International PIKON Blog

Moving to Agentic AI: Insights from Frankfurt Tech Show 2026

Ihor Hetman
June 9, 2026
7 Minutes

Nowadays new announcements, products and technology changes appear almost every week. For us at PIKON, staying ahead is essential. We continuously conduct internal research and test new technologies in our labs. However, nothing compares to getting out into the field. At the beginning of May, I went to the Frankfurt Tech Show 2026. It was a fantastic opportunity to look at the industry’s state, share ideas and discuss best practices for developing AI services and products for businesses.

Inside the Frankfurt Tech Show

The Frankfurt Tech Show is an annual event that connects businesses involved in digital transformation from software providers to the physical IT infrastructure vendors that support them, including server, electricity and cooling equipment innovators.

The event was divided into four interconnected areas, each featuring mini-venues for product demos and expert stages for company presentations and panel discussions:

Big Data & AI World: The vibrant epicenter for SaaS providers and advanced analytics.
Cloud & AI Infrastructure: Where vendors showcased the latest in cloud and on-premises infrastructure.
Data Center World: A deep dive into the hardware and physical infrastructure keeping the digital world running.
Cloud & Cyber Security Expo: A dedicated space highlighting enterprise-grade security and threat mitigation.

The Shift to Agentic AI: 10 Key Takeaways

While Generative AI was the center of attention last year, this year’s Tech Show focused on Agentic AI – systems that connect different data sources and independently carry out complex tasks to meet business goals. Read more about agentic AI.

Based on the speaker sessions and discussions, here are my top 10 insights about the current state of enterprise AI:

Observability is King: Companies are investing heavily in data monitoring and AI observability frameworks to ensure their systems are reliable and explainable.
Context over Raw Data: The old proverb “Garbage in, garbage out” still holds true. However, Agentic AI requires more than just clean data, it demands robust semantic models that accurately describe data structures to the AI.
Prototypes do not equal Production: AI-generated software, when guided correctly, is phenomenal for rapid prototyping. However, it is not yet robust enough to be deployed directly into production environments without significant human oversight.
Institutional Knowledge Retention: Forward-thinking corporations are building AI ecosystems designed to capture, store, and seamlessly pass down institutional knowledge to future generations of employees.
The Rise of AI Governance: Driven by the strict regulations of the EU AI Act, governance is a hot topic, particularly in high-risk and data-intensive sectors.
Focusing on Business Value First: The industry is shifting from “cool AI prototypes” to meaningful business transformation. The consensus? Define the precise business value before you write the first line of code, not after the prototype is finished.
AI requires a Cultural Shift: Successful AI integration isn’t just about hiring top-tier engineers or renting massive computing power; it requires an organizational and mental shift within your company and your clients’ teams.
Democratize Innovation: AI shouldn’t live in an isolated silo. True innovation happens when domain experts and team members across the organization feel empowered to contribute ideas and prototype own solutions.
The European Infrastructure Paradox: Europe knows its cloud infrastructure lacks the scale of the US or Chinese markets. Although the EU has all the needed component vendors to fill this gap, complicated legal frameworks still pose a major challenge.
The Velocity Risk: While GenAI allows us to create prototypes at unprecedented speeds, this rapid pace has introduced new cybersecurity risks and trust issues.

The SAP Connection: Bringing AI to the Core Business

As a data scientist at an SAP consulting company, I look at these 10 points through a specific lens, especially when it comes to the SAP ecosystem. For many enterprises, true business transformation happens where their data lives: within their ERP. This is where SAP plays a monumental role. The trends from the Tech Show: Agentic AI, semantic data models, and governance are precisely what SAP is addressing with its latest innovations, such as SAP Joule, SAP Joule Studio, and the SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP). Read more about AI & SAP BTP.

By embedding AI directly into standard business processes (like finance, controlling, and logistics), SAP bridges the gap between raw data and actionable value. It provides the structured semantic models and the governance frameworks required to make Agentic AI safe, compliant, and highly effective in high-risk enterprise environments.

How to prepare your Enterprise for Agentic AI

Reflecting on the discussions in Frankfurt, it is clear that transitioning from a standalone Generative AI chatbot to an autonomous Agentic AI ecosystem requires a deliberate roadmap. If your organisation is looking to make this leap, I recommend focusing on three foundational pillars:

Map Your Processes, Not Just Your Data: Before choosing an AI model, clearly outline the workflows you want to automate. Agentic AI needs clear boundaries and objectives; if a human process is chaotic, automating it with an AI agent will only accelerate the chaos.
Invest in the Semantic Layer: Clean databases are no longer the finish line. You need to build a robust semantic layer – such as data graphs or standardized metadata repositories – so that autonomous agents can understand the relationships between your business entities (e.g., how a “customer ID” in your CRM links to a “billing document” in your SAP ERP).
Establish an AI Governance Board: With the EU AI Act setting strict legal boundaries, compliance cannot be an afterthought. Establish cross-functional teams comprising IT, legal, and business stakeholders early on to assess the risk level of your AI use cases.

The European Reality: Innovation within a Regulatory Framework

A recurring theme across the panel discussions at the Tech Show was the unique challenge facing European enterprises. Operating in the EU means we cannot look at AI through the same lens as Silicon Valley.

While US companies often prioritize “moving fast and breaking things,” European enterprises must balance rapid innovation with strict data privacy laws (GDPR) and the upcoming enforcement of the EU AI Act. This creates a bottleneck, but it also creates an opportunity. The consensus among experts at the event was that compliant AI will ultimately become a competitive advantage.

By building systems that respect data sovereignty and governance from day one -particularly when dealing with highly sensitive data in core SAP systems, European companies are creating AI ecosystems that are inherently more stable, trustworthy, and ready for long-term use.

How can PIKON help you?

At PIKON, we combine our deep consulting expertise with a pragmatic, data-driven approach to AI. We don’t just build AI because it’s trendy; we build it to deliver measurable business value. Here is how we can help you implement the insights from Tech Show 2026:

AI Readiness & Strategy: We help you identify the right use cases before investing in development, ensuring your AI initiatives directly drive business transformation.
Data Foundation & Semantic Modeling: We support you to clean your data and build the precise semantic structures that modern Agentic AI needs to understand your unique business context.
SAP AI Integration: We integrate SAP’s standard AI capabilities (like Joule and BTP) into your existing workflows, maximizing your current software ROI while maintaining strict data governance.
Change Management: We guide your teams through the cultural and organizational shifts required to adopt, trust, and innovate with AI every day.

Conslusion

The Frankfurt Tech Show 2026 made one thing clear: the era of AI experimentation is coming to an end, and the era of structured, value-driven enterprise AI is starting. It is no longer just about the excitement of what AI might do, but about the hard work of building reliable, compliant, and value-driven systems. Moving forward requires a balance of advanced technology, rock-solid data quality, and cultural readiness.

Whether you are looking to explore the potential of Agentic AI, or supercharge your SAP ecosystem with smart automation, PIKON is ready to walk this transformative path with you.