SAP's new AI CO Herzig 'Will Drive the Tech to Next Level'

SAP is aiming to accelerate the pace at which customers can benefit from groundbreaking business AI solutions

With a renewed focus on AI, SAP has launched a new unit and appointed an executive to implement the technology across the entire business.

SAP has doubled down on its mission to infuse AI into every part of the company’s portfolio, creating a 'new end-to-end growth area' focused on the technology.

Under the leadership of Dr Philipp Herzig in the newly-created role of Chief Artificial Intelligence Officer (CAIO), the new unit will oversee the entire value chain for SAP's Business AI offering, extending from product development and research through to customer implementation.

Herzig’s team consists includes Walter Sun, who continues to lead all product engineering efforts on business AI, as the Global Head of AI. With a proven track record of driving technological innovation and strategic business leadership, Sun joined SAP from Microsoft in September 2023.

“I will lead SAP Business AI from strategy to execution,” says Herzin “I will drive activities across the entire SAP operation. Together with my team, I deliver state-of-the art business AI and foundational capabilities that users love and trust, driving value for customers.”

He added: “SAP’s increased focus on business AI marks the start of a completely new generation of enterprise innovation, and I’m honoured to have the chance to help customers make the most of this unprecedented opportunity.” 

In recent months, SAP has made a number of announcements relating to its increased use of AI. The company has invested more than US$1bn in AI-powered start-up companies via its investment arm, Sapphire Ventures. while the company recently announced a restructuring process aimed at helping it focus on high-growth areas such as AI.

Redefining procurement & SCM with the power of AI

SAP is one of the world's leading producers of software to manage business processes, developing solutions that facilitate the effective data processing and information flow across organisations. 

SAP shares have increased by 7% in the wake of the company forecasting cloud revenue growth of more than €21.5bn (US$23.5bn). The company also anticipates a total revenue of more than €37.5bn (US$41bn) in 2024.

In recently launching Joule – SAP’s natural-language, generative AI ‘co-pilot’ – SAP CEO Christian Klein spelled out how it has the power to redefine both the way businesses and people work. “Joule will know what you mean, not just what you say,” Klein told the world.

Joule will be embedded throughout SAP’s cloud enterprise portfolio, and is aimed at the estimated 300 million enterprise users around the world who work with SAP cloud solutions. 

It is built to deliver proactive and contextualised insight from across the breadth and depth of SAP solutions and third-party sources – and one area in particular is set to reap huge benefits from it: supply chain.

Darcy MacClaren, Chief Revenue Officer for SAP Digital Supply Chain, told Supply Chain Digital late last year: “AI has the potential to revolutionise supply chain management because it's going to enable better decision-making, improved efficiency, reduced costs and meaningful sustainability initiatives. 

“As AI becomes more accessible, we will see increased adoption and integration of it across supply chain operations. It's a game changer.”

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