Companies using SAP software are moving artificial intelligence projects from test environments into operational systems, with customers presenting examples of enterprise data integration and manufacturing automation during SAP SAPPHIRE in Madrid between 19 and 21 May.
The examples centered on two different approaches to deployment. Ericsson, the telecommunications infrastructure company whose mobile networks carry more than 40% of global mobile traffic across 180 countries, is focusing on the data architecture required to support enterprise AI deployments. Martur Fompak International, an automotive seating and interior systems manufacturer, is applying AI tools and robotics inside manufacturing operations.
Nazia Pillay, Managing Director for Southern Africa at SAP, the enterprise software company behind products including ERP, analytics and business applications, said organizations are now focused on implementation rather than experimentation.
“The next phase of AI adoption is about execution. Organisations are looking for trusted data foundations, strong governance and practical business use cases that can deliver measurable value. By embedding AI into the systems and workflows companies already use, SAP is helping customers scale AI responsibly and turn ambition into real-world impact.”
Ericsson said it is using SAP Business Data Cloud to create a unified business data layer intended to support AI deployments across the company. According to Ericsson, the approach is designed around federated data architecture, allowing data to remain in existing locations while business semantics, governance rules and lifecycle management are controlled centrally.
“Once you scale AI, it stops being an AI problem—and becomes a data problem,” says Esra Kocatürk Norell, Vice President, Customer Experience, Enterprise IT at Ericsson. “That’s why we invested early in a business data fabric. With SAP Business Data Cloud, we can define what data means once—from revenue to market structures and access rules—and apply it consistently across the enterprise. That’s what allows us to scale AI in a way that is trusted, repeatable and delivers real business value.”
Ericsson said more than 85,000 users are currently live on unified Joule, SAP’s AI assistant technology. The companies are also working together on AI projects including a goal recommendation capability built into SAP SuccessFactors that generates business aligned goals for employees.
Manufacturing deployments presented at the event focused less on knowledge work and more on physical operations. Martur Fompak International said it has deployed an autonomous intralogistics model that combines SAP software with humanoid robotics technology from Humanoid, a UK based robotics and AI company.
The deployment runs on SAP S/4HANA and uses SAP Extended Warehouse Management to provide robots with task information, material data, storage locations and production priorities. The system connects production signals and business context to automated material movement across manufacturing environments, with robots identifying, transporting and delivering materials while updating SAP systems during execution.
“Our humanoid robot collaborates with digital production systems to ensure seamless coordination across order management, logistics and production, enabling scalable AI adoption and improving efficiency, consistency and operational resilience,” says Özlem Altınışık, Group Intelligent Technologies Director at Martur Fompak International.
Martur Fompak International said the environment currently supports 400 production line feeds per day and operates with decision making driven entirely by SAP software. According to the company, early results include increased throughput, fewer errors and an AI based intralogistics model designed for larger deployments.
