SAP Launches Revolutionary Business Data Cloud with Databricks to Enhance Business AI Capabilities

SAP Launches Business Data Cloud with Databricks

In a landmark announcement, SAP SE has unveiled the SAP Business Data Cloud, a revolutionary solution aimed at unifying both SAP and third-party data within organizations. This innovative cloud platform is designed to offer a trusted database that empowers organizations to make more efficient decisions and fosters the growth of reliable artificial intelligence (AI).

Breaking New Ground in Data Management

This new offering represents a historic partnership between SAP and Databricks, two leaders in their respective fields. By integrating Databricks' advanced technologies into SAP's suite of tools, this collaboration redefines how organizations manage and utilize their data. The Business Data Cloud focuses on data engineering and business analytics, paving the way for innovation and fresh perspectives in data usage.

Christian Klein, SAP's CEO, commented, _“SAP Business Data Cloud unleashes the full potential of enterprise data for AI.”_ He emphasized that this solution combines SAP's longstanding expertise in managing end-to-end critical processes with Databricks' superior data engineering capabilities. This union aims to help organizations harness their data more effectively than ever before.

Ali Ghodsi, co-founder and CEO of Databricks, also shared insights, stating, _“Every company on the planet is seeking to extract more value from their data and maximize their AI investments.”_ By collaborating with SAP, organizations can effortlessly consolidate their data regardless of format or location, allowing for comprehensive data governance, analysis, and custom AI application development.

Fostering a Data Product Economy

In addition to streamlining data management, SAP Business Data Cloud is crucial in fostering a genuine data product economy. It offers fully managed SAP data products that cover financial, spending, and logistics processes from SAP S/4HANA and SAP Ariba, to training and talent management data in SAP SuccessFactors. These data products retain their original business context and semantics, guaranteeing immediate access to high-quality data without the need for costly and complex extractions.

For instance, a finance director can assess the impact of inflation on profitability by integrating real-time external data—such as consumer price indices—with internal financial data like general ledger accounts or cost centers. This capability provides a complete and instant financial picture.

SAP Business Data Cloud will also introduce novel features called “insight apps.” These applications capitalize on data products and AI models linked to real-time data, offering advanced analytics and optimizing planning across business functions such as finance, human resources, and business analytics.

Markus Hartmann, Henkel's Vice President Corporate and Head of Business Technologies for Europe, APAC, and IMEA, remarked, _“SAP Business Data Cloud will enable us to fully exploit the value of our data and drive innovation within our company.”_ He alluded to how enhanced data products and a deep integration with Databricks would not only complement their existing data offerings but also allow them to model scenarios and leverage AI-based insights, creating a sustainable data ecosystem.

Unlocking the Full Potential of AI Agents

Furthermore, the SAP Business Data Cloud is set to revolutionize the functionality of Joule, SAP's generative AI copilot. By enhancing cross-workflow processes and bolstering decision-making capabilities, AI agents will excel using industry-best business data and the SAP Knowledge Graph—a data model accessible to businesses. The Joule agents will have a comprehensive understanding of end-to-end processes and will be able to collaborate transversally to tackle intricate business challenges, offering solutions that no other agent technology currently provides out of the box.

Accompanying this announcement, SAP revealed a suite of ready-to-use Joule agents across various domains, including finance, service, sales, and more. For instance, the financial agents will work synergistically to expedite request processing and improve cash management, while sales Joule agents will accelerate complex business processes, ensuring quicker issue resolution and customer request handling.

Moreover, SAP introduced a powerful agent creation feature, allowing clients to develop and deploy custom AI agents alongside the Joule agent library. Drawing on decades of expertise in business processes, SAP offers a guided workflow for users to base their personalized agents on the most relevant data and contextual information.

For further updates, visit the SAP News Center and follow SAP on social media at @SAPNews.

About SAP

SAP is a global leader in enterprise applications and Business AI, trusted by organizations for over 50 years to unify critical operations spanning finance, procurement, human resources, supply chain, and customer experience. Explore more at www.sap.com.