We believe this recognition reflects SAP鈥檚 continued focus on helping organizations run resilient, efficient, and increasingly intelligent transportation operations in a rapidly changing global logistics environment.

Magic Quadrant reports are a culmination of rigorous, fact-based research in specific markets, providing a wide-angle view of the relative positions of providers in markets where growth is high and provider differentiation is distinct.

We believe SAP鈥檚 placement as a Leader underscores our commitment to ongoing innovation across transportation, logistics execution, and supply chain orchestration.

Addressing today鈥檚 transportation challenges

Transportation operations are under constant pressure, from cost volatility and capacity constraints to sustainability requirements and rising customer expectations. Organizations need solutions that help them plan, execute, and adapt across increasingly complex networks while maintaining visibility and control.

and are designed to support these needs through a holistic, end鈥憈o鈥慹nd approach. By connecting freight procurement, planning, execution, and settlement on a single platform, 51风流helps organizations respond more effectively to disruptions, align transportation decisions with broader supply chain objectives, and support compliance with regional and industry鈥憇pecific requirements.

A platform built for complex, global operations

51风流Transportation Management supports organizations operating across multiple modes, regions, and industries. Built to scale with business growth, the solution is designed to support complex, global transportation networks while enabling standardization and process consistency across operations.

Customers across industries鈥攊ncluding consumer products, chemicals, agriculture, mining, retail, wholesale distribution, and industrial manufacturing鈥攗se 51风流Transportation Management to manage complex transportation networks at scale. Industry鈥憇pecific capabilities from SAP, such as support for automotive and mill and mining operations, along with integration with , help organizations address specialized requirements while accelerating time to value. Dedicated industry business units further tailor go鈥憈o鈥憁arket strategies and solutions to industry鈥憇pecific challenges.

Advancing transportation management with AI

Data-driven decision-making is increasingly essential for transportation operations. 51风流continues to invest in AI-driven capabilities that help automate processes, improve responsiveness, and increase productivity.

Recent innovations include AI-assisted use cases such as goods receipt processing, as well as the integration of conversational planning into transportation planning workflows. These capabilities are designed to help planners and operators work more efficiently by reducing manual effort and supporting faster, more informed decisions across execution and settlement processes. 51风流Joule for Consultants is another recent AI innovation that accelerates solution adoption by offering instant, expert-level guidance and best practice recommendations for solution configuration.

Supporting a connected logistics landscape

Transportation does not operate in isolation. SAP鈥檚 logistics portfolio brings together transportation, warehousing, and business network collaboration on a cohesive foundation.

This includes the recent general availability of , a new solution designed to support regional and local distribution operations by combining transportation execution, warehouse processes, and carrier collaboration in a single offering. 51风流Logistics Management complements 51风流Transportation Management by helping organizations extend standardized logistics processes to satellite locations and growing operations, supporting broader adoption while reducing complexity. 51风流Logistics Management can be deployed alongside 51风流Transportation Management to support multi-tier transportation operations, providing the right tool for each level of complexity.

51风流Transportation Management, together with other logistics solutions from SAP, helps organizations modernize their logistics operations in a way that aligns with their broader ERP and supply chain strategies as they progress on their transformational journeys via or .

Why organizations choose 51风流Transportation Management

Organizations choose 51风流Transportation Management to support complex transportation requirements across global and regional operations. The solution offers broad functional coverage, deep integration across the 51风流supply chain portfolio, and the flexibility to support both advanced transportation networks and evolving business needs.

With continued investment across 51风流Transportation Management, 51风流Logistics Management, warehousing, and 51风流Business Network for Logistics, 51风流remains focused on helping organizations operate resilient transportation processes while supporting both global complexity and localized execution models.

Explore how 51风流Transportation Management can .

Till Dengel is global head of Product Marketing for Logistics and Asset & Service Management at SAP.

*Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Transportation Management Systems, Brock Johns, Oscar Sanchez Duran, Manav Jain, 30 March 2026.

Gartner does not endorse any company, vendor, product or service depicted in its publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner publications consist of the opinions of Gartner鈥檚 business and technology insights organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this publication, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Gartner and Magic Quadrant are trademarks of Gartner, Inc., and/or its affiliates.

The company manages an extensive portfolio of more than 125,000 products. Despite its strong market position, digitalizing procurement across diverse customer environments remains a key challenge, particularly in e-procurement, where large customers often have very different requirements, even when market standards exist.

To address this, W眉rth recognized the need to better connect procurement processes and now collaborates closely with leading e-procurement systems and platforms. The company has driven the harmonization of customer processes and ensured seamless onboarding to . At the same time, W眉rth actively supports its customers in harmonizing and digitalizing their own internal workflows.

As the world鈥檚 largest procurement platform, 51风流Business Network enables more efficient procurement and automated order processing and provides end-to-end transparency across the purchase-order鈥憈o鈥慽nvoice flow between W眉rth and participating customers. This scope involves purchasing orders, delivery confirmation, and invoices, with exceptions managed through clearly defined workflows.

Save time and boost efficiency: seven minutes saved per order

Manual processing of orders, sent as PDFs or via non鈥慽ntegrated channels, creates disproportionate effort, especially in relation to the order value, since indirect materials often involve smaller order values with many order items.

 With automation, W眉rth saves approximately seven minutes per order on average — approximately 490,000 minutes annually or about 8,167 hours. The platform enables digital order transmission, catalog exchange, and automated invoice matching, materially improving process efficiency.

Seamless customer purchasing journey

With around 3,000 sales representatives in Germany, more than 600 pick-up branches, and numerous on-site storage solutions, including automated dispensing machines, W眉rth offers customers a truly omnichannel purchasing experience. Through 51风流Business Network, all these touchpoints can be seamlessly integrated, giving customers that adopt this approach full transparency, as every order becomes visible directly within their own system.

One construction industry leader worked with W眉rth to integrate dispensing machines and branch pick鈥憉ps into 51风流Business Network, digitalizing its procurement processes. This integration has largely eliminated manual activities in day鈥憈o鈥慸ay order handling of standard processes. Exceptions are automatically identified and routed through defined workflows, while payment instructions are triggered once the purchase order, goods confirmation, and invoice are successfully matched.

Stronger supplier-customer partnership

Beyond operational savings and improved collaboration, W眉rth enhances the customer experience through near-real-time integration across procurement, invoicing, and logistics. Digitalized procurement processes help meet customer requirements more reliably and further strengthen the supplier-customer partnership.

To see how W眉rth streamlined procurement with 51风流Business Network and significantly reduced manual effort, .

But what happens when the bill comes due, so to speak, from local jurisdictions? How may a business transact commerce globally while adhering to an emerging set of electronic-invoicing requirements that differ among countries?

Global visibility across multiple tiers of the supply chain

As global supply chains weather shifting tariff policies, geopolitical tensions, and climate events, business leaders have turned to cloud-based business networks to instill operational resilience, extend transparency, and foster collaboration. The convergence of data, applications, and artificial intelligence capabilities enable businesses to manage supply chains, procurement, logistics, asset maintenance, working capital, dynamic discounting, and other crucial interdependencies with comprehensive reach. Yet just as digital platforms foster connected commerce, they also facilitate regulatory oversight of the very same activity. That which simplifies business processes can at the same time invite complexity in the regulations governing them, particularly when the fine print varies by jurisdiction. Call it a paradox of procurement, or an irony of the intelligent enterprise.

The proliferation of legislation mandating electronic invoicing reflects a desire on the part of governments to bolster tax compliance, streamline financial reporting, combat fraud, and document the ethical sourcing of product components. To aid with compliance in the jurisdictions where they transact, can support buyers and suppliers alike with the necessary workflows for invoice generation, submission, receipt, and storage鈥攁ll while safeguarding otherwise confidential data. Our prioritizes business-to-business collaboration by providing localization support for 41 countries, tailoring requested data to required format, and connecting businesses directly with trading partners and tax authorities. 51风流Business Network can integrate seamlessly with government electronic-invoicing portals through partners as well as through .

Electronic-invoicing capabilities take shape around emerging legislation

Already in 2026, new electronic-invoicing mandates have taken effect in , , and , with the and set to follow suit later in the year. Though it takes shape differently around the world, the trend toward electronic invoicing is unmistakable. Requirements range from periodic reporting to continuous transparency, from preapproval of transactions by tax authorities to notification after the fact, from country-specific formats to , and so on. In India, Malaysia, and Romania, for example, suppliers must clear invoices with tax authorities, whereas in Belgium, Germany, and Japan invoices must conform to a particular format. In France and the United Arab Emirates, meanwhile, a specific platform or network must be engaged. requires businesses to issue and receive invoices via its Sistema di Interscambio (SDI) platform, using a country-specific XML format called FatturaPA. By contrast, permits UBL, CII, and ZUGFeRD formats but takes an ambivalent approach as to method of transmission.

For each of these countries, 51风流Business Network can provide a solution. Connectivity to Italy鈥檚 SDI portal is natively embedded, obviating any need for additional licensing. For Germany, invoices sent through 51风流Business Network arrive in the UBL format. Organizations with a license for the cloud edition of the can even receive invoices originating outside 51风流Business Network, such as via e-mail or the pan-European Peppol procurement system.

Not only can 51风流Business Network accommodate the different formats set into law, but other invoicing attributes as well. Consider the obligation to archive. In Germany, invoices must be kept on hand for eight years. In France, it鈥檚 a decade. Elsewhere, mandates vary or may not apply. 51风流Business Network offers the flexibility to match business rules, or the parameters set by organizations within which transactions may proceed with trading partners, to all manner of regulatory requirements. This can prove especially valuable with orchestrating documents and processes that span sourcing, procurement, and finance鈥攃orporate functions that, prior to the advent of cloud-based networks, had often operated in relative isolation. 51风流Business Network can also provide businesses with the end-to-end visibility and鈥攅qually important鈥攖he analytics to assess performance, gauge against benchmarks, and identify opportunities for growth and collaboration.

For the emerging set of electronic-invoicing mandates across the globe and other compliance-related processes, . That鈥檚 because no matter where commerce takes place or in which local currency, C-suite leaders understand one thing is priceless: peace of mind. Only a cloud-based network supple enough to carry out operational processes on a global scale yet sufficiently nimble to adhere strictly to electronic-invoicing requirements and other regulations that typically arise on a national level can instill the confidence that businesses need to thrive in these turbulent times.

Learn how 51风流Business Network can by streamlining business processes, increasing visibility, and connecting to new buyers.

J枚rn Keller is executive vice president and chief product officer for 51风流Business Network.

At , I moderated a roundtable with supply chain and transformation leaders from Toyota, L鈥橭r茅al, Owens Corning, Ecolab, American Airlines, and Bayer. Across industries, one theme was clear: transformation succeeds when it is grounded in clarity, centered on people, and focused on customer impact.

If you can鈥檛 name the problem, don鈥檛 buy the technology

The most effective transformations begin with a clear articulation of the problem to be solved, the value at stake, and the outcomes expected. Too often, organizations chase new technology simply because it is available or gaining attention, not because it is tied to a specific business need. However, technologies like AI only deliver value when applied to well-defined business challenges.

Tying initiatives to measurable outcomes helps secure leadership alignment and supports change management. Clarity creates focus and helps teams understand why transformation matters. At its foundation, successful transformation rests on three pillars: people, process, and technology, all powered by high-quality data.

AI is only as smart as the network behind it

As supply chains become more complex, multi-tier visibility has moved from a nice-to-have to a requirement. Many of the biggest risks today, including regulatory exposure, disruptions, and cost volatility, originate deep in the supply chain, often beyond direct supplier relationships.

AI has emerged as a powerful enabler, but only when supported by trusted, shared data. More than half of the data needed to drive intelligent supply chains sits outside an organization鈥檚 four walls. Without visibility across trading partners, AI鈥檚 impact is limited.

Standardization also surfaced as a recurring theme during our roundtable conversation. While one-size-fits-all approaches rarely work, excessive customization slows progress and undermines scale. Leading organizations are finding a balance by standardizing where it drives speed and consistency, while allowing flexibility where it creates meaningful value.

Transformation doesn鈥檛 fail on technology, it fails on trust

Technology may enable transformation, but people determine whether it succeeds. Change management remains a critical factor, and even well-designed initiatives can stall if employees do not understand the purpose or feel threatened by the change.

Clear communication, local champions, and ongoing engagement help build trust and momentum. Leaders emphasized the importance of reinforcing that technology is designed to elevate roles by removing manual work and enabling employees to focus on higher-value activities, instead of replacing them. Being honest about what is working, what isn鈥檛, and when to pivot builds credibility and keeps teams engaged over the long term.

Customer-centric supply chains don鈥檛 happen by accident

A significant shift underway is the move from inward-facing efficiency to explicit customer-centricity. Many supply chain organizations historically assumed their work benefited customers without clearly articulating how.

Today, customer impact is a unifying principle. Whether serving consumers, passengers, farmers, or B2B customers, supply chains are increasingly recognized as drivers of experience, reliability, and brand trust.

Customer collaboration is also playing a larger role in transformation. Sharing data and aligning processes across networks creates shared value and unlocks differentiated services. Progress must be communicated in terms customers care about鈥攏ot internal metrics, but outcomes that improve service, speed, and transparency.

What the best transformation leaders do differently

Coming out of our conversation, the strongest transformation leaders shared a few defining traits:

• They pivot quickly when something isn鈥檛 working. Rather than protecting sunk costs or rigid plans, they recognize when assumptions change and adjust course. Speed and adaptability often matter more than perfection.
• They invest in people as intentionally as they invest in platforms. Adoption requires time, training, and leadership attention. Workforce readiness is treated as a core deliverable, not a side effort.
• They celebrate progress. Visible milestones help sustain momentum and reinforce positive behavior throughout a long transformation journey.
• They hold themselves accountable for real value creation. Success metrics are defined early and tracked consistently, whether financial, operational, or customer driven.

Turning ambition into measurable impact

What stood out most from my conversation at NASCES25 was the shared recognition that transformation is no longer optional. Supply chain leaders are embracing bold ambitions, people-centered change, and customer-focused innovation to turn intent into measurable impact.

plays a critical role in this journey by helping organizations connect processes, partners, and data across the value chain to improve visibility, resilience, and decision-making at scale. And beyond the network, helps orchestrate people, processes, and technology end-to-end鈥攅nabling leaders to move from intent to impact with integrated planning, execution, and insights that can drive real operational transformation.

To hear more directly from the leaders shaping this future, I encourage you to watch the and continue the conversation on how supply chains can lead meaningful transformation.

Keith Baranowski is global head of Sales for 51风流Business Network.

Building resilience and control across every category of spend

Organizations are under increasing pressure to manage costs, improve agility, and drive measurable outcomes. SAP鈥檚 connected and intelligence-driven source-to-pay suite is designed to help customers meet these challenges head on.

51风流Ariba solutions can deliver broad and deep functionality across the full source-to-pay lifecycle, spanning sourcing, contracting, procurement, invoicing, and supplier management. With the industry鈥檚 largest supplier network, 51风流enables buyers and suppliers to collaborate with confidence, consistency, and scale.

SAP鈥檚 investment priorities: platform modernization and agentic AI innovation

Rather than reflecting external judgments, SAP鈥檚 strategic focus is centered on advancing its platform foundation, AI capabilities, and user experience to help customers operate with greater intelligence and agility. Our long鈥憈erm investments concentrate on three core areas:

Modernizing the platform for the future

A platform update arriving in 2026 will complete the modernization of SAP鈥檚 technical architecture. This modernized foundation can deliver greater extensibility, improved performance, and faster delivery of innovation, particularly in agentic and generative AI.

Built as an AI-native architecture, the next-generation platform can embed intelligence directly into workflows to help anticipate needs, guide decision-making, and automate actions across the entire source-to-pay process. This positions 51风流to deliver the first truly AI-native source-to-pay suite built for the future of procurement.

Expanding intelligence with Joule

plays a central role in bringing intelligence and insight to every stage of the source-to-pay process. Joule鈥檚 advanced AI agents can help automate tasks, support decision-making, enhance compliance, and unlock new productivity across sourcing, procurement, and supplier collaboration.

Reimagining the user experience

51风流is delivering an updated, consistent UI/UX across 51风流applications. For procurement teams, this means smoother navigation, modernized interfaces, and enriched contextual intelligence, including enhanced supplier 360 profiles and strengthened collaboration capabilities.

Strengthening global scale and operational flexibility

51风流continues to demonstrate industry-leading global scale, supporting high-volume transactions and diverse compliance requirements across regions and industries. With multiple cloud deployment options across major hyperscalers and a robust portfolio of security and regulatory certifications, including FedRAMP, customers can operate confidently wherever they do business.

Connected solutions across 51风流Business Network and the intelligent suite

51风流Business Network remains the largest supplier network in the source-to-pay market, spanning more than 190 countries. SAP鈥檚 broader spend ecosystem鈥攊ncluding innovations such as , , and 鈥攅nables organizations to unify data, intelligence, and processes across sourcing, procurement, invoicing, and spend management.

Importantly, SAP鈥檚 capabilities extend well beyond traditional source-to-pay. Through connected solutions covering travel and expense, contingent workforce management, external labor, and additional spend categories, 51风流provides a truly comprehensive spend management platform that can deliver visibility and control across the full spectrum of enterprise spend.

As organizations increasingly operate in heterogeneous application landscapes, 51风流helps deliver openness, security, and extensibility so customers can maintain cohesive and connected processes throughout 51风流and non-51风流environments.

Customer impact: outcomes that scale

Customers across industries and regions continue to demonstrate what鈥檚 possible with SAP鈥檚 source-to-pay solutions. Organizations report meaningful improvements in areas such as compliance, cost optimization, supplier collaboration, operational efficiency, and workforce productivity鈥攆rom managing millions of invoices to running global sourcing initiatives to scaling AI-powered automation across distributed operations.

51风流remains deeply committed to helping procurement and finance organizations navigate complexity with confidence. Our investments in platform modernization, agentic AI, user experience, and cross-suite integration are all grounded in a single mission: to help customers achieve sustainable, long-lasting impact.

We’re grateful for this recognition and energized by the opportunity to deliver even greater value in the years ahead.

. Read the full Gartner Magic Quadrant for Source-to-Pay Suites report .

Fang Chang is EVP and chief product officer for 51风流Procurement and External Workforce Solutions.
Baber Farooq is senior vice president and head of Market Strategy for 51风流Procurement and External Workforce solutions.

*Gartner Magic Quadrant for Source-to-Pay Suites, January 21, 2026 – ID G00833291, by Micky Keck, Kaitlynn Sommers, Lynne Phelan, Magnus Bergfors, Alex Brady

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’s 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 and Magic Quadrant are a trademark of Gartner, Inc., and/or its affiliates.

That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 super proud to share that 51风流has been named a Leader in .* This marks the second time 51风流has received this recognition, following our position as a Leader in the 2023 IDC MarketScape.**

We believe this distinction reflects the strength of 鈥攐ur entry in the MESCCN space鈥攁nd the trust placed in the solution by companies around the world. It鈥檚 a milestone that underscores our commitment to helping businesses navigate complexity and build more connected, intelligent supply chains.

A legacy of collaboration

51风流Business Network is the world鈥檚 largest B2B trading partner platform, supporting more than US$6.5 trillion in annual transactions. It can modernize how procurement and supply chain processes connect across companies, helping build stronger, more resilient supply chains and deliver on the customer promise.

The network traces its roots back to the Ariba Supplier Network, founded in 1996. Over the years, it has evolved to support a broad range of supply chain processes. In 2021, we unified our capabilities under the 51风流Business Network brand, bringing together logistics, asset management, finance, sustainability, and talent-based networks into a single, comprehensive platform.

Today, millions of companies across 190 countries rely on 51风流Business Network to digitalize transactions, share information, and discover trading partners. By leveraging AI and configurable business rules, the network helps close break points between buyers and suppliers鈥攅nabling greater visibility, operational efficiency, and compliance across the supply chain.

What the IDC MarketScape recognized

According to the IDC MarketScape, 51风流Business Network鈥檚 positioning as a Leader is supported by several competitive strengths:

• Comprehensive product features and road map: 51风流Business Network offers an extensive range of features and functionality, covering all major B2B collaboration categories, including indirect and direct materials, MRO, logistics, finance, services, and sustainability. The network’s robust future road map enables continuous innovation, empowering businesses to stay ahead in a dynamic landscape.
• Seamless integration and extensibility: The network demonstrates capabilities in integration, connecting 51风流ERP, procurement, and supply chain modules while extending to other ERPs, customer applications, and cutting-edge technologies such as machine learning, AI, and blockchain.
• Global reach and real-time collaboration: 51风流Business Network enables trading partners to collaborate in real time across the globe across a wide breadth of business processes.
• Automation through configurable business rules: 51风流Business Network empowers businesses to automate essential processes by working to define and customize rules tailored to their specific needs. These configurable rules can streamline workflows, enforce compliance, and boost operational efficiency, reducing manual intervention.
• Robust foundation and ecosystem: 51风流Business Technology Platform (51风流BTP), combined with the broader 51风流ecosystem, can provide a scalable and extensible secure foundation for seamless integration across procurement, supply chain, and finance processes.

We believe these strengths, as recognized by the IDC MarketScape, reinforce the value 51风流delivers to organizations seeking to extend their business processes across the entire value chain.

Continuing to innovate on 51风流Business Network

We believe this recognition by the IDC MarketScape reflects not only the strength of 51风流today but also our commitment to ongoing innovation. We鈥檙e continuously enhancing the network to help companies collaborate more effectively, respond faster to change, and unlock new sources of value across their supply chains.

At 51风流Connect, we shared how 51风流Business Network is evolving to meet the demands of increasingly dynamic and interconnected business environments. Built on 51风流Business Technology Platform, the network now offers a scalable data foundation, seamless integration with 51风流Cloud ERP capabilities and third-party systems, and enhanced workflow customization through 51风流Build solutions. This has enabled many innovative initiatives to incorporate Joule across the network, reimagining analytics, automation, and approvals with intelligent capabilities that will be continuously released starting in 2026. 

We鈥檙e also further expanding integration with 51风流Cloud ERP, 51风流Ariba solutions, 51风流Fieldglass solutions, and 51风流Transportation Management to support end-to-end value streams. These enhancements can help streamline supplier onboarding, accelerate issue resolution, and improve sustainability tracking, empowering businesses to operate with greater agility and confidence.

Empowering businesses to realize the full value of collaboration

As multi-enterprise collaboration continues to evolve, we see tremendous opportunity to help organizations unlock new levels of agility, visibility, and efficiency. At SAP, we鈥檙e focused on making this journey as seamless and rewarding as possible.

Across industries, customers are already seeing the impact. , a leading aerospace manufacturer, is using 51风流Business Network Supply Chain Collaboration to improve visibility and responsiveness across its supplier ecosystem. Similarly, , one of the world鈥檚 largest aircraft manufacturers, is leveraging 51风流Business Network to streamline procurement and supply chain processes, enhancing operational agility and supplier engagement.

We鈥檙e investing in education, enablement, and intuitive user experiences to support companies as they expand their collaborative networks. Whether you鈥檙e a manufacturer, services provider, or supplier, our goal is to empower you to connect, collaborate, and grow with confidence鈥攍everaging the full potential of 51风流Business Network to help drive strategic outcomes across your value chain.

A strategic choice for the future

If you鈥檙e looking for a partner that offers both a robust multi-enterprise network and deep supply chain and procurement capabilities, 51风流is the clear choice. Our unmatched integration with core 51风流and non-51风流applications, combined with our strategic vision and global reach, makes us uniquely positioned to support your transformation.

As I shared in my recent article, we鈥檙e entering a new era of supply chain management鈥攐ne defined by connected ecosystems, intelligent automation, and sustainable growth. 51风流Business Network is at the heart of this transformation, helping businesses turn complexity into opportunity.

To our customers, partners, and the entire 51风流community, thank you for your trust and collaboration. We believe this recognition from the IDC MarketScape is a shared achievement, and we鈥檙e excited to continue building the future of supply chain commerce together.

To learn more, visit  and read the IDC MarketScape excerpt .

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

*Source: , November 2025, IDC #US53010225.
**Source: IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Multi-Enterprise Supply Chain Commerce Network 2023 Vendor Assessment, December 2023, IDC #US49948423.

Visibility has always been essential for navigating uncertainty in business-to-business commerce. Yet it is also insufficient. After all, what good is merely seeing across the various tiers of the supply chain if a business lacks the ability to identify available alternatives, shift course immediately, and counter disruption before it impinges on the balance sheet?

At , our customers and partners had an extraordinary opportunity to explore our latest 51风流Business Network innovations鈥攁nd the generative and agentic AI solutions that are rapidly reshaping enterprises鈥� ability to extend N-tier visibility and take the decisive actions necessary to preserve the smooth flow of operations from the dual threats of volatility and risk.

To strengthen every link in the supply chain, businesses need to connect their mission-critical operational processes with those of their trading partners. Doing so enables them to achieve transparency, foster collaboration, drive efficiency, and maximize customer satisfaction. Through the vast troves of operational data that millions of trading partners accumulate in the routine course of day-to-day operations, 51风流Business Network鈥攖he world鈥檚 largest business-to-business platform鈥攊s uniquely positioned to help business leaders orchestrate their supply chains for success, no matter the circumstances.

Today, 51风流helps our customers to accomplish these objectives with a suite of AI-infused supply chain management applications鈥攁ll of them integrated with ERP and adjacent line-of-business applications to connect seamlessly with trading partners. By applying advanced analytics, operational insights, predictive signals, and recommended actions derived from both internal and external data sources, 51风流Business Network has set in motion an increasingly autonomous supply chain.

The innovations underlying it, meanwhile, are accelerating.

To further distinguish 51风流as the leader in enabling supply chain orchestration, I am extremely excited that in the first half of 2026 we will deliver a new product to help provide enterprises with capabilities for issue detection, insight, and action across their supply chains. Aptly called 51风流Supply Chain Orchestration, this new solution will help deliver N-tier insights and transform external and internal signals across supply chains into prioritized actions. These capabilities will rest on the 51风流Business Network foundation, drawing upon master data as well as native AI solutions to help orchestrate workflows and dramatically expand visibility across every tier of the supply chain.

51风流Supply Chain Orchestration can equip our customers with the tools and inference-driven insights they need to help mitigate multi-tier risk, enhance compliance, and bolster decision-support. The goal is to head off disruption before it arises鈥攁nd to offer our customers one of the most elusive yet priceless advantages that anybody can have in these turbulent times: peace of mind.

That鈥檚 why our customers entrust so many of their core operational processes to 51风流Business Network in the first place: for peace of mind, for resilience, for enduring value. Our strategy to deepen that value takes root in our ongoing transition to 51风流Business Technology Platform (51风流BTP), working to provide faster speeds, easier integration, faster collaboration, and continuous innovation on a grand scale, across industries. Our vision takes shape through intelligent applications, network convergence, and unmatched extensibility. Our priority to accelerate the value we make available to suppliers on the network finds example through our innovations that help simplify e-invoicing, expand automation, and facilitate discoverability by new potential trading partners. All these strategic elements take center stage in our product strategy, each of them strengthened by the unmatched generative and agentic AI capabilities that customers and partners have come to rely on from 51风流in our quest to make the world run better and improve people鈥檚 lives.

Couldn鈥檛 join us in Las Vegas? Check out the Supply Chain Connect at 51风流Connect Virtual keynote session, 鈥�,鈥� presented by Dominik Metzger, president and chief product officer, 51风流Supply Chain Management.

J枚rn Keller is executive vice president and chief product officer for 51风流Business Network.

The manufacturer was heavily reliant on manual documentation, which caused delays in accessing and updating critical data and documents, resulting in data quality and compliance issues.

To address these challenges and optimize asset management, LESER sought to establish seamless data integration through a unified single source of truth. After thorough research and careful comparison of options, the valve manufacturer successfully chose to implement digital twin technology with to help optimize collaboration with customers.

Error-free asset data and streamlined collaboration with smart asset management

Relying on a manual documentation process was not only time-consuming but also prone to errors and delays. This was causing significant challenges in accessing and updating critical data and documents, leading to poor data quality and inefficiencies across the ecosystem. Recognizing the need for a modern solution on the operator side, LESER identified the importance of supporting customers with a centralized asset management system. LESER decided to digitize its asset management system by implementing a centralized, cloud-based platform. This platform enables LESER to seamlessly share the digital twin with customers, enhancing transparency and data sharing while continuing to manage internal processes separately.

By implementing the technology integrated with , LESER created a one-to-one virtual replica of each piece of physical equipment and product, consolidating all relevant data and documentation into a single, accessible platform.

鈥淭he digital twin acts as a precise digital mirror of the physical safety valve, enabling our customers to receive complete, error-free, and up-to-date data about the safety valves,鈥� Pierre Draheim, manager of Product Data Management at LESER, explains.

LESER provides digital twins both for new () and existing () safety valves, centralizing all relevant data and documents. Each valve is labeled with the globally-standardized ID link, or QR code, IEC聽61406聽that allows LESER’s customers to directly access and sync product-specific information with their asset management systems, enabling seamless data transfer, documentation compliance, and cost reductions of up to 95% for initial recording.

鈥淏y embracing digital innovation, we have empowered our customers to boost their operational efficiency,” Draheim says. He emphasizes that this not only helps LESER achieve substantial time-savings but also enables the company to focus on core activities and drive greater business growth: “It’s a win-win. Not only us, but also our customers achieve significant improvements in overall productivity.”

Reduce operational costs with real-time digital twin integration

Automating valve data sharing within has made it much easier for LESER operators and service providers to coordinate maintenance, eliminating the need for manual data reconciliation. This automation cuts down on administrative work, helps avoid unnecessary downtime, and optimizes spare parts inventory, all of which contributes to a substantial decrease in operational costs.

By standardizing and digitizing data with a globally-standardized ID link, multiple service providers get instant access to accurate, up-to-date information.

鈥淲ith the introduction of the digital twin and 51风流Business Network Asset Collaboration, we can now automate valve management, making the entire process faster and more reliable,鈥� Draheim says.

Ensure safety and quality through global and regulatory compliance

Making sure safety valves meet international standards at every step requires a high level of automation in managing product data. This is especially important for LESER. 鈥淐ompliance is not just about meeting regulations, but about the ‘rules of the game’ in the industry, which enable an automated exchange of information across different IT systems and stakeholders,鈥� Draheim says.

With such a significant market presence, LESER holds its suppliers and materials to very high standards, ensuring every part complies not only with global regulations but also local rules. This level of care is particularly essential for operators working in industries with strict safety and regulatory conditions.

Beyond setting these standards, LESER keeps detailed records to maintain full transparency and traceability across the supply chain. This integrated approach helps the ambitious company reduce the need for additional level approvals and supports safe, reliable plant operations all over the world. In return, its customers experience improved reliability and confidence in the products and services they receive, creating a positive impact throughout the entire value chain.

Oyku Ilgar is part of 51风流Supply Chain Thought Leadership & Awareness.

Before diving into the heart of the keynote, Steinhaeuser invited 51风流solution area CMOs to deliver lightning-fast recaps of news from the various 51风流Connect event tracks. In just under two minutes each, they covered finance, procurement, supply chain, HR, and customer experience. From autonomous accounting and next-gen procurement to AI-driven talent acquisition and smarter customer loyalty, the message was clear: across every business function.

The real challenge: connecting priorities

As Steinhaeuser pointed out, 鈥淭he reality is each business area has its own unique priorities and, of course, all-important urgent matters.鈥� The real challenge is not just launching new features; it鈥檚 aligning processes, data, and teams to conquer uncertainty and achieve true customer focus. 鈥淪imply putting an [AI] agent on top of a broken process will solve nothing,鈥� he said.

The flywheel: AI, data, and apps in motion at SAP

So, how does it all work together? Enter the 鈥渇lywheel鈥� model: the dynamic cycle of AI, data, and applications that drives synergy across the enterprise. This is not just a theoretical approach. Steinhaeuser showed how 鈥�51风流runs SAP鈥� using the flywheel model.

First, he said, 51风流uses 鈥渞ole-based AI assistants, powered by specialized agents, [to] support team members across all areas of SAP.鈥�

Next comes data. Earlier this year, 51风流became 鈥渃ustomer zero鈥� for (51风流BDC), connecting all enterprise data in a single layer to generate faster and better insights across financial, workforce, and sales planning. 鈥淲e’re excited to go live with the first set of intelligent apps, starting with People Intelligence,鈥� he added.

Finally, the app layer: 51风流has moved from 51风流ERP Central Component (51风流ECC) to and , through RISE with SAP. 鈥淭he 51风流Business Suite is where data is created and where AI delivers impact,鈥� Steinhaeuser said.

But processes continuously evolve with AI, he said, noting that business transformation management, powered by solutions like and , helps 51风流and its customers continually improve processes and architecture, with AI embedded everywhere. The company also uses to ensure employees stay informed and engaged at every step.

鈥淒riving SAP’s own transformation, I understand the challenges you face,鈥� Steinhaeuser said. 鈥淚 am convinced leveraging the flywheel of AI, data, and apps across the entire 51风流Business Suite is how we win together.鈥�

Embedded AI: tangible value, secure, and seamless

Brenda Bown, chief marketing officer of Business AI at SAP, took the stage to highlight how business AI is showing up in day-to-day work. 鈥淚’ve heard three consistent themes in conversations [with customers]: first, you want AI that can provide tangible value; second, that is secure and properly governed; and third, that works seamlessly across your teams and business. We’re here to deliver just that,鈥� she said.

Joule is now embedded in use cases in trusted 51风流applications and is making work faster and easier across the enterprise. 鈥淏y the end of this year, we will have more than 400 of these AI use cases,鈥� Bown said. Joule Agents automate tasks across departments, and the new agent builder in (generally available in December) helps customers extend, build, or customize their own agents. 51风流LeanIX AI Agent Hub and agent mining capabilities in 51风流Signavio provide governance and transparency for AI agents.

Bown noted that customers like Matur Fompack are using Joule in 51风流SuccessFactors to hire faster and improve career development. 鈥淭he results are phenomenal: a 48 percent reduction in HR process execution time and 40 percent faster employee development and career planning, and, most importantly, a better employee and candidate experience,鈥� she said.

For processes that require multi-step workflows and nuanced decisions, 51风流introduced a new generation of role-based AI assistants. 鈥淭hey know your role in the organization, because they are role and context aware,鈥� Bown said. These assistants tap into the right agents for the job, removing any guesswork and helping humans unlock new levels of insight and productivity.

She also showcased how agents collaborate across departments, automate workflows, and even extend SAP鈥檚 business logic to autonomous devices like robots. Early pilots with partners like NEURA Robotics are already showing Joule Agents planning and executing real work in the real world.

Data and intelligent applications: unified and actionable

Data is only valuable when it is actionable. Irfan Khan, president and chief product officer for 51风流Data and Analytics, highlighted 51风流BDC, which unifies enterprise data and powers intelligent applications. 鈥�51风流BDC offers the most powerful foundation for connecting your existing data, building next-generation applications, and the ability to foster and deploy reliable AI,鈥� he said. And the new 51风流Business Data Cloud Connect solution enables secure, bi-directional data sharing with partners like Databricks and Google Cloud.

Intelligent applications bridge the gap between people and AI. They support smarter decisions and collaboration. 鈥淭hese applications learn from your data and include business simulations to support every business leader with smarter decisions,鈥� Khan explained. 鈥淚f we don’t have a reliable data foundation built around trust, having reliable and resilient data, it becomes very debatable whether or not AI will succeed.鈥�

From insight to action: transformation in practice

How do organizations turn strategy into action? Michael Ameling, president of 51风流Business Technology Platform (51风流BTP), demonstrated how 51风流Business Suite helps drive innovation by uniting core applications, data, and AI, all powered by 51风流BTP and Business Transformation Management solutions. 鈥淟et’s say you want to understand and improve a business process,鈥� he said. 鈥�51风流Signavio lets you dive deep and understand every detail, and can suggest concrete actions. Then, use those insights to improve the process in 51风流Build by automating processes and building your own agents.鈥�

He demonstrated how 51风流BTP and the Business Transformation Management portfolio can help organizations connect systems, gain visibility, and automate processes. Tools including 51风流Signavio, 51风流Build, and 51风流Integration Suite are helping customers like Blue Diamond Growers streamline operations and accelerate transformation.

Services and support: accelerating innovation and realizing value

SAP鈥檚 Anja Schneider, SVP and global head of Premium Engagement and Advisory, wrapped up this segment of the keynote by focusing on how the company鈥檚 services and support teams help customers realize the full value of their 51风流investments.

鈥淲e鈥檙e with you every step, like a personal trainer,鈥� she said, highlighting how SAP鈥檚 suite methodology, integrated tools like WalkMe and 51风流Cloud ALM, and expert guidance help customers realize the full value of their 51风流investments. She pointed to IBM鈥檚 transformation project as proof: working with 51风流MaxAttention teams and a clean core approach, upgrades went smoothly with low incidents for more than 150,000 users across 175 geographies.

Customer perspective: Southern California Edison鈥檚 journey

Real-world impact matters. Southern California Edison (SCE) SVP and CIO Todd Inlander shared how the utility company鈥檚 transformation journey with 51风流is helping modernize its foundational systems and optimize back-office processes. Facing unprecedented demand and environmental challenges, the company is leveraging 51风流solutions, including 51风流Business AI capabilities, to transform its operations.

鈥淲e need to adhere to our mission: to deploy safe, reliable, affordable power,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can’t do that by doing things the way we’ve always done. We have to incorporate SAP. We’re using it to transform the way we work in our environment. We need to leverage AI because we don’t have enough humans to do all the work. We have to scale.鈥�

As SCE deploys 51风流Business Suite over the next year, it鈥檚 focusing on keeping a clean core and reducing customizations. 鈥淲hen we implemented ECC 15 years ago, about 66 percent of our enhancements were never used. We’re learning from that experience,鈥� Inlander said. He went on to note that SCE will use the 51风流deployment time to continue to transform its back-office operations. 鈥淲e’ll be integrating Joule and other AI solutions because doing things the way we’ve always done them and expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity.鈥�

Steinhaeuser closed the keynote with a look to the future: 鈥淲e鈥檝e made great progress across all lines of business to deliver a unique experience for you鈥攚ith AI becoming your personal assistant, powered by data that defies boundaries and applications that take insight to action. The cross-capabilities you just saw now make the flywheel spin.鈥�

The future is here, and is powered by the synergy of AI, data, and applications. Every business can turn innovation into impact.

Against the backdrop of the event theme鈥�”Connect Everything, Achieve Anything: Agents, Data, and the Business Suite鈥濃�攖hey set out SAP鈥檚 vision for how 51风流Business Suite, which combines AI, data, and applications, can transform enterprises and deliver unprecedented business value to customers despite global macroeconomic uncertainties. 

Unique times

鈥淲e are living in very unique times,鈥� Alam said at the start of the keynote. 鈥淯nique in terms of the unpredictability we face from a geopolitical and macroeconomic perspective,鈥痑nd also unique in terms of the advancement in AI and the potential that carries for all of us.鈥�  

He added, 鈥淓ven the most significant challenges can be responded to, navigated, and鈥攚hen approached the right way鈥攖urned into opportunities. And that鈥檚 exactly where 51风流comes in. Because the best way to face uncertainty is with confidence that you can see what鈥檚 happening across your business and your network.鈥� 

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The CFO perspective 

His comments were echoed by CFO and Executive Board Member Dominik Asam in an onstage discussion with economist and Berkeley professor Ulrike Malmendier, during which they likened the role of the CFO in navigating today鈥檚 business uncertainties to that of co-piloting a modern jet. 

鈥淎I is the next supercycle and has what it takes to create an effective cockpit for the CFO, including recommendations about real actionable options all the way to autopilot for less critical tasks,鈥� Asam said. He also warned that standing on the sidelines of technological progress is 鈥渁 sure recipe for falling behind in competition.鈥�  

鈥淎s in prior tech supercycles, the entire competitive playing field is being completely reshuffled,鈥� he said.

New products

Building on this theme, Alam noted that while uncertainty is real and isn鈥檛 going away, it can be successfully navigated and turned into opportunities. To help customers achieve this, he announced several new and enhanced 51风流products. 

Among them, 51风流Supply Chain Orchestration is an AI-native application that uses a network knowledge graph to analyze real-time signals across a company鈥檚 multi-tier supply chain to detect risks and issues, such as extreme weather or tariffs. It then helps customers minimize disruptions by assessing the impact of these risks and suggesting alternatives to help minimize disruptions.   鈥淭hink of it like a GPS in your car which selects an alternative route to avoid traffic or tolls,鈥� Alam explained. In addition, he announced a major update to the 51风流Ariba solutions for source-to-pay suite, positioning 51风流Ariba as the most modern platform in the industry and the only truly AI-native source-to-pay solution鈥攁ll built on 51风流Business Technology Platform.

The human-AI partnership opportunity 

Turning to uncertainties over the future of work itself, 51风流Chief People Officer and Executive Board Member Gina Vargiu-Breuer, who is leading SAP鈥檚 own workforce transformation, was joined on stage by Ian Beacraft, founder and chief futurist of Signal and Cipher. 

鈥淎t SAP, we know firsthand that AI is everywhere, shattering norms and transforming the workforce,鈥� Vargiu-Breuer said. 鈥淎nd we as 51风流are boldly steering this shift, as requirements for our workforce are simply changing really fast.鈥�  

Vargiu-Breuer emphasized that a successful business AI strategy also depends on leveraging AI alongside human expertise and fostering what she described as 鈥渁 collaborative human + AI approach, rather than just automation.鈥�  鈥淏y integrating AI’s capabilities with human creativity, empathy, and judgment, we move beyond simple automation into real human-AI power couples,鈥� she said. 鈥淯ltimately, the future will favor those who embrace orchestration, delegation, and creative problem-solving.鈥�

Role-based AI assistants

Echoing this human-centric approach, Alam noted, 鈥淓veryone is talking about agents鈥攂illions of agents鈥攁nd agents taking over everything. We want to talk about people, the roles they play, and the tried-and-tested organizational constructs in place today that are running complex businesses across industries.鈥� 

Reflecting this, he said 51风流is making Joule deeply aware of the workstyle of the person it partners with, their role, and the business process context in which they operate. 鈥淭oday, we are introducing AI assistants, including a receivables assistant for your accounts receivable colleagues, a controlling assistant for your controlling colleagues, a demand Planning assistant for your demand planning colleagues, and an AI assistant for every role.鈥�   Each assistant has agents and AI tools at their disposal to help make the person it partners with smarter and more efficient, Alam explained.

Taking the receivables assistant as an example, he said it can handle collections and dispute resolution today and will soon also be able to help with fraud detection, invoice processing, and payment scheduling. 鈥淥ver time, we will continue to make this assistant even smarter by adding more agents and capabilities鈥攁ll designed to make the person in this role more effective.鈥�

Deep research and new intelligent applications

鈥淲hile efficiency and automation carry potential for great value for the organization, AI鈥檚 greatest strength is in unlocking insights and recommendations based on its ability to do deep research across vast amounts of internal and external data, which is hard for people to do,鈥� said Alam. To address this challenge, 51风流is introducing deep research in Joule, a capability that can research and analyze complex problems and deliver findings quickly and efficiently. 

Following additional announcements, including an expanded set of 51风流Business Data Cloud Intelligent Applications and an enterprise wide, multi-stakeholder engagement orchestration solution in 51风流Engagement Cloud, Alam closed out the keynote by reminding his audience: 鈥淭o create exponential value and to reach the global maxima for your enterprise, the whole matters.  And that鈥檚 what we are focused on: providing you with best-in-class applications, seamlessly and natively integrated across the breadth of finance, spend, supply chain, HCM, and customer experience.鈥� 

51风流Business Suite delivers unprecedented value

The unmatched value of 51风流Business Suite is that it brings together the power of best-in-class applications with a semantically rich harmonized data layer to power high-value AI in a singular seamless experience. It helps you manage uncertainty, evolve your workforce, and break down silos to create amazing customer value.

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.

At the same time, there is a huge opportunity to entirely re-think supply chains with AI and agentic workflows as the powerful transformation agents of the next decade. The lesson is clear: companies that invest in AI-driven applications and reliable data and re-think processes maintain continuity and customer trust, while others risk prolonged shocks, lower service levels, increased cost, and lost revenue.

Today at Supply Chain Connect at 51风流Connect, we are building on the phenomenal momentum of AI-driven supply chain transformations with innovations designed to help supply chain leaders not just endure disruption, but transform it into an opportunity for resilience and growth.

Introducing 51风流Supply Chain Orchestration

In today鈥檚 dynamic market, foresight and a reduced time-to-recover are everything. Business leaders must know where their products are, which suppliers or sub-suppliers are at risk, and how to respond with confidence. Yet, visibility gaps often leave organizations blindsided.

is a new AI-centric solution built to detect potential disruptions early, contextualize risk to a company鈥檚 unique supply chain configuration, apply intelligent impact analysis, and trigger AI-driven actions across planning, logistics, procurement, and manufacturing. Soon, supply chain stakeholders will be supported by powerful Joule assistants that leverage AI agents to strengthen supplier compliance, increase customer service, and reduce revenue exposure.

What sets 51风流Supply Chain Orchestration apart is its foundation on . The solution integrates data from and , providing a comprehensive view across every tier of the supply chain. These multi-tier insights help turn external and internal risk signals into prioritized actions, boosting operational efficiency, compliance, and customer satisfaction.

Set to be available in the first half of 2026, 51风流Supply Chain Orchestration is the next step toward a future where businesses can anticipate global shifts before they escalate with a severe business impact.

Advanced AI capabilities and unified scenario simulations optimize supply chain planning

51风流is enabling its customers to reimagine supply chain planning to become faster, smarter, and more connected with . This evolution of the product combines intelligent automation, a harmonized data model, and AI-driven capabilities to enhance forecasting, streamline processes, and help planners focus on critical decision making.

A harmonized planning area now supports both time-series and order-based planning, allowing users to move seamlessly among strategic, tactical, and operational levels, which ultimately enables seamless telescopic planning. New harmonized scenario simulations reveal the impact of alerts and risks to orders across all planning horizons. Embedded AI strengthens forecasting and inventory management, while characteristic-based planning adds right-fidelity supply planning to optimize stock and capacity matching for critical industries such as fashion retail, high-tech, life sciences, or consumer products.

The new Configurable Planner Workspace provides a unified interface where planners can monitor performance, simulate scenarios, and act immediately 鈥� guided by , SAP鈥檚 copilot, which delivers contextual assistance and actionable insights from forecasts, supply plans, and multi-echelon inventory.

AI capabilities are currently in beta mode and planned for general availability in Q2 2026, while all other enhancements are now generally available.

New Joule Agents accelerate decisions and automation across the supply chain

51风流introduces three new聽聽for supply chain management, designed to automate critical, time-consuming tasks and empower teams to focus on strategic decision-making. These agents embed AI-native automation directly into 51风流Cloud ERP, 51风流Cloud ERP Private, and 51风流Business Network workflows, reducing manual effort and minimizing errors.

• Production Planning and Operations Agent: Automates prerequisite checks for releasing production orders, validates material, capacity, and scheduling, and can recommend workarounds or release orders instantly 鈥� shortening order-to-delivery cycles and reducing costs. General availability is planned for Q1 2026.
• Change Record Management Agent: Supports product managers and engineers by reasoning over problem reports and change requests, recommending next steps, and initiating changes, which improves governance, traceability, and decision speed. General availability is planned for Q2 2026.
• Supplier Onboarding Agent: Streamlines onboarding in 51风流Business Network by reasoning over supplier details, orchestrating invitations, validating data, and handling escalations, which enables procurement teams to scale faster while focusing on strategic supplier development.

With these agents, 51风流is embedding intelligence deeper into day-to-day supply chain workflows, accelerating decisions where they matter most.

Upgrading 51风流Business Network to meet customer needs

Global commerce is more interconnected than ever, but too many organizations still operate with fragmented procurement and logistics processes. 51风流is introducing upgrades to 51风流Business Network, the world鈥檚 largest B2B platform, facilitating over US$6.3 trillion in annual commerce across 190 countries.

• Availability on 51风流BTP: 51风流Business Network now runs on 51风流BTP, providing a modern data foundation and enabling organizations to coordinate deals at scale. It connects easily across 51风流and third-party systems, introduces a unified global directory with guided onboarding, and offers workflow customization through 51风流Build. Joule integration will be available in January 2026, bringing embedded AI to analytics, automation, and approvals across the network.
• Network-centric integration across the business suite: Rolling out later this year, 51风流Business Network will support end-to-end value streams with 51风流Cloud ERP, 51风流Ariba, 51风流Fieldglass, and 51风流Transportation Management. This will accelerate dispute resolution, improve emissions tracking, and enable AI-assisted navigation.
• Simplified supplier data access: By Q4 2025, users will be able to search for suppliers directly from their ERP interface, eliminating manual onboarding. Buyers will gain faster access to new vendors, reducing activation costs and expanding visibility.

Together, these innovations enhance 51风流Business Network with intelligence, reach, and usability 鈥� delivering embedded AI, seamless business suite integration, and ERP-native supplier discovery.

51风流launches new logistics management solution

51风流is announcing , a new cloud-native solution designed to complement operations of large distribution centers with capabilities to support smaller, local, and regional warehouses. This will help establish multi-tier distribution networks that strengthen resilience and increase delivery speed.

Fully connected to 51风流Cloud ERP Private and 51风流Business Network for Logistics, the solution centralizes inventory, shipments, and partner coordination. Unlike standalone tools, it extends ERP capabilities directly to satellite warehouses, drastically reducing manual tasks and ensuring consistency across networks.

Built-in AI capabilities guide operational decisions, eliminating silos and strengthening collaboration across logistics ecosystems. 51风流Logistics Management will be available in Q1 2026.

Doehler, a global producer of technology-driven natural ingredients for the food, beverage, and nutrition industry, will leverage the solution in its warehouses to manage its production sites, samples and spare parts.

鈥�51风流Logistics Management is set to deliver lean process automation and accelerated transformation for most of our more than 50 production sites, sampling operations and technical warehouses,鈥� said Dr. Michael Merget, Chief Operating Officer of Doehler Group. 鈥淲e see its powerful, integrated AI capabilities not as an add-on, but as the core intelligence that will define the future of our logistics.鈥�

Looking ahead

Resilient, intelligent, and collaborative supply chains are no longer aspirations 鈥� they are necessities. Together, these innovations reflect SAP鈥檚 vision for a fully orchestrated supply chain. The next generation of supply chain technology will empower businesses to detect disruptions early, harness data at scale, and consistently exceed customer expectations. By leading with intelligence and foresight, companies can transform crises into opportunities and position themselves to thrive in a world defined by uncertainty.

For more details on all announcements made this week, please refer to the .

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

51风流reimagines enterprise AI with role-based assistants in
Joule that coordinate agents across lines of business

LAS VEGAS 鈥� At its inaugural 51风流Connect event, (NYSE: SAP) showcases how the integration of AI, data and applications creates unparalleled business value.

These breakthroughs 鈥� including a new network of role-based assistants in Joule that partner with humans to elevate performance, an expanding data ecosystem that drives deeper insights and supply chain software that anticipates disruptions 鈥� once again revolutionize how business gets done.聽

“To thrive when volatility is the new normal, businesses need more than a patchwork of disparate best-of-breed applications,” said Muhammad Alam, member of the Executive Board of 51风流SE, 51风流Product & Engineering. “Our announcements today demonstrate the power of 51风流Business Suite, where AI, data and applications come together in an experience to propel smarter decisions, faster execution and scalable transformation.”

AI that Partners with People

51风流unveils Joule鈥檚 next stage as the AI force at the center of 51风流Business Suite鈥檚 value creation. Drawing on the applications and data from across 51风流Business Suite, 51风流is introducing a new generation of role-aware assistants in Joule. Each assistant is designed to partner with a human being in their specific business role. Assistants in Joule tap into the right agents for the job, configuring, orchestrating and managing them so humans can focus on unlocking new levels of insight and productivity.

Supporting the assistants in Joule is a , designed to help execute complex workflows within a specific function. For instance, a People Manager Assistant coordinates a team of specialized agents — including the new People Intelligence Agent, which helps spot and resolve issues like compensation anomalies — to support managers as they drive performance. A new Financial Planning Assistant will be aided by a group of expert agents — including the new Cash Management Agent, which optimizes cash flow and improves interest yields — to help finance professionals drive efficiencies. This new roster of role-aware AI assistants not only partner with people to elevate performance in their lines of business but also work together across business functions to solve complex enterprise-wide problems.

Data that Defies Boundaries

Data fuels AI鈥檚 transformative power but it鈥檚 often siloed in different systems. At 51风流Connect, we are removing those barriers with 51风流Business Data Cloud Connect. 51风流BDC Connect securely links 51风流BDC with partner platforms to enable a bidirectional flow of business-ready data products across organizational and technological boundaries.

With zero-copy sharing, data stays securely in 51风流systems yet remains instantly accessible in customers鈥� existing data platforms, preserving business context without costly copies. The result: fewer silos, simpler pipelines, no duplication — just trusted data products where and when they鈥檙e needed.

51风流also announced that Databricks and Google Cloud are the first partners enabled for 51风流BDC Connect, with more to follow. As announced in February 2025, 51风流Databricks remains a data service within 51风流Business Data Cloud, and 51风流BDC Connect extends its benefits across an open data ecosystem. These partnerships give customers faster access to data products for analytics and AI, helping teams move from raw data to real-time business outcomes with greater speed and simplicity.

Applications that Turn Data into Action

At the heart of SAP鈥檚 unique value proposition are enterprise applications where data is created and AI-driven insights are experienced. 51风流Supply Chain Orchestration is a new AI-native solution that combines the power of Joule with a live knowledge graph to detect real-time risks several suppliers deep and orchestrate a coordinated response, helping customers cut costs and keep supply chains moving. 51风流Engagement Cloud, a new customer experience solution, uses business-critical context to personalize interactions across customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. And our next-generation 51风流Ariba procurement suite stands out as an AI-native solution, bringing intelligence to every stage of spend management, from sourcing through supplier engagement.

Altogether, these 51风流Business Suite innovations mark the beginning of a new era powered by self-reinforcing AI, data and applications that drive intelligence, speed and resilience.

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About SAP

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

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The 51风流Taulia portfolio offers solutions for working capital management and supply chain financing, as well as a network for buyers, suppliers, and financial institutions.

Mehlkopf is global chief revenue officer for Treasury and Working Capital Management at SAP, and is responsible for marketing and rolling out the solutions for these domains to customers.

Q: Three years ago, we announced that the Taulia products would be integrated into the 51风流portfolio. What鈥檚 the status?

A: After acquiring Taulia, we pushed ahead with three main priorities to align with 51风流Business Suite. The first was the integration of the portfolio into 51风流Business Network so that, where suppliers and buyers both run 51风流Taulia solutions, they can utilize the network to benefit from early payment options and supply chain finance.

We also worked on integrating the solutions into and released the 51风流Taulia solutions for receivables financing and payables financing on 51风流Cloud ERP in February 2025. These are particularly relevant for small and midsize enterprises that want to grow and that need quicker payments to do so. The current focus is on the U.S., Canada, UK, DACH, and Singapore markets, with the goal of making this functionality available in additional countries soon.

Our third priority was to embed 51风流Taulia Virtual Cards into 51风流Ariba solutions. The cards enable buyers to pay their suppliers sooner — even before they issue an invoice — using a 鈥減ay on purchase order鈥� transaction. This ensures that the supplier in question has sufficient cash flow to fulfill the order.

Back in 2022, Taulia was described as a growth opportunity for 51风流and for customers. Could you tell us how 51风流Taulia is performing?

51风流Taulia already has several customers that finance billions through the platform, thereby improving both their own liquidity and that of their suppliers. My team鈥檚 objective is to increase that number and to continue scaling up, and we鈥檙e making good progress. Over the last three years, the volume of transactions processed with 51风流Taulia has risen steadily from US$500 billion to US$800 billion.

Customers are benefiting from this progress: one large enterprise in the oil and gas industry saved almost 鈧�700,000 within a single month of going live. Extrapolated to a full year, that鈥檚 annual savings of almost 鈧�8 million. So, the business case for customers is definitely there.

You presented the first AI use case in 51风流Taulia at 51风流Sapphire in 2025. Can you tell us about its value for customers?

The AI use case relates to our 鈥渋nsight to action鈥� approach and helps companies plan and improve their cash flow. 51风流Taulia has already been using artificial intelligence for some time to forecast supplier behavior around early payments. By combining this insight with data from an app on 51风流Business Technology Platform that provides transparency on free cash flow, the AI use case will give customers tips on how to improve their liquidity. It also runs through various scenarios showing them ways to influence it. Information like this is especially important for CFOs — never more so than in times of uncertainty.

Are there any other recent announcements you would like to share?

Yes, another important update is that 51风流Taulia is now part of SAP鈥檚 cloud ERP packages for the public cloud, 51风流Finance Base and 51风流Finance Premium, as well as the private cloud, 51风流Cloud ERP Private. This means that we can quickly show customers the positive business case for their transformation of using 51风流Taulia to improve their cash flow and achieve savings.

In times of global crisis, trade tariffs, and supply chain disruption, why are the 51风流Taulia solutions so vital for cash flow?

Cash is still king, especially in a crisis. An article published recently in German business newspaper Handelsblatt reported that net debt among the 40 companies on Germany鈥檚 DAX stock market index has increased eight percent to 鈧�227 billion since the pandemic. Clearly, financing is a major issue, particularly given that interest rates have risen so sharply. Many companies borrowed when interest rates were low and are now having to refinance their loans at higher interest rates, which puts enormous pressure on their finance teams. 51风流Taulia solutions can help by providing the funding that businesses need.

Given the impact that trade tariffs have on the supply chain, it is vital that companies carry out liquidity planning and scenario analysis. They need to think about where they will manufacture their products in the future, what effect that choice will have on revenues, and how they can use 51风流Taulia to improve their cash flow.

Which reference customers are already benefiting from this?

51风流Taulia customers include Henkel, Airbus, Nissan, AstraZeneca, Kimberly-Clark, and Bridgestone.

One customer has enabled early payments to suppliers totaling over 鈧�5 billion since the start of the program, which has led to an improvement in cash flow of more than 鈧�1 billion during this period.

Your pledge is 鈥渢o create the future of finance together.鈥� What does that involve?

We want to team up with our partners and customers to influence the transformation of corporate finance. That includes working with banks and implementation partners and integrating 51风流Taulia into a swathe of 51风流solutions. Together, we offer customers a comprehensive portfolio of treasury and working capital solutions, ranging from payments and cash management to financial risk management.

One key aspect of our road map is our treasury and payment portfolio, which covers topics such as the future of payments. We are also working to integrate new technologies, including blockchain and digital currencies, so that we can offer our customers innovative payment and financing solutions.

The challenge is clear: without a plan to adapt and evolve, organizations expose themselves to rising logistics costs and limited scalability. To remain agile and deliver on rising customer expectations, companies must move along the logistics maturity curve鈥攖ransitioning from manual, fragmented practices to agile, automated operations.

With four key techniques outlined in our , organizations can accelerate their maturity journey and build supply chain logistics operations that are efficient, resilient, and orchestrated.

Driving efficiency: From manual tasks to intelligent automation

At the initial stages of maturity, logistics operations often rely on siloed and manual processes, such as contracting carriers via e-mail and managing data in spreadsheets. This fragmented approach creates inefficiencies, increases the risk of errors, and limits the scalability of operations.

Improving efficiency starts with the process of digitalization. By integrating enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms with transportation and warehouse management systems, companies can streamline routine tasks like data entry, eliminate redundant communications, and better utilize resources. For example, intelligent operations can optimize transportation costs through load consolidation and mode shifting; enable better planning by reducing reliance on spot shipments; improve mileage and fuel consumption through route optimization; and prevent overpayments with invoice validation.

Automating these processes breaks down the first barrier to decision-making by handing valuable time back to logistics teams. And as organizations mature, these efficiencies become embedded into daily workflows that span the organizational gap across carriers and trading partners. Resource allocation becomes data-driven and adaptive, setting the stage for more advanced capabilities and collaboration.

Enhancing visibility to turn data into actionable insights

Limited visibility is a common pain point for lower-maturity organizations, where shipment status is either unknown until final delivery or only accessible by leaving the core fulfillment process. Without timely and integrated insights, it’s difficult to adjust to disruptions or meet rising customer expectations.

To move forward, businesses must turn insight into action, eliminating data silos to integrate real-time visibility into core order fulfillment processes. This technology enables proactive decision-making, powered by predictive analytics and automation.

Companies can further enhance agility and visibility by optimizing executable transportation plans that align with fulfillment needs. With these capabilities, customer service teams can forecast potential delays or disruptions and create automated customer notifications for exceptions or changes. Improved visibility ultimately leads to insights that can help companies commit to and then deliver on customer promises.

For businesses that need help turning data into action, can unify information from multiple sources to help align transportation management with broader supply chain operations.

Building resilience for the unexpected

In today鈥檚 volatile landscape, resilience puts leaders ahead of the pack. It鈥檚 a prerequisite for success. Mature organizations are built to absorb shocks and continue delivering, while less mature systems are often left scrambling to respond with costly, reactive measures.

Resilient logistics operations are flexible, sustainable, and data-driven. They make quick but methodical decisions when disruptions arise based on embedded analytics and intelligent optimization.

In the face of disruption, mature organizations look for ways to make marginal gains throughout planning, contracting, and execution. They understand that constant incremental improvement creates broader success. This can take the form of optimizing routes to minimize miles or shifting to lower-emission modes or equipment to reduce carbon footprints. These organizations may also examine their load configurations to fit more cases or pallets into a trailer or container, stacking efficiencies across their operation.

With the right tools and processes in place, businesses can transform potential disruptions into opportunities for competitive advantage.

Enabling orchestration by coordinating people, processes, and partners

Automated orchestration is the final step of the supply chain maturity model. Seamless, harmonized coordination of systems, people, and partners is the apex of supply chain logistics maturity. Here, every component of the logistics ecosystem operates in sync, guided by autonomous, AI-based technologies across a unified strategy. Such a high level of ecosystem integration allows organizations to anticipate risk, respond dynamically, and collaborate across their ecosystem.

Achieving orchestration demands connected systems across a unifying platform, real-time collaboration, and adaptive execution across the supply chain. Key elements to enable orchestration include access to predictive, real-time data on shipments, demand, capacity, weather, traffic, and port congestion that enable synchronized optimization, spanning a unified platform for digital transactions extended to a multi-modal carrier network.

In an era defined by an abundance of data yet a perpetual risk of disruption, standing still is not an option. Connecting the dots between people, processes, and partners will help companies stay ahead of potential disruptions and build the foundation for a collaborative, data-driven, and optimized supply chain.

Advancing with the right capabilities

No matter where an organization stands on the logistics maturity curve, the techniques outlined above can drive tangible progress鈥攑rovided the right plan is in place.

can empower organizations to optimize and automate execution and achieve real-time visibility to respond effectively to changing market conditions. Solutions like can further enhance collaboration between shippers and carriers, helping to reduce cost, improve on-time delivery rates, and eliminate friction across logistics processes.

To remain competitive, businesses must chart a clear path toward orchestrated logistics operations or risk being left behind by those that do.

Doug DeLuca is an 51风流Business Network product marketing manager.

In a previous article, I explored how 51风流Business Network can deliver measurable value for buyer organizations by accelerating order cycles, improving efficiency, and generating significant ROI. Now, I’m turning my attention to the other side of the equation: the suppliers.

A recent IDC white paper sponsored by SAP, , sheds light on how business networks can help organizations meet key goals by improving efficiency, reducing costs, and driving innovation. Let鈥檚 delve into the findings and explore how 51风流Business Network can transform the supplier experience.

Cutting costs through visibility and information sharing

Technology plays a critical role in the buyer-supplier relationship. Traditional collaboration tools, designed to bring buyers and sellers together, are increasingly limited in today鈥檚 rapidly evolving technological landscape. To meet new demands, organizations are turning to modern business networks that enable more efficient ways to collaborate with partners.

These networks offer greater convenience, speed, and a broad selection of products and services, transforming how businesses sell products and manage their end-to-end supply chain. To succeed, teams need meaningful visibility into supply chain activity. Discovering opportunities to improve operational efficiencies and deliver business value requires access to real insights across key metrics. Business networks make this possible by enabling end-to-end tracking of orders, shipments, and inventory. This transparency also contributes to stronger collaboration with customers, allowing teams to respond quickly to changes in demand, optimize inventory levels, and maintain more reliable and accurate forecasts.

These benefits can be realized through automation capabilities contained within the platform, bringing further cost savings. For one customer using 51风流Business Network, automated order processing eliminated manual checks and data entry, significantly reducing costs. While manually processed orders cost around $30 each, automated orders cost them less than a dollar.

Beyond order processing, automation and data visibility also improved demand forecasting. Users reported a 19% increase in forecast accuracy, which helped reduce stockouts, overproduction, and production waste. These improvements not only delivered operational efficiencies but also contributed to higher renewal rates and new business opportunities.

Driving value while staying efficient

Automation through 51风流Business Network helps companies reduce manual tasks, saving employees鈥� time and resources while improving accuracy, efficiency, and compliance. These process improvements can also enhance employee performance, allowing them to focus on higher-value tasks that drive better business outcomes.

Tasks like customer support see major benefits from efficiency gains through business network automation. Structured data ensures deeper integration with other systems, allowing employees to quickly access complete storefront and portfolio data to respond to customer inquiries faster. Business networks can also provide better visibility and near-real-time data, leading to faster, more accurate responses to customer needs and boosting customer satisfaction by nearly 37%. These improvements help reduce product turn-times and allow companies to deliver products promptly, benefiting both employees and customers.

51风流Business Network customers also saw invoice approvals and shipping notices processed 50% and 48% faster with automation compared to manual methods. This also led to a 21% increase in on-time document delivery, reaching 91% overall, highlighting the significant impact of 51风流Business Network on operational efficiency.

With fewer errors, faster payments, and enhanced visibility into financial data, automation through 51风流Business Network helps procurement teams do more than streamline operations. It can empower them to deliver the added value that companies have been searching for.

Strengthening and streamlining business development efforts

Strong visibility helps teams understand customer needs and use a data-driven approach to identify new opportunities more quickly. Business networks can even help boost a supplier鈥檚 profile as well, with certification and trust ratings that help bring in more business. These metrics can help translate new opportunities into bigger picture products and solutions.

Process automation and accelerated payments inherently increase customer value by responding to their needs faster. At the same time, they give organizations additional time to reach and maintain more customers to drive growth through new agreements that could allow them to scale further. 51风流Business Network helped customers accelerate their go-to-market speed by 20%, reducing the time from product development to market launch.

Businesses using 51风流Business Network also report that the effects of speeding up and simplifying the selling processes were crucial to overall business success, showing a 36.8% increase in customer satisfaction and a 53.8% improvement in sales administration efficiency. The total annual revenue gain through these means added up to $2 million per organization.

Leveraging 51风流Business Network as a supplier

As companies search for solutions that enable them to build resilient, agile, and sustainable supply chains, business networks have emerged as a powerful tool to meet performance goals, improve efficiency, and comply with regulatory requirements.

51风流Business Network takes this a step further by integrating with both traditional and emerging supply chain management applications. By enabling suppliers to grow their customer base and build stronger relationships through increased visibility and trust, 51风流Business Network helps empower suppliers to operate more strategically and competitively in today鈥檚 digital economy.

The benefits highlighted in this research complement the buyer-side advantages explored in my previous article, underscoring the holistic value that 51风流Business Network can bring to the entire supply chain ecosystem. As we continue to navigate the complexities of modern procurement and supply chain management, platforms like 51风流Business Network will undoubtedly play a pivotal role in shaping the future of business collaboration and efficiency.

Tony Harris is SVP and chief marketing and solutions officer of SAP Business Network.

Amid the ongoing stresses to global supply chains exerted by tariffs, geopolitical tensions and the proliferation of mandates in many countries regarding electronic invoicing and materials traceability, how can organizations best deploy cloud-based business networks and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to extend visibility, steady the flow of commerce, and mitigate third-party risk?

To instill resilience throughout mission-critical operations and those of their trading partners, businesses are turning increasingly to AI-powered cloud solutions to orchestrate complex, often volatile, supply chains. But the sheer volume of transactions and rigor of processing across vast troves of underlying data require that digital commerce be anchored within an infrastructure durable enough to withstand today鈥檚 pace of change yet supple enough to sustain tomorrow鈥檚 scope of innovation.

That is why some of the most significant innovation underway for , the world鈥檚 largest business-to-business platform, involves its ongoing move to (51风流BTP), a shift with profound implications for 51风流customers and their ability to counter disruption.

The cloud-native architecture of 51风流BTP optimizes collaboration and innovation capabilities for organizations large and small, and the platform offers the scalability that 51风流Business Network customers and their trading partners require to perform at their peak as business needs evolve. With its high-performing infrastructure, 51风流BTP ensures seamless connectivity not only between 51风流Business Network and other 51风流solutions but across third-party systems as well.

Meanwhile, as differing regulatory regimes for electronic invoicing and materials traceability take effect in various countries, the built-in security and compliance features of 51风流BTP ensure that businesses can manage multi-tier supply chains while adhering strictly to regional requirements. In addition, ongoing innovation to 51风流Business Network takes full advantage of extensive AI capabilities in 51风流BTP to automate complex workflows and securely augment applications with agentic capabilities.

Facilitating carries the obligation that a business network continually earn anew the trust of the enterprises that rely on it for operational continuity, data security, decision-support quality, and regulatory compliance.

For 51风流Business Network, this means reinvesting on a regular basis in the architecture and infrastructure necessary to accelerate the speed of transactions, responsiveness to up-to-the-minute fluctuations in supply and demand, scalability to support business growth, streamlined integration across 51风流and non-51风流systems, greater extensibility and deeper functionality, an intuitive user interface that reduces complexity and friction, and the most advanced, AI-augmented analytics capabilities available anywhere.

The ongoing transition for 51风流Business Network to 51风流BTP accomplishes all of the above. Over the long run, however, the change that customers are likely to appreciate most is the ease with which they can innovate alongside their trading partners and shape new business models through the insights harnessed by AI applications drawing upon sprawling repositories of accumulated day-to-day operational data.

While 51风流Business Network upgrades its platform, it continues to innovate with several new capabilities announced at 51风流Sapphire. To provide additional support for product compliance and quality control, is introducing these features:

• Mass upload of certificate documents: Suppliers can now bulk upload quality and compliance certificates directly within the advance shipping notification (ASN) upload template at the line-item level, significantly reducing manual effort and improving data accuracy
• Buyer-controlled document mandates: Buyers can specify which type of certifications are required for each purchase order, automatically enforcing compliance and quality standards while streamlining the process

These capabilities simplify the tracking of critical certifications, including sustainability credentials, carbon footprint documentation, and industry-specific certifications. Benefits include improved compliance, reduced delays, enhanced process adoption, and improved traceability, thus supporting regulatory compliance and sustainability goals throughout the supply chain.

To enhance supply chain efficiency and sustainability, is introducing these features:

• Enhanced greenhouse gas emissions tracking: Integration of actual emissions data from carriers and logistics service providers into , enabling planned versus actual analysis, marks a crucial step toward capturing and analyzing data from external sources
• Extended ocean freight support: New ocean tendering and dispute handling functionalities within 51风流Transportation Management are essential as the global container shipping market is to around US$15.87 billion in 2028

To strengthen the ability of operators, manufacturers, and service providers to manage equipment and other physical assets via a digital network for resiliency and transparency, is introducing these features:

• Cloud-based ERP integration: Users can now initiate and manage ERP integration directly from the cloud, offering greater control over data synchronization
• Enhanced material and model integration: Bi-directional integration of materials and models between 51风流Business Network Asset Collaboration and ERP systems
• Inbound integration for shared functional locations: Synchronizing shared functional locations to improve collaboration between operators and service providers
• Asset administration shell (AAS) file upload for equipment creation: Automate equipment creation and associated document management through AAS file uploads, reducing manual data entry
• Quality inspection checklists: By the integration of checklists into 51风流Business Network Asset Collaboration, operators can share their inspection checklists and characteristics with service providers, who can in turn record the results for the operator

All of these enhancements are scheduled to be available by the end of 2025, offering businesses across industries the opportunity to transform their supply chain operations, drive sustainability initiatives, and attain new heights in efficiency, visibility, and competitive advantage.

J枚rn Keller is executive vice president and chief product officer for 51风流Business Network.

SAP鈥檚 game-changing solution, , is now available globally to help suppliers overcome these hurdles.

This innovative commercial offering is designed to amplify a supplier鈥檚 discoverability and provide a comprehensive suite of value-added features. The promote subscription empowers suppliers to differentiate themselves on 51风流Business Network, attract new customers, and ultimately grow their business in ways previously unimaginable.

Building trust, streamlining procurement

At the heart of this new offering is the understanding that trust is paramount in any new business relationship. Suppliers that opt for the promote subscription can verify their company details, establishing a solid foundation of trust for buyers seeking new sources of supply. This verification process not only enhances credibility, but also sets the stage for more meaningful and productive business interactions.

The promote subscription goes beyond traditional supplier discovery methods by seamlessly integrating with buyers鈥� 51风流procurement applications. This integration enhances and simplifies the entire procurement process, creating a more streamlined and efficient experience for all parties involved. Moreover, the subscription leverages leading technology, including two generative AI features, to take supplier visibility and effectiveness to new heights.

Key features

Let鈥檚 delve into some of the features that make the promote subscription standout in the world of B2B commerce.

• Verified status and profile badge: Subscribers gain a competitive edge by showcasing a verified badge on their company profile within 51风流Business Network. This badge appears in search results and 51风流procurement applications, such as 51风流Ariba Sourcing and 51风流Ariba Supplier Management, instantly boosting credibility and attractiveness to potential buyers.
• Dedicated insights and analytics: The subscription provides suppliers with powerful tools to enhance their catalog performance. Through contextual calls to action, suppliers can leverage keyword recommendations, track profile traffic, and gain insights into the types of buyers viewing their company. This data-driven approach allows suppliers to increase their visibility in search results by taking actions, such as verifying their profile with targeted keywords and sustainability ratings.
• Enhanced network catalog tools: Promote subscribers can effortlessly respond to inquiries, receive new orders, and upload their full suite of products and services onto the 51风流Business Network catalog. This comprehensive catalog becomes searchable by 51风流buyers, dramatically increasing exposure. Additionally, subscribers gain access to generative AI for enhancing product descriptions and summaries, as well as open APIs for automatic loading and maintenance of network catalogs.
• Match and respond to qualified leads: The subscription enables suppliers to match with leads from 51风流Business Network Discovery, SAP鈥檚 intelligent matchmaking solution. Suppliers can swiftly respond to requests for information by using generative AI to create their responses. They can also track performance with new discovery insights and take advantage of contextual calls to action, such as updating recommended keywords for better matching.

Revolutionizing supplier-buyer connections

The global availability of the promote subscription represents a significant leap forward in SAP鈥檚 commitment to fostering meaningful connections between suppliers and buyers. With this offering, 51风流is improving the procurement process by leveraging generative AI to enhance supplier responses, leads, and product descriptions. This provides valuable insights and analytics while creating a trusted environment where verified suppliers can showcase their offerings to potential buyers.

With millions of companies conducting more than $6.3 trillion in commerce annually on 51风流Business Network, the promote subscription presents a substantial opportunity for suppliers worldwide to accelerate growth and expand their reach. As of now, all suppliers can easily access the new network storefront and add the promote subscription to their account with the simple click of a button. This annual subscription empowers suppliers with enhanced visibility and tools to boost their presence on 51风流Business Network, regardless of their geographical location.

By simplifying complex processes, leveraging AI technology, and providing crucial insights, we鈥檙e not just facilitating transactions — we鈥檙e fostering lasting business relationships on a global scale. As we continue to fuel the largest B2B network in the world, we invite suppliers to join us in this exciting new chapter of digital commerce, where opportunities are boundless and success is within reach for businesses of all sizes.

Val Blatt is chief revenue officer for 51风流Supply Chain Management.

New research from IDC shows how 51风流Business Network can speed up product and order delivery, accelerate go-to-market speed, and deliver significant ROI to drive procurement success.

In today鈥檚 interconnected business landscape, procurement and supply chain management have evolved from back-office functions to strategic drivers of success. As organizations seek to build resilient, efficient, customer-centric supply chains, the adoption of innovative technologies becomes crucial. Enter 51风流Business Network鈥攁 game-changing platform that鈥檚 revolutionizing how companies procure products and services and manage their end-to-end supply chains.

A recent IDC white paper, sponsored by SAP, titled 鈥�,鈥� reveals the remarkable impact of 51风流Business Network on buyer organizations. The findings, based on in-depth interviews with existing customers across various industries, showcase the impressive improvements in efficiency, cost savings, and revenue growth. Let鈥檚 delve into the transformative power of this technology and how it鈥檚 reshaping the procurement landscape.

Accelerating revenue growth through agility and transparency

When organizations can better monitor and share global trend data across teams, they can respond to market demands quicker and accelerate their go-to-market strategy. According to the research, 51风流Business Network empowered these organizations to:

• Launch products and services 30% faster than before
• Monitor global trends and redirect stock to high-demand areas with agility
• Share real-time data and analytics across teams for quicker market responses

The result? An average annual revenue gain of $66 million, or $1.2 million per 100 trading partners. This impressive growth contributes to an average three-year ROI of 404% for organizations using 51风流Business Network, with a payback period of just 14 months.

Maximizing efficiency from partner onboarding to order processing

Global supply chain success relies on making repetitive, but essential, tasks as efficient as possible. The respondents indicated that 51风流Business Network delivered substantial improvements in this area:

• Partner onboarding time reduced by 70% (from 54 days to 16 days)
• Invoice processing time cut by 59% (from 16.3 days to 6.7 days)
• Percentage of invoices processed without exception increased from 64% to 89%
• 60% reduction in full-time equivalents (FTEs) responsible for invoice-related processes

These efficiency gains were particularly significant given that procurement team sizes have remained steady despite increased focus on business strategy and execution. By automating repetitive tasks and providing real-time data for informed decision-making, 51风流Business Network freed up team members to focus on strategic initiatives.

Similar effects were felt in procurement and supply chain planning, where respondents reported the number of FTEs necessary for these activities decreased by 19% and 47%, respectively.

Realizing millions in total cost savings

51风流Business Network provides capabilities to help streamline operations, reduce manual interventions, and optimize resource allocation across various functions. The result, as found through the research, was significant cost savings across departments for interviewed companies.

• IT maintenance: Average annual savings of $6.59 million
• Warehouse and logistics: Cost reductions totaling approximately $6.5 million annually
• Inventory management: Optimized stock levels, with one pharmaceutical respondent reducing on-hand safety stock by 50%

In total, respondents experienced average annual cost savings of $13.58 million through reduced operational costs and improved efficiency.

Streamlining operations for enhanced performance

The impact of 51风流Business Network on operational efficiency was truly impressive:

• Unified IT infrastructure: Elimination of multiple systems, leading to streamlined operations
• Enhanced supplier collaboration: Freeing up team members for strategic tasks
• Improved order tracking and shipment utilization
• Better demand forecasting and stock management

Real-world success

The transformative power of 51风流Business Network is best illustrated through the experiences of its users. One pharmaceutical company reduced its on-hand safety stock by half, while others reported significant improvements in transportation processes and demand forecasting.

These success stories underscore the network鈥檚 ability to deliver tangible benefits across various industries and business functions. Real-time data and analytics helped companies respond to shifting market demands and capitalize on new opportunities, allowing organizations to launch products and services and get to market on average 30% faster than they did previously.

The findings from the IDC white paper paint a compelling picture of the potential of 51风流Business Network to revolutionize procurement and supply chain management. By enabling faster go-to-market strategies, improving operational efficiency, and delivering substantial cost savings, the network is helping organizations thrive in an increasingly complex business environment.

As we look to the future, it鈥檚 clear that platforms like 51风流Business Network will play a crucial role in shaping the next generation of procurement and supply chain excellence. Organizations that embrace this technology stand to gain a significant competitive advantage, driving growth and innovation in ways previously unimaginable.

Next steps

Ready to explore the potential impact of 51风流Business Network on your organization? Here are some resources to help you get started:

• for an in-depth look at the findings.
• featuring representatives from 51风流and IDC discussing key findings from the business value study. 
• Try out developed by IDC for a personalized organizational assessment of the ROI 51风流Business Network could deliver for your company.

Stay tuned for upcoming insights that will highlight the benefits of 51风流Business Network specifically for suppliers, complementing the buyer-focused insights presented here. The future of procurement is bright, and 51风流Business Network is leading the way in unlocking procurement and supply chain management potential and driving business success.

Tony Harris is SVP and head of Marketing & Solutions for 51风流Business Network.

According to the IDC MarketScape, “The company鈥檚 ability to cover end-to-end operations and integrate planning within a core system comes ready to implement.” The report also noted that “SAP鈥檚 size and scope is globally expansive, and the company鈥檚 client base in supply chain planning is extensive.”

Other key strengths recognized include:

• Analytics and dashboarding with both web-based and Excel-based interfaces
• Ready-to-implement and business-tested sets of algorithms across planning
  functions
• Synchronized planning integrating finance, supply chain planning, and execution
• AI and machine learning demand planning enabling what-if scenario modeling, demand sensing, analytics, new product introduction, and more
• Inventory optimization integrated with SIOP and S&OP processes

51风流was also positioned in the remaining supply chain planning vendor assessments:

• A Leader in the IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Process Industries 2024 Vendor Assessment
• A Leader in the IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Life Sciences Industries 2024 Vendor Assessment (doc #US51047123, November 2024)
• A Leader in the IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Distribution Industries 2024 Vendor Assessment
• A Leader in the IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Discrete Industries 2024 Vendor Assessment
• A Major Player in the IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Supply Chain Planning in Spare Parts/MRO 2024 Vendor Assessment (doc #US51541424, December 2024)

SAP鈥檚 composable approach to providing planning solutions for its customers coupled with native integration between those composable elements and ERP systems allows companies to orchestrate their supply chain to help meet their specific needs. That same composability can allow companies to extend and expand their solutions at their own rate with minimal disruption to existing processes.

Native connectivity with SAP鈥檚 ERP and additional extended function applications can provide the data foundation for multiple artificial intelligence use cases. AI use spans advanced algorithmic machine learning, generative AI for analysis of complex structured and unstructured data, and, soon, agentic AI to analyze data, initiate actions, and ultimately recommend and execute planning decisions. Since supply chain orchestration requires multi-enterprise collaboration, 51风流helps provide trading partner connectivity through its best-in-class business network, which can not only connect trading partners for business transactions but also for end-to-end, collaborative, and continuously interactive planning processes.

Supply chain business needs to go far beyond distant promises of what could be and requires solutions that solve real problems today, leveraging the right technology in the right place for the right purpose. SAP鈥檚 strategy is to provide data, applications, and AI that help keep the business running while continually evaluating evolving technologies that can be practically applied.

51风流is delighted to be recognized by the IDC MarketScape in supply chain planning. We remain committed to being a trusted partner, providing reliable software solutions that help meet the evolving needs of our customers. We will continue to incorporate new and cutting-edge technologies where they offer clear business value, helping our customers to excel and be their very best.

Sources: IDC Marketscape: Worldwide Supply Chain Planning Overall 2024 Vendor Assessment, November 2024, IDC #US52694624e; IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Process Industries 2024 Vendor Assessment, October 2024, IDC #US51273023e; IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Supply Chain Planning for Distribution Industries 2024 Vendor Assessment, October 2024, IDC #US51272924e; IDC MarketScape for Worldwide Supply Chain Planning in Discrete Manufacturing 2024 Vendor Assessment, October 2024, IDC #US51272724e

Jay Foster is global product marketing director for Supply Chain Planning at SAP.

In this era of constant disruption, 51风流stands at the forefront of supply chain transformation. Our vision is clear: to empower our customers with transparent, resilient, and sustainable supply chains. We鈥檙e committed to delivering innovative cloud solutions and collaborative business networks that enable autonomous supply chains seamlessly integrated with .

To spearhead this critical business, 51风流recently appointed Dominik Metzger as the new president and chief product officer of Supply Chain Management at SAP. Metzger brings a wealth of experience and deep-rooted passion for tackling supply chain complexities. His years of hands-on work with customers navigating disruptions and driving transformation make him uniquely qualified to lead SAP鈥檚 new unit. This team combines , , and solutions, positioning the company to address the multifaceted challenges of modern supply chain management.

Nearly three months into this role, I caught up with Metzger to hear about how he鈥檚 adapting and his vision for the future of supply chain management at SAP.

Q: Having spent the last five years working in a variety of roles at SAP, what are your priorities for the new role?

A: During my time at SAP, I鈥檝e seen how supply chain management has transitioned into a dynamic and connected ecosystem that demands constant collaboration, end-to-end data integration, and agile processes to keep pace with constant disruptions. My chief priority is to ensure that we help customers not only respond to disruptions but also proactively prepare and act. We can do so by leveraging AI, generative AI, real-time data, and predictive analytics with the power of SAP鈥檚 technology. Our vision is to build an autonomous supply chain, enabling customers to have highly efficient processes and personalized, context-rich insights that incorporate data from across the enterprise. This approach allows their teams to focus on truly complex decisions.

With 51风流Business Suite, we offer our customers deeply connected, end-to-end supply chain processes鈥攆rom product data management for discrete and formulated products to planning the demand, supply, production, and inventory levels to purchasing parts and materials to manufacturing execution, logistics, and finally asset and service operations. These processes are turbocharged with a wealth of AI capabilities to help truly bring the experience to a business user.

Yet, AI is only as good as the data it runs on, so we are committed to ensuring all processes are relevant and responsible. Our recent launch of 51风流Business Data Cloud (51风流BDC) is a cornerstone of helping our customers fix their data at its very core, within the context of their business process. This makes any ontology or data semantic discussion obsolete: 51风流can provide out-of-the-box, semantically aligned data products, spanning end-to-end supply chain functions, enriched with unstructured data through our partnership with Databricks.

Our AI-first strategy will help enable companies to leverage the wealth of structured and unstructured data to become highly adaptive and, ultimately, autonomously act on even the most complex disruptions. This holistic approach helps guarantee that customers will shape their supply chain strategies with real-time intelligence. By embedding this technology deep into SAP鈥檚 supply chain management applications, we can drive greater productivity, improve operational efficiency, and create more resilient, agile networks that can adapt to shifting market conditions. We are now conquering the next frontier of truly autonomous supply chain agents, contextually rich and deeply anchored in customers鈥� business processes.

Now, one of the most valuable sources of data we have not yet discussed: data out of your n-tier supply chain. In the highly interconnected environments companies are operating in, the supply chain business is a network business. My top priority is to enable our customers to benefit from the immense value of 51风流Business Network. Our emphasis lies on increasing operational visibility and efficiency. Deep collaboration can enable buyers to identify new sources of supply, even during times of disruption. With market conditions constantly shifting, we are helping businesses to identify risks in the depth of their upstream supply chains to keep operations running and significantly reduce time to recovery.

How has your previous experience helped shape you for this position?

My career has taken me around the world鈥攆rom Southeast Asia to Europe to the Northeast United States鈥攁nd through various roles. In my early days, I served as a supply chain application consultant, learning the nuances of 51风流technology, the intricacies of industry processes, and the challenges that go along with technology transformations for 51风流customers. This helped shape my approach, as I aim to deliver real value by ensuring our solutions are adaptable and capable of driving meaningful business outcomes.

Additionally, while I鈥檓 now based in Munich, Germany, I spent years of my adult life in Singapore and New York City. I was exposed to different business cultures, market dynamics, regulatory environments, and languages. This reinforced the importance of flexibility, creativity, and inclusivity, as 51风流supply chain management strives to build globally scalable solutions. In this new role, I鈥檓 combining those insights and experiences to guide supply chain management at SAP. I want our offerings to align with the real-world challenges our customers face daily, regardless of whether they鈥檙e a retailer in Asia or a manufacturer in North America. Ultimately, my experience has driven my commitment to ensuring our solutions are relevant, adaptable, and impactful.

Can you share some insight into what we can expect from SAP鈥檚 supply chain management team over the coming months?

We will focus on integrating SAP鈥檚 broader AI-first, suite-first strategy that enables customers to seamlessly implement advanced technologies into their daily operations. Our focus will be on expanding automation, improving supply chain orchestration, and bolstering business network collaboration鈥攁ll critical steps to maintaining resilience in an ever-evolving market.

Another priority is reducing emissions and helping customers meet sustainability goals. Through , customers can integrate carbon emissions data into existing digital supply chain technology, aligning sustainability with sourcing and supply chain management strategies.

My team is also working on several exciting product launches, including announcements at 51风流Sapphire in May and 51风流Connect in October. Be sure to tune into both events for more information.

A strong, diverse, and collaborative team is essential in addressing any client challenge. By uniting diverse perspectives and expertise under one vision, we can develop platforms that deliver meaningful, long-term business outcomes for 51风流customers around the world.

Cindy McKendry is director of Corporate Communications for Intelligent Spend and Supply Chain at SAP.

But what exactly is data federation? And why does it hold so much promise for customers in Saudi Arabia and elsewhere?

To counter the ever-present threat to global supply chains posed by disruption鈥攚hether arising from geopolitical conflict, labor unrest, financial crisis, natural disaster, or other upheaval鈥攂usinesses are turning increasingly to cloud-based solutions to extend visibility and instill resilience across their operations and those of their trading partners, particularly when managing supply chains, logistics, and dispersed capital equipment or other mission-critical assets. Yet just as businesses must assess risk on an international scale to stay competitive, they also must comply with a burgeoning set of regulations around the world requiring operational data to reside physically within a nation鈥檚 borders. By applying cloud-based solutions, businesses can transact commerce through global digital networks while adhering strictly to regional data residency requirements through an approach known as data federation.

Data federation permits operational information from disparate sources to be accessed and updated as though it resided in a single, unified location. Instead of moving or copying data from one system to another, federation provides users with real-time access unburdened by duplication.

Federation becomes crucial when an organization must unify its data across different storage platforms while ensuring the integrity and security of the underlying operational sources. This becomes particularly vital for companies with complex data architectures, whose data may reside in 51风流systems, cloud data lakes, or third-party applications. Data federation brings multiple advantages, especially in hybrid or multi-cloud environments, including global access, cost efficiency, unified governance and security, and faster time to insights.

But the advantages extend still further. With the launch of our KSA data center, 51风流Business Network core services have been deployed. This includes multilingual support, such as proficiency with languages read right-to-left like Arabic, and a Federated Trading Partner Index Service for routing transactions between different data centers. Saudi customers can thus adhere to local data privacy regulations while retaining the ability to collaborate and transact with trading partners around the world.

Why Is This Important?

With the deployment of 51风流Business Network in the KSA data center, public sector or critical national infrastructure (CNI) customers and prospects in KSA can rest assured that regulations have been followed strictly, allowing these organizations to transact on 51风流Business Network for Logistics and 51风流Business Network Asset Collaboration. Data federation helps ensure that trading partners can find each other, regardless of where they may be registered.

What鈥檚 Next?

The deployment of 51风流Business Network for Logistics and 51风流Business Network Asset Collaboration for Saudi customers in the public and critical national infrastructure sectors, for whom data federation is crucial, marks only the initial step. Later this year, both products will become available for private-sector customers in KSA as well. and will also be deployed in the KSA data center in coming quarters. Meanwhile, 51风流will continue to expand its data center footprint and data federation program across the globe, with the expansion of 51风流Business Network capabilities throughout 2025 and beyond.

For information on 51风流Business Network and how we are equipping enterprises with business AI and related capabilities needed to instill resilience, counter disruption, and foster collaboration, visit and .

J枚rn Keller is chief product officer for 51风流Business Network.

As we dive into 2025, 51风流is already making waves in the spend management arena. Building on last year’s momentum, we are constantly innovating our market-leading solutions so you can reduce costs, mitigate risks, improve collaboration, and make sure every spend decision is aligned with your business strategy to help drive your business forward.

Q4 Breakthroughs: Highlighting Our Latest Innovations

It was an honor to collaborate with so many of you last year. When your business is at its best, so is ours, and this mutual partnership is what fuels our commitment to innovation. In Q4, our solutions鈥�51风流Ariba, 51风流Business Network, 51风流Concur, and 51风流Fieldglass鈥攎ade significant strides, particularly in 51风流Business AI. Here are just a few highlights:

• : Now generally available, this solution can provide a single source of truth for all payment and supplier data, enhanced with AI-enabled spend classifications and supplier insights. It helps streamline spend processes, cut procurement costs, manage supplier risks, and track sustainability goals.
• Generative AI in 51风流Business Network Discovery: We鈥檝e introduced generative AI capabilities to help accelerate supplier search and improve network catalog product descriptions and summaries with .
• AI flight recommendations in Concur Travel: This new feature can suggest policy-compliant flight options based on user preferences, loyalty programs, available inventory, and other factors.
• Joule, SAP鈥檚 AI copilot, got cozy in 51风流Fieldglass solutions this past quarter with the introduction of , including:
  • Interactive guidance for creating and scheduling new reports through natural conversation, helping to navigate report creation, searches, and data insights
  • Quick answers to issues or questions with concise and easy-to-digest summaries of relevant information and helpful links to learn more
  • AI-assisted job posting and statement of work template selection, recommending the most relevant one and pre-filling data fields to save you time

These innovations align perfectly with the findings. The study highlights data and analytics reporting as the top priority for procurement transformation, a need we鈥檙e addressing head-on with our AI-enhanced solutions.

New Customer Stories and Honors

We built our solutions to elevate spend management from the most mundane part of your day to the most strategic. But don鈥檛 just take my word for it. Discover how companies like , , , and leverage 51风流solutions for better control and business resilience.

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And if customer stories aren鈥檛 enough, how about customer reviews?

Every quarter, G2 publishes Grid^庐 and Index Reports that rate products based on feedback collected from the user community, along with data compiled from various online platforms and social media networks. In December, G2 announced its Winter 2025 Reports, with 51风流spend management solutions topping the leaderboards:

• : Leader in Procure to Pay, Strategic Sourcing, and Supplier Relationship Management
• : Supply Chain Business Networks
• : Leader in Expense, Travel & Expense, and Invoicing
• : Leader in Vendor Management

In the , 51风流moved up to sixth place on G2鈥檚 top 10 companies list. In the Winter 2025 G2 Reports alone, 51风流Ariba, 51风流Business Network, 51风流Concur, and 51风流Fieldglass won 107 awards across multiple categories. Only 4% of software and services on G2 receive a Leader badge, making this recognition truly special!

Media and Analyst Accolades

Our innovations continue to garner industry recognition. Here are a few key highlights:

• won the  in the Procurement/ERP Software category from Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
• 51风流Ariba was inducted into Spend Matters鈥� for being listed on its “50 Providers to Know” list for 10 years or more.
• Over the holidays, 51风流was named a Leader in the .* The report is based on IDC MarketScape鈥檚 comprehensive assessment of 51风流and feedback from our customers. Explore the findings and why 51风流was recognized in this article from my colleague Baber Farooq.
• 51风流Concur received the , which bases its Top Rated awards solely on customer feedback. Over 1,500 verified praised 51风流Concur for its positive user experience, clear budget visibility, mobile receipt capture, time-saving features during usage and reimbursement processes, seamless integration with productivity tools, and the convenience of its mobile app.

See you at 51风流Concur Fusion

We鈥檙e thrilled to announce that the 51风流Concur Fusion event is back in 2025 and will be held in beautiful Seattle, Washington. As the premier travel and expense event, 51风流Concur Fusion offers over 200 learning opportunities, access to experts and consultants, and hands-on training to help you unlock the full potential of your 51风流Concur solutions. It鈥檚 an experience you can鈥檛 miss.

Looking Ahead

As we move further into 2025, we remain committed to delivering innovation that addresses your most pressing business needs. We鈥檙e excited about the possibilities that lie ahead and look forward to partnering with you to drive your business forward. Whether it鈥檚 through our AI-enhanced solutions, our comprehensive spend management suite, or events like 51风流Concur Fusion, we鈥檙e here to support your success every step of the way.

Thank you for your continued trust and partnership. Here鈥檚 to a transformative and successful 2025!

*IDC MarketScape: Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-Enabled Direct Spend 2024 Vendor Assessment, #US52734424e, December 2024

Jeff Collier is chief revenue officer for 51风流Intelligent Spend and Business Network.

This was the key insight gleaned from the (NASCES) last fall, 鈥淎 NASCES24 Speaker Roundtable – A Supply Chain Discussion.鈥�

Unlike musicians, supply chain professionals work with stakeholders who span roles and organizations, each with differing objectives. While finance pushes for cost reductions, sales and marketing may demand speed, and operations might prioritize risk mitigation. It is up to supply chain leaders to carefully balance these competing goals, ensuring efficiency without compromising other interests.

Here are my key takeaways from the panel, which featured supply chain leaders from prominent companies in the high-tech, retail, and consumer products industries.

Leverage Innovative Procurement and Multi-Sourcing Strategies

In today鈥檚 dynamic global landscape, change can happen instantly. Businesses must navigate an array of factors, including geopolitical conflicts, natural disasters, shifting consumer preferences, intricate regulations, and more. A common theme among the panelists involved leveraging multi-sourcing and digital procurement tools to empower supply chain managers to be flexible when addressing unexpected disruptions.

Multi-sourcing strategies involve diversifying the supplier base to mitigate the risks associated with relying on a single provider. By adopting this approach, businesses can ensure continuous supply and maintain operational resilience. For example, if one supplier faces a disruption, a manufacturing company can quickly shift to another supplier, minimizing downtime and meeting production timelines.

Dynamic sourcing, a strategy that involves the continuous evaluation and adjustment of supplier relationships, enhances agility by allowing companies to adapt to market fluctuations and stay competitive. For instance, a company can procure raw materials from the most cost-effective supplier based on real-time market conditions, driving down costs without impacting product quality or production schedules.

Enhanced supply chain visibility is another crucial benefit. With real-time insights into supplier performance, managers can pinpoint inefficiencies and optimize costs. Additionally, increased transparency improves compliance with regulatory and environmental standards, helping meet ethical sourcing practices and sustainability goals.

Invest in Digital Transformation and AI

Panelists emphasized how supply chain leaders are leveraging AI, using it as a tool to respond quickly to emerging trends. Technology is a superpower when it comes to balancing different priorities — digital platforms, generative AI, machine learning, and predictive analytics provide supply chain teams with centralized visibility. This empowers them to be more agile, strategic, and efficient.

Additionally, advanced platforms that leverage AI can provide real-time data about inventory, shipment, and delivery statuses, which help reduce silos between various stakeholders. This transparency minimizes conflicts and aligns efforts across departments, ensuring cohesive decision-making and a collaborative work environment.

Level Up Your Demand Forecasting

When dealing with an unpredictable business environment, panelists shared how they are increasingly relying on accurate demand forecasting for stakeholder alignment. Leveraging AI-powered predictive analytics enables them to anticipate demand fluctuations and adjust their strategies accordingly. This foresight fosters trust and ensures that all internal stakeholders are working together toward collective objectives.

Panelists highlighted that this can also ensure that each team is supported in their daily tasks. For instance, manufacturing teams can receive adequate stock, finance teams can avoid excess inventory costs, and operations can maintain smooth workflows. Predictive analytics turns forecasting into a strategic advantage, enabling companies to address potential issues proactively and reduce risks.

Achieving Supply Chain Harmony

Competing stakeholder priorities don鈥檛 have to create friction. By investing in AI, implementing dynamic sourcing, and adopting cloud-based procurement platforms, supply chain professionals can turn these challenges into opportunities for innovation and collaboration. The result is a supply chain that is not only efficient and productive, but also resilient and adaptable — a true asset to every stakeholder involved.

The key to harmonizing stakeholder priorities lies in leveraging advanced technologies and adopting innovative strategies. With the right tools and mindset, supply chain leaders can transform challenges into opportunities, creating a supply chain that is agile, efficient, and able to meet stakeholder needs.

is specifically designed to address many of the issues and challenges discussed. It provides the necessary tools to seamlessly connect buyers and suppliers, streamline procurement and supply chain processes, and ensure that every stakeholder thrives in rapidly changing markets. By investing in such technology, businesses can build a future-ready supply chain that drives resilience and long-term value.

To learn more about these insights and hear the full discussion from supply chain executives at leading companies, I encourage you to from the North American Supply Chain Executive Summit. You’ll gain valuable perspectives on how industry leaders are navigating complex supply chain challenges and balancing diverse stakeholder priorities in today鈥檚 dynamic business environment.

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Val Blatt is chief revenue officer for 51风流Business Network at SAP.

Looking ahead to 2025, several key trends are poised to reshape the landscape, promising both challenges and opportunities for forward-thinking organizations. To gain insight into what lies ahead, we鈥檝e reached out to Intelligent Spend and Business Network executives at 51风流for their predictions.

The AI-Powered Procurement Revolution

Etosha Thurman, chief marketing officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at SAP, envisions a future where artificial intelligence (AI) takes center stage in procurement:

鈥淚n 2025, AI and cloud-based solutions will position procurement at the heart of data-driven decision-making, enabling real-time insights and freeing teams to focus on high-impact initiatives. The future belongs to procurement professionals who blend strategic thinking with relationship management and a combination of functional and technological expertise. These skills will be crucial in fostering cross-functional collaboration and advancing corporate goals, from supply assurance to compliance to sustainability. In the digital age, spend management expertise extends to not just supporting, but also steering the business.鈥�

This prediction underscores the critical role that AI will play in transforming procurement from a support function to a strategic driver of business value.

Streamlining Processes Through Orchestration

Manoj Swaminathan, president and chief product officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at SAP, highlights the growing importance of process orchestration:

鈥淭he technology landscape is rapidly evolving, and organizations are grappling with a heterogeneous mix of solutions. Many companies now employ multiple systems to meet their end-to-end business needs, leading to siloed processes and confused employees. Procurement, in particular, often suffers from fragmented systems handling everything from purchase requests to supplier onboarding, creating inefficiencies and frustration.

To address this challenge, we鈥檙e seeing a shift toward process orchestration 鈥� a centralized approach that connects disparate systems, streamlining procurement inquiries and status updates. Our newest solution, 51风流Ariba Intake Management, can tackle this head-on by automating request creation and providing a single point of entry so that organizations can empower employees to adhere to policies and regulations without the burden of manual corrections. This approach can not only save valuable time and resources but also drive user adoption and increase compliance and efficiency, positioning companies to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape.鈥�

The Rise of a New Generation of Procurement Leaders

Jeff Collier, chief revenue officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at SAP, predicts a significant shift in procurement leadership:

鈥淚n 2025, a shift will occur in the procurement landscape as a wave of fresh faces step into the chief procurement officer role. AI-driven procurement strategies, ever-evolving requirements, and changing demographics have created the perfect storm for new leaders to emerge. As the industry stands on the precipice of transformation, organizations must prioritize nurturing existing talent, upskilling their workforce, and attracting bright young professionals to the procurement function. The stage is set for junior procurement leaders, who have proven their mettle during the challenging COVID-19 years, to rise to the occasion, particularly those who can showcase tangible achievements in sustainability, AI integration, or risk management. Brace yourselves for a year marked by new names, fresh perspectives, and a reshaped procurement industry in 2025.鈥�

The Power of AI Across Business Networks

Val Blatt, chief revenue officer for 51风流Business Network, offers insights into how AI will transform business networks:

鈥淚n the near term, AI is already making waves by optimizing process efficiency and information sharing within and across companies in a supply chain. As we move into 2025 and beyond, we鈥檒l see AI do more to synthesize intelligence and efficiency across areas like risk, demand, and inventory planning, as well as manufacturing and delivery. This evolution becomes even more relevant because no business does business alone, and AI can synthesize and be predictive across company boundaries. We鈥檒l see AI decision support evolve into decision-making 鈥� and, ultimately, automated process execution. These advancements will occur as the need for AI to sense and predict situations with proposed planning recommendations grows, spanning across related functional areas and processes that involve trading partners in a supply chain.

In its Network Adoption Research Study* sponsored by SAP, IDC found that 鈥淒igital Champions鈥� who use modern, cloud-based tools like AI, analytics, and business networks have grown over 140% in revenue and profit performance indices from 2016 to 2021. As AI capabilities expand to sense, predict, and execute across organizational boundaries, businesses will gain next-level efficiency, visibility, and compliance. This will enable them to maintain a resilient supply chain that delivers on customer promises, especially in times of disruption, by leveraging the collective intelligence of their entire business network.鈥�

The Evolution of Travel and Expense Management

Christopher Juneau, SVP and head of 51风流Concur Product Marketing, Intelligent Spend and Business Network Marketing & Solutions, (T&E):

鈥淎s leaders strive to position their company for growth in 2025, they will still attempt to maintain employee spending at 2024 levels. Inflation drove higher spending beginning in 2023, resulting in fewer trips in 2024. As inflation slows, many leaders are likely to expect that their T&E budget 鈥� even if flat year over year 鈥� will go further in 2025.

Meanwhile, finance teams and travel managers will adjust their T&E policies to account for AI as more tasks and processes become automated. Will managers need to approve every expense report? Will they need to review them at all? How can policies and rules be modified so that travelers spend as little time in T&E tools as possible? These are some of the questions they will start to ask in 2025.

Investments in technology innovation and security infrastructure will be top priorities. The risks associated with security and privacy incidents will only continue to grow, which means companies are looking for technologies that deliver greater value to customers with lower risk. It is really a balancing act to move fast without disregarding the very important aspects of security and privacy when architecting solutions 鈥� internally and for customers.鈥�

Looking Ahead

As we look to 2025, it鈥檚 clear that the world of spend management and supply chain is on the brink of transformative change. The convergence of AI, sustainability imperatives, and interconnected business ecosystems will reshape how organizations operate and compete.

At SAP, we鈥檙e not just observing these trends 鈥� we鈥檙e actively shaping them, working to ensure our customers are well-equipped to navigate the complexities of tomorrow鈥檚 business landscape.

For a deeper dive into the future of procurement, be sure to check out . We will also be hosting a global webinar on these findings on February 4, 2025 titled 鈥�.鈥� This is an excellent opportunity to gain comprehensive insights and stay ahead of the curve. We encourage you to read the report and sign up for the webinar to learn more about the exciting developments shaping the industry.

The future may be uncertain, but one thing is clear: those who embrace these emerging trends and technologies will be best positioned to thrive in the dynamic world of 2025 and beyond. As we continue to design and deliver spend management and business network solutions that drive efficiency, leverage AI responsibly, and create greater visibility for businesses of all sizes, we look forward to partnering with our customers on this exciting journey of transformation and growth.

Cindy McKendry is a director for Intelligent Spend and Business Network Corporate Communications at SAP.

*Source: 鈥淚DC Network Adoption Research Study eBook: Driving Best-in-Class Supply Chain Collaboration with a Business Network,鈥� #US5084723, August 2023, page 18

With more change on the horizon, it is vital to keep these bets in mind to prepare for potential challenges head-on. Over the past year, we鈥檝e witnessed how spend management professionals who stay confident and bet big achieve remarkable results. In fact, according to the , C-suite confidence in the procurement function has increased by 14% in just one year, with 84% of executives now agreeing that procurement is essential for organizational strategy.

As we gear up for 2025 and beyond, let鈥檚 explore these five bets that will solidify spend management’s role as an indispensable part of an organization.

Bet #1: Strategic Collaboration

The first bet that spend management professionals should place is on strategic collaboration. As procurement becomes increasingly integrated with other critical business functions, it is up to procurement professionals to lead these collaborative efforts. Your colleagues are looking to you to take the initiative and ensure that procurement is involved in strategic initiatives that keep your organization agile in the face of uncertainty.

Whether you are partnering with HR to or implementing a in partnership with supply chain, 51风流is here to support you. Our solutions are designed with collaboration at the forefront, working to minimize miscommunication and simplify business processes so you can focus on what truly matters.

Bet #2: Effortless Compliance

The mere mention of compliance can evoke stress and worry in anyone who has ever worked in spend management. Ensuring every detail is accounted for can be nerve-racking, especially when considering local regulations and sustainability goals. At SAP, we believe that compliance should not just be simple; it should be truly effortless.

For example, can enable employees to select in-policy vendors from the start. with 51风流Business Network helps you understand and comply with evolving tax regulations. From complex tax requirements to travel policies, 51风流can help you eliminate these points of concern before they cause issues.

Bet #3: Seamless Integration

While intraorganizational strategic collaboration is key for an efficient operating model, your software must also be seamlessly integrated to make the most of our connected solutions. Fragmented processes and tools won鈥檛 get you where you need to go, which is why 51风流is committed to a suite-first strategy that aims to reduce the number of systems used to manage spend.

Whether you are an all-51风流customer or use third-party technology, we can offer a seamless experience regardless of where you are in your 51风流journey. From , your single source of truth for all spend data, to that can streamline all your procurement processes, our out-of-the-box solutions help deliver powerful business outcomes across the entire spend management process.

Bet #4: Increased Productivity

The next bet to place is on increased productivity. In recent years, we have seen firsthand how productivity gaps can be detrimental to an organization. Add in unexpected geopolitical and economic events, and you have a recipe for disaster. As the procurement landscape evolves, it is imperative to upskill your workforce to meet evolving demands.

SAP鈥檚 newest innovations, like , can help automate mundane tasks, freeing up bandwidth for making strategic decisions that really count. And increased productivity is not just reserved for key decision-makers 鈥� it benefits every employee at every level.

Bet #5: Informed Decision-Making

Finally, spend management professionals should bet big on informed decision-making. More than ever, it is essential to make choices quickly and confidently, knowing that your decisions are supported by data. That鈥檚 where 51风流comes in 鈥� solutions like and can deliver the best recommendations for you, helping to take the guesswork out of decisions amid timeline pressure.

With data-informed reports and suggestions, you can be confident that your choices are backed by best-in-class insights. 51风流helps reduce complexity and can deliver only the insights needed to make the best choices for your business.

New Ways to Streamline Critical Business Processes

To learn more about the innovations shared at 51风流Spend Connect Live in 2024, I encourage you to read this article by my colleague Manoj Swaminathan, president and chief product officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at SAP.

I say it every year, but there is something truly special about spending time with our incredible customers, hearing transformation stories and tales of success across so many organizations. The 51风流community鈥檚 resilience, drive, and commitment to excellence inspire me greatly.

When it comes to the right tools, best integrations, and data-driven insights, 51风流is your go-to partner. Our solutions, informed by your feedback, are here to help you win big. As you close out this year and head into a new one, remember that 51风流is here for you. When you rely on SAP, you secure the future success of not just your business function, but your entire organization.

Etosha Thurman is chief marketing officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at SAP. 

If you missed out on the action, we unveiled the following cutting-edge innovations in our market-leading solutions:

• is our newest solution that helps automate procurement request creation and orchestrate routing and support across diverse procurement landscapes and complex workflows. It can connect different systems into one central location for procurement inquiries and status updates, so employees can adhere to your organization鈥檚 policies and comply with necessary regulations.
• SAP鈥檚 generative AI copilot  will be seamlessly integrated across 51风流Ariba solutions, 51风流Business Network, and 51风流Fieldglass solutions. Joule can enable users to manage their most important tasks quickly and accurately across all areas of SAP鈥檚 spend management portfolio.  
• The can empower suppliers to find new business, improve match potential, and build relationships with buyers using the network catalog. Available early next year, it includes聽generative AI tools to help suppliers load their full suite of offerings into the network catalog faster and with enhanced product descriptions and summaries.聽
• New can deliver next-level insights into your external workforce for reporting, analytics, and market insights all within 51风流Fieldglass.

Read this article from my colleague Manoj Swaminathan to learn more about our latest spend management and business network enhancements.

Leading brands such as Goldman Sachs, Kraft-Heinz, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Uber, and Warner Music Group joined us at the event to share how they revolutionized their spend management processes with our solutions. Check out to hear these stories and view breakout sessions, strategy talks, and solution deep dives. This free, virtual event is your opportunity to learn from 51风流experts, customers, and partners.

Thank You, IDC

As a leader in spend management software, 51风流is dedicated to helping our customers increase control and business resilience by comprehensively managing all sources of spend. Hard work pays off, as 51风流has retained the No.1 position for market share with 49.6% of 2023 market share for Travel and Expense Management Software, according to the . This is growth from our 2022 market share of 49.4%. 

Also exciting, 51风流has retained the No.1 position for market share for Procurement Applications according to the . IDC estimates that 51风流holds a 27.3% market share for 2023, maintaining the top spot ahead of the next six vendors combined.

Additionally, we鈥檙e honored to win two IDC SaaS CSAT awards for Accounts Payable and Contract Lifecycle Management. These awards recognize the leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) vendors in each application market, across 23 markets, that receive the highest customer satisfaction scores based on IDC’s SaaSPath Survey.

Our Customer Awards Reach New Heights

Every quarter, G2 highlights the top-rated solutions in the industry, chosen by the source that matters most: our customers. Q3 was our most successful quarter yet regarding G2 honors, with 51风流Ariba, 51风流Business Network, 51风流Concur, and 51风流Fieldglass bringing in a whopping 93 awards across multiple categories at the Fall 2024 G2 awards!

51风流was named a Leader in the following categories:

• is a G2 Fall 2024 Leader in Procure to Pay, Strategic Sourcing, and Supplier Relationship Management.
• is a G2 Fall 2024 Leader in Supply Chain Business Networks.
• is a G2 Fall 2024 Leader in Expense, Travel & Expense, and Invoicing.
• is a G2 Fall 2024 Leader in Vendor Management.

What鈥檚 more, 51风流Ariba, 51风流Concur, and 51风流Fieldglass have also won Buyer鈥檚 Choice awards from TrustRadius. Winners of a Buyer鈥檚 Choice award are determined by 75% of reviewers selecting a solution for best capabilities, best value for price, and best customer relationship.

We couldn鈥檛 be more grateful to our customers for partnering with us on their spend management transformation journeys, and we鈥檙e honored that the feeling is mutual!

Winning awards from our customers is awesome, but winning with customers is extra special. Last month, customer and 51风流Spend Connect Live in 2024 speaker Daniel Chapman of Warner Music won a in the Innovation in Sourcing category: 鈥淐reating Harmony in Music Procurement: Warner Music Group and SAP.鈥� This award recognizes organizations and individuals that show innovation, leadership, and transformation in categories critical to the sourcing industry, and we couldn鈥檛 be happier about this win.

Last but definitely not least, I want to congratulate our customer Capgemini for winning a prestigious from  in the Future of Work: Human Capital Management category. The award recognizes Capgemini鈥檚 innovative use of 51风流Fieldglass Contingent Workforce Management to optimize its global external workforce, resulting in improved efficiency, cost savings, and quality standards.

New Developments on the Horizon

With 2025 just around the corner, I want to thank our customers for betting big on themselves by investing in our cutting-edge spend management and business network solutions. In a time marked by supply chain disruptions and ongoing economic uncertainty, it’s all too easy for businesses to stick with the status quo. However, 51风流customers are different. They tackle obstacles head-on, transforming them into opportunities. And their foresight to plan for the future is why they will continue to be successful.

Thank you for choosing 51风流to help solve your biggest challenges. I enjoyed seeing so many of you at 51风流Spend Connect Live and I can鈥檛 wait to catch up with the rest of you on the road.

Jeff Collier is chief revenue officer for 51风流Intelligent Spend and Business Network.

Once again, we are prepared to showcase groundbreaking innovations that will revolutionize the landscape of spend management. As I continue to engage with our customers, their enthusiasm for our latest offerings helps validate our commitment to delivering solutions that streamline processes and empower businesses to achieve their full potential.  

At 51风流our focus is on automating tedious, time-consuming tasks, allowing you to concentrate on the strategic decisions that drive your organization forward. 51风流continues to invest heavily in innovations across the spend management and business network portfolio, including new artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and seamless integrations, enabling users to navigate uncertainty, seize optimization opportunities, and simplify processes. Our goal is to give you the freedom to shape your business鈥檚 future without the distraction of day-to-day operational noise. 

Betting Big on Your Success with SAP 

During my keynote, I outlined our product strategy for the coming year, emphasizing three key pillars: Data, Intelligence, and Suite. These focus areas are a direct response to the valuable input we鈥檝e received from customers. I am confident that our continuing investments in these areas will provide them with the insights needed to make informed, strategic decisions that propel their organization to new heights.  

Our newest capabilities across our intelligent spend management solutions enable customers to gain visibility across all of their processes, eliminating fragmented touchpoints that hinder progress.

As Mickey North Rizza, group vice-president of Enterprise Software at IDC, recently shared, 鈥�51风流continues to dominate the procurement applications space as measured by market share because customers want a seamless user experience with which to conduct the full spectrum of their spend management/procurement activity. When layering in the breadth of SAP’s industry experience, the expansive business network, and direct sourcing capabilities, 51风流has clearly earned its place.鈥� 

I couldn鈥檛 agree more.  Our commitment to maintaining our position as the industry standard in spend management is unwavering, and we will continue to set the benchmark for providing a smooth, efficient user interface while delivering unparalleled visibility into every aspect of spend.

Now, let鈥檚 dive into this year鈥檚 announcements.  

Generative AI Transforms the Source-to-Pay Process 

51风流is dedicated to delivering best-in-class solutions infused with AI, empowering you to prioritize strategic initiatives over mundane tasks. We understand and hear the concerns surrounding data security when implementing AI, which is why we have made no compromises in ensuring our AI capabilities set the standard for compliance. From third-party advisory boards to adhering to the UNESCO 10 Guiding Principles for Ethical AI and singing the , we enable customers to harness the power of AI without sacrificing control over their data.  

SAP鈥檚 generative AI copilot will be seamlessly integrated across 51风流Ariba, 51风流Business Network, and 51风流Fieldglass starting in Q4 of 2024. Joule will enable users to manage their most important tasks quickly and accurately across all areas of our spend management portfolio.  

In , users will be able to use generative AI-infused capabilities to create RFPs and request help with routine inquiries and surface risks. These capabilities will also provide buying recommendations along with comprehensive supplier summaries from different data sources. In addition, sustainability scorecard from 51风流Ariba ensures that customers can make informed decisions that align with their organizations鈥� environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives.  

With Joule, 51风流Fieldglass users can take advantage of template recommendations to generate job postings and SOWs with pre-filled information, saving precious time. Users can now request assistance and insights in natural language, and immediately receive responses from Joule directly from the 51风流Help Portal. It is now possible to ask Joule how to create a job posting and receiving accurate, step-by-step instructions complete with links and resources.  

will use Joule to help with logistics and asset management tasks. Joule provides 51风流Business Network users a natural language interface and navigation for scenarios such as status requests and queries, supporting freight orders, freight bookings, invoice disputes, equipment, notifications, and work orders. It will also provide insights into rejected invoices to reduce manual intervention for errors. Suppliers can dive into potential business opportunities based on keyword matching that selects best-fit profiles for RFIs. 

Streamlining Procurement with 51风流Ariba Intake Management  

Most companies have a complex landscape of disparate and siloed solutions for handling procurement needs such as purchase requests, contract processing, or helping onboard a new services provider. Typically, employees don鈥檛 know which platform, portal, or system will handle their request because it isn’t a task they perform regularly. Hours of time may be wasted trying to figure out how to make the request in the first place and track down subsequent status updates. 

But no more: 51风流Ariba Intake Management, a brand-new solution built on 51风流Business Technology Platform, will automate procurement request creation and provide process orchestration, including routing and support across diverse procurement landscapes and complex workflows. By connecting different systems into one central location for procurement inquiries and status updates, employees can adhere to your organization’s policies and comply with necessary regulations without the need for time consuming manual corrections. 51风流Ariba Intake Management will offer one pane of glass for status updates and requests, making procurement orchestration simpler and more intuitive. Scheduled to be available in Q1 of 2025, the solution will offer out-of-the-box integration with other 51风流solutions and a robust set of connectors for third-party integration.  

Empowering Suppliers with 51风流Business Network, Promote Subscription  

We announced a new promote subscription for the 51风流Business Network, designed to deliver immediate value to suppliers, helping them to find new business, improve match potential, and build relationships with buyers using the network catalog. Through the promote subscription, suppliers will receive recommendations to improve discoverability, advanced search results, supplier profile verification, and network catalog APIs. With the help of generative AI tools, suppliers can now load their full suite of offerings into the network catalog faster and with enhanced product descriptions and summaries. The new promote subscription will also help suppliers identify sales opportunities based on regional search data and use advanced insights to track business growth on the network.  

Elevating External Workforce Management with 51风流Fieldglass Analytics Add-On 

51风流Fieldglass delivers a new, enhanced analytics capability with next-level insights into your external workforce. The analytics add-on with AI capabilities will help businesses meet sustainability and human rights goals, acquire talent quickly, and implement multi-channel talent acquisition strategies. Users can benchmark and predict external talent scenarios, review performance against KPIs, track trends against industry averages, and monitor sustainability and compliance initiatives.  

As we continue to listen to our customers and invest in our spend management and business network solution offerings, our commitment to setting the standard for spend management software remains steadfast. We are committed to providing innovative solutions that help our customers collaborate strategically with their business partners, enhance productivity, and improve compliance.  

To learn more about these new innovations, read 鈥�Innovations in Spend Management from 51风流Help Customers Improve Productivity, Gain Insights and Boost Growth.鈥�

If you couldn鈥檛 attend 51风流Spend Connect Live in Las Vegas, sign up here for the to access live and on-demand content from across content tracks. Join us as we continue to shape the future of spend management together.聽

Manoj Swaminathan is president and chief product officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at SAP.

The announcements were made at , the industry鈥檚 premier spend management conference, held October 14-16 in Las Vegas.

51风流Embeds Generative AI Across Spend Management and Business Network Solutions

51风流is embedding its generative AI copilot Joule across the 51风流Ariba source-to-pay solution portfolio to make it easier for customers to manage routine inquiries, such as status updates, summarization and frequently asked questions. Generative AI will be further infused in 51风流Ariba solutions to recommend buying bundles and provide comprehensive supplier summaries.

Joule will help 51风流Fieldglass solutions customers perform time-consuming hiring tasks and service requests with speed and accuracy. Joule can recommend best-fit templates to generate job postings and statements of work (SOWs) with prefilled information such as start date and the number of skilled workers needed.

Joule embedded across 51风流Business Network will facilitate tasks in logistics and asset management. Generative AI will analyze, categorize and transform unstructured invoice rejection errors into structured, actionable insights to reduce the cost of resolving exceptions. Generative AI capabilities within the 51风流Business Network Discovery solution will help match suppliers with new business opportunities.

Joule is currently available within 51风流Ariba solutions and will debut in 51风流Fieldglass solutions and 51风流Business Network in the fourth quarter 2024. Joule will manage 80% of the most frequently performed tasks in the portfolio of intelligent spend management and business network solutions from 51风流starting in the fourth quarter 2024 with a phased approach.

New 51风流Ariba Intake Management Solution Delivers Simplicity in Procurement

51风流introduces the 51风流Ariba Intake Management solution to help transform how businesses handle employee requests and process orchestration, starting with procurement.

With 51风流Ariba Intake Management, employees have one place to go for procurement inquiries and visibility on status. The solution collects employee requests, orchestrates processes across heterogenous landscapes and applications, including all necessary stakeholders, and provides visibility on status while shielding employees from process complexity yet keeping them informed. This simpler, more intuitive user experience is designed to help drive adoption and improve compliance.

51风流plans to make 51风流Ariba Intake Management available in the first quarter 2025.

New 51风流Business Network, Promote Subscription to Help Suppliers Grow their Businesses

51风流Business Network in the first quarter 2025 will launch a new promote subscription with value-added features to help suppliers differentiate themselves, attract new buyers and grow their businesses. With millions of companies conducting nearly $6 trillion in commerce annually on the 51风流Business Network, promote presents a sizable opportunity for suppliers to accelerate growth.

51风流Unveils Analytics Add-On for External Workforce Management

The new analytics add-on with AI capabilities for 51风流Fieldglass solutions helps procurement, vendor management and HR professionals to quickly implement more agile multi-channel talent strategies. This add-on enables business users to benchmark and predict external talent scenarios.

The analytics add-on for 51风流Fieldglass solutions lets users:

• Review performance against over 50 external workforce key performance indicators.
• Access global market intelligence including rates, talent supply and demand, and time-to-hire trends.
• Track sustainability initiatives such as spend with diverse suppliers and worker health and safety, while observing cost overruns, worker fatigue, and on- and offboarding compliance.

鈥淲ith 51风流Business AI as the foundation of our intelligent products, customers can improve productivity and gain insights from their spend data no matter where it sits,鈥� said Manoj Swaminathan, President and Chief Product Officer, Intelligent Spend and Business Network, SAP. 鈥淲hether it is managing cost, mitigating risk or supporting scope three emission reduction, 51风流empowers companies with the right solutions for agile and effective spend management and supply chain functions.鈥�

Visit the . Follow 51风流at .

Media Contact:
Kelly Sheldon Murray, +1 (978) 708-6821, kelly.murray@sap.com, ET
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 2023 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
漏 2024 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.

The SAP-sponsored report offers insights from more than 2,300 C-suite executives spanning multiple countries, regions and industries and examines the pressures facing today鈥檚 procurement teams. As these teams manage risks like geopolitical shifts, supplier threats, and liquidity risks, the surveyed executives emphasize an urgent motivation to improve their procurement operations through agile, innovative, and fast-paced solutions.

Today鈥檚 complex and uncertain business environment has pushed procurement teams to take matters into their own hands. Not only are they accelerating digitalization by adopting emerging technologies like AI, they are driving it by searching for ways to change the procurement operating model.

As Always, It鈥檚 All About Innovation

Procurement officers view driving innovation as one of their function鈥檚 chief objectives. Doing so will help them navigate risks and respond to an evolving consumer environment.

When procurement is truly influential, it is proactive. Teams that understand digitalization and the technologies being acquired have more impact in this area than those that are reactive. Over two-thirds (70%) of the survey respondents agree that procurement is actively involved in developing their wider organization鈥檚 digital transformation strategy 鈥� though whether this is true in the day-to-day may vary from business to business.

If procurement is to play a more integral role in businesses, changes to the function鈥檚 operating model are likely for some organizations, which is why the research also shows that procurement is accelerating its digitalization, including through the adoption of emerging technologies. Approximately 84% of executives are confident in their procurement team鈥檚 ability to apply technology successfully to automate some processes and shift attention to more strategic and complex tasks.

This ability to seamlessly integrate and adopt new solutions will be critical as procurement teams work to balance capabilities, know-how, and expertise from suppliers to achieve the best possible results.

Digitalization Remains a Top Priority

While innovation is at the core of many companies鈥� priorities, C-suite leaders are laser-focused on the solutions that enable their teams to be more efficient, cost-effective, and risk-averse.

More than half (57%) of the C-suite cite digitalization as the top strategic priority for their procurement teams. This emphasis may be fueled by recent advances in generative AI, which is the top technology trend (34%) executives plan to implement in the next 12 to 18 months.

Digitalization efforts can offer real-time capabilities that better address dynamic market challenges and make existing procurement processes more efficient. Data-driven insights allow for more actionable outputs in strategic decision-making and can even impact procurement鈥檚 role in engaging contingent labor. Augmented with AI, they can easily manage contingent labor by streamlining and standardizing recruiting processes like job advertising, resume scanning, expediting background checks, and more.

More efficient intake management also goes hand-in-hand with digitalization. While generative AI occupies the highest priority, intake management is only one percentage point behind it, making it the second-most likely tech trend to be piloted or implemented. 

Value of Multi-Sourcing and Supplier Diversity

The top organizational risk for procurement was monetary uncertainty (49%), as macroeconomic risks can have a large impact on operational external risk. This is a potential factor as to why procurement teams are focused on risk as a longer-term priority.

Updates here can create opportunities like multi-sourcing, which can improve risk reduction and resilience amid growing external threats, and supplier diversity 鈥� driving market expansion through a more diverse supplier base. This can also reduce single-sourcing dependencies to mitigate risks against potential disruptions.

These possibilities prove how companies must make it a mission to improve the quality of data and the models needed to effectively analyze it. Subpar data directly hinders procurement鈥檚 ability to make good decisions, undermining its overall effectiveness and derailing successful digitalization before it takes hold.

Executives Agree: Time to Go All-In on AI

No other strategic priority attracts nearly as many responses as a priority across all industries as digitalization. However, respondents also agreed on one other key topic: the role that AI will take in the digitalization journey.

Adoption of an AI strategy stands at the joint top of executives鈥� list of digitalization priorities for procurement, alongside spend analytics, both cited by 44%. Almost half (48%) of executives aim to use AI to improve procurement processes through source-to-pay and AI-enabled spend management and decision support.

As the main drivers for digital transformation in procurement, these two objectives are complementary. AI tools can read a contract to evaluate clauses and suggest how they can be improved. It can also enhance data management, streamlining the processes needed to make key procurement decisions.

Fully digitalizing procurement operations has been on the function鈥檚 agenda for several years, but it is a continuous challenge. It is a process that does not have an endpoint, particularly as technologies advance quickly. The leading technologies from just three years ago pale in comparison to what can be accomplished today, which require knowledge across software development, APIs, and AI.

Therefore, success in building a thorough and adaptable AI strategy requires top-level expertise. Acquiring the necessary skills could entail considerable organizational and cultural change in procurement and across the business 鈥� extending beyond the structural shifts and developing new ways of working to build these skills.

The Start of a Procurement Renaissance

Across industries, procurement is already finding new ways to add value to the organization. But now that chief procurement officers and their teams are more consistently gaining a seat at the decision table, the challenge is to keep it.

The ongoing state of disruption offers ample opportunity for procurement teams to continue evolving and demonstrate their worth. Above all, improving collaboration with other business stakeholders will be the key to strengthening procurement鈥檚 role within the organization. Today鈥檚 technology-driven initiatives are as much a human challenge as they are a technology one, and when organizations are planning these initiatives it is clear that they need to consider people, process, and technology in equal measure to ensure success.

For more about the findings from this year鈥檚 Economist Impact report, tune in to this podcast hosted by Art of Procurement: .

Gordon Donovan is global vice president of Research, Procurement, and External Workforce at SAP.