SAP has introduced the SAP Business Data Cloud, a data solution designed to unify data across organisations, in collaboration with Databricks.
The SAP Business Data Cloud offers a harmonisation of SAP and third-party data from essential applications, incorporating data engineering and business analytics capabilities.
This development aims to support organisations in making more impactful decisions and advance their artificial intelligence initiatives.
SAP's partnership with Databricks is highlighted as a significant step forward in enterprise data management, marking a collaboration between two prominent entities in their respective fields.
The solution integrates Databricks technology to enhance data engineering, machine learning, and AI workloads.
"SAP Business Data Cloud unleashes the full value of enterprise data for Business AI," stated Christian Klein, Chief Executive Officer of SAP.
"It combines SAP's unique expertise in mission-critical, end-to-end processes and semantically rich data with Databricks' world-class data engineering capabilities to create a ground-breaking solution that helps organisations do more with their data than ever before."
Ali Ghodsi, Co-founder and CEO of Databricks, commented, "Every company on the planet wants to get more value out of their data and greater returns on their AI investments."
"By joining forces with SAP, we're helping organisations bring together all their data — regardless of format or where it lives — to govern, analyse and build domain-specific AI applications on the Databricks Data Intelligence Platform."
The SAP Business Data Cloud also introduces what is described as the "data product economy". It provides fully-managed SAP data products across various business processes, such as finance, supply chain, and talent management, maintaining their original context and enabling immediate, cost-effective access.
One example provided is how financial data products are utilised to evaluate the effects of external factors like inflation on profitability, integrating real-time data such as the consumer price index with internal financial metrics.
The introduction of insight apps within the Business Data Cloud aims to leverage data products and AI models to offer advanced analytics and planning capabilities to various business sectors, including finance and human resources.
Markus Hartmann, Corporate Vice President and Head of Business Technology and Regions at Henkel, commented on the solution's impact.
"SAP Business Data Cloud will help us unlock the value of our data and drive innovation across our business," he said. "Its semantically rich data products and deep Databricks integration will enhance our existing data products and empower us to model scenarios and leverage AI insights, building a sustainable future for our data ecosystems."
Jason Heaney, Co-CEO of DyFlex Solutions, noted the broader benefits for businesses navigating an AI-driven environment.
"In today's AI-driven world, businesses are racing to innovate but fragmented data and disconnected systems are slowing them down, limiting the impact of their AI investments."
"With SAP's Business Data Cloud offering, companies will have the ability to unlock the full potential of their data, automate processes across functions and break down silos leading to smarter, faster decisions that drive real business outcomes," he said.
SAP also announced enhancements to Joule, their AI copilot, which will benefit from the Business Data Cloud's expansive and high-quality datasets.
Joule agents are expected to bolster decision-making across functions, providing capabilities unmatched by current technologies.
The release made particular note of finance and sales functions, where Joule agents will work across various tasks, aiming to improve claims processing and accelerate business process cycles. Further, a new agent builder capability will allow customers to create their own bespoke AI agents using SAP's platform.
