Held earlier this month in downtown Chicago, SAP Cloud Innovation Day was a day to remember, filled with insights and inspiration for SAP customers, partners, and industry experts alike.
Building on the momentum of this year’s SAP Sapphire & ASUG Annual Conference, the free, one-day event was part of a six-event series taking place throughout the month of August, with the stated goal of exploring the future of cloud technology. Here are my top takeaways.
Overall Optimism Around AI
Kicking off the day with his opening-keynote, Bob Evans, founder of Cloud Wars, discussed the future of cloud ERP and the crucial role that AI will play in shaping it. Engaging the audience, Evans asked attendees about their professional roles and conducted a poll of the audience to gauge their views on AI. While some attendees expressed their concern that AI might be overhyped in the present moment, Evans stuck an optimistic tone, stating, “The opportunity for humans to really thrive here is going to be paramount.”
Evans continued by discussing AI’s potential to enhance human capabilities and drive business transformation, emphasizing the need for flatter organizational structures and greater involvement from younger professionals in data-driven decision-making. Evans also highlighted the importance of businesses keeping pace with rapid change by ensuring end-to-end visibility and breaking down internal silos.
Recognizing that AI will inevitably reshape the job market, Evans introduced the concept of a "time dividend"—the extra time businesses can gain through AI-driven efficiencies. He explained that, while this time dividend offers significant opportunities, it also carries the risk of falling into the "fill the gap" trap, where extra time is freed up within an organization but without strategic planning. To avoid this, Evans stressed the importance of purposefully mapping new opportunities within organizations, addressing employee concerns, and using AI not only to streamline operations but also to create meaningful employee experiences and enhance overall efficiency.
Evans further emphasized the critical need to integrate cloud and AI, citing platforms like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google Cloud as key enablers. He underscored the necessity of fostering a data-driven culture that aligns IT with business goals and promotes innovation. Finally, Evans called for customer-centric innovation, urging businesses to quickly implement AI in a way that balances risk and reward, using examples from companies like Uber and Airbnb to illustrate his point.
Evans’ keynote set a forward-looking tone for the event, emphasizing the importance of staying ahead in a rapidly evolving technological landscape.
SAP Business AI Potential
In the next session, Hans Rohr, Enterprise Architect at SAP, took the stage to discuss how AI is already being integrated and applied within SAP's business systems. Expanding upon optimism about the potential of AI, Rohr highlighted the incredible pace at which AI is already advancing, pointing out that it’s evolving even faster than experts had predicted and highlighting that AI is now even capable of writing its own code.
However, Rohr made sure to clarify that the growing attention around AI doesn’t mean it’s just another trendy buzzword or "some cool technology looking for use cases," as he put it. Instead, he stressed that AI is a well-established technology that is only now being fully explored and utilized; within SAP’s landscape, it’s a practical tool that’s actually already woven into business processes for customers to leverage. In fact, Rohr shared that over 30,000 SAP customers are already leveraging AI for everyday tasks within their SAP systems, with receipt scanning in SAP Concur as a prime example of current usage.
Building on that excitement, Rohr then went on to highlight the real strength of AI: its ability to seamlessly integrate into existing systems, giving businesses advanced capabilities without the need for new infrastructure. He explained that this is where SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) stands out, as it allows AI to be embedded into a wide range of business processes across the enterprise. This integration not only streamlines operations but also lets companies customize AI solutions to meet their specific needs, giving them a competitive edge.
Overall, Rohr’s session made it clear that AI is a well-established technology with real-world applications that can significantly improve how businesses operate. And with the support of BTP, AI isn’t just a future possibility – it’s a present reality that’s helping businesses transform in practical and powerful ways.
Tropicana’s Digital Transformation
The final session of the morning featured Tropicana’s digital transformation journey, led by Jeff Lischett, Global Chief Information Officer for Tropicana, and Kevin Keller, Vice President of Sales for SAP’s Midwest Market Unit. Together, they highlighted the challenges and successes Tropicana has faced since its North American go-live with SAP six months ago, as well as how Tropicana believes AI capabilities and SAP can help them serve their customers better in the years to come.
Right off the bat, Lischett emphasized the significance of SAP Signavio as a critical part of Tropicana’s transformation, emphasizing the company’s need for process mapping, training, and keeping processes aligned with its technology strategy. Lischett described those three elements as a “multi-dimensional object of process attack all coming together,” explaining that he views SAP Signavio as at the core of being able to evaluate needs for improving overall organizational capabilities.
Lischett also underscored the benefits of a greenfield approach in moving to SAP S/4HANA and the relevance of keeping the core clean, which allowed Tropicana to reduce complexity and accelerate innovation. As he noted, Tropicana has seen business process improvements in weeks, not months, as a result of keeping its core clean within its SAP S/4HANA move. However, Lischett also emphasized the need for continuous engagement in change management, particularly post-implementation, in order to ensure long-term success.
Finally, on the technology side, Lischett shared insights into Tropicana’s use of SAP BTP, as well as the company’s future technology plans. He explained that SAP BTP and SAP Datasphere are currently being used extensively to enhance data integration and to develop self-service analytics capabilities. These tools, he noted, have been crucial in streamlining operations and delivering quick results. Looking ahead, Lischett mentioned that Tropicana is eager to continue partnering with SAP to further develop true revenue growth management capabilities, along with the advanced analysis and planning tools needed to support that growth, and that SAP technology is at the core of their strategy.
Expanded Conversations, Strong Engagement
After morning keynotes, attendees had the chance to dive into topics introduced earlier in the day. Breakout sessions ranged from ones focused on SAP Cloud ERP strategy to ones centered on SAP S/4HANA and SAP BTP transformations, offering real-time insights into how companies are leveraging cloud technology to enhance predictability, growth, and resilience across various business functions.
Next came a networking lunch, giving everyone a chance to connect and learn more about each other before diving into the afternoon’s roundtable discussions. These talks provided a platform for attendees to share experiences and insights on topics like innovations in the consumer products industry, SAP Extended Warehouse Management, and best practices for deployment to accelerate time-to-value. Based on levels of engagement, these sessions were a clear highlight for many of the attendees, providing a unique opportunity to exchange ideas with both peers and experts.
Bringing Out Your Best
To wrap up the day with a dose of inspiration, American Olympic Gold Medalist Dara Torres shared her personal journey with attendees, offering insights on how to bring out the best in oneself and one’s team. Emphasizing that it’s never too late to take on a new challenge, Torres reflected on her own experience of returning to competitive swimming after a decade-long break, declaring that this mindset applies to any field or stage of life.
Overall, the SAP Cloud Innovation Day was an incredibly valuable experience and an ideal follow-up to the discussions kick-started by this year’s SAP Sapphire & ASUG Annual Conference. The event equipped attendees with the knowledge, inspiration, and practical insights needed to advance their cloud strategies. ASUG looks forward to collaborating with SAP to continue providing SAP customers with the content experiences they need to drive their companies forward.
Kelly Dowling is ASUG’s Director of Content Strategy.