SAP has taken a bold step to simplify enterprise AI development with the introduction of AI Foundation, its new operating system for Business AI. Unveiled at SAP Sapphire 2025, AI Foundation consolidates SAP’s existing and emerging AI technologies—including Joule Studio, AI Hub, and the SAP Knowledge Graph—into a unified, scalable framework that streamlines how developers and business users alike build, extend, and run custom AI solutions.
What sets AI Foundation apart is its promise to reduce the cost and complexity of enterprise AI. Features like prompt optimization, which automates the generation of high-quality prompts for LLMs, and the tabular AI engine that turns structured data into real-time predictions, democratize advanced analytics across SAP’s suite. Companies can now go from data to insight to action in minutes instead of months.
For developers, the low-code and no-code capabilities in Joule Studio enable the creation of AI agents grounded in enterprise data. Meanwhile, the AI Hub, leveraging SAP LeanIX, ensures governance by mapping AI agents to business capabilities across the enterprise. These innovations are designed not just to build smarter tools, but to give organizations a systematic way to scale AI across every line of business.
What this means for ERP Insiders
Democratize enterprise AI without fragmentation. CIOs and CDOs can leverage SAP AI Foundation to empower both technical and business teams to build AI-driven applications without compromising governance. The inclusion of Joule Studio and the Knowledge Graph ensures that enterprise-specific data semantics are preserved and exploited for smarter automation. Customers like Jabil and Microsoft have already seen 30% productivity gains from embedded AI copilots.
Reduce TCO by centralizing AI development. AI Foundation consolidates AI tools into a single platform, reducing reliance on costly integrations and disconnected data pipelines. A recent market study found that organizations using centralized AI platforms saw a 38% faster time to deployment. With Joule, SAP provides out-of-the-box capabilities alongside customizable extensions, helping finance and supply chain teams launch AI agents in weeks, not quarters.
Accelerate innovation with built-In governance and interoperability. SAP’s use of LeanIX to inventory and manage AI agents helps IT leaders mitigate risk, track usage, and ensure agentic AI aligns with business priorities. This will be critical as agent-based automation expands into core processes like dispute resolution, supply chain disruption management, and employee performance reviews—all of which are now supported by SAP Joule agents with reasoning capabilities.
