With the����1H 2026 release,��we’re��deepening those connections across the HR lifecycle. This release focuses on��four��core priorities:��connected,��suite-wide��AI; unified experiences that adapt to how organizations work;��processes designed for clarity, accuracy, and compliance; and stronger foundations for skills and long-term growth.��Together, these innovations help organizations��anticipate��needs earlier, reduce friction in daily work, and move forward with greater confidence.��

Connected AI that works across HCM

AI in HR delivers the greatest impact when it works continuously across the entire workforce lifecycle—not as isolated features, but as connected capabilities that share context and insight.

The 1H 2026 release expands��suite-wide��agentic AI��across 51����SuccessFactors solutions, helping��employees��get clearer answers, act sooner, and keep��work moving��across roles and responsibilities.��A connected network of����now supports areas such as recruiting, workforce administration, payroll, learning, performance, and talent development—working together behind the scenes to help��anticipate��next steps and surface relevant guidance.

This release also introduces a growing��workforce knowledge network, bringing trusted external expertise and research directly into the flow of work through Joule.��Teams can now access expert-backed global employment guidance and��research-driven��insights without leaving their workflows—supporting��faster, more��confident decisions.

To��further��support learning in the flow of work,��intelligent Q&A in����now helps employees find information more easily. AI��can deliver instant,��context-aware��responses drawn directly from an organization’s learning content,��along with relevant links and resources,��so employees can get answers quickly without searching through courses or documentation.��

Unified experiences that adapt to how work gets done��

As HR��tasks��become more embedded in��day-to-day work, experiences need to feel intuitive, connected, and responsive��wherever work happens. In the 1H 2026 release,��51����SuccessFactors solutions continue to unify experiences across the suite, giving employees, managers, and HR teams what they need��in��the moment.��

• Connected recruiting and onboarding:��Native integration between�� solutions, , and����can bring AI-enabled��recruiting, core HR, and onboarding together into a single, continuous experience, helping hiring teams move faster while��maintaining��consistency from candidate through new hire.��

• Tailored experiences,��built faster:��The new��extensibility wizard��can provide guided, step-by-step support for creating custom extensions on����(51����BTP) directly within��SAP��SuccessFactors solutions, making it easier to adapt experiences to unique business needs while preserving governance.��
• Simpler, clearer employee moments:��A redesigned, configurable 401(k) experience��in����for U.S.��employees helps simplify enrollment and management by clearly explaining employer contributions and guiding deferrals and beneficiary setup, helping employees make informed decisions with confidence.��

Processes designed for clarity, accuracy, and compliance��

In the 1H 2026 release, 51����SuccessFactors introduces new capabilities that help organizations bring greater clarity and rigor to pay practices.

With��pay��transparency insights��in the , organizations can analyze compensation patterns and potential pay gaps, supporting transparent, data-driven pay practices in-line with evolving regulatory expectations,��including in the EU.��

Skills governance��for sustainable growth��

Preparing for��what’s��next requires trusted, consistent skills data that organizations can rely on across HR, talent, and workforce planning.

In the 1H 2026 release,��we are��strengthening��the����with enhanced��skills governance, providing a centralized interface to help manage skills, apply governance standards, and ensure alignment across 51����SuccessFactors solutions and partner applications. This helps organizations improve��skills��data quality, maintain consistency at scale, and make more confident,��skills-based��decisions.��

A connected foundation for the future 

This��release��reinforces��SAP’s continued focus on an intelligent, connected HCM��foundation—one designed to evolve with your organization and support confident decisions at every stage of work. By bringing together data, AI, and experiences across the HR lifecycle, these��enhancements help organizations reduce friction today while��laying��the groundwork for��tomorrow.

To explore what’s included in this release, check out the or watch the overview .

Bianka Woelke is group vice president and head of Application Product Management for 51����SuccessFactors.

Today, we’re announcing that is now integrated with , working to deliver a unified experience, connected data, and integration with AI companion and to embed intelligent assistance directly into hiring workflows to help teams move faster, make better decisions, and deliver better candidate experiences. This integration, following SAP’s acquisition of SmartRecruiters in September 2025, establishes the foundation for a fully connected talent architecture, where hiring decisions, skills intelligence, and workforce planning can operate as one system.

Advancing intelligent hiring with SmartRecruiters for 51����SuccessFactors

The solution can deliver a consistent, end-to-end hiring experience designed to meet the scale, speed, and intelligence requirements of modern organizations. By combining intuitive workflows with embedded AI, recruiters can eliminate repetitive administrative tasks and focus on higher value interactions, while candidates move through a streamlined, personalized journey from first touch to offer.

The integration with 51����SuccessFactors HCM builds on these capabilities by connecting hiring processes to the full employee lifecycle and the broader business, helping to ensure that every hiring decision is grounded in real-time data and organizational context. Designed for scale, SmartRecruiters for 51����SuccessFactors helps set the foundation for a complete intelligence layer across hiring and HR, with people, job, and organizational data flowing seamlessly between 51����and SmartRecruiters.

Organizations can gain a more predictable hiring process with streamlined workflows, consistent tools, and shared real-time data across each hiring stage. They can expect:

• Single login: one entry point into 51����SuccessFactors and SmartRecruiters for recruiters, hiring managers, and approvers
• Unified navigation: a seamless experience across 51����SuccessFactors and SmartRecruiters to help reduce complexity and speed up adoption
• Aligned data: synchronized people, job, and organizational data that flows between systems, helping to ensure accuracy and consistency end to end

In practice, core organizational data like job families, cost centers, and locations can flow automatically from 51����SuccessFactors into SmartRecruiters, helping to eliminate manual entry and inconsistencies. New roles open with these attributes already applied, and user management is just as smooth: recruiters, hiring managers, and approvers created in 51����SuccessFactors appear in SmartRecruiters with the right permissions, helping to reduce errors and keep approval flows and reporting clean. As integration deepens, hiring becomes fully connected to core HR and workforce systems, creating a unified, trusted foundation for talent decisions across the enterprise.

With the enhanced benefits of SmartRecruiters for 51����SuccessFactors, simple and flexible integration paths are now available for customers currently using the 51����SuccessFactors Recruiting solution. 51����will continue to honor all contracts, and customers will not be required to migrate.

Integration that activates enterprise‑ready AI

With SAP’s continued investment, SmartRecruiters for 51����SuccessFactors is evolving quickly, bringing AI-driven innovation to every part of the hiring experience. High-volume hiring can become high-quality hiring through AI-assisted workflows, including intuitive applications, automated scheduling, intelligent matching, and streamlined interview feedback.

Beginning in 2026, Winston and SAP’s generative AI solution will work together as connected agents. Additionally, new protections such as fraud detection, enhanced consent management, and applicant data transferability will help embed trust in the hiring cycle, strengthening both system integrity and candidate confidence.

From talent acquisition to talent readiness

As organizations look beyond filling roles to building future-proof capabilities, intelligent hiring becomes just one part of a broader talent strategy. The power of integration delivered by SmartRecruiters for 51����SuccessFactors extends beyond hiring, creating a connected, AI-enabled talent experience across the entire 51����SuccessFactors HCM suite and, ultimately, . This is how organizations become skills-ready: hiring decisions tied to outcomes, and employees supported with clear paths to grow and contribute.

See SmartRecruiters for 51����SuccessFactors in action:��Catch the����of our March 5 webinar – “The Future of Intelligent Hiring” – to explore how 51����is redefining hiring, talent orchestration, and long-term workforce strategy.

Lara Albert is chief marketing officer, 51����SuccessFactors.
Rebecca Carr is CEO of SmartRecruiters, an 51����company.

Attracting and hiring the best talent is more important and more competitive than ever before. According to the , 70% of organizations plan to hire new staff with emerging in-demand skills by 2030. Yet, more than three-quarters of board members and C-suite executives regard skills and talent availability as a for their organizations.

The message is clear: hiring isn’t just an HR challenge. It’s a business imperative.��

With SAP’s recent acquisition of SmartRecruiters, we are thrilled about the opportunity to help our customers face this challenge head-on. As entrepreneurs and business leaders, we’ve been at the forefront of innovation in the HCM market, and we recognize that we are at a pivotal moment that demands more than incremental improvements. Together, we’re excited to deliver bold innovation and flexibility to help our customers not only attract and hire top talent, but to continuously nurture that talent to learn, grow, and push the boundaries of what is possible.��

Uniting talent acquisition and HCM leadership

51����SuccessFactors HCM is an AI-enabled global suite of HR solutions, expanding across core HR and payroll, talent management, employee experience, analytics, and more. SmartRecruiters is a leading recruiting AI company with the mission of making hiring easy and deep expertise in high-volume recruiting, recruitment automation, and AI-enabled candidate sourcing, experience, and engagement.

Individually, we have led the way in building robust talent acquisition software to empower thousands of organizations to attract, engage, and hire the best talent. United, we are amplifying our impact.

Combining the scale of 51����SuccessFactors, the depth of 51����Business AI, and the expertise of SmartRecruiters will result in robust benefits for our customers.

• User-friendly interfaces and seamless workflows will provide improved decision-making, reduced time-to hire, and better experiences for candidates, hiring managers, and recruiters.
• Enhanced AI-enabled recruiting and hiring capabilities will deliver faster, smarter, and more equitable recruiting experiences — all with the relevant, reliable, and responsible approach of 51����Business AI. We will be able to enhance our ability to deliver intelligent candidate recommendations, predictive hiring insights, and personalized candidate experiences.
• The benefits of bringing our products together extend beyond the hiring process. A single system of record and harmonized data across SmartRecruiters and 51����SuccessFactors will provide rich insights into talent pools, hiring bottlenecks, and workforce planning — because talent acquisition is only the start of an employee’s journey with an organization.��

Talent acquisition is no longer just about filling roles. Together, 51����and SmartRecruiters will help organizations build smarter, more resilient workforces that are agile, skills-driven, and ready to meet the future head-on.

Dan Beck is general manager and chief product officer for 51����SuccessFactors.
Rebecca Carr is CEO of SmartRecruiters, an 51����company.

The SmartRecruiters platform, known for its intuitive user experience and seamless workflows, will now be integrated with the 51����SuccessFactors Human Capital Management (HCM) suite. This addition to the 51����SuccessFactors portfolio will make it easier for enterprises to manage the entire hiring lifecycle, from sourcing to onboarding, with enhanced AI-enabled recruiting capabilities that result in faster time-to-hire, improved candidate experiences and deeper analytics for workforce planning. SmartRecruiters customers will maintain the flexibility to continue using SmartRecruiters solutions with 51����or other HCM solutions.

Visit the . Get 51����news via  and .

About SmartRecruiters

SmartRecruiters is the Recruiting AI Company that transforms hiring for the world’s leading enterprises. Built for global scale, SmartRecruiters delivers an AI-powered hiring platform that automates and optimizes the entire talent acquisition process, ensuring faster and smarter hiring decisions. More than 4,000 organizations, including Amazon, Visa, and McDonald’s, rely on SmartRecruiters to build winning teams. For more information, visit��.

Media contacts:
Joellen Perry, +1 (626) 265-0370,��joellen.perry@sap.com, PT
Benjamin Nickel, +49 306341070266, benjamin.nickel@sap.com, CEST
Ilaina Jonas, +1 (646) 495-6643,��ilaina.jonas@sap.com, ET
51����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’s 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
© 2025 51����SE. All rights reserved.
51����and other 51����products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 51����SE in Germany and other countries. Please see  for additional trademark information and notices.

SmartRecruiters’ deep expertise in high-volume recruiting, recruitment automation and AI-enabled candidate experience and engagement are considered an ideal addition to the 51����SuccessFactors human capital management (HCM) suite. The planned acquisition will strengthen SAP’s all-in-one HCM suite, so customers have the tools they need to attract and retain top talent in an increasingly competitive landscape.

SmartRecruiters’ powerful, user-friendly interfaces and seamless workflows will complement SAP’s robust HR tools – improving decision-making, reducing time-to-hire and providing a better experience for candidates. Embedded analytics and AI-driven recommendations from both companies will provide rich insights into talent pools, hiring bottlenecks and workforce planning.

“Hiring the right people is not just an HR priority – it’s a business priority. With this planned acquisition, we will help our customers attract and hire the best talent so they can advance their talent acquisition agendas with speed and agility, while lowering their total cost of ownership,” said Muhammad Alam, member of the Executive Board of 51����SE, 51����Product & Engineering. “Customers will be able to manage the entire candidate lifecycle — from sourcing and interviewing to onboarding and beyond — all in a single system to streamline the experience for recruiters, hiring managers and, in particular, candidates.”

Customers can expect enhanced and AI-enabled recruiting and hiring capabilities, making applicant tracking and candidate screening more efficient. Data-driven hiring and recruitment analytics will flow directly into SAP’s existing HCM tools, providing a single system of record and harmonized data for compliant, seamless operations. The SmartRecruiters portfolio will also continue to be available standalone for the foreseeable future.

SmartRecruiters’ Software-as-a-Service solutions and platform enable more than 4,000 organizations globally to efficiently manage their hiring workflows end-to-end, offering a compelling experience to recruiters, hiring managers and candidates.

SmartRecruiters CEO Rebecca Carr said, “SmartRecruiters’ mission has always been to make hiring easy. Joining forces with 51����presents a tremendous opportunity for enterprises worldwide to benefit from our industry-leading approach to talent acquisition. I couldn’t be more excited for the opportunity this planned acquisition presents for our customers, partners and employees as we build the future of hiring together.”

The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. J.P. Morgan served as exclusive financial advisor to SmartRecruiters.

Visit the . Get 51����news via  and .

About SmartRecruiters

SmartRecruiters is the Recruiting AI Company that transforms hiring for the world’s leading enterprises. Built for global scale, SmartRecruiters delivers an AI-powered hiring platform that automates and optimizes the entire talent acquisition process, ensuring faster and smarter hiring decisions. More than 4,000 organizations, including Amazon, Visa, and McDonald’s, rely on SmartRecruiters to build winning teams. For more information, visit .

About SAP

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

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For customers interested in learning more about 51����products:
Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
United States Only: 1 (800) 872-151����(1-800-872-1727)

For more information, press only:
Joellen Perry, +1 (626) 265-0370, joellen.perry@sap.com, PT
Daniel Reinhardt, +49 151 168 10 157, daniel.reinhardt@sap.com, CEST
Victoria Dixon, +1 (703) 288 6020, victoria.dixon@sap.com, ET
51����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’s 2024 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
© 2025 51����SE. All rights reserved.
51����and other 51����products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of 51����SE in Germany and other countries. Please see for additional trademark information and notices.
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