I鈥檓 pleased to announce that next鈥慻en 麻豆原创 Ariba is now available, marking the next phase in 厂础笔鈥檚 journey to reimagine source鈥憈o鈥憄ay for the age of AI. This milestone represents the transition from announcement to execution, bringing a fundamentally rebuilt platform into customers鈥� hands.

This milestone comes alongside strong industry recognition. 麻豆原创 has been named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner庐 Magic Quadrant™ for Source鈥憈o鈥慞ay Suites, an acknowledgment that aligns with the delivery of next-gen 麻豆原创 Ariba and our continued focus on platform modernization and AI鈥慸riven innovation at enterprise scale.

Why rebuilding the foundation matters

As procurement leaders know, AI鈥檚 potential is widely recognized, but its impact has often been uneven. Confidence is high, yet results depend on more than algorithms alone. AI only delivers value when it is supported by the right data, processes, and platform architecture. That belief shaped our decision to rebuild 麻豆原创 Ariba from the ground up.

Independent analyst firm as 鈥渁 complete reengineering of the largest and most entrenched source鈥憈o鈥憄ay platform in the world,鈥� emphasizing that this move goes far beyond adding AI features to legacy systems. Instead, it establishes the architectural foundation required for AI to operate reliably and at scale.

This aligns with what we consistently hear from customers that sustainable impact requires modernization at the core.

An AI鈥憂ative source-to-pay platform built on 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform

Next鈥慻en 麻豆原创 Ariba is built on (麻豆原创 BTP), providing a unified, real鈥憈ime data foundation across the source鈥憈o鈥憄ay lifecycle. This shift enables tighter integration with , improved extensibility, and faster innovation delivery.

By moving to 麻豆原创 BTP, 麻豆原创 Ariba can support open APIs, cross鈥憇uite data consistency, and the responsiveness required for intelligent, AI鈥慸riven procurement operations鈥攃apabilities that are increasingly expected of leading source鈥憈o鈥憄ay platforms but are difficult to achieve on legacy architectures.

Current next鈥慻en capabilities will continue to be delivered incrementally throughout 2026 and into 2027, giving customers flexibility to adopt innovation at a pace that aligns with their business priorities.

Embedded intelligence with Joule: moving from insight to action

A defining element of next鈥慻en 麻豆原创 Ariba is the deep integration of directly into procurement workflows. Rather than treating AI as an optional add鈥憃n, next鈥慻en 麻豆原创 Ariba can embed intelligence where work happens鈥攕upporting faster, more informed decisions while reducing friction across everyday processes.

Early capabilities include:

• A Bid Analysis Agent, which can automatically evaluate complex bid scenarios, including total cost considerations
• AI-assisted contract support to help automate routine inquiries, generate summaries, and provide instant access to contract details

These capabilities reflect a broader shift from systems that require constant manual input to platforms that actively support outcomes.

A more unified, intuitive procurement experience

Next鈥慻en 麻豆原创 Ariba also addresses long鈥憇tanding fragmentation across the source鈥憈o鈥憄ay lifecycle.

Key improvements include:

• 麻豆原创 Ariba Intake Management, now globally available, providing a single entry point for procurement requests
• A simplified 麻豆原创 Fiori鈥慴ased user experience, delivered through a central launchpad
• A modernized contract lifecycle, supported through integration with Icertis Contract Intelligence

Together, these improvements are designed to make procurement easier to engage with while working to ensure processes remain connected, compliant, and intelligent behind the scenes.

What this means for customers

For existing 麻豆原创 Ariba customers, next鈥慻en 麻豆原创 Ariba provides choice and continuity. Customers can:

• Transition to next鈥慻en 麻豆原创 Ariba on a voluntary basis.
• Access next鈥慻en capabilities without commercial implications.
• Run current and next鈥慻en environments in parallel during an active transition, reducing risk and disruption.

麻豆原创 is providing tools, services, and advance timelines to support a managed transition, allowing organizations to move forward with confidence rather than urgency.

The foundation for what comes next

Next鈥慻en 麻豆原创 Ariba is not an endpoint, it is the foundation for the future of procurement.

With an AI鈥憂ative architecture, embedded agentic intelligence, and a unified user experience, this new generation of 麻豆原创 Ariba helps organizations move beyond transactional efficiency toward smarter decisions, greater resilience, and measurable business outcomes.

As Ardent Partners observed, this rebuild has the potential to act as a catalyst鈥攏ot just for 麻豆原创 Ariba customers, but for the broader procurement technology landscape. By combining scale, data, and AI in a fundamentally new way, next鈥慻en 麻豆原创 Ariba is helping define what modern source鈥憈o鈥憄ay platforms can deliver.

With the solution now available, we look forward to partnering with customers as they move from vision to value. Together, we can shape the future of intelligent procurement.

Baber Farooq is senior vice president of Product Marketing for 麻豆原创 Ariba and 麻豆原创 Fieldglass.

Building resilience and control across every category of spend

Organizations are under increasing pressure to manage costs, improve agility, and drive measurable outcomes. 厂础笔鈥檚 connected and intelligence-driven source-to-pay suite is designed to help customers meet these challenges head on.

麻豆原创 Ariba solutions can deliver broad and deep functionality across the full source-to-pay lifecycle, spanning sourcing, contracting, procurement, invoicing, and supplier management. With the industry鈥檚 largest supplier network, 麻豆原创 enables buyers and suppliers to collaborate with confidence, consistency, and scale.

厂础笔鈥檚 investment priorities: platform modernization and agentic AI innovation

Rather than reflecting external judgments, 厂础笔鈥檚 strategic focus is centered on advancing its platform foundation, AI capabilities, and user experience to help customers operate with greater intelligence and agility. Our long鈥憈erm investments concentrate on three core areas:

Modernizing the platform for the future

A platform update arriving in 2026 will complete the modernization of 厂础笔鈥檚 technical architecture. This modernized foundation can deliver greater extensibility, improved performance, and faster delivery of innovation, particularly in agentic and generative AI.

Built as an AI-native architecture, the next-generation platform can embed intelligence directly into workflows to help anticipate needs, guide decision-making, and automate actions across the entire source-to-pay process. This positions 麻豆原创 to deliver the first truly AI-native source-to-pay suite built for the future of procurement.

Expanding intelligence with Joule

plays a central role in bringing intelligence and insight to every stage of the source-to-pay process. Joule鈥檚 advanced AI agents can help automate tasks, support decision-making, enhance compliance, and unlock new productivity across sourcing, procurement, and supplier collaboration.

Reimagining the user experience

麻豆原创 is delivering an updated, consistent UI/UX across 麻豆原创 applications. For procurement teams, this means smoother navigation, modernized interfaces, and enriched contextual intelligence, including enhanced supplier 360 profiles and strengthened collaboration capabilities.

Strengthening global scale and operational flexibility

麻豆原创 continues to demonstrate industry-leading global scale, supporting high-volume transactions and diverse compliance requirements across regions and industries. With multiple cloud deployment options across major hyperscalers and a robust portfolio of security and regulatory certifications, including FedRAMP, customers can operate confidently wherever they do business.

Connected solutions across 麻豆原创 Business Network and the intelligent suite

麻豆原创 Business Network remains the largest supplier network in the source-to-pay market, spanning more than 190 countries. 厂础笔鈥檚 broader spend ecosystem鈥攊ncluding innovations such as , , and 鈥攅nables organizations to unify data, intelligence, and processes across sourcing, procurement, invoicing, and spend management.

Importantly, 厂础笔鈥檚 capabilities extend well beyond traditional source-to-pay. Through connected solutions covering travel and expense, contingent workforce management, external labor, and additional spend categories, 麻豆原创 provides a truly comprehensive spend management platform that can deliver visibility and control across the full spectrum of enterprise spend.

As organizations increasingly operate in heterogeneous application landscapes, 麻豆原创 helps deliver openness, security, and extensibility so customers can maintain cohesive and connected processes throughout 麻豆原创 and non-麻豆原创 environments.

Customer impact: outcomes that scale

Customers across industries and regions continue to demonstrate what鈥檚 possible with 厂础笔鈥檚 source-to-pay solutions. Organizations report meaningful improvements in areas such as compliance, cost optimization, supplier collaboration, operational efficiency, and workforce productivity鈥攆rom managing millions of invoices to running global sourcing initiatives to scaling AI-powered automation across distributed operations.

麻豆原创 remains deeply committed to helping procurement and finance organizations navigate complexity with confidence. Our investments in platform modernization, agentic AI, user experience, and cross-suite integration are all grounded in a single mission: to help customers achieve sustainable, long-lasting impact.

We’re grateful for this recognition and energized by the opportunity to deliver even greater value in the years ahead.

. Read the full Gartner Magic Quadrant for Source-to-Pay Suites report .

Fang Chang is EVP and chief product officer for 麻豆原创 Procurement and External Workforce Solutions.
Baber Farooq is senior vice president and head of Market Strategy for 麻豆原创 Procurement and External Workforce solutions.

*Gartner Magic Quadrant for Source-to-Pay Suites, January 21, 2026 – ID G00833291, by Micky Keck, Kaitlynn Sommers, Lynne Phelan, Magnus Bergfors, Alex Brady

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Gartner and Magic Quadrant are a trademark of Gartner, Inc., and/or its affiliates.

That鈥檚 why the latest recognition from two of the industry鈥檚 most respected research firms鈥擜rdent Partners and Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA)鈥攎eans so much to us at 麻豆原创. Their findings reinforce what we see every day: isn鈥檛 just keeping up with the industry, we鈥檙e setting the standard for innovation, execution, and customer value.

Market leadership confirmed by independent analysts

named 麻豆原创 Fieldglass a 鈥淢arket Leader,鈥� a distinction reserved for providers with universal strengths and top-tier execution. The evaluation looked at every aspect of our portfolio, from supporting the full scope of managing the external workforce鈥攔equisitions, candidates, projects, direct sourcing, SOW/services procurement, integrations, and AI鈥攖o our execution ability, client success, references, talent ecosystem, product vision, and future of work readiness.

We鈥檙e especially proud to be recognized as an 鈥淓lite Performer鈥� in four critical categories: AI Innovation, SOW and Services Procurement, Direct Sourcing, and Total Talent Management. Ardent Partners highlights 麻豆原创 Fieldglass鈥� deep integration with 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions, 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions, 麻豆原创 Build Work Zone, and the AI solution Joule, positioning it as a strategic hub for managing external talent and optimizing services procurement. Joule is transforming how users interact with the portfolio, offering conversational, data-driven guidance for requisition creation, SOW intake, job description design, and workflow acceleration.

also confirms 麻豆原创 Fieldglass鈥� global leadership. The portfolio operates in more than 180 countries, supports 22 languages, and enables invoicing in 118 countries, making it the largest footprint in the industry. This extensive reach is further underscored by consistently strong customer retention, reflecting the deep trust and satisfaction 麻豆原创 Fieldglass enjoys among global enterprises.

Customer-validated leadership

Recognition from leading analyst firms is important, but what matters most is the experience of our customers. 麻豆原创 Fieldglass has also been ranked as a category leader by , a respected platform for verified customer reviews. TrustRadius rankings are based on direct feedback from real users, making it a powerful complement to analyst evaluations. While analyst reports validate market position and strategic capabilities, TrustRadius highlights the day-to-day value customers experience, such as ease of use, depth of functionality, and overall satisfaction. This dual endorsement, from both industry experts and actual practitioners, reinforces 麻豆原创 Fieldglass鈥� commitment to delivering solutions that can meet business needs and exceed customer expectations.

Innovation at the core: AI, automation, and analytics

Innovation is at the heart of 麻豆原创 Fieldglass鈥� value proposition. The portfolio鈥檚 embedded AI solution, Joule, helps users initiate job requisitions, design and translate job descriptions, and accelerate approvals through a conversational interface. Rate benchmarking helps ensure customers stay competitive with market rates. Document AI can automate structured SOW creation, while machine learning and skills ontology models can power advanced candidate matching and workforce planning.

SIA notes that 麻豆原创 Fieldglass鈥� 鈥淎I-first鈥� product strategy is embedding intelligence into every workflow, emphasizing seamless data extraction, intuitive user experiences, and impactful use cases across applications. The business intelligence suite delivers real-time and historical analytics, benchmarking tools, and persona-based dashboards, empowering organizations to make data-driven decisions at every stage of the talent lifecycle.

Comprehensive capabilities for a modern workforce

What distinguishes 麻豆原创 Fieldglass is its wide-ranging and comprehensive set of features. The portfolio allows users to effectively manage all kinds of external labor expenses鈥攚hether that’s contingent labor, services procurement, independent contractors, high-volume workers, or field services. It offers streamlined onboarding, advanced and customizable tools for global compliance, AI-driven workflows, and robust skills extraction, helping to ensure depth and efficiency in every area. Additionally, its compliance and audit capabilities, mobile accessibility, and dashboards supporting diversity, equity, and inclusion help create a holistic solution.

SIA鈥檚 research, based on 23 in-depth VMS surveys and 36 customer assessments, found 麻豆原创 Fieldglass excels in supplier management, time/expense/billing, SOW capabilities, candidate sourcing, technical functionality, and customer perceptions. Customers cite the portfolio鈥檚 innovation, influence over roadmap evolution, and ability to scale with their programs. The open API framework, pre-built integrations, and strong MSP partnerships create a connected ecosystem that can support even the most complex workforce strategies.

Customer experience and ecosystem strength

Customer experience is another area where 麻豆原创 Fieldglass shines. SIA鈥檚 customer perception data shows high marks for platform stability, ease of use, integration quality, adaptability, and support. Customers appreciate the portfolio鈥檚 innovation, the ability to influence roadmap evolution, and its capacity to scale with their programs.

Both Ardent Partners and SIA emphasize 麻豆原创 Fieldglass鈥� commitment to continuous innovation. The 鈥淎I-first鈥� and 鈥渟uite-first鈥� strategies focus on embedding intelligence into every workflow and delivering seamless, end-to-end business processes across the 麻豆原创 ecosystem. Key areas of ongoing investment include skills-based hiring, AI, enhanced analytics, and high-volume workforces for SOW management.

A portfolio for the future of work

The latest findings from Ardent Partners and SIA reaffirm 麻豆原创 Fieldglass鈥� leadership, vision, and relentless focus on customer value. Combined with customer-driven recognition from TrustRadius, 麻豆原创 Fieldglass stands as a proven leader in delivering solutions that can empower organizations to unlock the full potential of their extended workforce鈥攖oday and for the future of work.

.

Amber Roth vice president of Global Presales & Strategy for 麻豆原创 Fieldglass.

External talent already represents a significant share of the labor: about 20% in the UK and 40% in the U.S., with projections reaching 50% globally by 2050. This surge reflects the growing demand for specialized skills and flexible cost structures.

A and conducted by Economist Impact captures this shift. Drawing on insights from more than 2,000 C-suite executives across industries, the report, 鈥淔rom Cost to Capability: Redefining External Workforce Strategy in 2025,鈥� reveals how the external workforce is evolving from a transactional resource into a core capability that drives adaptability and resilience in the AI era.

The findings underscore a critical imperative: organizations must rethink how they engage talent, integrate technology, and foster collaboration across procurement, HR, and finance to unlock the full potential of external workers.

From cost to capability: a strategic pivot

In 2023, nearly one-third of organizations cited risk reduction as their primary reason for using contingent labor and service providers. By 2025, that number dropped to just 6%. Today, cost efficiency (74%) and access to specialized skills (62%) dominate the list.

Cost efficiency is no longer about short-term savings. It鈥檚 about managing broader business risks, from financial exposure to talent scarcity. As Professor David Ulrich of the University of Michigan notes in the report, 鈥淭o mitigate risk, businesses need to reduce fixed costs, and labor is often a high fixed cost that needs to be seen as a source of growth.鈥�

Leaders increasingly view external talent as a long-term solution for project-based and technology-driven work, especially in fast-moving fields like AI, automation, and data science. Looking ahead, 64% of executives plan to expand their talent networks within three to five years, up from 54% last year鈥攃lear evidence that external workforce strategies are becoming integral to workforce planning.

Building a holistic talent ecosystem

Economist Impact鈥檚 research points to the rise of holistic talent supply chain management鈥攁 model that unites HR, finance, and procurement to forecast talent needs, close skills gaps, and treat the workforce as a dynamic ecosystem rather than a fixed headcount.

This evolution builds on the themes from previous Economist Impact reports, where procurement shifted from cost controller to strategic orchestrator of risk, sustainability, and innovation. Forward-looking organizations now embrace 鈥渢otal talent management鈥� models that integrate people, platforms, and partners while aligning culture and communication across internal and external teams.

Breaking down silos and embedding digital tools for real-time visibility will be essential to managing an integrated, skills-based workforce that adapts quickly to business needs鈥攚hile ensuring external workers feel valued and connected to enterprise goals.

Procurement at the center of workforce transformation

Procurement leaders are moving beyond sourcing and compliance to orchestrate entire talent ecosystems built on governance and collaboration. Yet the function faces challenges: confidence in procurement鈥檚 workforce management skills fell from 51% in 2024 to 43% in 2025, reflecting the complexity of its expanded scope.

CFOs and COOs are also taking a more active role, linking external workforce oversight to financial, compliance, and ESG performance. This trend echoes Economist Impact鈥檚 鈥溾�� report, which showed procurement鈥檚 remit expanding as risk management becomes central to business strategy.

To succeed, procurement must double down on visibility, digital integration, and strategic alignment. Platforms that unify workforce data鈥攆rom contingent contracts to skills mapping鈥攚ill enable teams to balance cost optimization with agility and governance.

AI: driving agility and accountability

Artificial intelligence is reshaping how organizations manage external talent. According to the report, 68% of procurement leaders cite AI proficiency and ethics as their top development priority over the next 18 months. AI can predict workforce needs, automate sourcing, and fill gaps in emerging fields like agentic AI and automation. The payoff: higher productivity and faster decision-making.

But AI also raises a critical questions: who benefits from efficiency gains? How should productivity improvements be measured? Answering these will require new cost models and shared accountability across the enterprise.

As seen in earlier Economist Impact research, AI is once again a catalyst for transformation, redefining how organizations manage, measure, and mobilize external talent.

The external workforce of the future

The evolution of the external workforce underscores a broader truth: agility, capability, and collaboration now define competitive advantage.

Organizations that treat external talent as a strategic asset鈥攊ntegrating governance, data, and culture across internal and external teams鈥攚ill be best positioned to respond to technological change and seize new opportunities.

To meet these demands, companies are turning to solutions like and , which help connect procurement and external workforce management. These solutions can deliver the visibility, intelligence, and agility needed to manage today鈥檚 dynamic workforce ecosystem.

Gordon Donovan is global vice president of Research, Procurement, and External Workforce at 麻豆原创.

Against the backdrop of the event theme鈥�”Connect Everything, Achieve Anything: Agents, Data, and the Business Suite鈥濃�攖hey set out 厂础笔鈥檚 vision for how 麻豆原创 Business Suite, which combines AI, data, and applications, can transform enterprises and deliver unprecedented business value to customers despite global macroeconomic uncertainties. 

Unique times

鈥淲e are living in very unique times,鈥� Alam said at the start of the keynote. 鈥淯nique in terms of the unpredictability we face from a geopolitical and macroeconomic perspective,鈥痑nd also unique in terms of the advancement in AI and the potential that carries for all of us.鈥�  

He added, 鈥淓ven the most significant challenges can be responded to, navigated, and鈥攚hen approached the right way鈥攖urned into opportunities. And that鈥檚 exactly where 麻豆原创 comes in. Because the best way to face uncertainty is with confidence that you can see what鈥檚 happening across your business and your network.鈥� 

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The CFO perspective 

His comments were echoed by CFO and Executive Board Member Dominik Asam in an onstage discussion with economist and Berkeley professor Ulrike Malmendier, during which they likened the role of the CFO in navigating today鈥檚 business uncertainties to that of co-piloting a modern jet. 

鈥淎I is the next supercycle and has what it takes to create an effective cockpit for the CFO, including recommendations about real actionable options all the way to autopilot for less critical tasks,鈥� Asam said. He also warned that standing on the sidelines of technological progress is 鈥渁 sure recipe for falling behind in competition.鈥�  

鈥淎s in prior tech supercycles, the entire competitive playing field is being completely reshuffled,鈥� he said.

New products

Building on this theme, Alam noted that while uncertainty is real and isn鈥檛 going away, it can be successfully navigated and turned into opportunities. To help customers achieve this, he announced several new and enhanced 麻豆原创 products. 

Among them, 麻豆原创 Supply Chain Orchestration is an AI-native application that uses a network knowledge graph to analyze real-time signals across a company鈥檚 multi-tier supply chain to detect risks and issues, such as extreme weather or tariffs. It then helps customers minimize disruptions by assessing the impact of these risks and suggesting alternatives to help minimize disruptions.   鈥淭hink of it like a GPS in your car which selects an alternative route to avoid traffic or tolls,鈥� Alam explained. In addition, he announced a major update to the 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions for source-to-pay suite, positioning 麻豆原创 Ariba as the most modern platform in the industry and the only truly AI-native source-to-pay solution鈥攁ll built on 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform.

The human-AI partnership opportunity 

Turning to uncertainties over the future of work itself, 麻豆原创 Chief People Officer and Executive Board Member Gina Vargiu-Breuer, who is leading 厂础笔鈥檚 own workforce transformation, was joined on stage by Ian Beacraft, founder and chief futurist of Signal and Cipher. 

鈥淎t 麻豆原创, we know firsthand that AI is everywhere, shattering norms and transforming the workforce,鈥� Vargiu-Breuer said. 鈥淎nd we as 麻豆原创 are boldly steering this shift, as requirements for our workforce are simply changing really fast.鈥�  

Vargiu-Breuer emphasized that a successful business AI strategy also depends on leveraging AI alongside human expertise and fostering what she described as 鈥渁 collaborative human + AI approach, rather than just automation.鈥�  鈥淏y integrating AI’s capabilities with human creativity, empathy, and judgment, we move beyond simple automation into real human-AI power couples,鈥� she said. 鈥淯ltimately, the future will favor those who embrace orchestration, delegation, and creative problem-solving.鈥�

Role-based AI assistants

Echoing this human-centric approach, Alam noted, 鈥淓veryone is talking about agents鈥攂illions of agents鈥攁nd agents taking over everything. We want to talk about people, the roles they play, and the tried-and-tested organizational constructs in place today that are running complex businesses across industries.鈥� 

Reflecting this, he said 麻豆原创 is making Joule deeply aware of the workstyle of the person it partners with, their role, and the business process context in which they operate. 鈥淭oday, we are introducing AI assistants, including a receivables assistant for your accounts receivable colleagues, a controlling assistant for your controlling colleagues, a demand Planning assistant for your demand planning colleagues, and an AI assistant for every role.鈥�   Each assistant has agents and AI tools at their disposal to help make the person it partners with smarter and more efficient, Alam explained.

Taking the receivables assistant as an example, he said it can handle collections and dispute resolution today and will soon also be able to help with fraud detection, invoice processing, and payment scheduling. 鈥淥ver time, we will continue to make this assistant even smarter by adding more agents and capabilities鈥攁ll designed to make the person in this role more effective.鈥�

Deep research and new intelligent applications

鈥淲hile efficiency and automation carry potential for great value for the organization, AI鈥檚 greatest strength is in unlocking insights and recommendations based on its ability to do deep research across vast amounts of internal and external data, which is hard for people to do,鈥� said Alam. To address this challenge, 麻豆原创 is introducing deep research in Joule, a capability that can research and analyze complex problems and deliver findings quickly and efficiently. 

Following additional announcements, including an expanded set of 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud Intelligent Applications and an enterprise wide, multi-stakeholder engagement orchestration solution in 麻豆原创 Engagement Cloud, Alam closed out the keynote by reminding his audience: 鈥淭o create exponential value and to reach the global maxima for your enterprise, the whole matters.  And that鈥檚 what we are focused on: providing you with best-in-class applications, seamlessly and natively integrated across the breadth of finance, spend, supply chain, HCM, and customer experience.鈥� 

麻豆原创 Business Suite delivers unprecedented value

The unmatched value of 麻豆原创 Business Suite is that it brings together the power of best-in-class applications with a semantically rich harmonized data layer to power high-value AI in a singular seamless experience. It helps you manage uncertainty, evolve your workforce, and break down silos to create amazing customer value.

In times of uncertainty, spend is one of the levers companies can actively control. Leaders are expected to deliver not only savings, but also resilience, sustainability, and risk-aware processes.

At , we introduced several new AI capabilities to bring more automation, deeper integration, and smarter insights across our . These innovations are focused on improving outcomes: reducing risk, strengthening supply chains, increasing productivity, and freeing people to focus on higher-value work. They ensure spend continues to fulfill its elevated role as a driver of business growth and resilience while helping customers stay ahead of evolving demands.

Next-gen 麻豆原创 Ariba brings deeper AI integrations and new AI assistants in Joule

麻豆原创 is rolling out the next generation of solutions for source-to-pay to automate the power of procurement, improve cost savings, ensure compliance, and build supply chain resilience. Next-gen 麻豆原创 Ariba is the world’s most modern source-to-pay solution designed to power the future of procurement.

The first AI-native source-to-pay suite redefines what is possible today and sets the course for the future. With businesses facing ever-present change, our customers can take advantage of a solution that’s built to endure — intelligent, integrated, and scalable. The capabilities delivered as part of next-gen 麻豆原创 Ariba will empower businesses to tackle today’s challenges and excel in the future.

Next-gen 麻豆原创 Ariba is built on 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform (麻豆原创 BTP), and has a completely redesigned user experience, embedded analytics, and seamless integration with 麻豆原创 Cloud ERP public and private applications.

The advanced capabilities and benefits of next-gen 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions offer the following:

• Accelerated value realization: Faster adoption with intuitive interfaces and guided workflows
• Deeper insights: Actionable analytics that translate into tangible savings and operational improvements
• Empowered teams: A more productive experience for procurement professionals

Next-gen 麻豆原创 Ariba capabilities will be rolled out starting in Q1 2026.

麻豆原创 also introduced new agentic and generative AI capabilities across the 麻豆原创 Ariba suite to help organizations optimize productivity and decision-making. Planned for release in Q1 2026, a new Joule Agent for bid analysis automatically compares supplier bid data, including total cost, to give procurement teams insight and recommendations for award decisions.

麻豆原创 also added three AI features to the 麻豆原创 Ariba procurement portfolio:

• AI supplier-response summary will use to help review, analyze, and summarize supplier responses to questionnaires, helping procurement specialists make more informed decisions. This is planned to be generally available in Q1 2026.聽
• Joule for simplified invoice creation will help employees outside accounts payable to easily submit invoices from for processing with minimal input. The feature will be generally available in Q4 2025.
• Intelligent contracting will use Joule to automatically extract key information, generate summaries, and search historical contracts for discrepancies and compliance issues. This feature will be generally available in Q4 2025.

As part of the broader 麻豆原创 Ariba portfolio, is now globally available. The solution provides a single-entry point for all procurement requests to simplify intake, improve compliance, and give employees full visibility into status updates. With Joule, users can easily submit requests or follow guided steps, while the system orchestrates processes across 麻豆原创 and non-麻豆原创 systems.

Learn more at our upcoming webinar, on November 20, 2025. to see how organizations can streamline intake processes and drive meaningful results.

New AI enhancements in 麻豆原创 Fieldglass connect the right external talent to the right roles

New AI enhancements to the portfolio make it easier to match potential external workers with available positions by automatically analyzing role descriptions to determine the skills required for each position.

The new skills-based hiring feature automatically analyzes role descriptions to determine the skills required for each position, reducing the time to source potential candidates by up to 50 percent. By accelerating candidate matching, organizations can count on a faster, more cohesive, and efficient hiring process.

This feature is generally available and works in conjunction with existing AI features, including resume analysis and job description creation.

麻豆原创 Concur and American Express Global Business Travel make business travel easier, smarter and more impactful for organizations everywhere

with American Express Global Business Travel (Amex GBT). Complete by 麻豆原创 Concur and Amex GBT is a co-developed solution that will combine booking, servicing, payments, and expensing into one experience with AI at its core. The solution will benefit from 麻豆原创 Concur and Amex GBT technology and business travel expertise. Complete customers will also have access to Amex GBT鈥檚 unmatched marketplace, software, and services via Complete, offering greater incentives and cost savings.

Smarter AI for travel and expense management in 麻豆原创 Concur

We also introduced new AI capabilities for that will streamline reporting, strengthen fraud prevention, and simplify travel planning, helping organizations better control costs while improving the employee experience.

These innovations include:

• The Receipt Analysis Agent, a newly embedded Joule Agent in , will go beyond basic receipt scanning, automatically completing missing information, determining expense types, and verifying vendor details, even for unknown vendors, to deliver accurate results without iterative learning. General availability for these features is expected for Q4 2025.
• , the automated expense-audit service from 麻豆原创 Concur now features an AI-generated receipt checker that flags receipts likely created by AI or online generators, helping auditors stop fraudulent claims. The service is currently generally available.
• A new pre-spend planner tool uses generative AI to estimate trip budgets based on policies and itineraries, while also providing relevant travel advisories to keep travelers informed. General availability is planned for early 2026 and Concur Expense customers can take advantage of the pre-spend planner at no extra cost. It will be available to Concur Travel customers later in the first half of 2026

Partnerships and integrations

麻豆原创 Concur has enhanced its integration with to further automate how ride and meal expenses are processed, providing better visibility to executives and business users. Ride and meal receipts are automatically routed into , with detailed tax, tip, and itemization data, resulting in cleaner data, fewer manual corrections, and faster reimbursement.

Looking ahead

厂础笔鈥檚 latest innovations across procurement, external workforce, and travel and expense help customers achieve positive outcomes such as cost savings, reducing risk, strengthening supply chains, creating value, improving productivity, and freeing people up to do higher-value work.

Etosha Thurman is chief marketing officer for 麻豆原创 Finance and Spend Management.

麻豆原创 reimagines enterprise AI with role-based assistants in
Joule that coordinate agents across lines of business

LAS VEGAS 鈥� At its inaugural 麻豆原创 Connect event, (NYSE: 麻豆原创) showcases how the integration of AI, data and applications creates unparalleled business value.

These breakthroughs 鈥� including a new network of role-based assistants in Joule that partner with humans to elevate performance, an expanding data ecosystem that drives deeper insights and supply chain software that anticipates disruptions 鈥� once again revolutionize how business gets done.聽

“To thrive when volatility is the new normal, businesses need more than a patchwork of disparate best-of-breed applications,” said Muhammad Alam, member of the Executive Board of 麻豆原创 SE, 麻豆原创 Product & Engineering. “Our announcements today demonstrate the power of 麻豆原创 Business Suite, where AI, data and applications come together in an experience to propel smarter decisions, faster execution and scalable transformation.”

AI that Partners with People

麻豆原创 unveils Joule鈥檚 next stage as the AI force at the center of 麻豆原创 Business Suite鈥檚 value creation. Drawing on the applications and data from across 麻豆原创 Business Suite, 麻豆原创 is introducing a new generation of role-aware assistants in Joule. Each assistant is designed to partner with a human being in their specific business role. Assistants in Joule tap into the right agents for the job, configuring, orchestrating and managing them so humans can focus on unlocking new levels of insight and productivity.

Supporting the assistants in Joule is a , designed to help execute complex workflows within a specific function. For instance, a People Manager Assistant coordinates a team of specialized agents — including the new People Intelligence Agent, which helps spot and resolve issues like compensation anomalies — to support managers as they drive performance. A new Financial Planning Assistant will be aided by a group of expert agents — including the new Cash Management Agent, which optimizes cash flow and improves interest yields — to help finance professionals drive efficiencies. This new roster of role-aware AI assistants not only partner with people to elevate performance in their lines of business but also work together across business functions to solve complex enterprise-wide problems.

Data that Defies Boundaries

Data fuels AI鈥檚 transformative power but it鈥檚 often siloed in different systems. At 麻豆原创 Connect, we are removing those barriers with 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud Connect. 麻豆原创 BDC Connect securely links 麻豆原创 BDC with partner platforms to enable a bidirectional flow of business-ready data products across organizational and technological boundaries.

With zero-copy sharing, data stays securely in 麻豆原创 systems yet remains instantly accessible in customers鈥� existing data platforms, preserving business context without costly copies. The result: fewer silos, simpler pipelines, no duplication — just trusted data products where and when they鈥檙e needed.

麻豆原创 also announced that Databricks and Google Cloud are the first partners enabled for 麻豆原创 BDC Connect, with more to follow. As announced in February 2025, 麻豆原创 Databricks remains a data service within 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud, and 麻豆原创 BDC Connect extends its benefits across an open data ecosystem. These partnerships give customers faster access to data products for analytics and AI, helping teams move from raw data to real-time business outcomes with greater speed and simplicity.

Applications that Turn Data into Action

At the heart of 厂础笔鈥檚 unique value proposition are enterprise applications where data is created and AI-driven insights are experienced. 麻豆原创 Supply Chain Orchestration is a new AI-native solution that combines the power of Joule with a live knowledge graph to detect real-time risks several suppliers deep and orchestrate a coordinated response, helping customers cut costs and keep supply chains moving. 麻豆原创 Engagement Cloud, a new customer experience solution, uses business-critical context to personalize interactions across customers, suppliers and other stakeholders. And our next-generation 麻豆原创 Ariba procurement suite stands out as an AI-native solution, bringing intelligence to every stage of spend management, from sourcing through supplier engagement.

Altogether, these 麻豆原创 Business Suite innovations mark the beginning of a new era powered by self-reinforcing AI, data and applications that drive intelligence, speed and resilience.

Visit the . Get 麻豆原创 news via  and .

About 麻豆原创

As a global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, 麻豆原创 (NYSE:麻豆原创) stands at the nexus of business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted 麻豆原创 to bring out their best by uniting business-critical operations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit鈥�.

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Yet a curious trend has emerged: many companies are pursuing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) goals more discreetly, a phenomenon known as 鈥済reen-hushing.鈥� In fact, found that while some companies have pulled back, about 84% are either maintaining or strengthening their climate commitments, even as they become less vocal about them. This demonstrates that despite shifting political winds, businesses recognize that sustainability initiatives remain fundamentally good for business.

A comprehensive and conducted by Economist Impact confirms this shifting landscape, revealing growing confidence in procurement鈥檚 capacity to deliver on ESG performance indicators. While risk factors are rising, so is readiness鈥攁 shift that is especially encouraging for procurement executives overseeing ESG performance. The data shows approximately 90% of respondents report strong internal collaboration between procurement and other departments, up from 75% last year.

The external picture is equally promising: over 90% of executives report that deeper supplier partnerships are yielding benefits, particularly in driving innovation and sustainability outcomes. For procurement leaders, the data tells a clear story: collaboration may be the new currency of success.

Collaboration: The silent engine of progress

Procurement鈥檚 strategic influence is expanding through tighter integration with internal stakeholders. As teams become more embedded across business functions, they鈥檙e unlocking new value through improved orchestration and proactive planning. Specialized business partner groups that bridge strategy and execution are helping meet cross-functional needs.

This enhanced collaboration has yielded key benefits, including cost savings (74%) and improved digital adoption (61%). However, a gap remains between these immediate gains and longer-term value drivers like innovation and agility. As procurement operations continue to digitize, talent development must adapt. AI proficiency and ethical technology have emerged as the top skill priorities for procurement hires over the next 12-18 months (68%), followed by sustainability expertise (55%).

Enabled by digital tools that deliver 鈥�360-degree visibility,鈥� procurement executives are seeing alignment between category strategies and broader enterprise objectives, helping them spot risks, understand market shifts, and manage supplier performance more effectively.

Supplier partnerships: Accelerating ESG progress and innovation

Forward-thinking procurement organizations are now partnering with suppliers to introduce solutions like recyclable packaging, greener materials, and low-emission logistics. These collaborations are accelerating decarbonization efforts while helping future-proof supply chains.

Despite decreased governmental prioritization of sustainability in some regions, smart companies continue pursuing ESG goals when they align with business objectives. Nearly half (48%) of executives report improved sustainability performance from closer supplier ties, and 38% cite more supplier-driven innovation.

Many procurement teams are navigating uncertainty around their ESG approach, questioning whether to lead sustainability initiatives boldly or keep their efforts under the radar amid regulatory shifts. Regardless of this strategic tension, the value of supplier collaboration remains undeniable, particularly as these efforts often improve operational efficiency and reduce costs.

Procurement can strengthen this momentum by investing in platforms that track emissions, monitor regulatory developments, and support compliance. Many organizations are expanding efforts to address Scope 3 emissions鈥攖ypically the most challenging to measure鈥攚ith increasing sophistication around supplier data collection and performance expectations. This shift reflects increased accountability across the value chain and reinforces procurement鈥檚 pivotal role in advancing ESG objectives.    

While public sentiment and political consensus may fluctuate, regulators continue to advance mandatory disclosure requirements and climate accountability measures. Preparation is especially urgent as new policies鈥攆rom the EU Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive to Germany鈥檚 Supply Chain Due Diligence Act鈥攊mpose stricter requirements on businesses.

Even if some regulations face delays or deprioritization, they are not disappearing. Organizations that act now will be best positioned to lead when enforcement inevitably intensifies.

Meeting elevated standards through supplier collaboration

The evolution of procurement鈥檚 influence rests on one fundamental capability: collaboration.

Internally, effective collaboration drives digital adoption, reduces costs, and breaks down organizational silos. Externally, it powers sustainability initiatives and fosters innovation. Without it, even the most sophisticated ESG strategies risk faltering. Poorly structured collaboration leads to critical data gaps, duplicated effort, and supplier fatigue. Today鈥檚 procurement executives must ensure their ESG and risk management approaches don鈥檛 overburden suppliers, or they risk disengagement precisely when long-term innovation is needed most.

Increased collaboration is consistently cited as the primary driver of accelerated ESG progress. Maintaining this momentum requires balance: bold action tempered by operational pragmatism, and clear expectations paired with tools that support supplier compliance and success.

Procurement鈥檚 moment of opportunity

Procurement is uniquely positioned to translate sustainability ambitions into measurable, scalable outcomes. By fostering collaboration across business units and with suppliers, it can shape the future of responsible business.

Even when ESG ambitions are pursued discreetly, the business case for action remains compelling鈥攂oth for organizational performance and broader societal benefit. Companies that maintain sustainability initiatives despite changing political priorities position themselves advantageously for the future while capturing immediate operational benefits. Procurement鈥檚 ability to embed sustainability considerations into core decisions consistently and collaboratively will define its impact in the years ahead.

solutions can integrate seamlessly with and to help businesses better track, manage, and reduce their environmental impact across the supply chain. These solutions can enable organizations to incorporate sustainability metrics into procurement decisions, improve transparency with trading partners, and help ensure compliance with evolving environmental regulations.

Many of the insights above were explored during the following Economist Impact webinar, 鈥淢easuring up: Balancing risks and goals for strategic procurement.鈥� To delve further into these topics and hear expert perspectives, . For those eager to continue the conversation and engage directly with leaders in the field, the upcoming 麻豆原创 Connect event鈥擮ctober 6-8 in Las Vegas, Nevada鈥攐ffers an excellent opportunity to join on-site and gain deeper insights into strategic procurement, ESG initiatives, and innovation. .

Baber Farooq is senior vice president and head of Market Strategy for 麻豆原创 Ariba.

麻豆原创 Sapphire saw further cement itself as our new UI in the age of AI, as it continues to redefine the end-user experience. Customers are asking questions in natural language, and Joule is working hard behind the scenes to find answers.

More than 40 Joule Agents were announced at 麻豆原创 Sapphire, and the first set of Joule Agents is now available to customers. These agents work across business functions to help customers resolve dispute cases, maintain strong customer relationships, complete follow-up tasks, and more. , the AI operating system for all 麻豆原创 Business AI solutions, simplifies AI development by centralizing all the tools to build, extend, and run custom AI solutions and agents at scale.

And those are just a few announcements from 麻豆原创 Sapphire! Check out the or this overview for more announcements and the full picture. As we close the second quarter of 2025, we have a ton of 麻豆原创 Business AI updates to share.

In the second quarter of 2025, we continued accelerating the delivery of high-impact innovations to customers with enhancements to Joule, Joule Agents, and additional AI scenarios embedded across the portfolio. These features are all built with AI Foundation on  and add to over 240 existing AI scenarios and 1,600 Joule skills. We are working hard and are fully on track to have over 400 AI scenarios by the end of 2025 that will deliver unparalleled business value to customers.

Here are some of the highlights from Q2 2025:

• Joule continues to redefine the way people interact with 麻豆原创. As is now generally available, consultants can rapidly grasp ABAP code and best practices for faster project execution, less rework, and time savings. The phased integration of Joule with Microsoft 365 Copilot offers a unified experience across 麻豆原创 and Microsoft environments for seamless task completion. Joule’s analytical insights feature is generally available, delivering tailored, on-demand decision support through natural language.
• Joule Agents and AI Agents: For example, in supply chain management, agents can already do so much, from autonomously scheduling and optimizing service orders to continuously analyzing real-time data to suggest maintenance schedule adjustments, help reprioritize tasks, and improve asset health. In human capital management, the Performance and Goals Agent provides managers with data-driven insights before one-to-one employee meetings. In 麻豆原创 CX AI Toolkit, the Shopping Agent and CX Agents Builder are now generally available, with the opportunity to build custom agents for customer experience scenarios, such as quote creation, Q&A, or service classification.
• is working to minimize disruptions and simplify planning. 麻豆原创 Digital Manufacturing gets error analysis, and Joule鈥檚 general availability provides instant access to critical information through natural language. There鈥檚 an add-in for Microsoft Excel and 麻豆原创 Integrated Business Planning (麻豆原创 IBP) to generate IBP formulas using natural language. These are just some of the supply chain updates. Explore more below.
• : It鈥檚 all about efficiency when it comes to and spend. Joule partners with 麻豆原创 Document and Reporting Compliance to translate complex e-invoicing errors into natural language. This way, error misunderstandings are a thing of the past. Joule enhancements in 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition increase efficiency with proactive sales order fulfillment monitoring, direct fixed asset master data creation, and price adjustment suggestions. For 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, Joule helps users with field logistics, cash management, contract analysis, and streamlines convergent invoicing processes. The first Joule agents are now available in spend management. The Concur Travel Meeting Location Planner Agent simplifies off-site planning by automating information gathering and coordination. The Concur Expense Report Validation Agent can proactively flag issues and guide users through corrections, reducing report preparation time dramatically. Learn more below.
• 麻豆原创 Business AI for procurement sees Joule join 麻豆原创 Fieldglass and boosts Contingent Workforce Management with AI-assisted skill-based job postings, which reduce time defining and matching skills and lower worker ramp-up time. Plus, the AI summarizer in 麻豆原创 Ariba slashes document review times by 50%, and the Sourcing Agent, available in beta, speeds up the sourcing event creation process. Dive in below.
• shows the power of AI and 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors. New language features streamline translation, interview feedback improves candidate evaluations, and “Explain Pay” in Joule reduces payroll help desk tickets and raises employee satisfaction. Explore more below.
• puts the power of Joule in developers鈥� hands. Generative AI hub in AI Foundation gets the latest and greatest models, including Google Gemini 2.5 Pro and Flash, OpenAI GPT, o3, o4-mini, 4.1, 4.1-mini, 4.1-nano, and Mistral Small 3.1, Anthropic Claude Opus 4, Sonnet 4, and NVIDIA Llama 3.2 nv embedqa 1b. The . It automates prompt optimization across AI models, eliminating vendor lock-in and expediting model adoption. 麻豆原创 Document AI now includes file filtering, for example, allowing AI agents to process only relevant document pages for more efficient processing and more flexibility for task-specific document handling. Learn more below.

We will deliver more use cases across our entire solution range in the second half of 2025. Customers can stay updated with .

Joule

麻豆原创 Joule for Consultants
Generally available

Consultants navigating complex innovation and transformation projects require access to reliable and efficient information. assists consultants in rapidly understanding ABAP code purpose, business logic, and structure through a model trained on 300 million lines of ABAP and 30 million lines of CDS code. This access to 厂础笔鈥檚 exclusive content, coupled with over 200,000 pages of 麻豆原创 documentation, over 50 麻豆原创 Certifications, and more than two terabytes of curated 麻豆原创 Community content, allows consultants to make informed decisions and align projects with best practices.

The resulting business value includes up to a 14 percent acceleration in project execution, a 50 percent reduction in design iterations and rework, and an estimated 1.5 hours saved per consultant per day due to much faster knowledge access and improved code interpretation.*

This capability was recently included in the which shows how AI can be applied in real-world scenarios to solve complex global challenges responsibly.

Discover how KPMG is revolutionizing 麻豆原创 transformations with 麻豆原创 Joule for Consultants and 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud:

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Joule in Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Teams
Generally available

Modern enterprises rely on interoperability between critical business systems. Joule is now generally available within Microsoft 365 Copilot and Microsoft Teams, including Microsoft Teams Mobile. This integration enables users to access information and complete tasks while leveraging the strengths of both ecosystems.

Customers can now chat directly with Joule in Microsoft Teams, use Joule in Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Teams Mobile as an app, and ask Joule questions directly in Microsoft 365 Copilot. The integration of Joule and Microsoft 365 Copilot provides a unified AI experience across 麻豆原创 and Microsoft environments. The integration will increase employee productivity, reduce information silos, and streamline workflows, ultimately leading to improved operational efficiency and data-driven decision-making across the organization. Later this year, we鈥檒l launch the second half of the integration, bringing Microsoft 365 Copilot capabilities into Joule and 麻豆原创 applications. Business users will be able to access data from Microsoft Teams, Outlook, OneDrive, and SharePoint — all from within Joule.

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Analytical insights feature
Generally available

Joule’s analytical insights feature delivers tailored, on-demand decision support directly within any 麻豆原创 business application workflow. Business users can ask Joule natural language questions such as “Who were the top three sales managers last month?” or 鈥淲hat is the amount of sales commission this month?鈥� and get immediate, context-rich insights, enabling them to make more informed decisions faster without needing to access 麻豆原创 Analytics Cloud dashboards directly. This results in an 80 percent reduction in steps to get analytical insights and a seamless user experience.*

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麻豆原创 Business AI for supply chain

Joule with 麻豆原创 Digital Manufacturing
Generally available

Production engineers face a common challenge: the need for instant access to key information without navigating through lengthy help content or documentation. Joule with 麻豆原创 Digital Manufacturing addresses this directly by providing an intuitive, natural language conversational search. It interprets queries and instantly retrieves relevant, summarized information from the application’s help content.

This streamlined access to critical knowledge translates to a significant business value, including a 30 percent reduction in the time required to gain insights in digital manufacturing, boosting productivity.*

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麻豆原创 Digital Manufacturing, AI-assisted production engineering
Beta release

麻豆原创 Digital Manufacturing offers an AI-powered production engineering feature tailored to product engineers who need to manage production processes efficiently. This feature empowers users to analyze error logs with AI assistance, automatically identifying root causes and generating resolution instructions. Furthermore, it allows engineers to extend processes through script tasks created from natural language input.

By streamlining error analysis and script creation, this feature delivers up to a 25 percent reduction in error analysis time for production process errors and a one percent reduction in non-productive time.*

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麻豆原创 Integrated Business Planning, add-in for Microsoft Excel, AI-assisted planning
麻豆原创 Early Adopter Care release

Supply chain planners can now significantly enhance workflow efficiency with the 麻豆原创 Integrated Business Planning (麻豆原创 IBP) add-in for Microsoft Excel. Utilizing AI-assisted planning, users can generate 麻豆原创 IBP formulas through natural language input, eliminating the need for in-depth technical knowledge of functions and parameters. This intuitive functionality allows for the seamless integration of custom calculations within planning views.

The resulting business value is a demonstrable 10 percent improvement in supply chain planner productivity when updating key figures and attributes via the Excel add-in.*

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Field Service Dispatcher Agent
Beta release

The new Field Service Dispatcher Agent enables dispatchers to efficiently plan and optimize service orders by leveraging real-time data, technician availability, and intelligent recommendations. It proposes the right technician for the right job at the optimal time and location, reducing manual effort and decision fatigue. Each proposal is verified by a dispatcher, maintaining human oversight while streamlining operations. This “human-in-the-loop” approach helps ensure both precision and trust.

This agent boosts dispatcher productivity by reducing manual tasks, minimizing errors, and enabling faster, more efficient decision-making. It also optimizes resource allocation by analyzing real-time data, reducing misallocations, and ensuring the right resources are assigned to the right jobs.

Dispatchers can expect to increase their productivity by up to 50 percent and reduce erroneous technician assignments by up to eight percent.*

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Maintenance Planner Agent
Beta release

Maintenance planners can efficiently manage and prioritize a growing list of maintenance tasks while ensuring equipment reliability and minimizing downtime. Collaborating with the maintenance planner, the Maintenance Planner Agent continuously analyzes real-time data and suggests maintenance schedule adjustments, reprioritizing tasks and improving asset health.

It helps maintenance planners create and streamline maintenance event backlogs faster and more efficiently, reducing downtime by quickly identifying and addressing maintenance issues.

Maintenance planners can expect to increase their productivity by up to 40 percent* and reduce unplanned downtime by up to one percent.*

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麻豆原创 Business AI for finance and spend

麻豆原创 Document and Reporting Compliance, AI-assisted electronic document error handling
Generally available

Tax accountants encountering challenges with the growing complexities of e-invoicing can benefit from Joule with 麻豆原创 Document and Reporting Compliance. This solution translates intricate electronic document errors into easily understandable natural language, eliminating the need to navigate technical jargon. This allows for quick identification and efficient resolution of underlying issues, minimizing disruptions and potential penalties.

The demonstrated business value is an up to 80 percent reduction in the time spent on understanding error specifics and determining the root cause, driving significant gains in efficiency and compliance.*

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Joule with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition product enhancements
Generally available

Joule is now more powerful than ever in 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, providing greater efficiency and control over key business processes. In addition to viewing business data for Work Centers and Resources, business users can now monitor sales order fulfillment proactively. By flagging potential issues and providing remediation suggestions, Joule helps users keep orders on track.

Furthermore, Joule allows users to create fixed asset master data directly within the 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, reducing time for large-scale training and supporting greater accuracy and better data governance.

Additionally, Joule can help pricing specialists better handle expiring prices by suggesting new adjusted prices, reducing the time and cost of expiring price detection and new price creation by up to 90 percent.*

For detailed information on the latest enhancements, .

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Joule with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition product enhancements
Generally available

Joule with 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition is getting new capabilities across several business functions. Field logistics users can now directly fetch quantities for non-stock items. Furthermore, Joule now unlocks comprehensive cash management capabilities, including monitoring bank statements and initiating transfers. Users working on convergent invoicing can now manage key processes directly, including assigning processors to clarification cases and controlling print locks on invoicing documents.

Joule also enables shipping specialists to fetch details of outbound deliveries and show detailed information, such as picking statuses or ship-to parties for outbound deliveries and sales orders, without the need to find and open the relevant apps. For example, Joule can show all outbound deliveries with goods not yet fully picked or all sales orders due to be delivered, enabling faster issue resolution and improved fulfillment tracking.

And that鈥檚 not all. With the help of Joule, sales representatives can now efficiently extract key contract details, track historical changes, analyze critical KPIs, and rectify errors. This enables deep analysis and swift resolution of sales negotiations, enhancing renewal and upsell opportunities. Additionally, Joule simplifies contract inquiries, boosting customer satisfaction. Sales representatives can expect to reduce the time spent summarizing subscription contract data by up to 80 percent.*

For additional information on these enhancements,

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Accounts Receivable Agent
Beta release

Accounts receivable accountants now have support for processing data related to overdue receivables. The Accounts Receivable Agent can find overdue receivables from different applications and perform appropriate follow-up tasks with customers based on their profiles and payment histories.

Using this Joule Agent, customers can expect to reduce the days sales outstanding (DSO) by up to one percent, the uncollectible write-offs by up to two percent, and the effort analyzing and reconciling open accounts receivable (AR) items by up to 75 percent.*

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Meeting Location Planner Agent
Beta release

Meeting planners can simplify and accelerate off-site event planning with Meeting Location Planner Agent. It suggests locations that minimize travel time for attendees, recommends an event location based on a company鈥檚 office, suggests suitable hotels, offers a comprehensive overview of the total pricing for the offsite, and provides an email template with a deep link for attendees to book their trip. Ultimately, this enables users to plan within their budget.

Automating information gathering and coordination streamlines planning and boosts productivity. It empowers more informed choices to control expenses while meeting event goals and improves the attendee experience with seamless communication and clear booking instructions.

This yields up to a 10 percent cost avoidance for planned meetings and a 15 percent reduction in the time required to plan offsites, improving the process of sharing information with all attendees.*

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Expense Report Validation Agent
麻豆原创 Early Adopter Care release

Expense managers can streamline the expense reporting process with Expense Report Validation Agent. It proactively flags issues and guides users through corrections to minimize delays caused by rejected or returned reports. It improves the user experience by assisting in completing and submitting expense reports, reducing errors, and ensuring all necessary details are included by prompting users for needed information.

This leads to a 30 percent reduction in the time spent preparing and submitting expense reports and a 24 percent increase in first-pass expense reports, improving the overall user experience.*

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麻豆原创 Business AI for human resources

麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions, AI-assisted bulk translation
Generally available

System administrators seeking to enhance employee engagement and support compliance can utilize bulk translation within 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions. This tool instantly translates preset page content into multiple languages and features an intuitive edit UI for reviewing translations. The resulting benefits include a simplified translation process, which saves time and costs compared to manual methods, improved translation quality and consistency, and enhanced employee engagement through localized content.

System administrators can reduce the cost of translating customer-specific objects鈥� during system localization by up to 90 percent.*

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麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Learning, AI-assisted image generation for learning
Generally available

Learning administrators using 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Learning can now benefit from AI-assisted image generation to create more engaging content without relying on external image sourcing. This tool allows for the quick and easy generation of images for custom cards, banners, items, programs, and curricula by simply entering a description. The key benefits are significantly reducing time spent searching for images, enabling faster content creation, and ultimately enhancing the overall learning experience for administrators and users.

Learning designers can expect to reduce their time spent on generating learning images by up to 70 percent, and learning administrators can reduce external spend on stock imagery by up to 90 percent.*

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麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Performance & Goals, AI-assisted sentiment analysis in 360 reviews
Generally available

HR professionals and managers can now utilize sentiment analysis in 360 reviews to gain deeper insights into employee performance with 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Performance & Goals. This feature analyzes the sentiment behind rater feedback on 360 review forms, providing a clear understanding of an employee’s attitude towards skills and competencies.

The resulting benefits are time savings through a quicker grasp of performance narratives, data-driven decision-making to improve employee performance, and an intuitive way to identify employee strengths and growth opportunities.

This feature is expected to reduce by up to 30 percent the proportion of voluntary turnover that can be attributed to unclear sentiments behind 360掳 feedback.*

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麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Performance & Goals, AI-assisted team goals
Generally available

Team leaders and managers using 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Performance & Goals can now leverage AI to efficiently build meaningful and inspiring team goals. The system generates well-structured goals that align with organizational standards by describing desired team achievements. Users can review, edit, and regenerate content as needed.

The feature creates high-quality, aligned team goals and shifts focus from ideation and drafting to achieving results.

Managers can reduce the time allocated to creating team goals by up to 65 percent.*

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麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Performance & Goals, AI-assisted performance insights
Generally available

Managers can now utilize performance insights to comprehensively understand employee performance based on feedback received from 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Performance & Goals. This feature generates a summary and synthesis of qualitative feedback from a given performance year, allowing managers to visualize and understand employee performance more effectively.

The benefits are improved efficiency in completing performance forms and preparing for one-on-one meetings, connecting qualitative feedback and achievement data with quantitative ratings, and expanded information for leading performance management within the team.

Managers can reduce by up to 70 percent the time spent preparing their direct reports鈥� performance histories for respective review discussions.*

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麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Succession & Development, AI-assisted successor insights
Generally available

Succession planners and people managers using 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Succession & Development can now leverage successor insights to streamline and enhance succession planning. Users gain valuable insights into potential successors directly from the position card, including role alignment, performance, key achievements, strengths, and development areas.

The benefits are readily available and relevant insights to guide succession planning decisions, a shift in focus from data digging to strategic workforce management, and the ability to define targeted career growth and skill development to build a broader bench of qualified candidates for key positions.

Both successor planners and managers can expect to reduce the time spent on succession planning by up to 20 percent through automated insights into candidate profiles and succession data management.*

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麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Recruiting, AI-assisted interview feedback insights
Generally available

Recruiters and hiring managers can now leverage AI-powered interview feedback insights to streamline candidate evaluation. The system provides a comprehensive evaluation of candidates by incorporating assessments of skills and competencies, overall comments, notes, skill-specific feedback, and the final recommendation, all generated from interviewer feedback. Recruiters can generate, view, and regenerate these insights as needed, ensuring the latest feedback is reflected.

This improves efficiency in reviewing candidate feedback, eliminates the manual effort of creating summaries, facilitates the easy identification of consensus or concerns across the interview team, and allows for the regeneration of summaries as additional feedback becomes available.

Recruiters can reduce by up to 70 percent the time spent on summarizing interviewer feedback per interviewed candidate.*

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麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions, AI-assisted extended AI locales
Generally available

HR leaders aiming to support a global workforce can leverage extended AI locales within 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors solutions to expand language coverage. Managed by system administrators, this feature enables the creation, review, and management of AI-translated locales through a UI and built-in workflow, ensuring human-reviewed and customized translations.

System administrators can reduce up to 90 percent the cost of managing AI-translated locales for customer-specific objects during system localization, while reducing compliance risk.*

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Joule with 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Mobile
Generally available

麻豆原创 SuccessFactors users can now use Joule with 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Mobile apps to manage daily tasks more intuitively and efficiently. Joule allows employees to independently resolve issues and reduces the time spent searching for information. It empowers managers to make data-driven decisions, supporting better team performance and growth.

On iPhones and iPads, users can ask Siri to open Joule and use it to answer their questions. For example, mobile users can say, “Hey Siri, ask Joule with 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors” to start the interaction with Joule via Siri.

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麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Employee Central, AI-assisted explain pay
Generally available

麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Employee Central Payroll lets employees utilize the “explain pay” feature with the help of Joule to instantly answer their questions about pay changes and details. This AI-driven functionality provides immediate explanations, significantly reducing payroll help desk tickets and boosting employee satisfaction.

HR departments can expect a 50 percent reduction in pay statement-related HR tickets, and employees can benefit from zero lead time for getting a qualified answer.*

and watch it in action in the 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors H1 2025 release highlights video:

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Performance and Goals Agent
Beta release

The new Performance and Goals Agent in 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors automates data collection, generates personalized talking points for managers, and suggests actionable next steps like producing meeting notes in continuous performance management, scheduling 1:1s, requesting feedback, and more.鈥� It ensures managers are equipped with relevant insights and reduces time spent on manual prep work.

For instance, the agent can alert managers that they have a performance review with one of their employees coming up, but do not have any peer feedback. The agent can work on their behalf to collect feedback from their employees鈥� peers, summarize that feedback, and prepare them before the conversation.

The Performance and Goals Agent simplifies complex HR processes such as performance reviews and compensation planning, reduces the administrative burden, and creates and executes actionable plans with the correct information and data.

It reduces by up to 50 percent鈥� the manager鈥檚 time in preparation for performance discussions, by up to 80 percent鈥� the manager鈥檚 time on following up on performance discussions, and by up to 30 percent鈥� the voluntary turnover that can be attributed to poor performance discussions.*

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麻豆原创 Business AI for customer experience

麻豆原创 Service Cloud Version 2, AI-assisted entity extraction鈥�
Generally available

Contact center agents frequently face the challenge of manually sifting through unstructured text in emails and documents to extract vital information. The new entity extraction feature in 麻豆原创 Service Cloud Version 2 automatically identifies and extracts relevant ID patterns, such as product IDs and serial numbers, converting unstructured text into structured data.

This reduces manual effort, enabling faster case processing and resolution. This leads to a 50 percent increase in service staff productivity and a 30 percent reduction in repeat cases, ultimately improving customer satisfaction.*

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麻豆原创 Service Cloud Version 2, AI-assisted registered product summary
Generally available

Customer service representatives often spend excessive time gathering information about registered products when handling support cases. With 麻豆原创 Service Cloud Version 2, we introduce a new AI feature that generates comprehensive summaries for registered products, including an “about registered product” section and a summary of related cases.

This functionality significantly reduces the time spent on information gathering, enabling faster issue resolution and ultimately improving the overall customer experience. Service staff productivity is expected to improve by up to 25 percent, and the first-call resolution rate is expected to increase by up to 15 percent.*

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麻豆原创 Sales Cloud Version 2, AI-assisted sales order summary
Generally available

Sales managers can now quickly understand all key aspects of a sales order with the AI-assisted sales order summary. They gain immediate insights into pricing fluctuations such as increases or decreases with percentage changes, on-time delivery status, the quantity of free products offered, and instances of product substitution.

This automation eliminates manual data analysis, leading to a saving of 90 percent of the time spent on pricing simulation assessments, and empowering faster, more effective decision-making.*

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麻豆原创 CX AI Toolkit
Shopping Agent
Generally available

Digital operation managers and e-commerce platforms require intelligent tools to enhance customer engagement. The Shopping Agent, a key component of the 麻豆原创 CX AI Toolkit, leverages cutting-edge AI to transform online interactions into natural, conversational experiences. It allows customers to articulate their needs and receive personalized product recommendations. The agent facilitates informed purchasing decisions by understanding context and accessing real-time product information.

The agent increases operational efficiency, improves customer service, and provides a scalable solution for enhancing the shopping experience across diverse product catalogs, driving long-term growth and customer satisfaction.

Digital operation managers can expect an increase in online conversion rate by up to 10 percent, an increase in average order value by up to 10 percent, and an increase in repeat purchases by up to five percent.*

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麻豆原创 CX AI Toolkit
Custom AI agents
Generally available

Customer-facing teams can enhance their efficiency with custom AI agents. These customizable agents empower businesses to configure and deploy specialized AI agents within 麻豆原创 Sales and Service Cloud, automating complex tasks without custom coding. The agents streamline workflows by intelligently classifying cases, proactively capturing knowledge from resolved cases, and providing quick access to comprehensive organizational knowledge.

Customers can access the Quote Creation Agent, Q&A Agent, Classification Agent, Knowledge Base Article Agent, and Digital Service Agent, which are all generally available.

Organizations can experience up to a 50 percent increase in productivity for tasks managed by AI agents within sales and service functions, resulting in improved operational performance.*

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Joule with 麻豆原创 Enterprise Service Management and 麻豆原创 Service Cloud Version 2
麻豆原创 Early Adopter Care release

Service agents can now leverage Joule with 麻豆原创 Service Cloud Version 2 and 麻豆原创 Enterprise Service Management to get customer, supplier, and employee information at their fingertips.

Service agents can ask Joule to create tickets, access cases created, view case details, update case priority and status, and much more.

This integration helps increase productivity by allowing users to access and navigate directly to needed information. It also improves the overall customer experience by responding to queries more quickly.

Register for and .

麻豆原创 Emarsys, AI-assisted product finder
Beta release

Marketers often struggle to incorporate the right products into e-mail campaigns quickly. 麻豆原创 Emarsys, AI-assisted product finder, streamlines this process by enabling intuitive keyword and natural language search. This helps marketers instantly locate relevant products within their catalog. The feature further automates the mapping of product fields to email content blocks, eliminating manual setup.

This empowers marketers to boost campaign speed and flexibility and focus on creating engaging content, improving efficiency, and potentially increasing sales conversion rates.

Marketing managers are expected to see a reduction in time spent manually inserting products into email by up to 60 percent and an increase in campaign speed from template creation to launch by up to 30 percent.*

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麻豆原创 Business AI for procurement

Joule with 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions
Generally available

Managers can leverage Joule with 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions to effortlessly manage key tasks such as viewing, navigating, searching, approving, and organizing activities. These capabilities are included in timesheets, work orders, and job postings — all within a unified experience.

Joule helps managers find the right templates quickly, such as hiring or services procurement templates, improving efficiency in their document creation. Users get insights into company data by finding applicable reports and seeing valuable KPI trends more easily. Alternatively, they can simply ask questions about a feature. Joule will search 麻豆原创 Help Portal documentation to retrieve the correct information without the user needing to navigate away from the current task.

Managers can expect an improved employee productivity through task completion by up to 50 to 70 percent, with less time spent on finding and editing the right hiring templates, statement of work (SOW) description, shorter interview time, and an easier way to access, create, and modify reports.*

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麻豆原创 Fieldglass Contingent Workforce Management, AI-assisted skill-based job posting
Generally available

Hiring managers can spend a lot of time crafting detailed job descriptions to find the right workers. Now, AI-assisted skill-based job postings in 麻豆原创 Fieldglass Contingent Workforce Management allow managers to focus on key skills rather than full role descriptions. The feature suggests relevant skills from a custom library, facilitating faster and smarter talent matching.

This results in a 50 percent reduction in the time required to define and match skills for a job posting, a 15 to 25 percent increase in productivity, and a 40 percent reduction in worker ramp-up time, ultimately leading to more efficient and effective contingent workforce management.*

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麻豆原创 Ariba Category Management, AI-assisted strategy summarizer
Generally available

Category managers can use the AI-assisted strategy summarizer within 麻豆原创 Ariba to generate concise summaries of category strategy documents, quickly understanding key insights without extensive manual review. The refined summaries can then be sent for approval and regenerated when needed, reducing the time required to review and approve completed category strategy documents by 50 percent*.

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Sourcing Agent
Beta release

Sourcing managers can now automate sourcing events and make real-time updates to match the speed of business. The Sourcing Agent can reason through sourcing event requests, past event data, and supplier information to create tailored events autonomously. Sourcing managers can now create and adapt events in real time and automate smart updates, enabling faster, better-informed purchasing decisions and more agile responses to supply chain disruptions and shifting business conditions.

The Sourcing Agent streamlines procurement by automating RFP creation, ensuring consistency, and reducing manual effort. Sourcing managers gain intelligent recommendations for event duration, questions, items, and suppliers 鈥� and can reduce the time to create an RFP by up to 70 percent.*

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麻豆原创 Business AI for IT and developers

Joule Studio in 麻豆原创 Build
Skill builder
Generally available

Organizations aiming to optimize automation and efficiency across 麻豆原创 and non-麻豆原创 systems can use Joule Studio, a capability within 麻豆原创 Build, to create and deploy Joule skills tailored to their specific business needs. Developers can now build Joule skills for rule-based tasks.

Key benefits include deep grounding in business-specific data and processes for reliable outcomes, an open and extensible framework for seamless connectivity, and built-in security and compliance for centralized management and data privacy.

With skill builder, business users experience a reduction of the time spent on frequent business tasks by up to 25 percent. Developers can reduce the time spent to deploy custom Joule skills by up to 10 percent.*

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Generative AI hub prompt optimizer
Preview

麻豆原创 is paving the way for a multi-model AI future by introducing prompt optimizer, a capability of generative AI hub in AI Foundation. This groundbreaking technology eliminates vendor lock-in by automating prompt optimization when switching between AI models. Automatically converting existing prompts into optimized prompts for various models using public benchmarks drastically reduces the time required to migrate use cases from days to minutes. Organizations can now seamlessly adopt new, more cost-effective, geographically available models without lengthy and expensive re-engineering.

, with general availability expected later this year. This offers greater flexibility in building AI solutions.

Generative AI hub product enhancements
Generally available

The generative AI hub now offers access to , enabling application developers to explore which model works best for their custom AI use case.

Application developers can also easily manage the life cycle of their prompts from design to runtime using , reducing the complexity of dealing with prompt templates and leveraging integration capabilities.

In addition, new models are available as part of the generative AI hub, including Google Gemini 2.5 Pro and Flash, OpenAI GPT, o3, o4-mini, 4.1, 4.1-mini, 4.1-nano, and Mistral Small 3.1, Anthropic Claude Opus 4, and Sonnet 4, and NVIDIA Llama 3.2 nv embedqa 1b.

Finally, a translation module has been added to the orchestration feature, improving answer quality when the configured model performs better when input is provided in a specific language. It can be configured for and text.

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麻豆原创 Document AI product enhancements
Generally available

麻豆原创 Document AI, formerly Document Information Extraction, seamlessly processes, extracts, and understands structured and unstructured data from business documents while automating document processing. It significantly reduces manual efforts and minimizes errors.

The service is now available in new regions across major cloud providers: Amazon Web Services (Sao Paulo, Brazil), Google Cloud Platform (Mumbai, India), and Microsoft Azure (Singapore). This expansion aims to provide lower latency, better scalability, and enhanced global reach for businesses utilizing the service. The goal is to improve user experience and satisfaction by offering faster and more reliable AI-powered document processing.

Moreover, the premium edition of 麻豆原创 Document AI now supports a greatly expanded list of languages, including various dialects and regional languages, such as Ido, Ladino, Fijian, Wu Chinese, and many more. This enhanced language support enables businesses to broaden their global reach, improve inclusivity, and increase the efficiency and accuracy of their document processing workflows across diverse linguistic landscapes.

Finally, file filtering capabilities in 麻豆原创 Document AI are now available, allowing AI agents to process only relevant document pages, for example. This feature streamlines processing, saves time by reducing the scope of analysis, and adds flexibility for task-specific document handling, which is especially beneficial for long or complex documents.

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and start with to access cutting-edge generative AI features in 麻豆原创 Document AI, such as instant learning.

麻豆原创 HANA Cloud product enhancements
Generally available

Developers building custom AI applications on 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform (麻豆原创 BTP) can now benefit from new capabilities that are included in the latest release of the 麻豆原创 HANA Cloud: 

• Leveraging improved vector similarity search scenarios, based on the new in-database text embedding model version, covering more languages and short-text embedding scenarios
• Getting insights from text data stored in 麻豆原创 HANA Cloud via text embedding features as input to Predictive Analysis Library (PAL), AutoML classification and regression models, and k-nearest neighbors鈥� models
• Explaining tabular data outliers using enhanced isolation forest outlier detection and SHapley exPlanations, for example, applied to financial accounting data in the universal journal
• Managing machine learning model development, documentation, and reproducibility, using new experiment tracking and task scheduling capabilities for PAL models
• Detecting data drift using the new Automated Predictive Library (APL) functions to detect unexpected, suspicious, or fraudulent transactions, and simply trigger the required retraining of machine learning models

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The complete enhancements are available on the and . Check out how enterprises need to rethink their database for AI workloads, and how 麻豆原创 HANA Cloud is leading that shift, here.

麻豆原创 Build Code
麻豆原创 HANA Cloud text to SQL generation
Generally available

The AI-assisted database application development SQL console has been updated to support the generation of standard SQL statements for public monitoring views and custom data models from a customer 麻豆原创 HANA Cloud instance.

During SQL statement generation, the prompt and suitable additional information from the database object metadata and 麻豆原创 HANA Cloud documentation are sent to the large language model (LLM). With this context, the LLM can generate syntactically valid SQL statements that can be executed on 麻豆原创 HANA Cloud. This enhancement personalizes query generation, improves flexibility, and increases efficiency.

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麻豆原创 Build Code
麻豆原创 HANA application migration assistant
Generally available

The new extension, 麻豆原创 HANA application migration assistant is based on Joule and is now available in 麻豆原创 Build Code. This enhanced tool extends the capabilities of the existing database migration assistant by automating the conversion of the service layer that includes XSJSLIB, XSODATA, and XSJS artifacts from or into modern CAP-based services, aligning with .

Using generative AI, it simplifies service layer migration when customers choose “XS Classic to CAP” or “XS Advanced to CAP” templates. This feature eases migration of applications from 麻豆原创 HANA extended application services to CAP.

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Joule with 麻豆原创 Business Accelerator Hub
Generally available

With 麻豆原创 Business Accelerator Hub, developers can explore, discover, and consume APIs, pre-packaged integrations, business services, and sample apps.

In Q2, we released Joule with 麻豆原创 Business Accelerator Hub to help them discover pre-built business accelerators using natural language. With Joule, they can expect to reduce the time needed to access the 麻豆原创 Business Accelerator Hub content by up to 40 percent.*

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Joule with 麻豆原创 Datasphere
麻豆原创 Early Adopter Care release

Data architects and data engineers can leverage Joule with 麻豆原创 Datasphere to quickly learn how to use specific 麻豆原创 Datasphere functionalities and receive answers with references to product documentation. They can also ask Joule for specific information about their 麻豆原创 Datasphere instance or delegate tasks like switching to the system language.

This integration reduces reliance on internal IT for product-related questions and enables faster navigation within 麻豆原创 Datasphere.

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麻豆原创 Business AI for industries

麻豆原创 Cell and Gene Therapy Orchestration, AI-assisted exception management
Beta release

Cell and gene therapy supply chain managers will get unparalleled visibility and control with 麻豆原创 Cell and Gene Therapy Orchestration, enhanced with AI-assisted exception management. When unexpected delays or disruptions occur during the patient-specific manufacturing and delivery process, the AI-powered control tower detects these anomalies and proactively alerts the appropriate personnel.

This feature helps supply chain managers identify exceptions and support resolution and rescheduling to maximize patient access and minimize costs. It optimizes manufacturing for optimal capacity utilization, higher revenue, reduced material waste, and improved user experience to benefit patients and healthcare providers.

Supply chain managers can expect to increase their productivity by up to 60 percent* by handling exceptions.

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Philipp Herzig is CTO, chief AI officer, and a member of the Extended Board of 麻豆原创 SE.

*Disclaimer: This article provides estimated benefits. All calculations are estimates based on 麻豆原创 customer case studies, 麻豆原创 benchmarks, and other research. Actual benefits may vary and may be affected by additional factors not considered by this article. The information is provided 鈥渁s is鈥� without warranty of any kind, express or implied, and in no event shall 麻豆原创 be liable for any damages whatsoever in relation with the use of this article. See Legal Notice on for use terms, disclaimers, disclosures, or restrictions related to this material.

Whichever side of the fence you fall on, business travel remains vital to build working relationships and drive growth. Yet, there are certain topics relating to company travel initiatives that don鈥檛 have full stakeholder agreement. To understand the perspectives, challenges, and opportunities, it鈥檚 vital that leaders know where the disconnects lie.

The asked 3,750 business travelers, 700 travel managers, and 600 chief financial officers (CFOs) about friction points in business travel. These are the main areas where we found some disagreement.

The need for business travel

The overwhelming majority (94%) of business travelers believe travel is helpful, if not essential, to success in their roles. Yet, 43% of CFOs say more than half of their company鈥檚 business travel could effectively be replaced by teleconferencing or other communication methods that don鈥檛 require travel. A third (33%) of travel managers view the tilt towards virtual meeting options as a direct threat to their company鈥檚 business travel.

Employee willingness to travel

There鈥檚 a disconnect over a perceived lack of enthusiasm to travel. Seventy percent of business travelers are very willing to travel over the next 12 months, marking an increase from 67% in 2023. Yet, this optimism is not universally shared within organizations. Thirty-five percent of travel managers view employees鈥� unwillingness as a potential threat to business travel and nearly half (45%) of CFOs believe employee reluctance or refusal to travel could negatively impact company health within the next year. While many employees are very willing to hit the road, concerns remain among CFOs and travel managers about whether travel enthusiasm is widespread enough to fully support business goals.

Changes in travel budgets

Each role has a different view on how travel budgets are evolving. Nearly half (48%) of business travelers are worried that their company鈥檚 travel budgets will remain stagnant or decrease this year. On the bright side, only 24% of CFOs and 22% of travel managers say budgets will be reduced or stay the same鈥攕uggesting a disconnect between employee fears and management鈥檚 financial outlook.

The roles that hold the most influence

There鈥檚 a perception gap over who influences business travel decision-making. Business travelers believe travel managers (37%) and CFOs (36%) have similar influence, significantly ahead of their own at 28%. However, travel managers are broadly aligned in feeling they (43%) have nearly the same amount of influence as CFOs (41%), compared to only 16% for business travelers. CFOs strongly disagree, with 69% believing they are the most influential decision-makers, significantly ahead of travel managers (21%) and travelers (9%).

The impact of budget limitations

Although they see travel as critical to their roles, two-thirds (66%) of business travelers say important trips have been curtailed due to costs. In alignment, 69% of travel managers believe their company travel budget fails to reflect the importance of business travel to their organization鈥檚 success. And whilst CFOs acknowledge the problem, there鈥檚 dissent in the ranks. Fifty-one percent of CFOs somewhat agree that budget limitations stop employees from traveling as much as they need to do their jobs well, while just 29% strongly agree.

How data can help to solve the business travel debate

These findings highlight the different perceptions between travelers, travel managers, and CFOs, for the first time in our 麻豆原创 Concur Global Business Travel Survey. To empower employees to develop professionally and create new opportunities on the road, it鈥檚 vital that every role in the organization aligns on common goals.

Bridging these gaps requires more than dialogue鈥攊t demands visibility. Organizations need a shared source of truth to understand behaviors, align priorities, and make informed decisions. Integrated travel and expense solutions offer companies the data and insights they need to steer their travel programs and budgets in a complex multi-stakeholder environment. 麻豆原创 Concur solutions can help analyze employee spend, drive cost-savings, and ensure efficient business travel.

in the seventh annual 麻豆原创 Concur Global Business Travel Survey.

Charlie Sultan is president of Concur Travel at 麻豆原创 Concur.

The 麻豆原创 Concur Global Business Traveler Survey was conducted by between April 30 and May 12, 2025, among 3,750 business travelers in 24 markets: U.S., Canada, UK, Germany, France, Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg), Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Italy, Spain, ANZ (Australia, New Zealand), Middle East (UAE, Saudi Arabia), Japan, Korea, India, Mexico, Brazil, SEA (Singapore, Malaysia), South Africa, Portugal, Switzerland, and Austria.
The 麻豆原创 Concur Global Travel Manager Survey was conducted by between April 30 and May 12, 2025, among 700 travel managers, defined as those who direct or administer travel programs for businesses, across seven markets: Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan, ANZ (Australia, New Zealand), UK, and U.S.
The 麻豆原创 Concur Global CFO Survey was conducted by between April 30 and May 12, 2025, among 600 CFOs across six markets: Germany, Canada, Japan, ANZ (Australia, New Zealand), UK, and U.S. 

In a , Economist Impact highlights this continuing shift in perception and performance, revealing a rising confidence in procurement鈥檚 ability to make business impact. This is the fourth consecutive year that 麻豆原创 and Economist Impact have partnered on a study, and the survey includes responses from more than 2,000 C-suite leaders globally.

The report, titled 鈥淭he Resilient Edge: Procurement in an Era of Polycrisis,鈥� also underscores procurement鈥檚 growing influence in advancing AI adoption and sustainability performance. However, the field still faces obstacles in assuming this larger role, including readiness for technology and building a future-proof workforce.

Still, the overall trend is clear: procurement鈥檚 fundamental transformation is putting it in a position to play an important role in business strategy.

Growing confidence in procurement to drive strategic value

Businesses today face a convergence of crises鈥攁 鈥減olycrisis鈥濃�攚hich includes environmental shocks, shipping delays, and growing regulatory restrictions. Tariffs are the latest disruption, prompting businesses across sectors to seek quick solutions to avoid price hikes.  

Weathering this storm requires procurement leaders to take on higher risk as they navigate this uncertainty. The Economist Impact report finds that geopolitical risk has emerged as the top concern for procurement leaders, with 64% listing it as their top focus over the next 12 to 18 months, up from just 30% in 2024. This surge reflects both the growing complexity of global operations and procurement鈥檚 expanding influence.

As risk becomes more multifaceted and severe, procurement professionals have a role beyond sourcing supplies at the lowest cost. Instead, they are developing robust strategies to identify, assess, and mitigate risk. This strategic pivot is also reflected in growing cross-departmental trust. In fact, 78% of respondents expressed confidence in procurement鈥檚 ability to manage external risk鈥攁 37% increase from last year鈥攕ignaling procurement鈥檚 growing value as a strategic partner.

AI has a central role in procurement

From detecting demand signals and enabling scenario planning to automating routine workflows, AI is dramatically expanding procurement鈥檚 capabilities.

The Economist Impact report notes that organizations are prioritizing AI proficiency more than any other skill over the next 12 to 18 months, including predictive analytics, demand forecasting, and managing data bias and privacy concerns. These skills are essential for procurement teams that need to pivot quickly in response to unexpected disruptions.

Most importantly, AI will be at the center of procurement鈥檚 continued transformation. An overwhelming 89% of respondents in the study said they are confident in their ability to adopt and apply AI to improve efficiency and productivity. This confidence is grounded in tangible benefits that AI can provide, including identifying early demand signals, optimizing supplier performance, and simulating risk scenarios to support better decision-making

Simply put, AI is no longer optional鈥攊t is essential to procurement success and relevance.

Improved environmental results

Sustainability has climbed to the top of corporate agendas, and procurement is now on the front lines of this effort, managing supplier emissions and ensuring ethical labor practices. Over half (53%) of survey respondents named sustainability as their top strategic priority for the next 12 to 18 months.

Cross-departmental collaboration is central to these efforts and has enabled procurement to align with key financial and environmental goals. Tools like ESG scorecards and supplier decarbonization plans are now standard practice for measuring environmental impact. These innovations are helping companies meet rising expectations from customers, regulators, and shareholders alike, while also reducing long-term operational risks.

These developments show that procurement isn鈥檛 just supporting sustainability鈥攊t鈥檚 driving it.

Procurement鈥檚 inflection point between strategy and cost-cutting

While cost control remains a key part of procurement鈥檚 mandate, the balance for today鈥檚 procurement teams is shifting鈥攆rom tactical cost-saving measures to strategic contributions that enhance agility, foster innovation, and safeguard reputation.

To manage these dual demands, companies are turning to procurement technology, like , to address key priorities and reduce siloes across the organization.

The insights above were explored in depth during an Economist Impact webinar titled,鈥淢easuring up: Balancing risks and goals for Strategic Procurement.鈥� To delve further into these topics and hear expert perspectives, .

Gordon Donovan is global vice president of Research, Procurement, and External Workforce at 麻豆原创.

This is true for each function within an enterprise. Teams within HR, Sales, Marketing, Finance, and Spend are positioned to drive impact in every aspect of business — from revenue growth to cost management to overall business agility and resilience.

The innovations shared at 麻豆原创 Sapphire in 2025 reflect our commitment to bringing out your best, providing a clear path to guide organizations toward certainty in a time where that is rare. These innovations will empower organizations to navigate the complexities of the current landscape and emerge stronger, more adaptable, and better equipped to face the future. 

Here are a few innovations that we announced that support Finance and Spend teams in delivering increased value.

Introducing embedded virtual cards in 麻豆原创 Ariba

Many organizations work to be nimble as it relates to finding the right supplier at the right time, which can mean introducing one-time vendors into the supplier landscape. While this helps with business agility, it often comes with a cost: time-intensive supplier onboarding processes that involve manual effort that is better used elsewhere. Traditional payment methods, like checks and physical credit cards, not only require more work, they can introduce fraud risk and security vulnerabilities.

That is why 麻豆原创 is embedding virtual card payments into 麻豆原创 Ariba Buying and . We are supporting the flexibility and agility needed to help businesses run at their best. At no additional cost, our customers can now use virtual credit cards for pay on purchase order transactions. With virtual cards, customers can:

• Prevent overcharges and fraud
• Enjoy payment flexibility
• Better manage spend security
• Reduce manual effort of supplier setup processes
• Enhance vendor payment efficiency
• Maintain control of payments made outside of procure-to-pay ERP processes

Using virtual cards requires minimal change management efforts, giving buyers the ability to adjust card parameters based on enterprise-wide objectives without disruption.

麻豆原创 integrates WalkMe Premium with 麻豆原创 Ariba and 麻豆原创 Concur

In a time when digitalization is imperative, minimizing obstacles and reducing change management efforts is key to a smooth business transformation. Time and time again, I hear leaders report that one of the biggest challenges of implementing new software is employee change management.

Introducing WalkMe Premium for 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions, a platform that provides real-time, in-app guidance for users to reduce the time and effort associated with adopting new technology in the workplace, empowering employees to maximize business value with 麻豆原创 Ariba. Customers can also take advantage of , which offers users valuable, easy-to-follow training content, all within the 麻豆原创 Concur user interface.

The WalkMe solution is a digital learning platform that helps users apply process knowledge in real time to navigate complex software tasks. With WalkMe Premium integrated directly into 麻豆原创 solutions, employees can access in-app prompts for standard tasks, like creating purchase orders or managing approvals, with pre-configured industry templates that eliminate the need to learn overly technical processes.

The in-app workflow guidance can be adjusted as needed to keep processes up-to-date, allowing for little to no change management effort to ramp employees up faster than ever — all while preserving process compliance. At 麻豆原创, we know that clear, concise user guidance is key to accelerating technology adoption. I expect that the integration of the WalkMe solution into 麻豆原创 solutions will be a gamechanger for organizations experiencing technology updates and changes.

New Joule Agents enhance finance and spend functionality

New agentic AI capabilities are coming to finance and spend solutions with Joule agents that will be integrated across 麻豆原创 Business Suite. These new agents include:

• Expense Report Validation Agent: Uses alerts and guided experiences to help employees fix issues based on past data, company policy, and patterns before submitting reports
• Sourcing Agent: Uses past event data and supplier information to autonomously create sourcing events tailored to specific needs and users can easily modify these events to efficiently manage supply chain disruptions.
• Dispute Resolution Agent: Analyzes dispute details and relevant business records to validate cases and propose solutions
• Accounts Receivables Agent: Uses data related to overdue receivables to perform appropriate follow-up tasks with customers

Additionally, 麻豆原创 Ariba Procurement customers will soon be able use Joule to enhance daily tasks such as retrieving supplier bids, displaying past purchases and approvers, and providing easy access to supplier information. Joule innovations will also be available soon in 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions, enabling users to accelerate existing workflows and processes.

麻豆原创 Taulia Receivables directly integrated into 麻豆原创 finance solutions

Embedded finance capabilities have been expanded with the integration of Receivables Finance, powered by , in 麻豆原创 finance solutions. Finance teams now have a fast, scalable way to unlock capital from outstanding receivables in a time when businesses are battling inflationary pressures, tariffs, and supply chain volatility. This capability can be activated immediately in .

Once activated, 麻豆原创 Taulia Receivables enables users to:

• Dynamically manage working capital
• Accelerate receivables through true sale
• Use Joule-powered insights to make informed liquidity decisions

New 麻豆原创 Ariba Procurement and expense management offerings in 麻豆原创 Business Suite

In keeping with our promise to deliver a connected, suite-first experience for our customers, 麻豆原创 Business Suite includes extended 麻豆原创 Ariba and 麻豆原创 Concur functionality.

The newly announced 麻豆原创 Business Suite application packages align with the strategic business needs of our customers with line of business-specific bundles, delivering an improved buying experience. With strategic sourcing package, our procurement customers can manage the source-to-contract process from start to finish. Within the 麻豆原创 Finance Premium package, customers have access to operational procurement capabilities, including requisitioning, invoice management, and B2B collaboration, along with expense management capabilities from 麻豆原创 Concur.

Achieving success in a new era of procurement

Amid the unpredictable nature of today鈥檚 finance and spend landscape, agility is the secret to long-lasting success. 厂础笔鈥檚 advanced AI capabilities, powered by harmonized data and paired with an integrated suite of applications, ensure productivity, accuracy, and an optimized employee experience.

With 麻豆原创, you can handle anything that comes your way.

If you did not get a chance to attend 麻豆原创 Sapphire, access .

Etosha Thurman is chief marketing officer for Finance and Spend Management at 麻豆原创.

This is where the rubber meets the road, where well-crafted plans deliver tangible results. Enter , the powerhouse solution that can turn procurement strategies into reality.

The power of precision execution

In the world of procurement, even the most brilliant strategy is only as good as its execution. 麻豆原创 Ariba Sourcing is designed to help quickly bridge the gap between planning and results, empowering your team to act with precision, speed, and intelligence.

Let鈥檚 dive into how 麻豆原创 Ariba Sourcing can bring your procurement strategies to life.

Seamless integration with category management

One of the most powerful features of 麻豆原创 Ariba Sourcing is its tight integration with . This connection helps ensure that the objectives and strategies developed in the planning phase are seamlessly carried forward into the execution phase.

Imagine your category managers have identified a need to diversify suppliers in a critical component category to reduce risk. With 麻豆原创 Ariba Sourcing, this strategy can be immediately visible to the sourcing team, helping to guide their actions as they create and manage sourcing events.

AI-powered supplier selection

麻豆原创 Ariba Sourcing can leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to help select the right suppliers for each sourcing event. The system can analyze your existing supply base, market data, and your specific requirements to suggest suppliers that best fit your needs.

For instance, if your strategy calls for reducing carbon emissions in your supply chain, AI can highlight suppliers with strong sustainability credentials. Or if you鈥檙e looking to mitigate geopolitical risks, it can suggest suppliers from diverse geographical regions.

Real-time market intelligence

In today鈥檚 volatile market, having access to real-time market intelligence is crucial. 麻豆原创 Ariba Sourcing can provide up-to-date information on market trends, pricing, and supplier performance, allowing your team to make informed decisions during negotiations.

For example, if there鈥檚 a sudden spike in raw material prices, your sourcing team can immediately adjust their negotiation strategy, potentially saving millions in costs.

Collaborative sourcing events

麻豆原创 Ariba Sourcing can enable truly collaborative sourcing events. Multiple stakeholders can participate in the process, from defining requirements to evaluating bids. This helps ensure that all relevant perspectives are considered, leading to better outcomes.

Picture a scenario where you鈥檙e sourcing a new IT system. With 麻豆原创 Ariba Sourcing, your IT team can provide technical specifications, your finance team can set budget parameters, and your legal team can ensure compliance requirements are met鈥攁ll within the same platform.

Advanced analytics and reporting

The solution can provide powerful analytics and reporting capabilities, allowing you to track the progress and success of your sourcing events in real-time. You can easily measure how well your execution aligns with your strategic objectives and make data-driven decisions to course-correct if needed.

For instance, you can track savings against targets, monitor supplier diversity metrics, or assess the impact of your sourcing decisions on risk profiles鈥攁ll with the click of a button.

Continuous improvement loop

Perhaps most importantly, 麻豆原创 Ariba Sourcing helps close the loop in the triple crown strategy. The results and insights gathered from sourcing events can feed back into , providing fresh data for analysis and informing future strategy development in 麻豆原创 Ariba Category Management.

This can create a virtuous cycle of continuous improvement, where each iteration of the process becomes more refined and effective.

The human element in action

While 麻豆原创 Ariba Sourcing can bring powerful technological capabilities to the table, it鈥檚 crucial to remember that it鈥檚 designed to augment, not replace, human expertise. The solution can empower your sourcing professionals to focus on high-value activities like relationship building, complex negotiations, and strategic decision-making.

For example, while AI might suggest a list of potential suppliers, it鈥檚 your sourcing team鈥檚 expertise that will determine which suppliers are the best fit for your company鈥檚 culture and long-term goals.

Looking ahead: The future of strategic sourcing

As we conclude our exploration of the triple crown of strategic procurement, it鈥檚 clear that we鈥檙e at the cusp of a new era in procurement. With solutions like 麻豆原创 Ariba Sourcing, we鈥檙e not just improving our execution鈥攚e鈥檙e reimagining it.

We鈥檙e moving from siloed decision-making to collaborative action, from gut-feel negotiations to data-driven engagements, from reactive purchasing to proactive value creation. We鈥檙e creating a future where procurement is a true strategic partner, driving innovation, sustainability, and competitive advantage for the entire organization.

The triple crown of strategic procurement鈥攊nsights, planning, and action鈥攔epresents a holistic approach to procurement excellence. By leveraging 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower for insights, 麻豆原创 Ariba Category Management for planning, and 麻豆原创 Ariba Sourcing for action, organizations can create a powerful, continuous cycle of improvement.

As we face an increasingly complex and volatile business environment, this approach provides the agility, intelligence, and precision needed to not just survive, but thrive. The race is on, and with the right tools and strategies you can be poised to win the triple crown of strategic procurement.

Are you ready to take action and transform your procurement function? The finish line awaits, and with 麻豆原创 Ariba Sourcing, you鈥檙e equipped to cross it in style.

To learn more, check out this infographic outlining .

Sudy Bharadwaj is global vice president of Strategic Engagements for 麻豆原创 Finance and Spend.
Cindy McKendry is director of Corporate Communications for Finance, Spend, and Supply Chain at 麻豆原创.

These changes bring vast challenges but large potential rewards for those who can upskill their teams and tackle the looming talent crunch.

To set up their organizations for growth, CFOs will need to be nimble in executing their strategies, evaluate the technologies they invest in, prioritize cybersecurity, integrate ESG reporting, and tackle talent crunch.  

1. Bringing to life 2024 growth plans 

In 2024, many CFOs focused on devising growth and reinvention plans to scale their businesses in a sustainable manner. In this quest, they had to be nimble and creative: according to , over 80 percent of CEOs thought that their company would no longer be viable if it did not try to reinvent itself. In order to succeed in 2025, CFOs will need to continue building trust with CEOs to partner on executing these plans successfully. 

To sell their vision in 2025, CFOs will also need to build their leadership image with the wider business, internal and external stakeholders. This is why they will need to dedicate resources to mastering their storytelling skills. This will enable finance leaders to ensure that peers and colleagues are aligned with the business鈥� short- and long-term planning, especially as it undergoes reinvention in challenging market conditions.  

2. Evaluating technologies for long-term benefit and efficiency 

According to the recent CFO Insights research by 麻豆原创 Concur, 94 percent of finance leaders say that AI has already helped improve decision-making. Also, 73 percent see a positive impact on cost and risk reduction. In 2025, CFOs need to lead the business-wide charge on delving deeper into the technologies they are investing in. As a number of companies are rushing to adopt AI, CFOs are uniquely positioned to ensure this adoption is truly valuable to the company. To do so, they can drive establishing ROI measures to ensure it is used productively and ethically.聽聽

They will need to be involved in critically evaluating the technologies that businesses invest in, ensuring that risks are properly assessed and in accordance with compliance or responsible-use frameworks.

With AI becoming an essential business tool across many industries, CFOs will need to make sure that it adheres to federal and international AI regulatory frameworks. They should also continue investing in new capabilities to strengthen their compliance, auditing, and planning toolkits. Because CFOs have a holistic view of their business鈥� data and needs, they have a unique insight into the most efficient ways to use .  

3. Prioritizing cybersecurity  

The global average cost of a data breach in 2024 is $4.88 million 鈥� 10 percent up on 2023, according to . The ubiquity of generative AI provides bad actors with more tools to commit complex fraud schemes. Consequently, in 2025, CFOs will need to dedicate resources to protecting their organizations from cybercrime in the coming year and onwards. According to CFO Insights research, 59 percent of finance leaders plan to increase their cybersecurity budget to respond to growing threats.

Because CFOs understand business risk and reporting, they are well-placed to take an oversight role. This best positions them to work with their business鈥� Chief Information Security Officers (CISO) to assess investments and the maturity of security arrangements, as well as budgets dedicated to this. 

Another way that CFOs can protect their organizations鈥� financial assets and data is to appropriately prepare their teams. Since human error remains the biggest risk for a cyber-attack, it is essential that CFOs educate their teams on best practices and develop incident response plans.  

4. Integrating ESG reporting 

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) frameworks are becoming increasingly important for businesses as wider regulation schemes are established globally. For CFOs to set up their business for success in 2025, they should embrace ESG as more than just a set of rules, but as a means to build a data base and strengthen their business鈥� profile. 

Forty-eight percent of finance leaders are focusing on sustainability and ESG to drive growth this year. Not only does collecting ESG data help boost a business鈥� revenue, but it presents them with a unique opportunity to see how they are performing and inform future related decisions. For example, giving employees sustainable business travel options and recording their decision can help inform future reporting. CFOs 鈥嬧�嬧�媠hould also set measurable goals for how sustainability data will be used to enhance the business鈥� performance and value creation. These goals will guide the development of the organization鈥檚 staff and its infrastructure. 

A CFO鈥檚 focus on integrating ESG reporting is one element of an even bigger shift 鈥� a shift from carbon counting to carbon accounting. In the future, organization鈥檚 entire carbon impact is going to become an integral part of its balance sheet, measured and managed with the same precision as the financial bottom line. A will form part of a more integrated view of reporting that goes way beyond financials. Adding this green ledger will help companies to a more holistic approach uniting financial and carbon accounting, making sustainability profitable and profitability sustainable.  

5. Retaining employees despite the “talent crunch“

In 2025, the workforce will continue to evolve, as baby boomers retire and young finance professionals re-evaluate their working priorities. CFOs will need to retain employees and keep them enthusiastic. They can do this by better understanding younger employees鈥� values and adapting development, training, and recruitment policies accordingly.  

They will also need to collaborate with HR to foster continuous learning, reskilling, and adaptability for staff. This same flexibility should be applied to bringing in new technology. By accepting to adopt these, businesses can drive more competition for the right talent.  

Similarly, CFOs can embrace using technologies such as AI to automate certain tasks, freeing people for more meaningful work. This not only resonates with the values of younger workers but will highlight to employees that their time is valued, boosting retention.  

A CFO鈥檚 role continues to evolve in challenging market and macroeconomic conditions, so adaptation and flexibility are key to unlocking rewards for themselves, their teams, and their organizations. Embracing the outlined strategies promises CFOs can continue to secure the business鈥� future and steer it toward success.

is chief financial officer for 麻豆原创 Concur.

Customers are already doing so much with 麻豆原创 Business AI, from to . In 2025, we will build on these achievements with the same razor-sharp focus: providing our customers with unparalleled business value.

already offers customers a unified experience across our suite鈥檚 end-to-end business processes. Now, as we enter the era of AI agents, Joule will equip customers with agents that genuinely understand their business context and collaborate across all functions. AI agents that alleviate before creating purchase orders or automatically classify and to the right team. These AI agents are impactful because they are grounded in what makes our customers’ businesses unique 鈥� their processes, tools, and data 鈥� thanks to and 麻豆原创 Knowledge Graph.

When it comes to , our customers are just getting started. That鈥檚 because the possibilities are endless with . Customers can create and deploy custom agents that, like our out-of-the-box agents, are uniquely grounded in their business processes and data. We are excited to see how our customers drive business value in 2025 and beyond.

Before diving into the complete updates below, here are some of the highlights from Q1 2025:

• Joule is gaining a host of new capabilities, including support for 11 languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, Greek, and Polish. Strict filters are also coming for precise, personalized answers tailored to each user’s context. Joule鈥檚 responses are now streamed for real-time feedback during processing. This eliminates frustrating delays and ensures a smooth, interactive experience, even with complex queries. Joule is fully integrated into 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition for enhanced context and effortless navigation. In Q1 2025, Joule鈥檚 unified experience is reaching more customers across more 麻豆原创 solutions, so be sure to explore everything Joule in the sections below.
• Less manual work and democratized access are the name of the game for 麻豆原创 Business AI in business transformation management. Joule for developers is front and center with code generation and optimization across ABAP, 麻豆原创 Build Code, and 麻豆原创 BTP Cockpit. 麻豆原创 Signavio Process Manager and 麻豆原创 Signavio Process Intelligence let customers use natural language to create process diagrams (“text-to-process”) or generate analytical dashboards (“text-to-widgets”). 麻豆原创 LeanIX has a new AI-assisted inventory builder that automates IT landscape documentation. There is so much more to check out about AI in Joule for developers, 麻豆原创 LeanIX, and 麻豆原创 Signavio below.
• A lot is happening in 麻豆原创 Business AI for finance and spend. AI-assisted enterprise search, personalized “My Home” page features, situation handling, and error explanations are all coming to 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition. Joule also expands to S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition, automating journal uploads, service initiations, trade classifications, and more. Plus, additional AI updates are coming to Concur Expense. Dive into everything below.
• 麻豆原创 Business AI for procurement and supply chain are flush with new AI enhancements. Joule joins 麻豆原创 Ariba and 麻豆原创 Field Service Management for natural language navigation and task completion. 麻豆原创 Ariba Category Management offers AI-assisted category recommendations to help streamline strategic planning. 麻豆原创 Green Token introduces AI-powered declaration image analysis for automatic data extraction from supplier declarations. There is much more to see, so check out procurement and supply chain below.
• 麻豆原创 Business AI for IT and developers has a range of exciting tools that will increase productivity and efficiency. 麻豆原创 Datasphere gets AI-powered content generation and natural language search, further evolving into our overall data strategy with 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud. Generative AI Hub in 麻豆原创 AI Core and 麻豆原创 AI Launchpad offers new large language models (LLMs) to ensure the best fit for customized AI use cases. Its new model library feature simplifies LLM discovery and selection with detailed model cards and one-click deployment and its grounding management feature simplifies the management of grounding pipelines, enabling developers to create, modify, and search repositories using natural language. The new 麻豆原创 HANA knowledge graph engine enhances LLM responses by grounding them in business-specific knowledge. This is just the tip of the iceberg; jump into everything and more below.

The first quarter is off to a strong start, but 2025 will see us deliver more use cases 鈥� on top of the 鈥� across our entire range of solutions. Customers can stay updated with forthcoming  releases .

麻豆原创 Business AI for business transformation management

麻豆原创 BTP, ABAP environment
麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition
Joule for developers, ABAP AI capabilities
General availability

With Joule, developers can quickly generate precise, contextualized code snippets and explanations. Joule uses purpose-built LLMs designed for 麻豆原创 workloads. The ABAP LLM, for example, powers code predictions and explanations, helping developers work more efficiently.

Joule can also provide developers with real-time, context-aware support for code completion and optimization and create automation pipelines that understand the customers鈥� application environment, development project artifacts, and 麻豆原创-specific syntax.

Key capabilities include:

• Predictive code completion based on context, comments, and project heuristics
• Code explanations of core data services view entities, classes, interfaces, and functional modules
• AI-powered assistance for documentation, best practices, and new concepts
• Workflow development and decision assistance based on processes, API specifications, and connected systems

With these ABAP AI capabilities in Joule, developers can expect up to a 20 percent*鈥� reduction in time and effort spent writing ABAP code and a 25 percent鈥�* reduction in time and effort spent testing ABAP code.

In addition, the introduction of the ABAP AI SDK, powered by intelligent scenario lifecycle management, serves as an AI toolbox for ABAP developers. It allows them to use LLMs available through the generative AI hub in 麻豆原创 AI Core and seamlessly infuse AI capabilities into their custom ABAP applications.

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麻豆原创 Signavio Process Manager
AI-assisted process modeler, text to process
General availability

Process modelers can use the AI-assisted process modeler, text to process, to create business process model and notation diagrams from simple text descriptions. This eliminates the manual effort of traditional process mapping from scratch. Intuitive functionality also means non-technical stakeholders can contribute to process design, facilitating better collaboration and shared understanding.

Process modelers can reduce their business process modeling time by up to 50 percent* and time to value for business process modeling by up to 50 percent.*

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麻豆原创 Signavio Process Intelligence
AI-assisted process analyzer, text to widget
Beta release

Business users at all operational and strategic decision-making levels can quickly analyze process data using the text-to-widget feature in 麻豆原创 Signavio Process Intelligence. This feature allows users to create dashboard widgets instantly using natural language queries, democratizing data analysis and reducing the reliance on specialized analysts for routine tasks. The result is broader access to process insights, faster time-to-value, and increased efficiency for the entire organization.

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麻豆原创 LeanIX solutions
AI-assisted inventory builder
General availability

Enterprise architects can now effortlessly document their IT landscapes with the 麻豆原创 LeanIX AI-assisted inventory builder. This feature lets you easily upload various data formats, including documents, PDFs, diagrams, and pictures. Once uploaded, the AI automatically discovers and extracts relevant architectural elements like applications and IT components.

This translates to significant business value with up to an 80 percent* reduction in the time required to create factsheets, up to a 75 percent* reduction in project implementation timelines, and up to 75 percent faster time to value, ultimately increasing productivity and freeing valuable resources.

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麻豆原创 LeanIX solutions
Joule
Early Adopter Care

Enterprise architects can quickly find the information they need within 麻豆原创 LeanIX using the unified copilot Joule. Joule allows you to search for and navigate to fact sheets, reports, and diagrams from anywhere within the application using simple natural language queries. This boosts productivity by simplifying information discovery and reduces the need for extensive training, especially for infrequent users.

The business impact is substantial, with up to a 50 percent* improvement in search time for relevant documentation and factsheets and up to a 75 percent* reduction in time to productivity for all 麻豆原创 LeanIX users.

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麻豆原创 Central Business Configuration
AI-assisted scoping and configuration services
General availability

Business process owners and IT administrators can now effortlessly manage AI capabilities across their entire 麻豆原创 landscape with 麻豆原创 Central Business Configuration. The new AI-assisted scoping and configuration services tool provides a central hub integrated with 麻豆原创 for Me. It is available free of charge to activate, deactivate, and test 麻豆原创 Business AI features.

This eliminates the previous complexities of individual solution activation and allows you to quickly deploy and leverage the full potential of 麻豆原创’s AI portfolio, saving valuable time and resources while driving innovation.

麻豆原创 Central Business Configuration is free for customers and partners.

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麻豆原创 Business AI for finance and spend

麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition
AI-assisted explanations of fixed asset deprecation keys, AI-assisted easy filter, AI-assisted smart summarization, and AI-assisted financial business insights
General availability

After a successful beta program conducted with dozens of customers, we are thrilled to announce that these features are now generally available for all 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition users:

• reduces implementation effort by 75 percent and slashes the time spent analyzing and resolving fixed asset and depreciation inquiries by 90 percent
•   delivers 83 percent faster filtering in Fiori elements-based list reports, increasing user satisfaction and productivity
•   saves users 88 percent of the time spent summarizing Fiori elements-based object pages and increases user and stakeholder satisfaction
• reduce the time spent analyzing cost center report summaries by 50 percent and summarizing/documenting them by 65 percent

麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition
AI-assisted easy enterprise search, AI-assisted smart personalization of My Home, AI-assisted situation handling, and AI-assisted error explanation
Beta release

The latest update of 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition includes advanced AI capabilities, empowering users across supply chain, finance, procurement, and more to operate smarter and faster. By automating tasks, providing actionable insights, and enabling better decision-making, they help boost the productivity of business users. Examples include:

• finds relevant data of business objects in 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition using natural language
• offers context-specific, actionable recommendations, reducing resolution time and accelerating decision-making for faster recovery from disruptions
• enables a better understanding of errors in elements-based 麻豆原创 Fiori apps and initial resolution recommendations

We also expanded Joule鈥檚 capabilities in 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition. For instance, business users can access critical business information with . Using natural language queries in Joule, they can instantly generate cards summarizing key data and add them to their “My Home” page with a single click. This empowers them with increased productivity and reduced training time while expanding the availability of personalized insight cards tailored to individual needs. On average, 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition users can execute transactional tasks 90 percent* faster, thanks to Joule.

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麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition

With this 2023 FPS03 release, we have shipped innovative AI capabilities that help businesses increase employee productivity, assist in decision-making, and provide predictive insights to better adapt to changing demands and compete in an unpredictable environment. 

AI-assisted journal upload
General availability

Accountants working on period-end journal entries can streamline their work with AI-assisted journal upload in 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition. This new 麻豆原创 Fiori app automates the creation and upload of manual journals. Upload guidance documents, create journal upload cases, and let the AI generate compliant posting proposals. AI-assisted journal upload reduces manual effort by up to 85 percent* per accrual and provision case. It also improves data quality through automated validation, strengthens compliance with full audit trails, and empowers finance teams to become a more strategic and lean function.

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AI-assisted in-house service initiation
General availability

Repair shop managers struggling with mountains of paperwork can now enjoy a streamlined alternative to manual data entry. The AI-assisted in-house service initiation solution uses cutting-edge Document Information Extraction to automatically capture data from existing paper documents and seamlessly populate the 麻豆原创 system, creating a ready-to-use list of repair objects for the team. Repair staff can then review the generated order before processing it to completion.

It eliminates tedious data entry, reduces errors, and prevents data loss, especially crucial when deadlines are tight. Users gain valuable time back, saving up to 50 percent* of the time needed to prepare the confirmation notices of conducted service orders.

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AI-assisted generation of trade classification proposals
General availability

Compliance officers and international trade professionals can streamline global trade compliance with AI-assisted trade classification automation in 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition. Users can leverage to generate intelligent proposals for customs tariff numbers and commodity codes based on existing product classifications. These proposals can be quickly activated for single or multiple products, eliminating manual research and ensuring accurate and consistent classifications across the product portfolio.

This automation offers up to a 50 percent* reduction in time and cost for the product classification process to boost productivity, reduce compliance risks, and accelerate time-to-market for internationally traded goods.

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AI-assisted labor demand planning
General availability

AI-assisted predictive labor demand planning allows warehouse supervisors to forecast workload needs precisely for picking and packing processes. The feature uses historical data to predict task durations, eliminating guesswork and complex configurations. This leads to up to a 50 percent increase in warehouse supervisor productivity and up to a five percent reduction in delays related to customer order shipments and deliveries. Warehouses using this tool gain greater transparency into operations, better optimize resource allocation, and improve their on-time delivery fulfillment, boosting customer satisfaction.

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This release also expands transactional and navigational capabilities in Joule across critical business functions, including:

• Dispute and payment resolution (a detailed description of the dispute resolution agent is below)
• Revenue accounting, contracts, and reconciliation
• Sales order management, issue resolution, and billing info
• Service confirmations: details, actions, and lifecycle
• Maintenance order, notification, and job management
• Project work breakdown structure (WBS) and network management
• Purchase requisitions, updates, and details
• Bill of materials (BOM) and change record access
• Invoicing, billing, and clarification case views

The new features above empower users to automate tasks, access information quickly, and streamline their workflows. This will drive greater efficiency and faster time to insight across the organization.

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麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition
Dispute resolution agent
Beta release

Accounts receivable clerks can streamline dispute resolution with the intelligent dispute resolution agent in 麻豆原创 S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition. Instead of manually identifying discrepancies, clerks can use AI-driven automation to quickly analyze invoice details and contractual terms, easily detecting errors or mismatches. The system proactively suggests next steps, such as creating a credit memo, ensuring financial accuracy and faster resolution. By automating error detection and resolution, clerks save valuable time and resources while maintaining control over key decisions.

Faster dispute resolution builds trust with vendors, strengthens relationships, and keeps financial operations running smoothly.

With this AI agent, contract accountants can expect to reduce dispute management handling costs by up to 30 percent*, customer churn attributable to disputes by up to 10 percent*, and days sales outstanding (DSO) by up to one percent.*

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Concur Expense
AI-assisted chart of accounts upload
General availability

Setting up Concur Expense just got easier with an automated chart of account uploads. Finance administrators can now seamlessly import expense accounts directly from their accounting systems, such as QuickBooks Online or Xero, or by uploading a chart of accounts file. This feature automatically creates and maps expense types and account codes within Concur Expense, eliminating manual data entry and ensuring accurate alignment with existing financial systems.

The result is a 50 percent*鈥� faster master data setup process, reduced administrative overhead, and a more efficient expense management experience from the start.

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Concur Expense
AI-assisted policy assistance
Early Adopter Care

Finance teams and business travelers often struggle with complex and ever-changing expense policies, leading to errors and frustration. The policy assistance feature in Concur Expense provides real-time guidance and alerts before and or during their business trip, prior to money being spent, allowing the business traveler to make compliant spend decisions during their business trip.

This drives compliant spending, improves the traveler experience, minimizes expense report issues, and can lead to faster reimbursement. Ultimately, companies can reduce costs, boost policy awareness and guide finance teams to make compliant spend decisions.

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麻豆原创 Business AI for procurement

麻豆原创 Ariba Category Management
AI-assisted category strategy recommendation
General availability

Category managers can significantly improve their strategic planning with 麻豆原创 Ariba Category Management. Previously, they had to spend countless hours manually analyzing cost structures, market dynamics, and other data to craft detailed strategy recommendations. With this new feature, category managers are provided with detailed recommendations to improve the category’s performance. This solution eliminates the need for time-consuming manual data analysis, empowering faster, more informed decision-making.

Streamlining the planning process accelerates category strategy development, improves savings on actively managed categories, and increases spend under management, ultimately advancing category management maturity. This translates to up to a 60 percent*鈥� improved efficiency of category management processes.

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麻豆原创 Ariba solutions
Joule
麻豆原创 Early Adopter Care

Procurement professionals using 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions, from sourcing experts to casual requisitioners, can now avoid navigational and transactional complexities. Joule now seamlessly integrates with 麻豆原创 Ariba Sourcing, Supplier Management, and Buying, providing intuitive navigation and natural language processing for information access and task completion.

This results in up to 50 percent*鈥� faster informational searches and up to 50 percent*鈥� quicker execution of navigation and transactional tasks, enabling procurement teams to redirect their efforts toward strategic activities and maximize their contribution to organizational goals.

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麻豆原创 Business AI for supply chain

麻豆原创 Integrated Product Development
AI-assisted digitalization of legacy drawings
Beta release

For companies with extensive legacy 2D drawings, 麻豆原创 Integrated Product Development now offers automated hotspot creation and business data mapping. This feature streamlines the digital transformation of these drawings and allows users to quickly link visual elements to backend data for applications like interactive spare part catalogs and asset management. This increases aftermarket sales revenue and improves customer satisfaction through enhanced service efficiency and more effective stock management.

For example, this results in an up to 10 percent* improvement in field service technician productivity and annual savings of 鈧�71,000* for a company of 2,000 employees and 鈧�1 billion of annual revenue.

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麻豆原创 Green Token
AI-assisted declaration image analysis
Beta release

Sustainability managers and procurement teams can now use the declaration image analysis feature in 麻豆原创 Green Token to automatically search, validate, and extract information from supplier sustainability declarations.

Gone are the days of manual data entries or sifting through countless documents. The data is now seamlessly embedded in 麻豆原创 Green Token, enabling enhanced traceability and compliance with sustainability standards and regulations. This automated data extraction eliminates the need for costly, time-consuming in-house data extraction solutions and ensures accurate data capture from sustainability declarations such as ISCC PLUS.

This eliminates the cost of data extraction tools and reduces the time needed to search for declarations. It also decreases the time required to review, interpret, and post data by up to 93 percent.*

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麻豆原创 Field Service Management
Joule
麻豆原创 Early Adopter Care

Dispatchers can streamline their processes with Joule in 麻豆原创 Field Service Management. By leveraging intuitive conversational search, dispatchers can quickly and easily find the necessary information. Ask Joule a question using natural language and receive instant answers from 麻豆原创 Help Portal, eliminating the time-consuming process of manual searches. Dispatchers can also plan service orders using transactional capabilities in Joule.

This translates to an up to 12.5 percent* increase in dispatcher productivity, freeing valuable time for more strategic tasks. Moreover, Joule empowers dispatchers to optimize resource allocation, reducing erroneous field service deployments by up to five percent* and driving greater operational efficiency.

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麻豆原创 Business AI for sales and service

麻豆原创 Sales Cloud Version 2 and 麻豆原创 Service Cloud Version 2
AI-assisted duplicate detection
General availability

To detect duplicate sales and service orders, sales and service agents can scan the customer database and existing service orders with AI-assisted duplicate detection. This helps sales agents save time and prevents the creation of duplicate records, ensuring a cleaner database for operations and sales forecasts. Service agents also benefit from reduced mis-dispatch of field technicians, ensuring higher customer satisfaction.

Service agents can expect a complete elimination of in-field service mis-dispatches, and both sales and service agents can reduce the time it takes to detect potential duplicate service orders and records by up to 60 percent.*鈥�

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麻豆原创 Sales Cloud Version 2
Joule
麻豆原创 Early Adopter Care

Sales teams can win more deals with Joule for 麻豆原创 Sales Cloud. Joule enables more effective customer interactions by directly providing intelligent recommendations and insights within the sales workflow. Joule鈥檚 understanding of natural language queries means it can deliver context-specific and accurate search results, guiding users to precisely the information they need within the application.

This offers up to 50 percent* faster informational search and 30 percent* faster navigation for transactional tasks, directly boosting sales team productivity and enhancing the customer experience with more informed and efficient interactions.

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麻豆原创 Business AI for marketing and commerce

麻豆原创 CX AI Toolkit
AI-assisted CX agents
General availability

AI-powered automation offered by the will change how customer service agents handle complex cases within 麻豆原创 Sales and Service. This no-code solution allows businesses to configure AI agents that intelligently classify and route cases, automatically capture knowledge from resolved issues, and quickly surface answers from across the organization’s knowledge base.

This automation frees employees to focus on high-value interactions, improves service quality, provides faster resolution times, and increases customer satisfaction. Organizations can achieve up to a 50 percent鈥� improvement in sales staff productivity of agent-handled tasks and a 50 percent鈥� improvement in service staff productivity of agent-handled tasks.

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麻豆原创 CX AI Toolkit
AI-assisted shopping assistant
麻豆原创 Early Adopter Care

E-commerce businesses looking to enhance their online shopping experience can get game-changing benefits from the shopping assistant in 麻豆原创 CX AI Toolkit. This intelligent assistant integrates with 麻豆原创 Commerce Cloud, allowing customers to interact and find products using natural language, compare options, and receive personalized recommendations, much like a helpful in-store sales associate.

This conversational approach streamlines product discovery, increasing conversion rates, and offers higher average order values through effective up-selling and cross-selling opportunities. Looking at the numbers, this feature provides a five percent*鈥� increase across online conversion rate, average order value, and repeat purchases.

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麻豆原创 Emarsys Customer Engagement
AI-assisted report builder
Beta release

Marketing professionals constantly need to analyze campaign performance and prove their campaigns’ . With the report builder in 麻豆原创 Emarsys Customer Engagement, they can quickly generate custom reports on any metric using simple, natural language prompts. This eliminates the need for complex data manipulation or reliance on IT, freeing up valuable strategic planning and optimization time.

Employees will enjoy an up to 25 percent鈥�* reduction in the time spent on report creation and analysis. Overall, the result is increased marketing efficiency, data-driven decision-making, and the ability to clearly communicate campaign successes and areas for improvement to stakeholders, ultimately driving better business outcomes.

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麻豆原创 Business AI for human resources

麻豆原创 SuccessFactors Incentive Management
Joule
麻豆原创 Early Adopter Care

Employees can get instant answers to incentive management questions with Joule for 麻豆原创 SuccessFactors. For example, sales representatives can now use natural language to quickly access their compensation details, eliminating the need for time-consuming inquiries. Joule provides 24/7 self-service support, delivering accurate and secure responses in seconds. This empowers sales teams to focus on selling, significantly reducing administrative overhead and boosting overall productivity.

The result is a dramatic improvement in efficiency, with an up to 70 percent* reduction in inquiry response time and an up to 85 percent* self-service resolution rate.

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麻豆原创 Business AI for IT and developers

麻豆原创 Datasphere
AI-assisted content generation for catalog
General availability

With the content generation feature in 麻豆原创 Datasphere, data stewards can better handle the growing volume of data assets. It automates creating business descriptions, assigning business terms, and defining KPIs for data assets within the catalog. Stewards no longer must have deep technical expertise in complex 麻豆原创 data structures. AI-assisted content generation will automatically generate context-aware and comprehensive descriptions and apply relevant tags from a hierarchical list.

This reduces the time required to maintain metadata for catalog assets, freeing valuable time for strategic data governance initiatives by up to 87 percent. Improved data discoverability and comprehension empower data modelers and business users to leverage data more effectively, leading to better decision-making and increased productivity across the organization.

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麻豆原创 Datasphere
AI-assisted search
General availability

Data analysts and business users struggling to find the right data assets within 麻豆原创 Datasphere can now benefit from the AI-assisted search feature, which offers a groundbreaking approach to data discovery. It empowers users to search using natural language queries, eliminating the need to navigate complex filter options and manually sift through hundreds of results. Users can ask for what they need, regardless of query complexity, and the search feature will understand their request and deliver precise results across the repository, catalog, and data marketplace.

This means an up to 90 percent* reduction in time spent on complex data artifact searches, enabling users to focus on analysis and insights generation rather than time-consuming data hunts.

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麻豆原创 BTP cockpit
Joule
General availability

After a limited beta program, Joule in 麻豆原创 BTP cockpit is now generally available with its first set of capabilities. It helps platform administrators ask questions related to their 麻豆原创 BTP resources, such as users or the runtime environment, in the cockpit. Users can also ask questions about 麻豆原创 BTP services or the cockpit.

Joule references 麻豆原创 BTP cockpit documentation, summarizes its findings, and links to relevant help content. Platform administrators will experience up to 95 percent faster informational searches and up to 90 percent more rapid execution of navigation and transactional tasks.

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麻豆原创 HANA Cloud
AI-assisted database administration
General availability

麻豆原创 HANA Cloud database administrators can simplify complex tasks and boost operational efficiency using this generative AI-powered feature. AI-assisted database administration can quickly generate summaries of issues and alerts, provide seamless navigation to specific applications, convert natural language into SQL statements, and prompt responses to queries for 麻豆原创 HANA Cloud.

These capabilities give administrators an up to 20 percent* reduction in management effort for 麻豆原创 HANA Cloud instances, accelerate productivity for new database administrators, and reduce the time required for issue resolution.

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Generative AI hub in 麻豆原创 AI Core and 麻豆原创 AI Launchpad
Product enhancements
General availability

The generative AI hub in 麻豆原创 AI Core and 麻豆原创 AI Launchpad enables developers to access market-leading LLMs in a governed environment, run AI models securely and cost-effectively, and maximize value creation from generative AI use cases for 麻豆原创 applications. Developers can save up to 60 percent* on IT expert efforts to onboard and run AI models securely and increase value realization by up to 50 percent* once use cases are available to end users.

This quarter, we released the grounding management feature, designed to simplify the management of grounding data pipelines. It empowers developers to manage their data repositories easily without coding skills. They can easily create, duplicate, and delete repositories. In addition, they can configure and run searches using natural language. Users can view detailed information about their data, manage search settings — for example, chunk size or number of documents retrieved — and integrate search results into their workflows.

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The new model library feature helps users find and understand the available LLMs in generative AI hub without getting lost in technicalities. With simple browsing modes like “catalog” and “leaderboard” for comparing performance, they can easily pick the perfect model for their needs. Detailed model cards provide all the necessary information, from data types to costs and quality metrics, including safety metrics. Leveraging an LLM is just a click away: check it out and see how effortless model exploration can be.

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Furthermore, we鈥檙e excited to introduce further content filtering capabilities via Meta鈥檚 Llama Guard framework. Hosted by 麻豆原创, this advanced content filtering module offers enhanced safety by screening inputs and outputs for various content categories, including violent crimes, hate speech, and sensitive topics like child exploitation and self-harm. By providing comprehensive filtering capabilities, LLama Guard helps ensure a safer and more secure user experience, giving you peace of mind knowing that your interactions are protected.

Finally, the generative AI hub has added some fantastic LLMs to its lineup. We now have cutting-edge reasoning models like OpenAI’s o1 and o3-mini and frontier models such as Anthropic Claude 3.7 and Gemini 2.0 Flash. These models have performed exceptionally well in public benchmarks, making top-notch AI accessible to all our developers. Whether you’re working on agentic tasks or need help with completions, these innovative models have got you covered. Check them out and see the difference they can make in your AI projects: visit .

Finally, an 麻豆原创 Early Adopter Care program dedicated to 麻豆原创’s generative AI hub orchestration workflow is now . Since Q4 2024, the orchestration workflow has ensured that LLMs deliver reliable, business-ready results by providing structured inference orchestration, content filtering, and data masking.

Document Information Extraction, premium edition
Product enhancements
General availability

The instant learning feature released last quarter has been enhanced to support 麻豆原创 default schemas for standard document types. Once the user activates instant learning in , premium edition, the service can use extraction result feedback to select the best model for individual fields in pre-configured 麻豆原创 schemas for invoices, payment advice, and purchase orders.

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Moreover, the service now supports processing text-based files such as DOC, DOCX, EML, MSG, OFT, TXT, and similar, as well as business card, invoice, purchase order, and custom documents in the following file types: CSV, NUMBERS, ODS, TSV, XLAM, XLS, XLSB, XLSM, XLSX, XLT, XLTM, XLTX, and XML. These additional document types improve its usability and help it execute business processes with greater efficiency.

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Users can also subscribe to the Document Information Extraction UI using the Identity Authentication service. This service will handle authentication and authorization tasks in 麻豆原创 BTP with a single sign-on solution across 麻豆原创 software. It allows smooth user authentication, enabling support for both internal and external users.

Document Information Extraction is also available in new data centers, including Google Cloud Platform in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (SA30), Google Cloud Platform in India (IN30), and AWS in Brazil (BR10).

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麻豆原创 Build Process Automation
Generative AI capabilities
General availability

Process developers can streamline and optimize data processing automation from numerous documents efficiently and effectively with the generative AI capabilities of Document Information Extraction premium edition. This feature is now natively embedded into . It automates document reading and processing using AI with schema-based data extraction, eliminating the need for manual intervention and reducing time and effort to process documents by up to 50 percent.*

It also eliminates the need to create and maintain Document Information Extraction templates by enabling schema-based extraction and field-specific prompt engineering, reducing the time and effort required to maintain document templates by up to 80 percent.*

In addition, several generative AI capabilities have been introduced in 麻豆原创 Build Process Automation. Citizen developers can now interactively generate and edit artifacts from natural language descriptions, receive active content recommendations and gap analysis, and generate summarization of artifacts. They can expect to save up to 40 percent* of their implementation time.

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麻豆原创 Build Code
Product enhancements
General availability

Developers can now use Joule in to ask questions related to 麻豆原创 products, services, and software development or engineering and get answers based on content from 麻豆原创 Help Portal.

They can easily retrieve answers to questions about their 麻豆原创 BTP ABAP environment and other 麻豆原创 products. Based on content from 麻豆原创 Help Portal, they can also get guidance on development tools and practices.

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麻豆原创 HANA Cloud
Knowledge graph engine
General availability

The new knowledge graph engine embedded in 麻豆原创 HANA Cloud offers 麻豆原创 HANA application developers the chance to build meaningful business applications powered by generative AI.

The knowledge graph engine enhances LLM responses by grounding them in business-specific knowledge stored in the knowledge graph, enabling precise natural language querying and improved AI-driven outputs. It also supports graph-based retrieval-augmented generation scenarios, where relevant information is dynamically retrieved from the knowledge graph to improve AI outputs.

麻豆原创 Knowledge Graph integrates seamlessly within 麻豆原创 HANA Cloud, reducing the need for additional data handling while maintaining data quality, governance, and security for intelligent applications. The knowledge graph engine improves decision-making, enhances logical formality, and improves performance and scalability in handling RDF with relational data.

and .

Philipp Herzig is is chief technology officer and chief AI officer of 麻豆原创 SE.

*Disclaimer: This article provides estimated benefits. All calculations are estimates based on 麻豆原创 customer case studies, 麻豆原创 benchmarks and other research. Actual benefits may vary and may be affected by additional factors not considered by this article. The information is provided 鈥渁s is鈥� without warranty of any kind, expressor implied, and in no event shall 麻豆原创 be liable for any damages whatsoever in relation with the use of this article. See Legal Notice on for use terms, disclaimers, disclosures, or restrictions related to this material.

This recognition, we believe, is a testament to our unwavering commitment to delivering innovative, comprehensive solutions that empower businesses to optimize procurement processes and enhance bottom-line results.

We feel it serves as validation for the strength of , and our continued focus on delivering experiences premised on data, intelligence, and suite.  We believe that in a dynamic and unpredictable world, a partner with the breadth and depth of 麻豆原创 is uniquely positioned to unleash success on these principles across your business, and we are humbled by this recognition.

厂础笔鈥檚 source-to-pay offerings and investment focus areas

麻豆原创 Ariba has been a leader in the development of cloud-based technologies that help buyers and suppliers collaborate to unleash the power of procurement. As the first product to offer these services in a multitenant cloud framework, 麻豆原创 Ariba has developed deep functionality to handle complexity, while its focus on user experience has enabled simplicity.  This has allowed an offering that can span all industries, all geographies, and all spend types. Our global customer base is proof of this achievement.

Our future focus is on ongoing innovation and improvement across our portfolio. Building use cases for intelligence is at the heart of our product strategy and defines the next generation of user experience for our products. Unparalleled applications in spend management have enabled our globally diverse customers to bring all spend under management: direct, indirect, MRO, and services.  This provides the world鈥檚 largest, unmatched dataset for procurement and is the fuel for the delivery of an unrivaled AI roadmap.

simplifies complex tasks across the source-to-pay process. Each use case has been built to enhance productivity, allowing procurement organizations to achieve more with less. Joule鈥檚 agentic AI framework will be directly applicable and available for spend applications from 麻豆原创, allowing customers to build agents that can operate on data from across their business landscape.

While companies today are sometimes told to mind their business, 麻豆原创 realizes that no business does business alone. Our product road map is predicated on collaborative trading partner experiences through 麻豆原创 Business Network, the largest supplier network in the industry, operational in 190 countries. This is exemplified by , a new product built with an AI-first mindset. Its category agents have value because they are business network-aware and process-aware; the product is integrated across the network and source-to-pay suite, as it helps develop a category strategy and then monitors execution.

offers comprehensive visibility across all spend systems, with zero integration effort for data originating from 麻豆原创 cloud ERP solutions, 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions, 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions, or 麻豆原创 Concur solutions. Broadly speaking, this is fundamental to the overall strategy for 麻豆原创 Business Data Cloud, ensuring all business applications speak the same language and enabling an unrivaled AI roadmap for the 麻豆原创 Business Suite.

At the same time, 麻豆原创 recognizes that the world of software applications is heterogenous. Our own application partner network is continuously expanding. And while 麻豆原创 won鈥檛 develop capabilities to solve every problem, our customers still want an orchestrated suite experience, even when non-麻豆原创 products are involved in the workflow. That is why we have invested in the development of . Businesses need to automate procurement requests with one common workflow, regardless of how many applications are involved. And where 麻豆原创 applications are involved, this suite experience is increasingly in-built, again with zero effort required for integration. Capabilities from 麻豆原创 Fieldglass and 麻豆原创 Taulia are being directly embedded into 麻豆原创 Ariba to provide a unified experience.

Real-world impact

The power of source-to-pay solutions from 麻豆原创 is best illustrated through the experiences of our customers. (AEO), a global specialty retailer, faced challenges in managing its high volume of suppliers and invoices. By implementing 麻豆原创 Business Network and 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions, AEO achieved 85 percent purchase order compliance (five percent above target), 75 percent invoice-count compliance for 48,000 annual invoices, and over $780 million in spend transacting on 麻豆原创 Business Network.

Nick Bonacci, senior manager of Procure-to-Pay Services at AEO, noted, 鈥溌槎乖� Ariba solutions and 麻豆原创 Business Network help AEO simplify our procure-to-pay processes in several key ways. Through the use of 厂础笔鈥檚 intuitive applications, compliant purchasing protocols are now embedded into our broader organization, helping us maximize cost savings, optimize working capital, and strengthen vendor relationships.鈥�

Similarly, , implemented 麻豆原创 Business Network and 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions, achieving 94 percent first-time-right invoices in digital channels, 4,000 hours saved in one year in processing invoices, and over 8.5 million pieces of paper saved in one year with supplier digitalization.

Mukesh Ralhan, group head of Business Excellence and Strategic Initiatives at Adani, commented, 鈥淲e process close to 100,000 purchase orders every year, with more than US$20 billion of spend. That鈥檚 huge for a company. Without 麻豆原创 software such as 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions supporting a single platform, that would not be possible.鈥�

Looking ahead

麻豆原创 remains dedicated to delivering solutions that help businesses navigate the complexities of modern procurement. Our focus on customer success, coupled with our deep industry expertise and innovative technology, positions us to continue leading the way in source-to-pay solutions.

Learn more about source-to-pay solutions from 麻豆原创 .

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Manoj Swaminathan is president and chief product officer for 麻豆原创 Intelligent Spend Management and Application Foundation Services at 麻豆原创.

Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner鈥檚 research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
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As our world demands organizational adaptability at warp speed, business travel also is transforming in a fast-paced and complex environment. At our annual flagship event for 麻豆原创 Concur users and experts, we delved into the power of AI, sharing insights and experiences. Whether customers and partners attended in person in Seattle, Washington, or virtually, they all gained new perspectives on how to navigate the complexities of tomorrow鈥檚 business landscape with confidence.聽

Global participation and experts on-site

Customers and partners joined 麻豆原创 Concur Fusion from all over the world, representing 75 countries. At the Seattle Convention Center, attendees could explore the new Fusion Pavilion in the exhibition hall and talk to 麻豆原创 Concur experts and 43 exhibiting partners. We offered over 180 unique learning opportunities including Ask the Expert and breakout sessions, micro forums, and product trainings to explore how 麻豆原创 Concur solutions can deliver innovation in travel and expense while unlocking efficiencies.

Debut: Integrating Joule with 麻豆原创 Concur to enhance user experience

During the event鈥檚 day one keynote, we announced new generative AI innovations and an expanded partnership with American Express.

麻豆原创 is embedding its generative AI copilot Joule into 麻豆原创 Concur solutions, bringing the portfolio one step closer toward a fully automated travel and expense management process.

In the Concur Expense solution, Joule will help answer employees鈥� questions and work to ensure that expense reports are ready for submission with minimal effort. For example, Joule can assemble a timeline view of expenses, review for mistakes or missing expenses, and make recommendations for how best to complete the expense report. General availability is expected in the second quarter of 2025.

In the Concur Travel solution, Joule will be embedded to help plan locations for off-site meetings, providing meeting location recommendations and high-level flight and hotel cost estimates based on meeting attendees鈥� origination points. Once the meeting site and hotel options are selected, Joule will create an e-mail template to send to team members with a link to book directly in Concur Travel. Joule with Concur Travel is now in the 麻豆原创 Early Adopter Care program with general availability expected later this year.

Automating expense management in Concur Expense

On stage, we also announced an expanded partnership with American Express to help simplify expense management for shared customers. 麻豆原创 Concur and American Express are launching a real-time authorization data capability whereby American Express Corporate Card purchases automatically generate and categorize expenses in Concur Expense at the time of spend. This feature will first be available for meal expenses. It also will include mobile notifications that send the employee expense policy reminders in the moment.

We also are working to expand access to our integration with Mastercard, which automates expense entry at the time of purchase, so more Mastercard customers can benefit from a simpler and more efficient experience.

Additionally, American Express Global Business Travel has integrated its hotel marketplace, featuring over 2 million properties across 180 countries with competitive rates, into the new Concur Travel solution, providing customers with access to comprehensive hotel content, including negotiated programs and preferred partner rates.

Announcing 麻豆原创 Concur Innovation Award winners

On day two of the event, . These companies have leveraged 麻豆原创 Concur solutions to revolutionize their travel and expense processes, enhancing efficiency and visibility. The 2025 winners include L’Or茅al Groupe, which streamlined user provisioning between HR and expense systems, and Weatherford, which automated its global travel and expense program, significantly improving data integrity and compliance.

UST, Coca-Cola, E.ON, and Mayekawa also have demonstrated exceptional innovation. UST consolidated its T&E processes; Coca-Cola unified its travel booking and expense systems; E.ON automated data collection for GDPR compliance; and Mayekawa reduced its finance team’s workload by more than 12,000 hours. These successes highlight the transformative power of 麻豆原创 Concur solutions in driving business efficiency and growth. We are very proud to recognize these exceptional organizations as 2025 麻豆原创 Concur Innovation Award winners.

Move to future T&E: Spotlight on generative AI

麻豆原创 Concur is creating a world where travel and expenses practically manage themselves. 鈥攚ith touchless, intuitive experiences enabled by industry-leading 麻豆原创 Business AI and close partnerships with top payment providers. The Concur Travel and Concur Expense solutions are part of 麻豆原创 Business Suite, 厂础笔鈥檚 comprehensive portfolio of integrated solutions that combines our core cloud ERP and line-of-business applications, fueled by unmatched business data and actionable AI.

Chris Juneau is SVP and head of 麻豆原创 Concur Product Marketing.

How do we incorporate your business objectives, your organization鈥檚 knowledge and skill sets, and transform those valuable insights into a robust strategy that drives real business value? Enter , a powerful solution that can elevate procurement planning from a mundane task to a strategic imperative.

The evolution of procurement planning

Gone are the days when procurement planning meant endless spreadsheets and protracted meetings. In today鈥檚 dynamic business environment, we need a more agile, intelligent, and collaborative approach. 麻豆原创 Ariba Category Management can offer just that鈥攁 sophisticated solution that can harness the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and human expertise to help craft procurement strategies that align with your organization鈥檚 objectives.

麻豆原创 Ariba Category Management: Your strategic planning ally

Think of 麻豆原创 Ariba Category Management as a highly intelligent assistant, versed in procurement best practices, capable of processing vast amounts of data, and available 24/7. Here鈥檚 how it can transform the planning process:

1. Digitalize and streamline strategy development

麻豆原创 Ariba Category Management can provide a centralized platform for collaborative strategy development. It鈥檚 akin to a virtual command center where your entire team can ideate, plan, and execute strategies seamlessly.

The solution can guide users through the process, offering frameworks and recommendations based on industry best practices. It鈥檚 like having a procurement expert at your side, helping you navigate complexities and uncover hidden opportunities.

2. AI-powered analysis for enhanced decision-making

The solution can leverage AI to generate sophisticated analyses like Kraljic matrices and Porter鈥檚 Five Forces with remarkable speed and accuracy. However, it鈥檚 crucial to understand that this technology doesn鈥檛 aim to replace human expertise鈥攔ather, it enhances it.

Procurement professionals can refine these AI-generated analyses with their own insights and experience, creating a powerful synergy between machine intelligence and human wisdom.

3. Seamless collaboration for category managers

麻豆原创 Ariba Category Management can transform the often-challenging task of aligning multiple category managers into a streamlined, collaborative process. The solution can enable real-time cooperation, allowing team members to share insights, discuss strategies, and align on objectives efficiently.

Real-world impact: From insights to action

Let鈥檚 illustrate how this works in practice. After analyzing your spend data in 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower, you鈥檝e identified that IT hardware costs are escalating. You initiate a new strategy project in 麻豆原创 Ariba Category Management.

The system automatically imports relevant data and generates a Kraljic matrix for your IT hardware category. You observe that most of your spend falls in the 鈥淪trategic鈥� quadrant鈥攈igh value, high risk. The AI suggests considering a multi-sourcing strategy to mitigate risk.

You share this insight with your global team through the platform. Your APAC colleague identifies a promising new supplier, while your European counterpart shares successful experiments with leasing options to reduce upfront costs.

Collaboratively, you develop a comprehensive strategy that includes:

• Diversifying the supplier base to reduce risk
• Exploring leasing options for non-critical hardware
• Negotiating volume discounts with top suppliers
• Implementing a standardization program to reduce variability

This entire process, which might have taken weeks traditionally, is now completed in hours. Moreover, the system maintains a clear audit trail, facilitating easy tracking of strategy execution.

The human touch in a digital world

While 麻豆原创 Ariba Category Management can bring powerful digital capabilities to procurement planning, it鈥檚 essential to remember that it鈥檚 designed to augment, not replace, human expertise. The solution helps free procurement professionals from routine tasks, allowing them to focus on high-value activities like relationship building, strategic negotiations, and driving innovation.

Think of it as your procurement superpower. It can give you the insights to make better decisions, faster.

Looking ahead: The future of procurement planning

As we wrap up, we want you to imagine the possibilities. With solutions like 麻豆原创 Ariba Category Management, we鈥檙e not just improving our planning process鈥攚e鈥檙e reinventing it. We鈥檙e moving from reactive to proactive, from guesswork to data-driven decisions, from siloed thinking to collaborative strategy.

This evolution positions procurement not just as a support function, but as a true strategic partner to the business. It enables procurement teams to respond swiftly to market changes, align more closely with organizational goals, and drive sustainable value creation.

In our next article, we鈥檒l explore how to execute these well-crafted plans using . After all, in procurement, as in any strategic endeavor, effective execution is the key to turning plans into tangible results. Stay tuned as we complete our journey towards the triple crown of strategic procurement.

Sudy Bharadwaj is global vice president of Strategic Engagements for 麻豆原创 Finance and Spend.
Cindy McKendry is director of Corporate Communications for Intelligent Spend and Supply Chain at 麻豆原创.

Top image courtesy of 麻豆原创 employee Karsten Hohage.

This challenge reflects broader trends in the 麻豆原创-sponsored Economist Impact report titled 鈥�,鈥� which dives into how companies like Capgemini are leveraging external workers to meet skill deficits and productivity demands. The report highlights how organizations are turning to innovative technologies and strategies to seamlessly integrate external talent, ensuring they stay competitive in a rapidly changing workforce landscape.

In Capgemini鈥檚 case, it used to help manage its contingent workforce program across more than 30 countries. The cloud-based solutions can integrate with other 麻豆原创 solutions and leverage artificial intelligence (AI) to help optimize external workforce management, helping companies stay resilient in an evolving talent landscape. With the addition of 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions, Capgemini has managed contractors and temporary workers across its entire supply chain. The company has successfully leveraged data from over 50 countries, seeing a 26% increase in unitary cost savings with a 50% increase in productivity from the internal procurement services team.

鈥淭he increased visibility into all external workforce-related outcome and process steps has enabled sharpened insights, along with smaller fulfillment time frames, higher fill rates, and improved compliance,鈥� says Andreas Hettwer, group procurement category director at Capgemini. 鈥淲e have truly optimized functions around the external workforce.鈥�

Smart and efficient talent acquisition

In today鈥檚 dynamic business environment, the external workforce鈥攃omprising freelancers, contractors, consultants, and gig workers鈥攈as become a critical component of many organizations. However, efficiently hiring and managing this diverse talent pool while staying adaptable to future workforce needs can be daunting.

This is because talent acquisition for an external workforce requires finding the right people at the right time, often under tight deadlines. The Economist Impact report also shared that internal skills and talent gaps have increased the demand for proper recruitment of the external workforce.

Capgemini serves as a prime example of how this approach works in practice. When it experiences a surge in demand, its preferred suppliers are notified and 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions pull recommendations from distribution lists of candidates who have the necessary skill sets. This helps accelerate the hiring process and can ensure Capgemini is choosing from the best possible pool of potential candidates. The data is developed in 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions and extracted into Capgemini鈥檚 various dashboards, instantly providing a comprehensive snapshot of each supplier鈥檚 performance.

Robust data maximizes ROI

Managing an external workforce is a delicate balancing act that involves countless variables. Beyond sourcing talent, it requires tracking budgets, ensuring compliance, and measuring performance. AI-powered automation can help streamline these processes, making it easy to capture, compare, and collaborate on critical information about non-payroll labor. This empowers companies to make informed decisions that maximize their return on investment (ROI).

When inflation surged in 2023, Capgemini fielded a large volume of rate increase requests. Through constructive and fact-based discussions with its supply base, the company managed a cost-rate evolution and shared inflation impact KPIs with its board. This increased executive trust in the global contingent workforce鈥檚 ability to deliver productivity. At the end of the implementation, Capgemini fulfilled 80% of its eligible contingent worker demand.

鈥淲e have full visibility,鈥� Hettwer says. 鈥淲e know the number of contractors, we know our demand per geography, per business line, and we know the cost rates we pay for certain roles, and we measure how the cost rates evolve over time.鈥�

Capgemini is also exploring new ways to use the large amount of data coming from the global deployment of 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions, including AI. Economist Impact data reinforces Capgemini鈥檚 perspective, as executives cited integrating traditional systems with AI and machine learning as a top priority over the next three to five years.

鈥淎I will certainly be an important factor in our business,鈥� Hettwer says. 鈥淲e鈥檙e being patient and methodical in order to make sure that we introduce it safely and effectively.鈥�

Driving workforce excellence through innovation and insights

Capgemini’s journey with the 麻豆原创 Fieldglass portfolio demonstrates the transformative power of leveraging advanced technology to manage and optimize an external workforce. By enhancing visibility, streamlining processes, and utilizing AI-powered insights, Capgemini has achieved significant improvements in talent acquisition, supplier performance, and cost efficiency. This resulted in the firm capturing 98% of its global contingent workforce spend with a 60% quicker fulfillment time compared to the start of the program.

As the workforce landscape continues to evolve, 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions can equip organizations with tools that enable them to manage the complete lifecycle of their external employees, from requisition and engagement to offboarding and evaluation. These capabilities are vital to remaining resilient, agile, and data-driven while transforming external labor into a versatile, value-driving resource.

Capgemini鈥檚 strategic focus on innovation and compliance sets a benchmark for businesses aiming to unlock the full potential of their contingent workforce in today鈥檚 competitive global environment.

Amber Roth is vice president of Global Presales & Strategy for 麻豆原创 Fieldglass.

The triple crown strategy is a three-step approach that combines insights, planning, and action to revolutionize procurement processes. At the heart of this strategy lies the solution, a powerful tool that helps bring together data from various sources to provide a comprehensive view of your spending.

Step 1: Insights鈥擴nderstanding Your True Business Objectives

Before diving into any initiative, it鈥檚 crucial to understand your true business objectives. These might include cost reduction, improved sustainability, increased profitability, improved customer service, or a combination of factors. The key is to identify and measure metrics that not only reflect these objectives but also help improve them.

This is where analysis and insights come into play. 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower is the engine that can drive these insights, offering a bird鈥檚-eye view of your entire procurement landscape.

Let鈥檚 break down some of the key areas where 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower can provide valuable insights:

AI-Enabled Enrichment

This is a leading indicator of value. Without understanding duplicate supplier names and components, achieving objectives will be much more challenging. The supplier enrichment analysis is a quick way to understand that value will be achieved by showing the true number of suppliers where spend occurs.

For example, your organization may not perceive risk if materials are coming from five companies, but the situation changes if it鈥檚 really one company with many names or misspellings. From a cost-savings perspective, we may not realize this is actually one supplier, and our spend is five times more to a single supplier instead of one times to five different suppliers. This insight can significantly impact risk assessment and cost management strategies.

Spend Trends

By aggregating data from multiple systems and sources, the solution can reveal spending patterns over time. Are certain categories of spend increasing? Are there seasonal fluctuations you need to account for? Understanding these trends can help you make more informed decisions about budget allocation and negotiation strategies.

Supply Risk

In today鈥檚 volatile market, understanding and mitigating supply risk is more critical than ever. 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower can help identify potential risks in your supply chain, such as overreliance on a single supplier or geopolitical risks in certain regions. As tariffs are a hot discussion in 2025, understanding the potential of tax fluctuations can be a strategic weapon for your business.

Supplier Fragmentation

Are you spreading your spend too thin across too many suppliers? The solution can highlight areas where consolidating suppliers might lead to better pricing or terms.

Consolidation Opportunities

On the flip side, are there areas where you鈥檙e too reliant on a single supplier? 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower can help identify opportunities to diversify your supplier base for increased resilience.

Diversity and Sustainability Targets

Many organizations have goals related to supplier diversity or sustainability. The solution can track progress towards these goals and identify areas for improvement.

Payment Terms Consolidation

Inconsistent payment terms across suppliers can lead to cash flow issues and missed opportunities for early payment discounts. 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower can help identify opportunities to standardize and optimize payment terms.

But here鈥檚 the thing: having all this data at your fingertips is just the beginning. The real magic happens when you start to connect the dots and uncover insights that weren鈥檛 visible before.

For instance, you might discover that while you鈥檙e meeting your overall spend targets, you鈥檙e falling short on your sustainability goals. Or you might find that your cheapest supplier for a critical component is also the one with the highest risk profile. These are the kinds of insights that can drive real change in your procurement strategy.

The Power of Real-Time Insights

One of the most powerful features of 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower is its ability to provide real-time insights. In today鈥檚 fast-paced business environment, waiting for monthly or quarterly reports just doesn鈥檛 cut it anymore. You need to be able to react quickly to changes in the market, shifts in supplier performance, or emerging risks.

Imagine being able to spot a sudden price increase from a key supplier the moment it happens, rather than discovering it weeks later when reviewing invoices. Or picture being able to track the impact of a natural disaster on your supply chain in real time, allowing you to quickly implement contingency plans.

This real-time capability isn鈥檛 just about reacting to problems; it鈥檚 also about seizing opportunities. Maybe you spot a dip in commodity prices that you can take advantage of, or you notice a trend in your spending that suggests an opportunity for bulk purchasing discounts.

The Human Element

While we鈥檙e talking about AI and advanced analytics, it鈥檚 important to remember that these tools are meant to augment human intelligence, not replace it. The insights provided by 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower can be invaluable, but they still need to be interpreted and acted upon by skilled procurement professionals.

This is where the art of procurement meets the science of data analysis. The solution might tell you that you have an opportunity to consolidate suppliers in a certain category, but it鈥檚 up to you to weigh that against other factors like supplier relationships, quality considerations, and long-term strategic goals.

The Road Ahead

As we wrap up this introduction to the triple crown of strategic procurement and 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower, it鈥檚 clear that we鈥檙e just scratching the surface of what鈥檚 possible. The next article will dive deeper into the planning phase, exploring how can help you turn these insights into actionable strategies.

Remember, the journey to procurement excellence is ongoing. It鈥檚 not about reaching a destination, but about continuously improving and adapting to an ever-changing business landscape. With solutions like 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower, you鈥檙e equipped to not just keep up with these changes, but to stay ahead of the curve and drive real value for your organization.

So, are you ready to start your journey towards the triple crown of strategic procurement? The race is on, and with the right tools and strategies, you鈥檙e primed for success.

To learn more, check out this infographic outlining .

Sudy Bharadwaj is global vice president of Strategic Engagements for 麻豆原创 Finance and Spend.
Cindy McKendry is director of Corporate Communications for Intelligent Spend and Supply Chain at 麻豆原创.

As we dive into 2025, 麻豆原创 is already making waves in the spend management arena. Building on last year’s momentum, we are constantly innovating our market-leading solutions so you can reduce costs, mitigate risks, improve collaboration, and make sure every spend decision is aligned with your business strategy to help drive your business forward.

Q4 Breakthroughs: Highlighting Our Latest Innovations

It was an honor to collaborate with so many of you last year. When your business is at its best, so is ours, and this mutual partnership is what fuels our commitment to innovation. In Q4, our solutions鈥斅槎乖� Ariba, 麻豆原创 Business Network, 麻豆原创 Concur, and 麻豆原创 Fieldglass鈥攎ade significant strides, particularly in 麻豆原创 Business AI. Here are just a few highlights:

• : Now generally available, this solution can provide a single source of truth for all payment and supplier data, enhanced with AI-enabled spend classifications and supplier insights. It helps streamline spend processes, cut procurement costs, manage supplier risks, and track sustainability goals.
• Generative AI in 麻豆原创 Business Network Discovery: We鈥檝e introduced generative AI capabilities to help accelerate supplier search and improve network catalog product descriptions and summaries with .
• AI flight recommendations in Concur Travel: This new feature can suggest policy-compliant flight options based on user preferences, loyalty programs, available inventory, and other factors.
• Joule, 厂础笔鈥檚 AI copilot, got cozy in 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions this past quarter with the introduction of , including:
  • Interactive guidance for creating and scheduling new reports through natural conversation, helping to navigate report creation, searches, and data insights
  • Quick answers to issues or questions with concise and easy-to-digest summaries of relevant information and helpful links to learn more
  • AI-assisted job posting and statement of work template selection, recommending the most relevant one and pre-filling data fields to save you time

These innovations align perfectly with the findings. The study highlights data and analytics reporting as the top priority for procurement transformation, a need we鈥檙e addressing head-on with our AI-enhanced solutions.

New Customer Stories and Honors

We built our solutions to elevate spend management from the most mundane part of your day to the most strategic. But don鈥檛 just take my word for it. Discover how companies like , , , and leverage 麻豆原创 solutions for better control and business resilience.

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And if customer stories aren鈥檛 enough, how about customer reviews?

Every quarter, G2 publishes Grid^庐 and Index Reports that rate products based on feedback collected from the user community, along with data compiled from various online platforms and social media networks. In December, G2 announced its Winter 2025 Reports, with 麻豆原创 spend management solutions topping the leaderboards:

• : Leader in Procure to Pay, Strategic Sourcing, and Supplier Relationship Management
• : Supply Chain Business Networks
• : Leader in Expense, Travel & Expense, and Invoicing
• : Leader in Vendor Management

In the , 麻豆原创 moved up to sixth place on G2鈥檚 top 10 companies list. In the Winter 2025 G2 Reports alone, 麻豆原创 Ariba, 麻豆原创 Business Network, 麻豆原创 Concur, and 麻豆原创 Fieldglass won 107 awards across multiple categories. Only 4% of software and services on G2 receive a Leader badge, making this recognition truly special!

Media and Analyst Accolades

Our innovations continue to garner industry recognition. Here are a few key highlights:

• won the  in the Procurement/ERP Software category from Supply & Demand Chain Executive.
• 麻豆原创 Ariba was inducted into Spend Matters鈥� for being listed on its “50 Providers to Know” list for 10 years or more.
• Over the holidays, 麻豆原创 was named a Leader in the .* The report is based on IDC MarketScape鈥檚 comprehensive assessment of 麻豆原创 and feedback from our customers. Explore the findings and why 麻豆原创 was recognized in this article from my colleague Baber Farooq.
• 麻豆原创 Concur received the , which bases its Top Rated awards solely on customer feedback. Over 1,500 verified praised 麻豆原创 Concur for its positive user experience, clear budget visibility, mobile receipt capture, time-saving features during usage and reimbursement processes, seamless integration with productivity tools, and the convenience of its mobile app.

See you at 麻豆原创 Concur Fusion

We鈥檙e thrilled to announce that the 麻豆原创 Concur Fusion event is back in 2025 and will be held in beautiful Seattle, Washington. As the premier travel and expense event, 麻豆原创 Concur Fusion offers over 200 learning opportunities, access to experts and consultants, and hands-on training to help you unlock the full potential of your 麻豆原创 Concur solutions. It鈥檚 an experience you can鈥檛 miss.

Looking Ahead

As we move further into 2025, we remain committed to delivering innovation that addresses your most pressing business needs. We鈥檙e excited about the possibilities that lie ahead and look forward to partnering with you to drive your business forward. Whether it鈥檚 through our AI-enhanced solutions, our comprehensive spend management suite, or events like 麻豆原创 Concur Fusion, we鈥檙e here to support your success every step of the way.

Thank you for your continued trust and partnership. Here鈥檚 to a transformative and successful 2025!

*IDC MarketScape: Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-Enabled Direct Spend 2024 Vendor Assessment, #US52734424e, December 2024

Jeff Collier is chief revenue officer for 麻豆原创 Intelligent Spend and Business Network.

Advanced software solutions have become indispensable tools that facilitate the procurement of essential raw materials and components and help teams manage supplier relationships while managing costs.

As the recognized market-share leader in the overall procurement applications space*, 麻豆原创 consistently sets benchmarks within the industry. I鈥檓 excited to share that 麻豆原创 was recently named a Leader in the .** The report is based on IDC MarketScape鈥檚 comprehensive assessment of 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions and feedback from our customers.

What Makes 麻豆原创 a Leader?

The IDC MarketScape report noted, 鈥溌槎乖� Ariba solutions are strongly positioned to help companies administer spend that spans complex events, direct and indirect, services, and capex.鈥�

The report also identifies several key strengths that make 麻豆原创 a Leader:

• 麻豆原创 has gained an expansive and impressive roster of enterprise client wins across a variety of industries as a result of being a mature, established, and trusted provider of direct sourcing functionality, particularly in the automotive and industrial manufacturing sectors.
• An industry-first category management offering illustrates 麻豆原创’s innovation that is focused on value-added capabilities for its users.
• 麻豆原创 provides a platform that places an emphasis on collaboration via structured, workflow-driven tools that facilitate collaboration across procurement, quality management, logistics, and R&D and engineering.
• Strong industry-leading sourcing optimization and PO collaboration capabilities provide business value and significantly improve operating efficiency.

The report notes 麻豆原创 should be considered when, 鈥淐lients in need of a trusted, enterprise-ready direct sourcing solution that comes with expansive industry-specific expertise and the ability to administer the most complex direct sourcing challenges and offer broad optimization capabilities are well-served by 麻豆原创.鈥�

Vision for the Future of Procurement

The procurement landscape is continuously evolving, with trends like AI integration, automation, and sustainability reshaping how organizations approach direct spend management. With 厂础笔鈥檚 ongoing investments in innovation and a commitment to addressing customers鈥� most pressing needs, we are leading this transformation. Procurement is a strategic enabler of cost management, risk reduction, and compliance and 麻豆原创 solutions are designed to empower organizations to make strategic, data-driven decisions that optimize their spend and operations.

At  in October, we announced innovations and new capabilities that will  revolutionize the spend management landscape. These include:

• : Our newest solution, which is planned to be available in early 2025, is designed to offer an intuitive and simple user experience. It is planned to automate procurement request creation, routing, and support by orchestrating processes across multiple systems.
• : We鈥檝e begun integrating our generative AI copilot Joule across 麻豆原创 Ariba, 麻豆原创 Business Network, and 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions. This will enable organizations to complete complex workflows and manage important tasks quickly and accurately.
• : This innovation can help suppliers receive recommendations to improve discoverability and access to advanced search results, supplier profile verification, and network catalog APIs. The Promote subscription will be available in early 2025 to help suppliers identify sales opportunities based on regional search data, and generative AI tools deliver advanced insights that make it easy to track business growth on the network.

The Exciting New Era Ahead

The future of procurement and direct spend will be defined by groundbreaking technologies to help organizations adapt to an increasingly complex and dynamic global environment.

We believe recognition as a Leader in the 2024 IDC MarketScape Direct Spend Assessment underscores 厂础笔鈥檚 commitment to driving innovation and enabling businesses to thrive in today鈥檚 competitive environment. By delivering AI-powered innovation, fostering collaboration, and ensuring operational excellence, 麻豆原创 empowers organizations to achieve procurement success on a global scale.

Learn more about .

Baber Farooq is senior vice president of Market Strategy for Procurement Solutions at 麻豆原创.

*IDC Worldwide Procurement Applications Market Shares, 2023: A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats, doc #US52580824, September 2024
**IDC MarketScape: Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-Enabled Direct Spend 2024 Vendor Assessment, #US52734424e, December 2024

Looking ahead to 2025, several key trends are poised to reshape the landscape, promising both challenges and opportunities for forward-thinking organizations. To gain insight into what lies ahead, we鈥檝e reached out to Intelligent Spend and Business Network executives at 麻豆原创 for their predictions.

The AI-Powered Procurement Revolution

Etosha Thurman, chief marketing officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at 麻豆原创, envisions a future where artificial intelligence (AI) takes center stage in procurement:

鈥淚n 2025, AI and cloud-based solutions will position procurement at the heart of data-driven decision-making, enabling real-time insights and freeing teams to focus on high-impact initiatives. The future belongs to procurement professionals who blend strategic thinking with relationship management and a combination of functional and technological expertise. These skills will be crucial in fostering cross-functional collaboration and advancing corporate goals, from supply assurance to compliance to sustainability. In the digital age, spend management expertise extends to not just supporting, but also steering the business.鈥�

This prediction underscores the critical role that AI will play in transforming procurement from a support function to a strategic driver of business value.

Streamlining Processes Through Orchestration

Manoj Swaminathan, president and chief product officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at 麻豆原创, highlights the growing importance of process orchestration:

鈥淭he technology landscape is rapidly evolving, and organizations are grappling with a heterogeneous mix of solutions. Many companies now employ multiple systems to meet their end-to-end business needs, leading to siloed processes and confused employees. Procurement, in particular, often suffers from fragmented systems handling everything from purchase requests to supplier onboarding, creating inefficiencies and frustration.

To address this challenge, we鈥檙e seeing a shift toward process orchestration 鈥� a centralized approach that connects disparate systems, streamlining procurement inquiries and status updates. Our newest solution, 麻豆原创 Ariba Intake Management, can tackle this head-on by automating request creation and providing a single point of entry so that organizations can empower employees to adhere to policies and regulations without the burden of manual corrections. This approach can not only save valuable time and resources but also drive user adoption and increase compliance and efficiency, positioning companies to thrive in an increasingly competitive landscape.鈥�

The Rise of a New Generation of Procurement Leaders

Jeff Collier, chief revenue officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at 麻豆原创, predicts a significant shift in procurement leadership:

鈥淚n 2025, a shift will occur in the procurement landscape as a wave of fresh faces step into the chief procurement officer role. AI-driven procurement strategies, ever-evolving requirements, and changing demographics have created the perfect storm for new leaders to emerge. As the industry stands on the precipice of transformation, organizations must prioritize nurturing existing talent, upskilling their workforce, and attracting bright young professionals to the procurement function. The stage is set for junior procurement leaders, who have proven their mettle during the challenging COVID-19 years, to rise to the occasion, particularly those who can showcase tangible achievements in sustainability, AI integration, or risk management. Brace yourselves for a year marked by new names, fresh perspectives, and a reshaped procurement industry in 2025.鈥�

The Power of AI Across Business Networks

Val Blatt, chief revenue officer for 麻豆原创 Business Network, offers insights into how AI will transform business networks:

鈥淚n the near term, AI is already making waves by optimizing process efficiency and information sharing within and across companies in a supply chain. As we move into 2025 and beyond, we鈥檒l see AI do more to synthesize intelligence and efficiency across areas like risk, demand, and inventory planning, as well as manufacturing and delivery. This evolution becomes even more relevant because no business does business alone, and AI can synthesize and be predictive across company boundaries. We鈥檒l see AI decision support evolve into decision-making 鈥� and, ultimately, automated process execution. These advancements will occur as the need for AI to sense and predict situations with proposed planning recommendations grows, spanning across related functional areas and processes that involve trading partners in a supply chain.

In its Network Adoption Research Study* sponsored by 麻豆原创, IDC found that 鈥淒igital Champions鈥� who use modern, cloud-based tools like AI, analytics, and business networks have grown over 140% in revenue and profit performance indices from 2016 to 2021. As AI capabilities expand to sense, predict, and execute across organizational boundaries, businesses will gain next-level efficiency, visibility, and compliance. This will enable them to maintain a resilient supply chain that delivers on customer promises, especially in times of disruption, by leveraging the collective intelligence of their entire business network.鈥�

The Evolution of Travel and Expense Management

Christopher Juneau, SVP and head of 麻豆原创 Concur Product Marketing, Intelligent Spend and Business Network Marketing & Solutions, (T&E):

鈥淎s leaders strive to position their company for growth in 2025, they will still attempt to maintain employee spending at 2024 levels. Inflation drove higher spending beginning in 2023, resulting in fewer trips in 2024. As inflation slows, many leaders are likely to expect that their T&E budget 鈥� even if flat year over year 鈥� will go further in 2025.

Meanwhile, finance teams and travel managers will adjust their T&E policies to account for AI as more tasks and processes become automated. Will managers need to approve every expense report? Will they need to review them at all? How can policies and rules be modified so that travelers spend as little time in T&E tools as possible? These are some of the questions they will start to ask in 2025.

Investments in technology innovation and security infrastructure will be top priorities. The risks associated with security and privacy incidents will only continue to grow, which means companies are looking for technologies that deliver greater value to customers with lower risk. It is really a balancing act to move fast without disregarding the very important aspects of security and privacy when architecting solutions 鈥� internally and for customers.鈥�

Looking Ahead

As we look to 2025, it鈥檚 clear that the world of spend management and supply chain is on the brink of transformative change. The convergence of AI, sustainability imperatives, and interconnected business ecosystems will reshape how organizations operate and compete.

At 麻豆原创, we鈥檙e not just observing these trends 鈥� we鈥檙e actively shaping them, working to ensure our customers are well-equipped to navigate the complexities of tomorrow鈥檚 business landscape.

For a deeper dive into the future of procurement, be sure to check out . We will also be hosting a global webinar on these findings on February 4, 2025 titled 鈥�.鈥� This is an excellent opportunity to gain comprehensive insights and stay ahead of the curve. We encourage you to read the report and sign up for the webinar to learn more about the exciting developments shaping the industry.

The future may be uncertain, but one thing is clear: those who embrace these emerging trends and technologies will be best positioned to thrive in the dynamic world of 2025 and beyond. As we continue to design and deliver spend management and business network solutions that drive efficiency, leverage AI responsibly, and create greater visibility for businesses of all sizes, we look forward to partnering with our customers on this exciting journey of transformation and growth.

Cindy McKendry is a director for Intelligent Spend and Business Network Corporate Communications at 麻豆原创.

*Source: 鈥淚DC Network Adoption Research Study eBook: Driving Best-in-Class Supply Chain Collaboration with a Business Network,鈥� #US5084723, August 2023, page 18

With more change on the horizon, it is vital to keep these bets in mind to prepare for potential challenges head-on. Over the past year, we鈥檝e witnessed how spend management professionals who stay confident and bet big achieve remarkable results. In fact, according to the , C-suite confidence in the procurement function has increased by 14% in just one year, with 84% of executives now agreeing that procurement is essential for organizational strategy.

As we gear up for 2025 and beyond, let鈥檚 explore these five bets that will solidify spend management’s role as an indispensable part of an organization.

Bet #1: Strategic Collaboration

The first bet that spend management professionals should place is on strategic collaboration. As procurement becomes increasingly integrated with other critical business functions, it is up to procurement professionals to lead these collaborative efforts. Your colleagues are looking to you to take the initiative and ensure that procurement is involved in strategic initiatives that keep your organization agile in the face of uncertainty.

Whether you are partnering with HR to or implementing a in partnership with supply chain, 麻豆原创 is here to support you. Our solutions are designed with collaboration at the forefront, working to minimize miscommunication and simplify business processes so you can focus on what truly matters.

Bet #2: Effortless Compliance

The mere mention of compliance can evoke stress and worry in anyone who has ever worked in spend management. Ensuring every detail is accounted for can be nerve-racking, especially when considering local regulations and sustainability goals. At 麻豆原创, we believe that compliance should not just be simple; it should be truly effortless.

For example, can enable employees to select in-policy vendors from the start. with 麻豆原创 Business Network helps you understand and comply with evolving tax regulations. From complex tax requirements to travel policies, 麻豆原创 can help you eliminate these points of concern before they cause issues.

Bet #3: Seamless Integration

While intraorganizational strategic collaboration is key for an efficient operating model, your software must also be seamlessly integrated to make the most of our connected solutions. Fragmented processes and tools won鈥檛 get you where you need to go, which is why 麻豆原创 is committed to a suite-first strategy that aims to reduce the number of systems used to manage spend.

Whether you are an all-麻豆原创 customer or use third-party technology, we can offer a seamless experience regardless of where you are in your 麻豆原创 journey. From , your single source of truth for all spend data, to that can streamline all your procurement processes, our out-of-the-box solutions help deliver powerful business outcomes across the entire spend management process.

Bet #4: Increased Productivity

The next bet to place is on increased productivity. In recent years, we have seen firsthand how productivity gaps can be detrimental to an organization. Add in unexpected geopolitical and economic events, and you have a recipe for disaster. As the procurement landscape evolves, it is imperative to upskill your workforce to meet evolving demands.

厂础笔鈥檚 newest innovations, like , can help automate mundane tasks, freeing up bandwidth for making strategic decisions that really count. And increased productivity is not just reserved for key decision-makers 鈥� it benefits every employee at every level.

Bet #5: Informed Decision-Making

Finally, spend management professionals should bet big on informed decision-making. More than ever, it is essential to make choices quickly and confidently, knowing that your decisions are supported by data. That鈥檚 where 麻豆原创 comes in 鈥� solutions like and can deliver the best recommendations for you, helping to take the guesswork out of decisions amid timeline pressure.

With data-informed reports and suggestions, you can be confident that your choices are backed by best-in-class insights. 麻豆原创 helps reduce complexity and can deliver only the insights needed to make the best choices for your business.

New Ways to Streamline Critical Business Processes

To learn more about the innovations shared at 麻豆原创 Spend Connect Live in 2024, I encourage you to read this article by my colleague Manoj Swaminathan, president and chief product officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at 麻豆原创.

I say it every year, but there is something truly special about spending time with our incredible customers, hearing transformation stories and tales of success across so many organizations. The 麻豆原创 community鈥檚 resilience, drive, and commitment to excellence inspire me greatly.

When it comes to the right tools, best integrations, and data-driven insights, 麻豆原创 is your go-to partner. Our solutions, informed by your feedback, are here to help you win big. As you close out this year and head into a new one, remember that 麻豆原创 is here for you. When you rely on 麻豆原创, you secure the future success of not just your business function, but your entire organization.

Etosha Thurman is chief marketing officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at 麻豆原创. 

If you missed out on the action, we unveiled the following cutting-edge innovations in our market-leading solutions:

• is our newest solution that helps automate procurement request creation and orchestrate routing and support across diverse procurement landscapes and complex workflows. It can connect different systems into one central location for procurement inquiries and status updates, so employees can adhere to your organization鈥檚 policies and comply with necessary regulations.
• 厂础笔鈥檚 generative AI copilot  will be seamlessly integrated across 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions, 麻豆原创 Business Network, and 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions. Joule can enable users to manage their most important tasks quickly and accurately across all areas of 厂础笔鈥檚 spend management portfolio.  
• The can empower suppliers to find new business, improve match potential, and build relationships with buyers using the network catalog. Available early next year, it includes聽generative AI tools to help suppliers load their full suite of offerings into the network catalog faster and with enhanced product descriptions and summaries.聽
• New can deliver next-level insights into your external workforce for reporting, analytics, and market insights all within 麻豆原创 Fieldglass.

Read this article from my colleague Manoj Swaminathan to learn more about our latest spend management and business network enhancements.

Leading brands such as Goldman Sachs, Kraft-Heinz, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Uber, and Warner Music Group joined us at the event to share how they revolutionized their spend management processes with our solutions. Check out to hear these stories and view breakout sessions, strategy talks, and solution deep dives. This free, virtual event is your opportunity to learn from 麻豆原创 experts, customers, and partners.

Thank You, IDC

As a leader in spend management software, 麻豆原创 is dedicated to helping our customers increase control and business resilience by comprehensively managing all sources of spend. Hard work pays off, as 麻豆原创 has retained the No.1 position for market share with 49.6% of 2023 market share for Travel and Expense Management Software, according to the . This is growth from our 2022 market share of 49.4%. 

Also exciting, 麻豆原创 has retained the No.1 position for market share for Procurement Applications according to the . IDC estimates that 麻豆原创 holds a 27.3% market share for 2023, maintaining the top spot ahead of the next six vendors combined.

Additionally, we鈥檙e honored to win two IDC SaaS CSAT awards for Accounts Payable and Contract Lifecycle Management. These awards recognize the leading software-as-a-service (SaaS) vendors in each application market, across 23 markets, that receive the highest customer satisfaction scores based on IDC’s SaaSPath Survey.

Our Customer Awards Reach New Heights

Every quarter, G2 highlights the top-rated solutions in the industry, chosen by the source that matters most: our customers. Q3 was our most successful quarter yet regarding G2 honors, with 麻豆原创 Ariba, 麻豆原创 Business Network, 麻豆原创 Concur, and 麻豆原创 Fieldglass bringing in a whopping 93 awards across multiple categories at the Fall 2024 G2 awards!

麻豆原创 was named a Leader in the following categories:

• is a G2 Fall 2024 Leader in Procure to Pay, Strategic Sourcing, and Supplier Relationship Management.
• is a G2 Fall 2024 Leader in Supply Chain Business Networks.
• is a G2 Fall 2024 Leader in Expense, Travel & Expense, and Invoicing.
• is a G2 Fall 2024 Leader in Vendor Management.

What鈥檚 more, 麻豆原创 Ariba, 麻豆原创 Concur, and 麻豆原创 Fieldglass have also won Buyer鈥檚 Choice awards from TrustRadius. Winners of a Buyer鈥檚 Choice award are determined by 75% of reviewers selecting a solution for best capabilities, best value for price, and best customer relationship.

We couldn鈥檛 be more grateful to our customers for partnering with us on their spend management transformation journeys, and we鈥檙e honored that the feeling is mutual!

Winning awards from our customers is awesome, but winning with customers is extra special. Last month, customer and 麻豆原创 Spend Connect Live in 2024 speaker Daniel Chapman of Warner Music won a in the Innovation in Sourcing category: 鈥淐reating Harmony in Music Procurement: Warner Music Group and 麻豆原创.鈥� This award recognizes organizations and individuals that show innovation, leadership, and transformation in categories critical to the sourcing industry, and we couldn鈥檛 be happier about this win.

Last but definitely not least, I want to congratulate our customer Capgemini for winning a prestigious from  in the Future of Work: Human Capital Management category. The award recognizes Capgemini鈥檚 innovative use of 麻豆原创 Fieldglass Contingent Workforce Management to optimize its global external workforce, resulting in improved efficiency, cost savings, and quality standards.

New Developments on the Horizon

With 2025 just around the corner, I want to thank our customers for betting big on themselves by investing in our cutting-edge spend management and business network solutions. In a time marked by supply chain disruptions and ongoing economic uncertainty, it’s all too easy for businesses to stick with the status quo. However, 麻豆原创 customers are different. They tackle obstacles head-on, transforming them into opportunities. And their foresight to plan for the future is why they will continue to be successful.

Thank you for choosing 麻豆原创 to help solve your biggest challenges. I enjoyed seeing so many of you at 麻豆原创 Spend Connect Live and I can鈥檛 wait to catch up with the rest of you on the road.

Jeff Collier is chief revenue officer for 麻豆原创 Intelligent Spend and Business Network.

The announcements were made at , the industry鈥檚 premier spend management conference, held October 14-16 in Las Vegas.

麻豆原创 Embeds Generative AI Across Spend Management and Business Network Solutions

麻豆原创 is embedding its generative AI copilot Joule across the 麻豆原创 Ariba source-to-pay solution portfolio to make it easier for customers to manage routine inquiries, such as status updates, summarization and frequently asked questions. Generative AI will be further infused in 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions to recommend buying bundles and provide comprehensive supplier summaries.

Joule will help 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions customers perform time-consuming hiring tasks and service requests with speed and accuracy. Joule can recommend best-fit templates to generate job postings and statements of work (SOWs) with prefilled information such as start date and the number of skilled workers needed.

Joule embedded across 麻豆原创 Business Network will facilitate tasks in logistics and asset management. Generative AI will analyze, categorize and transform unstructured invoice rejection errors into structured, actionable insights to reduce the cost of resolving exceptions. Generative AI capabilities within the 麻豆原创 Business Network Discovery solution will help match suppliers with new business opportunities.

Joule is currently available within 麻豆原创 Ariba solutions and will debut in 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions and 麻豆原创 Business Network in the fourth quarter 2024. Joule will manage 80% of the most frequently performed tasks in the portfolio of intelligent spend management and business network solutions from 麻豆原创 starting in the fourth quarter 2024 with a phased approach.

New 麻豆原创 Ariba Intake Management Solution Delivers Simplicity in Procurement

麻豆原创 introduces the 麻豆原创 Ariba Intake Management solution to help transform how businesses handle employee requests and process orchestration, starting with procurement.

With 麻豆原创 Ariba Intake Management, employees have one place to go for procurement inquiries and visibility on status. The solution collects employee requests, orchestrates processes across heterogenous landscapes and applications, including all necessary stakeholders, and provides visibility on status while shielding employees from process complexity yet keeping them informed. This simpler, more intuitive user experience is designed to help drive adoption and improve compliance.

麻豆原创 plans to make 麻豆原创 Ariba Intake Management available in the first quarter 2025.

New 麻豆原创 Business Network, Promote Subscription to Help Suppliers Grow their Businesses

麻豆原创 Business Network in the first quarter 2025 will launch a new promote subscription with value-added features to help suppliers differentiate themselves, attract new buyers and grow their businesses. With millions of companies conducting nearly $6 trillion in commerce annually on the 麻豆原创 Business Network, promote presents a sizable opportunity for suppliers to accelerate growth.

麻豆原创 Unveils Analytics Add-On for External Workforce Management

The new analytics add-on with AI capabilities for 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions helps procurement, vendor management and HR professionals to quickly implement more agile multi-channel talent strategies. This add-on enables business users to benchmark and predict external talent scenarios.

The analytics add-on for 麻豆原创 Fieldglass solutions lets users:

• Review performance against over 50 external workforce key performance indicators.
• Access global market intelligence including rates, talent supply and demand, and time-to-hire trends.
• Track sustainability initiatives such as spend with diverse suppliers and worker health and safety, while observing cost overruns, worker fatigue, and on- and offboarding compliance.

鈥淲ith 麻豆原创 Business AI as the foundation of our intelligent products, customers can improve productivity and gain insights from their spend data no matter where it sits,鈥� said Manoj Swaminathan, President and Chief Product Officer, Intelligent Spend and Business Network, 麻豆原创. 鈥淲hether it is managing cost, mitigating risk or supporting scope three emission reduction, 麻豆原创 empowers companies with the right solutions for agile and effective spend management and supply chain functions.鈥�

Visit the . Follow 麻豆原创 at .

Media Contact:
Kelly Sheldon Murray, +1 (978) 708-6821, kelly.murray@sap.com, ET
麻豆原创 麻豆原创 Room; press@sap.com

This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ.  Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of 厂础笔鈥檚 2023 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
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Once again, we are prepared to showcase groundbreaking innovations that will revolutionize the landscape of spend management. As I continue to engage with our customers, their enthusiasm for our latest offerings helps validate our commitment to delivering solutions that streamline processes and empower businesses to achieve their full potential.  

At 麻豆原创 our focus is on automating tedious, time-consuming tasks, allowing you to concentrate on the strategic decisions that drive your organization forward. 麻豆原创 continues to invest heavily in innovations across the spend management and business network portfolio, including new artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities and seamless integrations, enabling users to navigate uncertainty, seize optimization opportunities, and simplify processes. Our goal is to give you the freedom to shape your business鈥檚 future without the distraction of day-to-day operational noise. 

Betting Big on Your Success with 麻豆原创 

During my keynote, I outlined our product strategy for the coming year, emphasizing three key pillars: Data, Intelligence, and Suite. These focus areas are a direct response to the valuable input we鈥檝e received from customers. I am confident that our continuing investments in these areas will provide them with the insights needed to make informed, strategic decisions that propel their organization to new heights.  

Our newest capabilities across our intelligent spend management solutions enable customers to gain visibility across all of their processes, eliminating fragmented touchpoints that hinder progress.

As Mickey North Rizza, group vice-president of Enterprise Software at IDC, recently shared, 鈥溌槎乖� continues to dominate the procurement applications space as measured by market share because customers want a seamless user experience with which to conduct the full spectrum of their spend management/procurement activity. When layering in the breadth of 麻豆原创’s industry experience, the expansive business network, and direct sourcing capabilities, 麻豆原创 has clearly earned its place.鈥� 

I couldn鈥檛 agree more.  Our commitment to maintaining our position as the industry standard in spend management is unwavering, and we will continue to set the benchmark for providing a smooth, efficient user interface while delivering unparalleled visibility into every aspect of spend.

Now, let鈥檚 dive into this year鈥檚 announcements.  

Generative AI Transforms the Source-to-Pay Process 

麻豆原创 is dedicated to delivering best-in-class solutions infused with AI, empowering you to prioritize strategic initiatives over mundane tasks. We understand and hear the concerns surrounding data security when implementing AI, which is why we have made no compromises in ensuring our AI capabilities set the standard for compliance. From third-party advisory boards to adhering to the UNESCO 10 Guiding Principles for Ethical AI and singing the , we enable customers to harness the power of AI without sacrificing control over their data.  

厂础笔鈥檚 generative AI copilot will be seamlessly integrated across 麻豆原创 Ariba, 麻豆原创 Business Network, and 麻豆原创 Fieldglass starting in Q4 of 2024. Joule will enable users to manage their most important tasks quickly and accurately across all areas of our spend management portfolio.  

In , users will be able to use generative AI-infused capabilities to create RFPs and request help with routine inquiries and surface risks. These capabilities will also provide buying recommendations along with comprehensive supplier summaries from different data sources. In addition, sustainability scorecard from 麻豆原创 Ariba ensures that customers can make informed decisions that align with their organizations鈥� environmental, social, and governance (ESG) objectives.  

With Joule, 麻豆原创 Fieldglass users can take advantage of template recommendations to generate job postings and SOWs with pre-filled information, saving precious time. Users can now request assistance and insights in natural language, and immediately receive responses from Joule directly from the 麻豆原创 Help Portal. It is now possible to ask Joule how to create a job posting and receiving accurate, step-by-step instructions complete with links and resources.  

will use Joule to help with logistics and asset management tasks. Joule provides 麻豆原创 Business Network users a natural language interface and navigation for scenarios such as status requests and queries, supporting freight orders, freight bookings, invoice disputes, equipment, notifications, and work orders. It will also provide insights into rejected invoices to reduce manual intervention for errors. Suppliers can dive into potential business opportunities based on keyword matching that selects best-fit profiles for RFIs. 

Streamlining Procurement with 麻豆原创 Ariba Intake Management  

Most companies have a complex landscape of disparate and siloed solutions for handling procurement needs such as purchase requests, contract processing, or helping onboard a new services provider. Typically, employees don鈥檛 know which platform, portal, or system will handle their request because it isn’t a task they perform regularly. Hours of time may be wasted trying to figure out how to make the request in the first place and track down subsequent status updates. 

But no more: 麻豆原创 Ariba Intake Management, a brand-new solution built on 麻豆原创 Business Technology Platform, will automate procurement request creation and provide process orchestration, including routing and support across diverse procurement landscapes and complex workflows. By connecting different systems into one central location for procurement inquiries and status updates, employees can adhere to your organization’s policies and comply with necessary regulations without the need for time consuming manual corrections. 麻豆原创 Ariba Intake Management will offer one pane of glass for status updates and requests, making procurement orchestration simpler and more intuitive. Scheduled to be available in Q1 of 2025, the solution will offer out-of-the-box integration with other 麻豆原创 solutions and a robust set of connectors for third-party integration.  

Empowering Suppliers with 麻豆原创 Business Network, Promote Subscription  

We announced a new promote subscription for the 麻豆原创 Business Network, designed to deliver immediate value to suppliers, helping them to find new business, improve match potential, and build relationships with buyers using the network catalog. Through the promote subscription, suppliers will receive recommendations to improve discoverability, advanced search results, supplier profile verification, and network catalog APIs. With the help of generative AI tools, suppliers can now load their full suite of offerings into the network catalog faster and with enhanced product descriptions and summaries. The new promote subscription will also help suppliers identify sales opportunities based on regional search data and use advanced insights to track business growth on the network.  

Elevating External Workforce Management with 麻豆原创 Fieldglass Analytics Add-On 

麻豆原创 Fieldglass delivers a new, enhanced analytics capability with next-level insights into your external workforce. The analytics add-on with AI capabilities will help businesses meet sustainability and human rights goals, acquire talent quickly, and implement multi-channel talent acquisition strategies. Users can benchmark and predict external talent scenarios, review performance against KPIs, track trends against industry averages, and monitor sustainability and compliance initiatives.  

As we continue to listen to our customers and invest in our spend management and business network solution offerings, our commitment to setting the standard for spend management software remains steadfast. We are committed to providing innovative solutions that help our customers collaborate strategically with their business partners, enhance productivity, and improve compliance.  

To learn more about these new innovations, read 鈥�Innovations in Spend Management from 麻豆原创 Help Customers Improve Productivity, Gain Insights and Boost Growth.鈥�

If you couldn鈥檛 attend 麻豆原创 Spend Connect Live in Las Vegas, sign up here for the to access live and on-demand content from across content tracks. Join us as we continue to shape the future of spend management together.聽

Manoj Swaminathan is president and chief product officer for Intelligent Spend and Business Network at 麻豆原创.

麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower can enable business leaders to answer questions, like where and how much did my organization spend? With what suppliers? Can we break that down by normalized categories? Where are my cost-savings opportunities? What about compliance with environmental and social regulations?

I am happy to announce that 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower is now available for all businesses.

Addressing Your Spend Data Challenges

I frequently discuss spend management challenges with CPOs and CFOs. They consistently seek visibility and insights into their spending, key suppliers, and ways to enhance savings and cash flow, which enable them to make better-informed decisions.

This aligns with our formal market research. In a new Economist Impact study sponsored by 麻豆原创 鈥� 鈥� 44% of all respondents and 49% of CPOs identified spend analytics as the top driver of digitization in procurement in 2024.

Of course, it鈥檚 not just about procurement spend. It鈥檚 about all enterprise spend. And that鈥檚 our sweet spot. 麻豆原创 delivers intelligent spend solutions covering the entire enterprise 鈥� from procurement to travel and expense to contingent labor and beyond.

As we鈥檝e worked to bring together spend data across the enterprise, it鈥檚 become clear to me that many organizations face similar challenges:

• Poor data quality
• Too much data for individuals to process
• Lack of visibility into cost-saving opportunities and ways to improve cash flow

麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower is specifically designed to help address these challenges. It can provide visibility and actionable insights into enterprise spend that flows to 麻豆原创 solutions, such as 麻豆原创 S/4HANA or 麻豆原创 ERP Central Component (麻豆原创 ECC), and non-麻豆原创 systems. Spend information can then be further enhanced with data from 麻豆原创 Ariba, 麻豆原创 Fieldglass, and 麻豆原创 Concur solutions.

How We Do It

麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower helps address the challenges of spend data management by providing:

• A single location for all spend data: Enterprise data for all spend-related applications is centralized in a single 鈥渄ata layer.鈥� This can provide visibility into your overall organizational spend while allowing users to drill down and see data within specific solutions, for example 麻豆原创 Ariba, 麻豆原创 Fieldglass, or 麻豆原创 Concur solutions.
• Data analysis driven by AI and machine learning: Embedded 麻豆原创 Business AI solutions can enable users to analyze spend data, clarify categories, and make data-driven decisions.
• Data harmonization and enrichment: Systems use a variety of formats to store data, which makes it difficult to combine or compare data sets. 麻豆原创 standardizes data into a unified structure, making it possible to analyze a cohesive data set. Additionally, data enrichment helps improve accuracy by adding supplemental, third-party data to your own, then comparing them to ensure completeness and accuracy.

Six Ways 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower Helps Drive Spend Performance

The process of driving enterprise spend performance is a journey. First you need to explore what you鈥檙e spending and where you鈥檙e spending it. Then you uncover opportunities for savings. Finally, you measure regulatory compliance and how your spending programs stack up against your industry competitors.

麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower can help every step of the way, providing visibility into accurate data sets that can enable you to:

Consolidate Spend, Category, and Contract Data

Spend across your enterprise is a maze of suppliers, invoices, and contracts. How many suppliers do we really have? Which invoices fall into the 鈥渙ther鈥� bucket? 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower can produce a consolidated list of suppliers and categories by employing artificial intelligence and machine learning classification and matching algorithms.

Improve Compliance and Deliver Savings

Once you identify categories and suppliers, you can look for opportunities to increase compliance and achieve cost savings. For instance, you may find that your business has five contracts with smaller suppliers, all under the same global ultimate parent company. This information allows you to consolidate your contracts, resulting in cost savings and improved cash flow.

Drill Down for Efficient Spend Visibility

With 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower, you can have visibility across all areas of your enterprise spend 鈥� for example, contingent labor, maintenance, repairs and operation, or travel and expense 鈥� providing a single view of all spend from 麻豆原创 or non-麻豆原创 systems while enabling visibility into the source of spend via 麻豆原创 Ariba, 麻豆原创 Fieldglass, or 麻豆原创 Concur solutions.

Identify Cost-Savings Opportunities and Provide Actionable Insights

麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower utilizes 麻豆原创 Business AI to help guide you toward relevant and timely savings opportunities. Data from 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower can seamlessly integrate with the spend profile. Furthermore, within opportunity analysis, AI can identify opportunities for end users in 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower, which are accessible to 麻豆原创 Ariba Category Management. This integration allows category managers to set goals and develop effective category plans. By leveraging 麻豆原创 Business AI, category managers can efficiently narrow down suppliers and deliver procurement opportunities within categories, streamlining the process and optimizing cost saving.

Drive Enterprise-Level Diversity and Sustainability Compliance

Even if you know who your suppliers are, it鈥檚 likely you don鈥檛 have direct access to all their corporate social responsibility credentials. Through data enhancement using generative AI and the solution, 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower can layer compliance and diversity data onto your supplier and spend data. This can help enable the evaluation of spend for compliance with diversity requirements and sustainability measures like Scope 3 emissions.

Achieve Best-in-Class Spend Performance Based on Industry Standards

A significant portion of the world鈥檚 business runs through 麻豆原创 systems. We leverage this information to help provide realistic benchmarks from leading businesses in your industry. For example, a consumer products company may direct 22% of its total spend on marketing. Using 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower, they can find out that for leading competitors of similar size and revenue, the average marketing spend is much lower. This will help inform decisions about how to align their costs with the competition.

麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower is now available to all businesses to help drive enterprise spend performance effectively. or register for and watch the 鈥溾�� webinar on 麻豆原创 Spend Control Tower.

Join the 麻豆原创 Spend Connect Live virtual event on October 24 to catch the latest in technology, innovation, and ideas on-demand.

Manoj Swaminathan is ISBN president and chief product officer at 麻豆原创.

The 麻豆原创-sponsored report offers insights from more than 2,300 C-suite executives spanning multiple countries, regions and industries and examines the pressures facing today鈥檚 procurement teams. As these teams manage risks like geopolitical shifts, supplier threats, and liquidity risks, the surveyed executives emphasize an urgent motivation to improve their procurement operations through agile, innovative, and fast-paced solutions.

Today鈥檚 complex and uncertain business environment has pushed procurement teams to take matters into their own hands. Not only are they accelerating digitalization by adopting emerging technologies like AI, they are driving it by searching for ways to change the procurement operating model.

As Always, It鈥檚 All About Innovation

Procurement officers view driving innovation as one of their function鈥檚 chief objectives. Doing so will help them navigate risks and respond to an evolving consumer environment.

When procurement is truly influential, it is proactive. Teams that understand digitalization and the technologies being acquired have more impact in this area than those that are reactive. Over two-thirds (70%) of the survey respondents agree that procurement is actively involved in developing their wider organization鈥檚 digital transformation strategy 鈥� though whether this is true in the day-to-day may vary from business to business.

If procurement is to play a more integral role in businesses, changes to the function鈥檚 operating model are likely for some organizations, which is why the research also shows that procurement is accelerating its digitalization, including through the adoption of emerging technologies. Approximately 84% of executives are confident in their procurement team鈥檚 ability to apply technology successfully to automate some processes and shift attention to more strategic and complex tasks.

This ability to seamlessly integrate and adopt new solutions will be critical as procurement teams work to balance capabilities, know-how, and expertise from suppliers to achieve the best possible results.

Digitalization Remains a Top Priority

While innovation is at the core of many companies鈥� priorities, C-suite leaders are laser-focused on the solutions that enable their teams to be more efficient, cost-effective, and risk-averse.

More than half (57%) of the C-suite cite digitalization as the top strategic priority for their procurement teams. This emphasis may be fueled by recent advances in generative AI, which is the top technology trend (34%) executives plan to implement in the next 12 to 18 months.

Digitalization efforts can offer real-time capabilities that better address dynamic market challenges and make existing procurement processes more efficient. Data-driven insights allow for more actionable outputs in strategic decision-making and can even impact procurement鈥檚 role in engaging contingent labor. Augmented with AI, they can easily manage contingent labor by streamlining and standardizing recruiting processes like job advertising, resume scanning, expediting background checks, and more.

More efficient intake management also goes hand-in-hand with digitalization. While generative AI occupies the highest priority, intake management is only one percentage point behind it, making it the second-most likely tech trend to be piloted or implemented. 

Value of Multi-Sourcing and Supplier Diversity

The top organizational risk for procurement was monetary uncertainty (49%), as macroeconomic risks can have a large impact on operational external risk. This is a potential factor as to why procurement teams are focused on risk as a longer-term priority.

Updates here can create opportunities like multi-sourcing, which can improve risk reduction and resilience amid growing external threats, and supplier diversity 鈥� driving market expansion through a more diverse supplier base. This can also reduce single-sourcing dependencies to mitigate risks against potential disruptions.

These possibilities prove how companies must make it a mission to improve the quality of data and the models needed to effectively analyze it. Subpar data directly hinders procurement鈥檚 ability to make good decisions, undermining its overall effectiveness and derailing successful digitalization before it takes hold.

Executives Agree: Time to Go All-In on AI

No other strategic priority attracts nearly as many responses as a priority across all industries as digitalization. However, respondents also agreed on one other key topic: the role that AI will take in the digitalization journey.

Adoption of an AI strategy stands at the joint top of executives鈥� list of digitalization priorities for procurement, alongside spend analytics, both cited by 44%. Almost half (48%) of executives aim to use AI to improve procurement processes through source-to-pay and AI-enabled spend management and decision support.

As the main drivers for digital transformation in procurement, these two objectives are complementary. AI tools can read a contract to evaluate clauses and suggest how they can be improved. It can also enhance data management, streamlining the processes needed to make key procurement decisions.

Fully digitalizing procurement operations has been on the function鈥檚 agenda for several years, but it is a continuous challenge. It is a process that does not have an endpoint, particularly as technologies advance quickly. The leading technologies from just three years ago pale in comparison to what can be accomplished today, which require knowledge across software development, APIs, and AI.

Therefore, success in building a thorough and adaptable AI strategy requires top-level expertise. Acquiring the necessary skills could entail considerable organizational and cultural change in procurement and across the business 鈥� extending beyond the structural shifts and developing new ways of working to build these skills.

The Start of a Procurement Renaissance

Across industries, procurement is already finding new ways to add value to the organization. But now that chief procurement officers and their teams are more consistently gaining a seat at the decision table, the challenge is to keep it.

The ongoing state of disruption offers ample opportunity for procurement teams to continue evolving and demonstrate their worth. Above all, improving collaboration with other business stakeholders will be the key to strengthening procurement鈥檚 role within the organization. Today鈥檚 technology-driven initiatives are as much a human challenge as they are a technology one, and when organizations are planning these initiatives it is clear that they need to consider people, process, and technology in equal measure to ensure success.

For more about the findings from this year鈥檚 Economist Impact report, tune in to this podcast hosted by Art of Procurement: .

Gordon Donovan is global vice president of Research, Procurement, and External Workforce at 麻豆原创.

Beneath the glow of its famed neon lights, the city is set to play host to the world鈥檚 premier spend management conference, where 麻豆原创 will showcase the increasingly vital role played by AI-enabled cloud solutions in shaping the flow of business-to-business commerce 鈥� and in ensuring the transparency needed for trading partners to foster collaboration, gauge sustainability, and bolster resilience throughout global supply chains.

To carry out business processes with confidence and continuity amid uncertain market conditions 鈥� from procurement and supply chain to logistics and asset management 鈥� organizations rely on an unending stream of data amassed through the routine course of operations. A firm鈥檚 growth prospects typically correlate with its access to such data, both its own and that of its trading partners. The higher the quality of that data, the more valuable the insights it contains, particularly when analyzed by emerging AI capabilities. At a time when operational data increasingly determines competitive advantage, businesses have turned to cloud-based networks to harness its potential. Operational data has thus become one of the most precious resources in any organization.

Of course, successful businesses have always set themselves apart by access to scarce resources. But did you know the same holds true for world-class cities as well?

Settled in 1905 as a rail link between Salt Lake City and Los Angeles, the sleepy stopover known as Las Vegas was an unlikely candidate to become a century hence. Limited in arable land, much of the region lay fallow in the early twentieth century. But with the opening in 1936 of the Hoover Dam only 50 kilometers to the southeast, a city was born and a spectacular growth story begun. The world鈥檚 largest public works project of its day, construction of the dam required 21,000 workers to excavate 4.2 million cubic meters of rock, lay 937 kilometers of pipe, and pour 3.5 million cubic meters of concrete 鈥� enough to pave a highway stretching from Lisbon to Lapland.

Completed more than two years ahead of schedule in the depths of the Great Depression, the Hoover Dam soars 221 meters over the Colorado River, irrigating 1 million hectares of farmland in California, Arizona, and Nevada. It provides drinking water for urban centers including Phoenix, Tucson, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas and produces 4 billion kilowatt-hours of sustainable hydroelectric power annually for millions of homes and businesses across the southwestern U.S.

For nearly nine decades, the Hoover Dam has served as a conduit through which water and electricity flow in abundance, giving rise to a thriving city synonymous with legendary entertainment, a resplendent skyline, and limitless opportunity. For its part, too is a conduit for exponential growth. But the precious resource it distributes is operational data, and its beneficiaries are the millions of trading partners that conduct business through its enterprise applications augmented by .

Powerful business networks, not unlike mighty hydroelectric dams, represent marvels of engineering, feats of architecture, and transformative solutions to formidable operational challenges. With this in mind, I鈥檓 hard pressed to think of a more fitting backdrop to spotlight our latest 麻豆原创 Business Network innovations than the gleaming city of Las Vegas and the vivid growth story it embodies. Please join us there for , where we鈥檒l explore how customers are countering disruption, extending visibility, reducing costs, infusing sustainability, and strengthening resilience throughout their interconnected operations and those of their trading partners. We鈥檒l devote extensive discussion to the broadening set of capabilities within 麻豆原创 Business Network鈥檚 trading partner experience, aimed at optimizing value for all of the disparate parties engaged in business-to-business transactions. You can bet on an engaging, enlightening set of sessions led by peers; and I hope to see you there.

J枚rn Keller is executive vice president and chief product officer of 麻豆原创 Business Network.