SAP customers still slow to deploy AI broadly

A new survey of SAP customer organizations shows that, despite AI experimentation, few have implemented AI and generative AI technologies across their enterprises. That’s not to say organizations aren’t eager to leverage AI for process optimization and data analysis, in particular, but concerns about security, data quality, and governance remain hurdles.

SAP conducted a “Use of Artificial Intelligence” survey among its Americas’ SAP User Group (ASUG), UK & Ireland SAP User Group (UKISUG), and its German-speaking SAP User Group (DSAG) in August and September 2024. There were 260 ASUG respondents and 123 UKISUG respondents, along with 246 DSAG participants from the DACH region (Germany, Austria, and Switzerland).

A small portion of SAP customers reported their organizations were using AI in many areas (6% DSAG, 7% ASUG, 5% UKISUG). The lion’s share of respondents said their organizations were leveraging AI in some areas of the business (24% DSAG, 25% ASUG, 29% UKISUG), or not using AI at all (11% DSAG, 10% ASUG, 13% UKISUG).

“It is astonishing that almost a third of companies still have no official plans regarding the use of AI,” DSAG Chairman Jens Hungershausen said in a statement accompanying the results of the survey.

Lack of AI expertise

Expertise in AI technologies is likely slowing adoption. Users were overwhelmingly negative about the state of their organizations’ AI expertise. Only 7% of DSAG members, 6% of ASUG and UKISUG members considered themselves experts in AI. When it came to gen AI, 8% of DSAG members considered themselves experts, but only 2% of ASUG members and 5% of UKISUG members felt the same.

However, respondents are in the process of expanding their AI knowledge. 52% of DSAG participants, 49% of ASUG participants, and 44% of UKISUG respondents said they were currently learning about AI. Roughly the same numbers said they were expanding their knowledge of gen AI: 46% DSAG, 44% ASUG, and 41% UKISUG.

SAP said these results reveal a pressing need for more information about AI by users, partners, and software manufacturers alike.

Reluctance vs. progress

The speed of change when it comes to AI technologies is likely another factor exacerbating users’ feelings about their lack of expertise. SAP found that 24% of DSAG respondents, 23% of ASUG respondents, and 19% of UKISUG respondents said they could not keep pace with the technological, social, and economic changes associated with AI. The majority of respondents (59% DSAG, 59% ASUG, 70% UKISUG) said they could keep up to some extent. A minority (11% DSAG, 12% ASUG, 6% UKISUG) said they were easily keeping pace with changes.

“The survey results show an interesting tension between reluctance and progress in the implementation of AI in companies,” Hungershausen said. “The rapid development of AI technologies can be overwhelming for companies. What’s more, many, especially in the SME sector, may not have the necessary financial resources, technical infrastructure, or specialists to implement AI comprehensively.”

Other challenges reported by respondents include:

• Selecting the right AI tools for existing needs: 50% DSAG, 41% ASUG, 44% UKISUG
• Lack of necessary skills to make full use of AI tools: 27% DSAG, 34% ASUG, 36% UKISUG
• Not enough high-quality AI tools: 24% DSAG, 21% ASUG, 25% UKISUG

That said, many AI pilots are under way, with 32% of DSAG respondents, 25% of ASUG respondents, and 30% of UKISUG respondents reporting they were currently carrying out AI pilot projects. An additional 23% of DSAG participants, 20% of ASUG participants, and 15% of UKISUG participants said they were considering AI pilot projects.

Respondents were most interested in using AI to optimize internal business processes (61% DSAG, 61% ASUG, 53% UKISUG) and to leverage AI-supported analyses of data for insights (60% DSAG, 58% ASUG, 54% UKISUG). AI can help automate and optimize production, logistics, and personnel management processes, leading to visible cost savings and improvements. When it comes to data analyses, AI can help support data-driven decision making.

As for generative AI, ERP has been singled out by some as a ripe opportunity for gen AI to save employee time, streamline business processes, and help expedite bill collection.

Even though there is a lot of interest in leveraging AI-supported data analyses, fewer said they were interested in using AI to support strategic business decisions (21% DSAG, 21% UKISUG, 20% ASUG).

Other valuable AI use cases according to respondents include:

• Detecting anomalies in integration processes: 65% DSAG, 61% ASUG, 59% UKISUG
• Creating of integration flows or logic between SAP and non-SAP applications: 62% DSAG, 61% ASUG, 58% UKISU
• Summarizing financial analyses: 57% DSAG, 55% ASUG, 66% UKISUG
• Developing new gen AI products and services: 31% DSAG, 26% ASUG, 27% UKISUG

Overall, respondents had mixed feelings about the increasing use of AI technology. 61% of DSAG respondents, 52% of ASUG respondents, and 54% of UKISUG respondents said they were both excited and worried by AI technology. Many respondents said AI has advantages, but the potential of the technology is overrated (57% DSAG, 48% ASUG, 52% UKISUG), while a few felt the technology is greatly overestimated (2% DSAG, 5% ASUG, 6% UKISUG). Still, many feel the technology will revolutionize industries (37% DSAG, 37% ASUG, 32% UKISUG).

While SAP user groups have previously noted that AI is viewed as a top digital transformation driver at their organizations, they have also widely criticized SAP’s strategy of offering AI innovations only in the cloud.