From AI Hype to Reality: Takeaways from SAP TechEd Berlin 2025

For the past year, we’ve all been talking about the potential of Generative AI. But at SAP TechEd Berlin, the conversation shifted from what AI can say to what AI can do. As the CTO of Islet Group, I look at these innovations through a simple lens: How does this actually help our customers run their businesses better?

Here is my recap of the most impactful announcements at SAP TechEd, and what they mean for your business.

1. Era of “Agentic AI” is here: SAP Joule

The star of the show was of course SAP Joule. We are moving beyond simple chatbots to “Agentic AI” systems that can reason, plan, and execute complex tasks.

• Business benefit: Efficiency is no longer just about automating repetitive tasks, but also about handling unpredictable scenarios.
• What’s new: We saw the Joule Studio, where we can now build custom AI agents tailored to specific business needs. Imagine an AI agent that doesn’t just answer a question about a delayed shipment but actively investigates the cause, proposes a rerouting option, and updates the customer – all autonomously.
• The ecosystem: SAP announced that by 2028, there will be an estimated 1.3 billion deployed agents. With the new Agentic Orchestration coming in 2026, Joule will be able to manage multi-step workflows across different departments like Finance, HR, and Supply Chain without human handholding.

2. Unified experience: Joule + Microsoft Copilot

One of the biggest friction points for users is switching between applications. A major highlight was the integration of Joule with Microsoft Copilot.

• Business benefit: Your teams can now access SAP’s deep business data without ever leaving their Microsoft 365 environment. Whether you are in Teams or Outlook, you can ask Joule to pull up the latest financial report or procurement status. This seamless user experience will be a big productivity booster.

3. Data as backbone: SAP Business Data Cloud

AI is only as good as the data it feeds on. SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) is the answer to the data silo problem.

• • Business Benefit: Real-time decision-making requires real-time data. SAP BDC allows us to connect data from SAP and third-party apps without complex replication.
  • Context: By unifying data products and intelligent applications, we can ensure AI agents are acting on single source of truth, reducing errors and improving the reliability of automated decisions.

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4. Accelerating innovation: SAP Build & Cloud ERP

For businesses to stay agile, they need to adapt their systems quickly. SAP Build has evolved to become the central hub for this, bridging the gap between professional developers and business experts.

• Business benefit: With Joule for Developers, we are seeing AI capabilities embedded directly into the coding environment (like ABAP and SAP Build Code). This means we can build, test, and deploy new extensions for SAP Cloud ERP faster than ever.
• The result: Reduced time-to-market for custom business applications and a “Clean Core” that is easier to upgrade and maintain.

5. Trust, security, and sovereignty

As a European partner, data privacy is non-negotiable. I was pleased to see the strong focus on “AI for Europe” within SAP’s AI Foundation strategy.

• Business benefit: With locally hosted AI models and strict adherence to European data standards, companies can leverage powerful Foundation Models (like the new SAP-RPT-1 for structured business data) without compromising on compliance or security.

6. Managing it all: SAP Cloud ALM

A critical underlying theme for any CTO is management. SAP Cloud ALM is evolving to support agentic workflows. As we introduce more AI agents into our landscapes, having a robust Application Lifecycle Management tool is essential to monitor their performance, ensure security, and manage the health of the entire cloud ecosystem.

The message from SAP is clear: the technology is ready. The shift to SAP Business AI is not just a technical upgrade, it’s a fundamental change in how we work.

At Islet, we are ready to help you navigate this agentic future. Whether it’s setting up your first SAP Joule agent or optimizing your data foundation, we are here to turn these innovations into tangible business value.

Sources: SAP TechEd Berlin presentations and the SAP Innovation Guide H2 2025.

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The author of the blog, Tommi Luoto, leads the technological development of our island. He has extensive knowledge of the ecosystems across the vast oceans of technology, while also exploring new horizons together with our customers. If you are interested these topics and would like to discuss further, please get in touch: