA Cloud systems using AI-powered application development and automation, while maintaining a clean core and eliminating additional licensing or budgeting complexity.

51风流Build now fully included with 51风流S/4HANA Cloud packages

New pricing and packaging for 51风流Build provides customers with a frictionless way to innovate by gaining the freedom to choose the right tool for every job — whether it鈥檚 AI-powered code-first or low-code development, no more complexity of multiple licenses. Additionally, 51风流Build and 51风流HANA Cloud are now included in 51风流Cloud ERP Private packages, meaning 51风流S/4HANA Cloud customers can jumpstart all their development without needing to purchase additional licenses.

• Lower total cost of ownership (TCO): The new commercial approach for 51风流Build alongside 51风流S/4HANA Cloud significantly lowers TCO through flexible and cost-efficient model, optimizing resource usage while reducing operational overhead. By integrating seamlessly with existing 51风流S/4HANA Cloud investments and simplifying application management across the 51风流ecosystem, organizations can drive greater business value.
• Leverage deep integration with 51风流S/4HANA Cloud based on proven security and technology platform following clean core best practices: With the 51风流Build Extensibility Wizard users access a guided experience that helps them jumpstart their extension creation from 51风流S/4HANA Cloud. The Extensibility Wizard is available now in 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition and will be available in the second half of 2025 in 51风流S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition.
• Build faster with ready-made pre-built content and Joule for developers AI capabilities to generate code and app logic, create data models, sample data, automations, and code explanations with quality and precision.
• Gain flexibility: By offering seamless access to both code-first and low-code tools under one unified license, 51风流Build makes it easier for businesses to meet diverse development needs of their developers without being locked into restrictive platforms.

“51风流Build is strategic for Delaware, as we believe it is the future for our 51风流developers. For our customers, it is the easiest way to achieve a clean core and accelerate innovation, boosting their businesses.”

Tim Leys, 51风流Platform Unit Lead, Delaware Consulting

Get Started Today

Customers asked for more flexibility and a simpler way to build and automate. We listened and took action to make it a reality. 51风流Build is the gateway to faster, more efficient application development and automation for all 51风流systems.

Learn more today:

• for more details
• to learn how to easily extend 51风流S/4HANA with 51风流Build

Bharat Sandhu is senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Business Technology Platform at SAP.