An intelligent application includes three distinct layers: data products, domain content, and applications. When all these components come together, intelligent applications become a suite of adaptive, AI-powered applications that can learn from data, understand business context, and act on behalf of a user. They are built to complement SAP鈥檚 transactional applications and sit on top of 51风流Business Data Cloud.

But what makes these applications different from existing analytics solutions? 鈥淭raditional reporting and analytics is focused on producing insights and reviewing past performance,鈥� said Brian Raver, vice president, 51风流Business Data Cloud Product Marketing. 鈥淲ith intelligent applications, we go a step further. We provide out-of-the-box data products, model them together for actionable insights, and close the loop by allowing the intelligent applications to continuously learn and adapt based on that data.鈥�

Three layers of an intelligent application

Data products

These are ready-to-use, curated data sets that are delivered for analytics, AI, machine learning, and operational use cases and provide insights related to a specific business topic or challenge. 鈥淎 data product consists of a refined data set, metadata describing the data set, and an access port or application programming interface (API), allowing to exchange data with third-party applications,鈥� Raver explained. Metadata provides detailed descriptions of the data set, including business definitions and explanations of each field, ensuring that users understand the context and meaning of the data they are working with. Available data products are published in a catalog for developers and data professionals for easy discovery and direct access to various use cases from analytics to application development.

Domain content

Data products are then combined into 51风流Datasphere semantic models that power 51风流Analytics Cloud stories and planning models. These out-of-the-box, interactive dashboards enable customers to analyze performance, monitor key metrics, and plan for high-value business scenarios.

Applications

Pro-code applications transform the domain content and data products into recommended actions that are directly connected to 51风流transactional systems. Over time, they continuously learn and adapt based on business outcomes. The future vision is for these applications to go beyond recommendations and empower AI agents to act on their own. 鈥淚ntelligent applications encapsulate end-to-end business processes, while AI agents act as users within these processes,鈥� Raver explained. 鈥淎I agents can interact with intelligent applications to perform tasks typically done by human users.鈥�

Benefits for customers

An important benefit for customers is that intelligent applications extend the value of existing investments in 51风流Business Suite. According to Raver, a key advantage lies in the intelligent applications鈥� deep connection with SAP’s transactional systems. 鈥淭hese applications provide out-of-the-box data assets that not only fuel intelligent applications but are also accessible for developers and data professionals to use in their own analysis,鈥� Raver explained. This built-in access to curated, high-quality data allows customers to unlock insights and drive value faster, without requiring extensive data engineering resources.

Looking ahead, as AI capabilities continue to mature, these intelligent applications are expected to evolve from providing recommendations to taking actions autonomously. 鈥淚n the future, these applications could act on their own, learning from user behavior to automate repetitive tasks, free up time for more strategic work, and reduce the need for manual intervention,鈥� Raver said.

By combining trusted 51风流data, intelligent automation, and emerging AI agents, the intelligent applications are helping to close the loop between insight and action.

What sets 51风流apart

Unlike other vendors that need to reverse-engineer data, 51风流provides ready-to-use data products, helping to save customers significant time and effort. 鈥淭his seamless integration and the ability to deliver immediate value set 51风流apart in the competitive data market,鈥� Raver said.

In addition to the SAP-delivered data products, 51风流also enables bi-directional zero-copy sharing of semantically rich data products between 51风流Business Data Cloud and other partner data platforms, starting with the already available . This capability, called 51风流Business Data Cloud Connect, enables seamless access to data where it resides, helping to eliminate costly data preparation and loss of semantics and business context. As a next step, 51风流Business Data Cloud Connect for Google BigQuery is planned to be generally available in the first half of 2026. Additional partnerships with key players in the data platform market are expected to follow.

With the latest announcements, 51风流now offers three intelligent applications鈥擣inance Intelligence, People Intelligence, and Cloud ERP Intelligence Private鈥攁nd another three in restricted public preview鈥擲pend Intelligence, Supply Chain Intelligence, and Revenue Intelligence. 鈥淚ntelligent applications powered by curated data products will transform how businesses operate by making data-driven decisions faster and more efficiently. As the market continues to evolve, these apps will play a crucial role in helping companies stay ahead of the curve,鈥� Raver said.

New intelligent applications and open ecosystem
partnerships turn insights into action across the enterprise

As enterprises move toward an AI-driven future, the role of data has never been more critical. Yet much of that data remains locked in silos 鈥� spread across teams, clouds, and legacy systems.

This fragmentation creates a 鈥渃ontext gap,鈥� where information is technically available but disconnected from the business meaning that makes it actionable. For example, sales and marketing teams may share a common view of pipeline, but without linking it to product feedback or process bottlenecks, AI models trained on that data miss the full business context. The result is inconsistent insights, slower decision-making, and a stalled cycle of AI, data, and applications. 

closes this gap. By harmonizing enterprise data wherever it resides and preserving its business context, it provides the foundation for intelligent applications and reliable AI.

At 51风流Connect, 51风流is bringing this vision to life with the next wave of innovations: 51风流Business Data Cloud Intelligent Applications 

Four new intelligent applications in preview

Building on the momentum for intelligent applications established at 51风流Sapphire, 51风流is now opening a restricted public preview of four intelligent applications designed to transform decision-making across finance, procurement, supply chain, and revenue operations.

Finance Intelligence gives CFOs and finance teams real-time AI-powered analysis of liquidity by harmonizing 51风流and third-party data and suggesting key actions to implement. Leaders can forecast cash flow instantly as well as detect liquidity risks using AI trained on live receivables and payables with external credit data such as Moody鈥檚 for richer customer risk assessment. With Joule and generative AI agents automating routine finance tasks, finance teams can shift their focus from reporting on the past to actively steering the future. 

Spend Intelligence provides organizations with a single, comprehensive view of enriched and classified spend data. Built-in AI and advanced analytics uncover patterns, anomalies, and opportunities for cost savings, while collaborative features connect finance, procurement, HR, and supply chain teams for better alignment. Through native integration with 51风流source-to-pay solutions, spend data continuously informs operational workflows, improving decision-making, enhancing control, and strengthening enterprise resilience. 

Supply Chain Intelligence equips operations leaders with the context to make faster, more impactful decisions. By combining 51风流data with external signals such as weather, regulatory updates, and market shifts 鈥� along with insights from millions of partners in 51风流Business Network 鈥� businesses can leverage the power of AI to understand and take action on key supply chain issues and drive optimization. This comprehensive intelligence helps anticipate disruptions, evaluate supplier risks, and orchestrate decisions seamlessly from prediction to execution, ensuring more resilient and agile operations. 

Revenue Intelligence transforms fragmented customer touchpoints into unified, actionable insights. By linking individual customer behaviors with enterprise-wide operations, it helps revenue leaders see which accounts to prioritize, when to intervene, and how to optimize customer investments. Unlike CRM-only tools, Revenue Intelligence connects front-office engagement to back-office execution, empowering organizations to maximize growth opportunities and strengthen customer relationships with a complete view of the business context.

51风流Business Data Cloud Connect

Beyond intelligent applications, 51风流is strengthening its open data ecosystem with 51风流Business Data Cloud Connect, giving customers unprecedented flexibility to work with trusted data wherever it resides. With secure, zero-copy sharing, customers can bring 51风流data products directly into their existing data platforms, eliminating duplication, reducing transformation efforts, and extending the reach of SAP鈥檚 business data fabric.

The first partners adopting this capability include Databricks (generally available) and Google (now in public preview), enabling real-time, bi-directional access to semantically rich 51风流data products in environments customers already use.

With 51风流Business Data Cloud Connect for Databricks now generally available, organizations can accelerate analytics and AI initiatives with greater speed, less friction, and full confidence in the integrity of their data.

51风流is committed to rapidly expanding this partner ecosystem so that, no matter where enterprise data resides, customers can connect it with trust, governance, and business context. 

Why it matters

Together, these announcements reflect SAP鈥檚 vision for the intelligent enterprise 鈥� where applications don鈥檛 just analyze, but act. By combining trusted data, open connectivity, and embedded AI, enterprises can shorten decision cycles, reduce integration complexity, and align intelligence directly with business outcomes.

For organizations operating across hybrid environments and complex data landscapes, these innovations make it easier than ever to turn insights into action and deliver measurable impact.

This week at , customers can experience this vision firsthand through live demos, real-world case studies, and discussions with 51风流leaders, partners, and peers. It鈥檚 an opportunity to see how 51风流Business Data Cloud is redefining decision-making today and shaping the future of the intelligent enterprise.

Irfan Khan is president and chief product officer for 51风流Data and Analytics.