Digital process agents in SAP: your path to the Autonomous Enterprise

In many companies, recurring processes tie up time and resources that are needed elsewhere. Digital agents automate such tasks in your SAP landscape and free up time for value-adding activities. The vision SAP has formulated for this shows where this development is headed: People set the direction, while AI agents execute entire business processes independently, with governance at every step.

As an SAP service provider, we help you navigate this development and guide you along the way. In doing so, we take into account your existing SAP landscape and the operating models that best suit your company. 

What’s behind the Autonomous Enterprise?

At the heart of it all is the SAP Business AI Platform – which combines large language models with 50 years of ERP process knowledge – is at the heart of this initiative. While a high hit rate may suffice for many consumer applications, business-critical processes such as financial closing or supply chain planning require absolute reliability and traceability.

The classic ERP modules are being further developed into the Autonomous Suite: over 200 specialized agents, spread across five domains such as Finance, Procurement, Supply Chain, HR, and Customer Experience. Another new feature is the Company Memory Layer, which makes implicit experiential knowledge from emails, chats, and process documentation available to AI agents. 

 

To ensure these agents do not have to be created from scratch for every request, SAP provides two things in parallel: a library of prebuilt agents for standard processes – which are configured and approved rather than developed – and, with Joule Studio, an environment where custom agents are created and managed throughout their entire lifecycle: from business requirements through approval to the evaluation of usage, costs, and impact.

SAP also does not rely on a single language model. For complex reasoning and planning steps, SAP integrates external reasoning models, including Claude from Anthropic, which supports the Joule and the Joule agents in multi-step workflows. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) serves as an open standard for integration with non-SAP systems. 

How does abat support you as an SAP service provider?

We translate the SAP vision into concrete, actionable steps for your company. This includes assessing your processes and system landscape, identifying potential, and working with you to decide where it makes the most sense to start.  

Specifically, we first check whether an agent provided by SAP already covers your use case – this is usually the fastest and most cost-effective approach. If the standard solution isn’t sufficient, we extend it or use Joule Studio to develop a custom agent tailored to your processes, roles, and authorizations. And where SAP’s standard offerings and roadmap don’t yet provide a solution, we deploy our digital agents. Not as a parallel system, but integrated with your existing SAP processes. 

Where does your data stay?

Trust is crucial, especially when digital agents work with your company data. That’s why we offer various operating models: GDPR-compliant cloud options within the EU, on-premises operation directly at your location, or your own Company Brain, which keeps knowledge and data within your own environment. You decide which model is right for you – tailored to your security and compliance requirements. The results produced by the digital agents are reviewed and accounted for, and you retain control.

On the SAP side, this is complemented by the governance of the SAP Business AI Platform. Roles and permissions there also apply to AI agents: Each agent is registered, acts only within the scope of its assigned rights, and its actions are logged and remain traceable. Through the SAP AI Agent Hub, you maintain an overview of all agents in use – including those not provided by SAP. You decide the level of autonomy an agent receives in stages: from human approval of every step to largely autonomous operation once a process has proven itself. This allows you to reliably meet the requirements of the GDPR and the EU AI Act even when agents are working in Finance, HR, or Procurement. 

There are now also European solutions for data location and model selection. With the EU AI Cloud, SAP operates its AI services in European data centers: Your data remains in Europe and is not used to train third-party models. You are not limited to a single language model but can choose from a variety of options, including the European models from Mistral AI. Upstream protection mechanisms in the orchestration – such as the masking of personal data and content filters – take effect even before a request reaches a model. Where you need particularly powerful reasoning models, such as Claude from Anthropic, which SAP integrates into Joule, we clarify in advance which data leaves the system for this purpose and which operating model can support it.

We’ll work with you to determine which combination of operating model, platform, and language model makes the most sense for you – ensuring it’s technically feasible and compliant with regulations.

Putting people first

When it comes to the Autonomous Enterprise, SAP emphasizes that people set the direction and AI carries it out. We share this exact approach. We actively support the transformation of work brought about by the introduction of digital agents through change management. We know that such an implementation is accompanied by questions and reservations among your employees, and we take these seriously rather than ignoring them.

Digital agents take on repetitive tasks so your teams can focus on the issues that require experience and tact. New roles and skill sets emerge in the process, while human consultation remains an integral part – both during implementation and in day-to-day operations.  

Achieve the Autonomous Enterprise in your SAP system with abat

A structured approach:
a practical path to SAP’s Autonomous Enterprise vision, tailored to your landscape. 

Automation: 
Recurring tasks run automatically, freeing up capacity for your teams.

More efficient processes: 
directly within your SAP landscape, without system disruption. 

Scalable knowledge: 
Skills and knowledge are available exactly where they’re needed.

Active Change Management: 
Instead of going it alone with technical implementation.

Standard over custom development: 
We leverage what the Autonomous Suite already offers and supplement it with Joule Studio or digital agents only where necessary.

Highest standards for data protection and data security: 
EU cloud, on-premises, or your own Company Brain. 

Discuss your path to the Autonomous Enterprise now

Would you like to know what the Autonomous Enterprise looks like specifically for your company?

Then talk to us – we’ll help you understand the SAP vision and show you where the digital agent has the greatest impact in your landscape.

Contact us now! 

Frequently asked questions about the SAP Autonomous Enterprise

What is the Autonomous Enterprise?

The Autonomous Enterprise is SAP’s vision, unveiled at SAP Sapphire 2026: People set the direction, while specialized AI agents execute entire business processes autonomously – with governance at every step. Digital agents are the practical first step toward this evolution.

Is the Autonomous Enterprise a service offered by abat?

No. The Autonomous Enterprise is a strategic vision presented by SAP. As an SAP service provider, we help you understand this development and work with you to implement it in a practical way.

Do we have to develop the agents ourselves?

Not necessarily. The SAP Autonomous Suite provides ready-made agents for many standard processes that can be configured and deployed. In addition, Joule Studio allows you to develop your own agents and manage them throughout their lifecycle. For each use case, we determine which approach makes the most sense from both a technical and economic perspective.

Which AI models are used?

You are not limited to a single model. SAP integrates powerful reasoning models into Joule – including Claude from Anthropic – and provides European models such as those from Mistral AI via the EU AI Cloud. The right combination depends on your requirements for output quality, costs, and data management. We make this decision together with you. 

Will AI agents replace our employees?

No. They take on repetitive, structured tasks so your employees can focus on the issues that require experience and judgment. We actively support the implementation with change management to ensure that new roles and competencies are established smoothly.

What does SAP promise regarding the implementation, and what part of that does abat handle?

As part of RISE and GROW with SAP, SAP announces its own support packages and contractual commitments regarding AI adoption. We translate these commitments into a practical roadmap tailored to your system landscape and support the implementation from initial setup through ongoing operations. 

How does the implementation work?

We combine technical integration with active change management: We address questions and concerns within the team, support the development of new roles, and provide personalized guidance, even after go-live. 

Where is our data stored, and who controls the results?

You choose the operating model that works best for you: a GDPR-compliant cloud within the EU, on-premises operation at your facility, or your own Company Brain. The results are reviewed and accounted for by people, and you retain control at all times. 

Contact our AI experts