Hark! The era of AI beckons at SAP TechEd 2023 with new GenAI series

⇨ SAP announces three major AI launches, including SAP Build Code, a new vector database for SAP HANA Cloud and the New AI Foundation for SAP BTP.

⇨ Juergen Mueller, CTO at SAP, said: “Today’s dynamic technology and business landscape means every developer needs to be an AI developer."

⇨ SAP joined the Stanford HAI (Institute for Human-Centered AI) Corporate Affiliate Program to work with the academic community on GenAI and business innovations and discoveries.

At this year’s SAP TechEd Event hosted in Bangalore, India, SAP has announced a comprehensive series of GenAI capabilities and advancements aimed at driving developers into the era of AI.

Following a year of jam-packed AI announcements promising to transform the way businesses run, SAP has taken its AI game a step further with three major AI launches, including SAP Build Code, a new vector database for SAP HANA Cloud and the new AI Foundation for SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP).

Juergen Mueller, CTO and member of the executive board at SAP, said: “Today’s dynamic technology and business landscape means every developer needs to be an AI developer.

“The innovations we’re launching at SAP TechEd, from AI-infused pro-code tools to a one-stop shop to create generative AI extensions and applications on SAP Business Technology Platform, supporting the developers at the heart of the AI revolution and providing them with resources they need to transform the way businesses run.”

SAP’s first announcement brought the launch of its SAP Build Code solutions to streamline cooperation with business experts using the low-code SAP Build solutions introduced at SAP TechEd in 2022.

Optimized for Java and JavaScript development and uniquely built for SAP applications, SAP Build Code solutions offer AI-powered productivity tools for developers. Utilizing the power of SAP’s new GenAI copilot Joule, SAP Build Code solutions aim to further boost productivity and embed code generation capabilities for data model, application logic and test script creation with the ability to add their own extensions.

The second major announcement of the event was that SAP HANA Cloud will be adding new vector database features to its multi-model offerings at no additional cost, propelling SAP HANA Cloud into the GenAI era.

These powerful new vector database features enhance interactions between large language models (LLMs) and an organization’s mission-critical data, making it easier to find and retrieve similar objects quickly. Vector data stores that manage unstructured data such as text, images or audio will provide long-term memory and better context to AI models.

Until now, LLMs had a cut-off date, meaning that the latest data had not been updating into the system after a point. SAP described the ‘holy grail’ of GenAI as the combination of LLM strength with real-time data of companies. With the introduction of these new vector engines, SAP is enthusiastic about achieving this milestone.

In the third major announcement of the event, SAP said it will unveil its AI Foundation, calling it the ‘one-stop-shop’ for developers looking to increase impact and efficiency. AI Foundations is aimed at creating GenAI-powered extensions and applications on SAP BTP.

This should have everything developers need to start creating business-ready AI tools on SAP BTP, including ‘ready-to-use’ AI services and accessing top LLMs with vector database capabilities and AI runtime lifecycle management.

Additionally, to keep up with these innovations, SAP announced plans to continue increasing its learning opportunities. Committed to upskilling two million professionals by 2025, SAP has also launched a new role-based certification with free learning resources for back-end developers using the ABAP Cloud development model.

Available on the SAP Learning site, these resources will cover ABAP development tools on SAP BTP and SAP S/4HANA and are designed for agile and cloud-compliant business transformation to provide developers with the skills to build cloud-ready extensions that are aligned with SAP’s clean core strategy.

In that vein, SAP has also joined the Stanford HAI (Institute for Human-Centered AI) Corporate Affiliate Program to work with the academic community on GenAI and business innovations and discoveries.

As SAP TechEd 2023 was stuffed with AI innovations, SAP’s rally cry was loud and clear – the AI revolution has begun! However, the implementation of GenAI into business platforms on such an industry-changing scale is no mean feat. Will these innovations be enough to usher SAP to the forefront of the AI race? Or might there be another string of AI announcements yet to come before they take the throne?