SAP used the stage at SAP Sapphire 2026 to deepen its enterprise AI strategy with the launch of Autonomous Enterprise, an initiative focused on embedding AI agents, automation, and contextual intelligence across business operations.
The strategy combines a unified AI environment for building and governing AI agents, autonomous workflow orchestration, and a redesigned user experience aimed at reducing friction between users and enterprise applications.
According to Christian Klein, Chief Executive Officer of SAP, “in our customers’ mission-critical processes, ‘almost right’ is not good enough.” He added that by combining the SAP Business AI Platform with SAP Autonomous Suite, the company can embed AI agents directly into business processes, data environments, and governance layers to deliver more accurate, secure, and compliant outcomes.
SAP introduces Autonomous Suite for AI-driven operations
As part of the announcement, SAP unveiled SAP Autonomous Suite, a new offering designed to integrate AI agents directly into the company’s enterprise applications and automate end-to-end business processes.
The platform includes more than 50 Joule assistants supporting functions such as:
procurement
supply chain
finance
human capital management
customer experience
These assistants operate alongside a network of more than 200 specialised AI agents created to handle task-specific operations across enterprise environments.
One of the highlighted capabilities was the new Autonomous Close Assistant, which automates key stages of the financial close process, including journal entries, reconciliations, and issue resolution. SAP said the capability is designed to reduce closing cycles that often take weeks into processes completed within days.
Industry AI portfolio targets sector-specific workflows
SAP also expanded its Industry AI portfolio with seven autonomous solutions developed for industry-specific operational requirements.
According to the company, these solutions combine dedicated data models, sector-focused operational logic, and regulatory frameworks aligned with the needs of different industries.
Another major announcement was Joule Work, an evolution of SAP’s enterprise user experience strategy aimed at replacing traditional application navigation with AI-driven workflow orchestration.
Under the new model, users define business objectives directly through Joule, while the platform coordinates workflows, enterprise data, and AI agents required to execute the requested outcome.
SAP said the system will also proactively identify insights, interactions, and automation opportunities based on operational context.
Joule Work is expected to operate across desktop, mobile, and voice interfaces, including both SAP and non-SAP environments.
SAP expands partner ecosystem and AI investment initiatives
To accelerate adoption of Autonomous Enterprise, SAP announced a €100 million investment fund dedicated to partners building AI assistants and enterprise agents on SAP’s ecosystem.
The initiative also supports organisations developing new use cases through SAP Business AI Platform and Joule Studio.
The company additionally revealed updates to its RISE with SAP and GROW with SAP programs.
RISE with SAP customers will receive access to three AI assistants during the first year, while GROW with SAP customers will gain access to the full portfolio of available agents and assistants from onboarding.
SAP also said customers operating SAP S/4HANA on-premise and SAP ECC environments who commit to migrating toward SAP Cloud ERP will gain access to selected AI capabilities designed to support cloud transformation projects.
SAP announces partnerships with Anthropic, AWS, Microsoft, and NVIDIA
The company also introduced a series of strategic partnerships intended to expand enterprise AI interoperability and infrastructure scalability.
Key partnerships announced during the event include:
Anthropic, integrating Claude into Joule agents
Amazon Web Services, enabling integrations between SAP Business Data Cloud and Amazon Athena
Google Cloud and Microsoft, supporting bi-directional agent interoperability
NVIDIA, providing runtime infrastructure for Joule Studio
Accenture and Palantir Technologies, supporting enterprise data migration initiatives
With the latest announcements, SAP continues positioning its ERP ecosystem around AI-driven execution, autonomous workflows, and enterprise-wide operational automation.
