SAP and AWS launch co-innovation program to accelerate enterprise AI adoption

SAP and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have launched an AI Co-Innovation Program, offering dedicated technical resources and cloud credits to help enterprises embed AWS generative AI tools into their ERP systems.

The first to profit from the program, unveiled at SAP’s Sapphire customer conference, are IT services companies building domain-specific AI agents for their customers to streamline core functions such as financial forecasting, delivery planning, and supply chain optimization.

“There isn’t a distinct technical framework for the program, but rather it’s the combined expertise, resources, and selection of models through Amazon Bedrock that will help accelerate the development of industry and use case-specific generative AI agents and applications,” said an AWS representative.

But QKS Group principal analyst Kumar Anand sees more to this than a marketing handshake. “It’s a deep technical yoke connecting Bedrock’s generative AI models directly to SAP BTP data, far exceeding the looser alignment we’ve seen with Google Cloud Cortex or Microsoft’s Copilot,” he said. While this approach delivers faster domain-specific agents, it also creates strategic architectural dependencies favoring SAP and AWS, he added.

Co-developed AI applications will be made available through the SAP Store, and the companies are exploring making them available through the AWS Marketplace, the AWS representative said.

SAP cited Accenture and Deloitte as early adopters. The former is working with SAP and AWS to help a utility company maintain service continuity using AI to anticipate natural disasters and other environmental challenges; the latter with health care and life sciences companies to build a finance tool on Amazon Bedrock that can improve forecast accuracy and optimize product mix, it said.

These initial projects are already bearing fruit, AWS Managing Director of Technology Partnerships Chris Grusz wrote in a LinkedIn post: “Early results show significant improvements in operational efficiency and decision-making speed across sectors.”

The SAP-AWS collaboration arrives as enterprises confront a difficult paradox. While generative AI dominates executive agendas, operational adoption lags far behind ambitions. McKinsey’s research shows 92% of corporations plan significant AI spending increases this year, yet only 1% have achieved organization-wide maturity. This gap is echoed by an HFS Research and Infosys study, finding just 12% of organizations have successfully scaled AI solutions, with most still wrestling with legacy systems and skills shortages.

Anand framed the challenge succinctly: “Generative AI can unbolt ERP from yesterday’s batch logic, re-routing trucks, cash, and inventory in real time. But this needs enterprises to tackle technical debt and talent scarcity. While copilots spark interest, the real prize is reshaping end-to-end workflows.”