Helge Sanden,
Moderator, Keynote Speaker und Chefredakteur vom IT-Onlinemagazin, hat in seinem
LinkedIn-Post
die Frage gestellt: „KI: Game-Changer, Scheininnovation oder eher kein SAP-Thema?“. Daraufhin hat sich eine interessante Diskussion ergeben, und auch ich habe meine Meinung gepostet. Das große Feedback auf Helges Post zeigt: Hier ist Redebedarf, was mich wiederum veranlasst hat, mein Statement zum Thema mal ein bisschen ausführlicher zu veröffentlichen.
No time to wait: AI solutions for SAP customers in the transformation process
SAP is beating the drum for the AI revolution. With “Business AI” and the co-pilot Joule, a future is envisioned in which processes run up to 90% faster. A tempting promise. But while the future of AI is being forged in the cloud in Walldorf, the reality in many German companies is very different: Lengthy S/4HANA transformations, rigid on-premise systems and an investment backlog are tying up resources and attention. Do you really want to wait until SAP modernization is “completed” in the distant future, while your competitors have long since set the course for an intelligent future?
The dilemma: SAP’s AI cloud meets on-premise reality
SAP’s strategy is clear: innovations such as generative AI are primarily provided via cloud offerings such as RISE and GROW as well as the Business Technology Platform (BTP). For customers who have already fully arrived in the SAP cloud world, this may be a logical path. For the vast majority, however, who are still using ECC 6.0 or S/4HANA on-premise, this creates a dangerous gap. These companies are paying maintenance fees for stable but increasingly non-innovative systems and at the same time are expected to invest in a cloud transformation, the amortization of which is questionable for many. A survey conducted by DSAG and IT-Onlinemagazin in spring 2025 clearly shows the skepticism: 76% of respondents believe that SAP’s price-performance ratio is not right and 85% feel pushed into the cloud. This hesitation is understandable, but it must not lead to inaction.
The trap of waiting: why procrastination is more expensive than action
Perhaps the greatest danger in the current transformation process is the assumption that one problem (ERP modernization) must be completely solved before the next (AI integration) can be tackled. This linear approach is fatal in a technology world that is advancing exponentially. Every month of waiting is a month lost, during which no experience is gained, no internal skills are built up and no quick wins are achieved. The old adage is confirmed time and again:
“The key question is not whether your company will use AI, but when and how you will gain control of your AI strategy – regardless of the roadmaps of individual providers.”
Alternative paths to intelligence: hybrid architectures as a way out
The good news is that you don’t have to wait for SAP. The happy medium is called “hybrid AI”. The logic is simple: use your valuable data that is stored in your SAP systems, but decouple the AI logic from the rigid ERP infrastructure. In this way, you create a flexible and sovereign solution landscape.
Sovereignty instead of vendor lock-in
A hybrid architecture allows you to combine the best of all worlds. You can connect your SAP data via secure connectors and use the services of hyperscalers (such as Azure OpenAI, Google Vertex AI) or specialized open source models (so-called LocalLLMs) for the actual intelligence, which you can even operate on your own hardware. This approach, which is also required by consulting firms for on-premise customers, gives you full control over costs, data security and technological choice. You are no longer tied to the commercial models or functional scope of a single provider.
The economic lever: cost-benefit analysis in plain language
Instead of making a huge upfront investment in a complete cloud migration, hybrid approaches allow you to invest specifically in use cases with the highest business value. An AI-supported chatbot for customer service? Intelligent automation of invoice processing? Such projects can be implemented with manageable effort and deliver a fast, measurable ROI. The costs are transparent and can be calculated based on usage (for cloud services) or as a one-off investment (for local hardware). This allows you to avoid the justification trap of large, monolithic transformation projects.
Building the bridge: Low-code as an accelerator for business and IT
But how can such a hybrid strategy be implemented technically and organizationally without launching new, complex IT projects? The answer lies in low-code platforms.
“Low-code platforms act as an agile bridge between the rigid SAP world and the dynamic AI world.”
With a low-code platform such as Simplier, which is specially certified for integration into SAP landscapes, business departments can develop their specific AI applications together with IT – often up to 10 times faster than with traditional programming. Instead of waiting months for implementation by an overburdened IT department, ideas can be quickly turned into working prototypes. This not only creates speed, but also enormous motivation and acceptance for digitalization throughout the company.
Fusion teams in action: overcoming silo thinking
However, perhaps the most important effect of low-code is a cultural one. The technology forces and enables a radically new form of collaboration. Rigid requirements documents and long development cycles are being replaced by direct collaboration in “fusion teams”, in which business experts and IT developers work together on the solution. As emphasized in specialist media, this close collaboration between IT and business is crucial in order to prevent a new shadow IT and ensure governance. This is exactly where the digital expertise that will make your company truly fit for the future thrives. It is the dissolution of the old rifts between “order” and “delivery” and the beginning of real, joint value creation.
Conclusion: Act now – your future is not linked to an SAP release
The transformation to an intelligent organization is not a technical update that can be bought. It’s an organizational learning process. Waiting for your S/4HANA migration to be completed is a bet against time that you can’t win. Take your destiny into your own hands. Build a bridge to the AI future with hybrid architectures and low-code platforms. Build hyper-agile fusion teams that solve real problems and create measurable added value. Your digital sovereignty does not begin with the next SAP release, but with the decision to act today.
