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AI Applications in Business
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer just a trend—it already shapes our daily lives. From smart assistants and personalized recommendations to tools like ChatGPT and Google Gemini, AI supports us in countless ways. But while AI adoption in private life is advancing rapidly, many companies still ask: How can AI create real business value, and what AI tools are available in SAP S/4HANA?
In the world of enterprise resource planning (ERP), new opportunities are emerging. SAP S/4HANA Cloud already includes powerful embedded AI features that drive business process automation and enable faster, data-driven decision-making. Examples include automated monitoring of purchase order items, customer order completion, and the conversational AI assistant SAP Joule. These intelligent ERP capabilities help organizations boost efficiency, reduce manual effort, and improve overall business performance.
However, the Digital Office Index 2024 by Bitkom highlights that the adoption of AI in companies is progressing more slowly than expected. A lack of skilled professionals who combine technical know-how with deep business expertise remains a major challenge.
This is where we support our clients: leveraging our experience, we guide companies in identifying the right AI use cases and implementing practical AI scenarios in SAP S/4HANA—from strategy to execution.
AI Applications in SAP S/4HANA
In this blog article, we explore which AI features in SAP S/4HANA are already available today and how your company can benefit from them. The goal is to provide you with a practical overview and demonstrate how artificial intelligence creates real business value across your processes.
Since SAP follows a strict cloud-first strategy, all the features presented here are exclusively available in the SAP S/4HANA Cloud environment. The AI-driven capabilities we will highlight include:
- Financial Business Insights
- Create Sales Orders – Automatic Data Extraction from Unstructured Documents
- SAP Joule – the Generative AI Assistant in SAP S/4HANA
Demo Video
AI in SAP S/4HANA
In the video, we showcase additional AI applications in SAP S/4HANA that are already integrated or planned. Through concrete examples, you will see the added value they bring to your daily work.
Financial Business Insights
With the reporting capabilities of the new Financial Business Insights functionality in SAP S/4HANA, financial data from review booklets—such as the Project Profitability Review Booklet—can be efficiently analysed and summarised using generative AI. The idea behind this is that financial data becomes available in real time and can be used directly for transparency, steering, and decision-making.
From the side panel, users can access various quick actions that automatically answer typical reporting questions. The AI supports this with analytical drilldowns and filters and also generates clearly formulated summaries in natural language.
Results can be exported or shared directly. The main benefit lies in automated workflows instead of manual routine tasks. In addition, the quick visibility of critical KPIs and direct recommendations for action provides a significant efficiency gain.
Monitoring purchase order items with AI-Powered predictions
The new “Monitor Purchase Order Items” app enables purchasing managers to filter purchase order items based on criteria such as purchase order number, material group, material, supplier, or plant, and to track their status in detail. In addition to standard line-item information, users can predict delivery dates. The integrated regression algorithm analyzes historical data and forecasts whether a delivery will arrive early, on time, or late. This prediction is presented in a clear popup, including a chart showing the supplier’s delivery reliability over the past 180 days.
This functionality allows buyers to identify potential delivery issues early and take proactive measures. With the integration of Intelligent Scenario Lifecycle Management (ISLM), machine learning models are directly embedded into procurement processes, enhancing overall supply chain efficiency.
Creating sales orders – automatic extraction from unstructured data
Incoming orders in PDF or image format can be automatically processed into the sales process. Instead of manually entering orders, the system extracts the relevant information directly from the uploaded file and creates a sales order request, with the original file stored as an attachment. The system then suggests appropriate values for the required fields and checks data completeness.
Before a sales order is finalised, users can run a simulation. This helps identify potential errors and highlights discrepancies, such as differences in prices or line items. Once all mandatory fields are complete and the simulation is successfully executed, the sales order request can be converted into a sales order. Incomplete data can be supplemented manually at any time.
Users can filter and sort requests by various criteria within the application. This functionality significantly reduces the manual effort involved in order entry and streamlines the overall sales process.
Joule
With SAP Joule, users in SAP S/4HANA have access to a digital assistant that understands natural language, making it much easier to access information and business data. Instead of searching through multiple applications, questions can simply be asked in everyday language. Joule then scans the available applications and provides relevant suggestions.
Beyond app search, Joule enables direct access to business data without opening the corresponding application. For example, users can immediately check the status and line items of purchase orders or purchase requisitions. Access is role- and authorization-based, requiring the appropriate rights for the involved business objects. Users can also create analytical cards: from an app, information cards such as lists or tables can be generated and added to the home page, providing a clear overview of key metrics or recently created documents.
Joule also supports master data creation. For instance, new assets can be created directly via Joule by entering key information—such as company code, cost center, or asset class—in natural language, with additional details added later in the respective application.
It’s important to note that different variants of Joule exist. In our context, we primarily focus on Joule for Developers, which includes features like app search, data access, and system actions. There is also Joule for Consultants, which is more similar to a ChatGPT-style SAP assistant, offering conversational support without deep integration into business processes. For further details, see the article Unlocking Business Potential with LLMs and AI Agents, which explores Joule’s use cases in more depth.
Further insights into the SAP AI Roadmap: upcoming innovations
SAP’s current roadmap clearly shows that artificial intelligence is deeply embedded in the SAP strategy. For users of SAP solutions—especially SAP S/4HANA—this means that AI will gradually become a core part of daily work. Numerous new features are planned for upcoming releases, with the continued evolution of SAP Joule being particularly exciting.
Two recently delivered features are worth highlighting. The Error Explanation functionality will provide users with AI-generated solutions for system errors in natural language, allowing problems to be identified and resolved faster. In master data management, change requests can now be created more easily using natural language and automatically summarized, simplifying workflows.
For Q4/2025, SAP plans a total of 32 AI-related innovations. A notable example is the upcoming AI-assisted creation of purchase requisitions. With this feature, Joule helps generate purchase requisitions without navigating complex user interfaces. Input can be given in natural language—for example, a request like “I need ten laptops for the sales team” is automatically recognized, correctly mapped, and created as a structured purchase requisition in the system. This reduces manual effort and minimizes free-text entries that would otherwise need time-consuming review and assignment. In the long term, even voice-driven input is planned, further simplifying usage. For operational buyers, this means less rework and fewer clarification cases.
Another upcoming innovation involves Situation Handling. Previously, critical situations—such as erroneous master data, delayed processes, or missed deadlines—triggered system alerts, but users had to determine solutions themselves. In the upcoming release, integration with Intelligent Situation Automation on the SAP Business Technology Platform will deliver generative AI-driven recommendations, based on historical data and best practices, tailored to the specific context of each case.
Conclusion
For companies, this means that the potential of AI is enormous, but the path to success can be complex. Data quality, selecting the right use cases, integrating AI into existing processes, and user adoption all determine the outcome. This is where we, as an experienced SAP consulting partner, come in. We help you identify the relevant AI features, optimize your data and system landscape, and implement new functionalities in a way that delivers real business value. The roadmap shows where the journey is heading—now is the right time to set the course. Contact us if you want to successfully implement your AI strategy with SAP S/4HANA.
For an even more tangible insight into how AI works in SAP S/4HANA and the concrete value it brings, check out the video by my colleague. It demonstrates three AI features: AI Assisted Filter, Smart Summarization, and the Cost Center Review Booklet, which reduce manual effort and save valuable time. This allows you to experience the potential of AI in the system directly and get inspired on how to leverage these capabilities in your own organisation.
Discover more AI topics
Are you struggling to identify which business processes could truly benefit from AI or other technologies, rather than investing in solutions without clear value? Do you have strategic innovation goals but lack clarity on how to translate them into feasible, high-impact use cases?
Our AI Discovery Workshop helps you turn uncertainty into clarity, explore the possibilities, align technology with your goals, and uncover use cases that create real business impact.
AI Workshop
AI Discovery Workshop
The AI Discovery Workshop helps your organisation identify concrete opportunities to improve and innovate business processes by exploring where AI truly adds value and where other technologies may be a better fit. It brings clarity to your challenges and aligns technology with business goals to co-create feasible use cases that deliver tangible business value.
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