At the recent NVIDIA GTC event, SAP and NVIDIA announced an expanded partnership to enhance generative AI integration across SAP’s cloud solutions and applications. The collaboration focuses on developing SAP Business AI, which integrates scalable, business-specific generative AI capabilities within various SAP offerings, including SAP Datasphere, and SAP BTP.

Updated SAP Datasphere 

SAP Datasphere is a critical component of SAP’s strategy to harness the power of data across enterprise landscapes, facilitating advanced data management and analysis.

Here’s a breakdown of the critical updates and improvements:

Enhanced Data Integration and Management

• Unified Data View: SAP Datasphere integrates semantically rich SAP data with third-party data, creating a unified view across the enterprise.
• High-Quality Data Fabric: The updates ensure that SAP Datasphere users can access a high-quality data fabric. This involves using advanced AI and machine learning models to refine data management and processing, ensuring that data across the enterprise is consistently accurate and usable for various applications.

Accelerated Machine Learning Capabilities

• Federated Machine Learning (FedML): The enhancements to SAP Datasphere include accelerating its FedML capabilities. This is achieved by facilitating easier access to data for data scientists and enhancing the performance of ML workloads.
• NVIDIA Accelerated Computing Platforms: Integrating NVIDIA’s accelerated computing platforms and NVIDIA AI Enterprise data science software, including NVIDIA RAPIDS, improves the performance and scalability of data science operations within SAP Datasphere.

Support for Generative AI Applications

• NVIDIA AI Enterprise Software: SAP plans to use NVIDIA’s AI software to deploy production-grade generative AI across its cloud solutions, starting with SAP Datasphere. This includes using NVIDIA NIM inference microservices and NVIDIA NeMo Retriever microservices, which will enable generative AI applications to more securely access and process data running on SAP software, improving accuracy and insights.
• Retrieval-Augmented Generation: The updates include RAG capabilities that allow for the dynamic retrieval of data as part of the AI generative processes.

Updated Business Technology Platform

SAP has delivered significant enhancements to BTP to improve the integration of generative AI capabilities and support the broader use of advanced technologies across business processes.

Integration of Generative AI Capabilities

• AI-Enhanced Applications: SAP BTP is updated to support developing and deploying AI-driven applications, leveraging NVIDIA’s AI technology capabilities. This includes generative AI features, which can automate and enhance various business operations, from customer service to financial analysis.

Use of NVIDIA’s Generative AI Foundry Service

• Domain-Specific AI Models: Utilizing NVIDIA’s generative AI foundry service, SAP BTP can now include more tailored AI models designed for unique business needs and industry-specific scenarios. This service helps fine-tune large LLMs for better accuracy and relevancy in enterprise applications.

Advanced Computing and AI Software Integration

• NVIDIA DGX Cloud AI Supercomputing: The platform’s AI capabilities are bolstered by NVIDIA DGX Cloud.
• NVIDIA AI Enterprise Software: Integration with NVIDIA AI Enterprise software on SAP BTP facilitates the development, deployment, and scaling of AI applications, ensuring they are robust, secure, and capable of operating at enterprise scale.

Support for Large Language Models (LLMs)

• Access to LLMs through SAP’s AI Core: SAP BTP will enhance its support for large language models via SAP’s AI Core, allowing developers and businesses to utilize advanced AI models within their applications.

Strategic Enhancements for Developers

• ABAP Programming Language Support: SAP has also planned updates to assist developers using the ABAP programming language. The aim is to integrate generative AI to aid in code creation and problem-solving within the SAP Cloud Application Programming model.

Updated Joule

SAP updated its Joule copilot to enhance its capabilities as a generative AI assistant. These updates are designed to improve Joule’s functionality and effectiveness in automating business processes and delivering data-driven insights.

The key aspects of the updates to Joule copilot include:

Enhanced Generative AI Capabilities

• Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): Joule now incorporates RAG capabilities that enable the copilot to dynamically access and retrieve relevant data as part of the AI-driven response generation process. This enhancement allows Joule to provide more accurate, contextually relevant, and insightful outputs.

Deployment Flexibility

• Deployment on Hyperscalers or SAP’s Cloud: The updated Joule copilot can be deployed not only on SAP’s cloud environments but also on leading hyperscaler platforms. This flexibility ensures that businesses can seamlessly integrate Joule into their existing cloud infrastructure, benefiting from both SAP’s and hyperscalers’ robust cloud capabilities.

Automation and Analysis

• Automating Routine Tasks: Joule has been enhanced to automatically handle more complex and time-consuming tasks, including workflows that traditionally require manual input.
• Quick Analysis of Business-Critical Data: With enhanced AI capabilities, Joule can analyze large volumes of data more quickly and efficiently, providing businesses with timely and relevant insights. This is particularly beneficial for decision-making processes where speed and accuracy are crucial.

Analysis

The expansion of the partnership between SAP and  NVIDIA to develop SAP Business AI aligns nicely with the need to bring the power of AI to the enterprise.

By leveraging NVIDIA’s advanced AI technology, including its AI foundry service and AI Enterprise software, SAP offers its customers incremental improvements and transformative capabilities. These tools will allow SAP’s enterprise client base to harness the power of AI to automate complex processes, enhance decision-making, and drive innovation.

The introduction of enhanced generative AI features within SAP Business Technology Platform and the updates to SAP Datasphere signify a deeper integration of AI into SAP’s cloud ecosystem. The updates will boost operational efficiency and provide businesses with the tools to generate actionable insights from their data.

These developments will likely strengthen SAP’s competitive edge in the enterprise software market. By providing a robust suite of AI-powered applications and tools, SAP is enhancing its core offerings and ensuring that its customers are well-equipped to meet the challenges of the digital age.

Overall, SAP’s announcements reflect a strategic vision that is both ambitious and timely. By integrating cutting-edge AI technologies into their products and services,