Last Updated: August 28, 2025
Introduction
With SAP, it’s easy to lose track of new products, strategic shifts, buzzwords from “Run Simple” to “Business AI”. Each year, the Group sets different priorities to respond to market trends and customer needs. Here you will find the most important SAP focal points – year after year at a glance.
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- 2025 – Business AI Industrialized
- 2024 – Industry Cloud & AI-Scaling
- 2023 – Business AI
- 2022 – Sustainability & Green Ledger
- 2021 – RISE with SAP
- 2020 – Cloud First
- 2019 – Qualtrics & Experience Management
- 2018 – Experience Economy
- 2017 – Cloud Acquisition Integration
- 2016 – S/4HANA Rollout & Cloud Transition
- 2015 – HANA Platform
- Result
2025 – Business AI Industrialized
- Focus on productive use of Generative AI in all core modules
- SAP Joule deeply integrated into S/4HANA Cloud, SuccessFactors, and Ariba
- AI Governance & Compliance Comes to the fore
- Expansion of the Industry Cloud with AI-based industry solutions
2024 – Industry Cloud & AI-Scaling
- Expansion of Industry Cloud Solutions for Industry-Specific Processes
- Generative AI integrated into all business units
- Partnering with Microsoft, Google & NVIDIA for AI & Cloud Performance
2023 – Business AI
- Launch of SAP Joule (AI Copilot)
- AI/ML anchored in S/4HANA Cloud and Business Technology Platform
- First Generative AI Use Cases in Business Processes
2022 – Sustainability & Green Ledger
- Introduction of Sustainability Management
- “Green Ledger”: Sustainability indicators part of the ERP core
- Strong focus on ESG reporting
2021 – RISE with SAP
- Launch of RISE with SAP – Business Transformation as a Service
- Cloud migration as a complete service incl. Infrastructure, Migration, Operations
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Contact us now!2020 – Cloud First
- Pandemic accelerates cloud adoption
- Preparation of RISE with SAP
- Strategic Shift: Cloud Transformation as a Duty
2019 – Qualtrics & Experience Management
- Acquisition of Qualtrics
- Connecting Experience Data (X-Data) with Operational Data (O-Data)
2018 – Experience Economy
- Introduction of SAP C/4HANA (CRM Suite)
- Customer experience takes center stage
2017 – Cloud Acquisition Integration
- Consolidation of Hybris, SuccessFactors, Ariba
- Leitmotif: “Run Simple”
2016 – S/4HANA Rollout & Cloud Transition
- Broad rollout of S/4HANA
- Goal: Replacing ECC, preparing for the cloud
2015 – HANA Platform
- SAP HANA as an in-memory platform for real-time analyses and applications
Result
From the HANA platform to cloud transformation to Business AI, SAP has continued to evolve its strategy in recent years. The common thread shows how the group has transformed itself from an ERP core provider to a cloud- and AI-driven solution provider.
