2024.07.11
SAP to integrate AI across cloud suites amid projected investment growth in Asia-Pacific
BY LEE JAE-LIM, Korea
JoongAng Daily - German software giant SAP projects that AI investments in the
Asia-Pacific region will reach $28 billion over the next five years, aligning
with the company's business strategy to integrate AI into its cloud suites.
SAP's chief revenue
officer, Scott Russell, said on Tuesday that 43 percent of Korean companies
utilize its AI-powered cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) product,
experiencing an average boost of 7 percent in revenue growth annually. The
survey was conducted on domestic companies that collectively account for 90
percent of the nation's economic revenue.
“Forty-three percent
of Korean companies are using ‘Rise with SAP,’” Russell said at the annual
press event held in southern Seoul, where the company outlined its road map to
develop and deploy AI cloud solutions.
He also noted that
local firms that deployed Grow with SAP, another ERP cloud platform for
mid-sized enterprises, saw revenue double compared to companies that utilize
on-premises infrastructure, as well as an improved cash conversion cycle by 42
percent and an inventory reduction of 10 percent.
“The reason for that
is because in the cloud, you’re able to access innovation much faster, which
you can use more immediately for businesses than those who don’t,” Russell
continued. “I know in Korea, [the growth] is very strong. I suspect it’s
consistent, maybe a little faster [than in other countries].”
In line with the
global race to adopt AI, the software company is integrating its AI chatbot
Joule in its cloud suites. Initially deployed in SAP's ERP portfolios such as
SAP SuccessFactors and SAP Start, Joule will also become part of SAP Ariba and
SAP Analytics Cloud within the year.
The Korean language
will also be supported in the chatbot this year.
The software giant
emphasized that AI models will be embedded across all of its cloud software to
allow clients to develop their own AI functions tailored to their needs.
“The most important
part of our AI strategy is our AI co-pilot Joule,” said Madhur Mayank Sharma,
head of SAP’s AI product engineering. “With Joule, customers can use it for
transactional capabilities, navigational capabilities and information
extraction. The latest [function] which we have added is the analytical
capabilities. With Joule, customers can now bring in their unstructured and
structured information at one place through document-grounding and now can
interact and ask questions on top of this structured and unstructured data in a
seamless manner.”