The SAP Executive Summit is an event different from the others and not because it takes place in a particularly evocative setting like Villa d’Este in Cernobbio, on Lake Como. It is truly one of a kind because it is organized, with this format, only in Italy by SAP. No other “country”, as the countries where tech companies operate are called in jargon, follows this format, but despite this, or perhaps precisely because of this, the success of the SAP Executive Summit is renewed from year to year.
One of the characteristics of the event is that it is not very “business oriented”, the specific characteristics of the individual services are only marginally discussed, to favor a broad spectrum vision on the technology market and, even more generally, on the main factors that influence the performance of macroeconomic trends.
This year’s payoff was We generate the Future. A future closely linked to artificial intelligence, in SAP’s vision. An AI that must be relevant, reliable and ethical.
SAP invests everything in cloud and AI: goodbye to on premise
There are two very significant concepts that we take home from this year’s event and so we flip the script and follow the narrative path of one of Christopher Nolan’s very first films, Memento.
First element: SAP is convinced that the evolution of processes steps through AI and that, conversely, the implementation of AI will profoundly change the processes.
Second element: to truly exploit AI, it is not only necessary scalability and power available in the cloudbut also being able to constantly evolve the system with continuous improvements.
The consequence of the intersection of these two elements generates a causal link between cloud and AI, where the former, for SAP, is necessary for the development of the latter. Scott Russell, Executive Board Member of SAP, then reiterated on stage at the Executive Forum 2024 that SAP’s AI services are and will only be available via the cloud. “There will not be an S5 (referring to the SAP S4/HANA version, ed.)” declared Scott, to underline that the evolution of the SAP platform, as AI is or will be present in every aspect of it, can only take place in the cloud.
So generative AI services are not e they will never be paid in on-premise implementations of the SAP platform.
In the film Memento, Nolan started from the end and, with great mastery, rewound the tape of the story, surprising the viewer, guiding him to the initial events of the plot.
In the case of SAP, we also started from the conclusions because, from a certain point of view, they are surprising: the era of on-premise implementations is over, therefore also very personalized, from SAP which were updated every five years with very impactful “major updates”. The present and future of the SAP platform are in the cloud, with a huge focus on the implementation of AI, in all its forms, and with continuous improvements which cloud users will be able to benefit from in real time. Without the same mastery of Nolan, it is still useful to rewind the tape and delve deeper, through a summary of the most significant interventions of the SAP Executive Forum 2024, into some of the assumptions that pushed SAP to focus so much on AI.
The macroeconomic context in which the evolution of AI takes place
It was surprising to listen to the economist, and former senator of the Republic, Carlo Cottarelli begin his speech with a breath of optimism, which is decidedly difficult to find today when macroeconomic issues are discussed, because they are increasingly linked to geopolitical entanglements. This year there was no talk of wars and their consequences on the economy, but of how, perhaps hidden, inflation has dropped significantly: in the last twelve months in Europe it stood at 1.2%. The most significant aspect, according to Cottarelli, is that in Europe inflation has been eradicated without generating periods of recession.
However, there is one aspect that requires attention: the current growth is not linked to an increase in productivity, but rather in employment. If this has positive effects in the short term, broadening the perspective, to be competitive it is necessary that a increase in productivity exists and it is precisely AI that will allow us to achieve this goal. A necessary, but not sufficient, condition for AI to generate an increase in productivity is that processes must be readjusted to exploit its potential.
To ensure clarity and enable companies to invest in AI, there needs to be a clear regulatory framework and it is commendable that the EU has been able to generate the AI Act, acquiring a cutting-edge position in this context which will probably act as an example for others too. Europe, on the other hand, is decidedly behind on structural investments for the development of AI. On this front, the USA has acquired a very significant competitive advantage and if the EU does not quickly change course it will be very difficult to fill the gap.
AI to enhance and not replace humans
From the concreteness of macroeconomics to almost philosophical aspects related to AI proposed by Dino Pedreschifull professor of Computer Science at the University of Pisa and one of Italy’s leading AI experts, who actively contributed to the drafting of the European AI Act, just to create another connection worthy of Nolan.
As an acute expert on the subject, Pedreschi managed in his speech to show both the enormous potential of AI and the risks that this technology requires us to face. To ensure this balance, AI must enhance human capabilities and not replace them, becoming more and more an assistant, as in fact most of the “copilots” offered by the major market players are trying to do.
In reiterating the potential of generative AI, he expressed an interesting concept: value is created in doubt and not in certainty, but awareness of the limits of AI models is needed. If it is true that our society and the perception we have of it is based on contents, be they books, photographs, articles, videos or any other format, the fact that AI can generate new contents, indistinguishable from real ones, but which then circulate in a potentially indiscriminate way undermine the foundations how we interact with the world.
Pedreschi mentioned Yuval Harari who summed up this dynamic in the famous quote “AI has hacked the operating system of our civilization”, which seems almost useless to translate into “artificial intelligence has hacked the operating system of our civilization”.
It is possible to live with AI according to Pedreschi, its limits must be known and there must be a collective effort to overcome them and transform AI from “human like”, as it is used now to generate content similar to that produced by people, in “human centric” and thus make AI an enhancement of human capabilities.
SAP’s point of view
He took to the stage at the Executive Summit for SAP Scott RussellExecutive Board Member, Customer Success, who we then had the opportunity to meet directly, in a moment dedicated to the press.
Scott highlighted how the emphasis on the importance of responsibility, regulation and governance of AI had struck him. How this was a priority for everyone present, while instead, in events of this type, the focus is often only on aspects linked to economic results. In this context, Scott also underlined how the European AI Act is a very balanced framework, which will clearly have to evolve, but which is a excellent starting pointfrom which other global players must take inspiration.
The other aspect that struck Scott is that all companies today have a story to tell related to AI. His perspective is that we are in a transition phase and soon there will be no more stories related to AI, because it will be mainstream and therefore inherent in all processes and, consequently, in all company stories.
We asked Scott how a company should approach investments in AI today, given the regulatory framework that is not yet consolidated. Scott found points of contact between AI and sustainability when constantly changing rules must be followed. And the key is to find the right partners, who put ethics at the center in their founding values and who collaborate with legislators to define the evolution of the regulations themselves.
To conclude, we returned to the main theme that emerged during the day: the cloud evolution of the SAP platform and what the recommended roadmap is for customers for migrating from on premise. Scott highlighted how each company has different needs and different times to evolve its processes. SAP accompanies the many, unique, different paths with 7 “archetypes”, which we can imagine as different means of transport to reach a destination. There will be companies that have the need, and ability, to speed up the process that will take a plane, while others that prefer the slower pace of a cruise ship.
Tags: SAP goodbye premise center services future cloud
