SAP Unveils New Generative AI Innovations That Boost Productivity and Effectiveness in Spend Management

 SAP SE announced new business AI and user experience innovations in its comprehensive spend management and business network solutions to help customers control costs, mitigate risk and increase productivity. The announcements were made at the SAP Spend Connect Live event, the industry’s premier spend management .

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SAP Continues to Innovate with Generative AI and Its New Copilot Joule

The newly released SAP Ariba Category Management solution will be enhanced with the power of generative AI to help procurement professionals build comprehensive and effective category strategies faster. This capability will help jump-start the market analysis process and offer a suggested category strategy for procurement professionals to refine and execute, saving category managers weeks of valuable time and increasing strategy validity. General availability is planned by the end of 2023. SAP will also embed Joule, its new generative AI copilot, throughout its cloud solutions, with availability in its spend management software planned for 2024. SAP is also developing additional use cases in collaboration with customers, with availability planned for the first half of 2024. “These are just some of the examples of how we are thoughtfully integrating generative AI technology with our market-leading spend management solutions to help our customers be more productive,” said Muhammad Alam, President and Chief Product Officer, Intelligent Spend and Business Network, SAP. “As with all of SAP Business AI solutions, we are developing these new spend management AI innovations with security, privacy, compliance, ethics and accuracy in mind.”

SAP Spend Control Tower to Deliver Comprehensive Spend Analysis Capabilities

The new SAP Spend Control Tower solution will include advanced AI features and the ability to see across all spend to help customers uncover cost-saving opportunities and discover process improvements. These capabilities will be available starting in the first quarter of 2024. New dashboards in the SAP Ariba Sourcing and SAP Ariba Buying solutions also give customers near real-time information within key process workflows, making it easier for procurement professionals to help make timely, informed decisions. These capabilities are available today and built on a new architecture that creates the foundation for future innovation.

AI-Infused Risk Assessment Embedded in Source-to-Settle Solutions

SAP has embedded AI-powered supplier risk assessment capabilities into its source-to-settle software to help business users make smarter decisions faster. The new features make risk assessment profiles an integral part of sourcing, contracting and buying solutions, helping users better determine third-party risk. Supplier risk assessment capabilities are available today in the SAP Ariba Sourcing, SAP Ariba Contracts and SAP Ariba Buying solutions.

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AI-Powered Supplier Discovery from Scoutbee to Integrate with Guided Sourcing

SAP and Scoutbee GmbH, a leading AI-powered supplier intelligence and discovery platform company, plan to integrate an AI-powered supplier search solution with the SAP Ariba Sourcing solution. solution, called Scoutbee Discovery, quickly identifies suppliers aligned with complex requirements, such as production capacity, quality standards and certifications. Through the integration, short-listed suppliers will be imported automatically into guided sourcing events, enabling sourcing professionals to make decisions with more confidence. The integration will be available in the first quarter of 2024. Scoutbee Discovery complements the SAP Business Network Discovery solution capabilities to help sourcing professionals quickly find new suppliers that are aligned with their requirements but are outside the network.

Expense Payment Manager Saves Time and Money

SAP Concur solutions now offer a new Expense Payment Manager service that offers customers the ability to reimburse employees in more than 25 currencies. A streamlined payment process saves hours, money and headaches in the expense reimbursement process. Contracting directly with third-party payment providers increases flexibility. Expense Payment Manager, which also gives customers the opportunity to select their payment provider, is now generally available.

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