Suits Blog: From Complexity to Clarity: How CIOs Can Unlock SAP’s Full Potential. 

By Stefan Captijn, Director Product Marketing, Neptune Software

For decades, SAP® has been the trusted backbone of enterprise operations – the system that keeps global supply chains moving, finances reconciled, and manufacturing running. Its strength has always been in its data integrity, reliability, and process depth. 

But for many organizations, that strength has come at a cost: user experience, agility, and innovation. 

Ask any CIO today, and they’ll tell you the same story – SAP runs the business, but it doesn’t always keep pace with how people want to work. 

The Enterprise Paradox: SAP is Indispensable, Yet Inflexible Sometimes. 

SAP was originally not designed for today’s world of instant experiences, mobile-first workflows, and AI-assisted decisions. It was designed to ensure precision, auditability, and compliance – qualities that remain mission-critical. 

Yet, as digital transformation accelerates, this creates a paradox: 

• Business users are forced through complex screens and manual steps. 

• IT teams spend time maintaining old interfaces instead of innovating. 

• Integration with modern SaaS systems like Salesforce or ServiceNow remains cumbersome and costly. 

In short, the core is strong – but the edge, where users actually engage with the system, often feels outdated. 

Why the SAP Core Is Not the Problem 

It’s easy to blame SAP’s interface, but the issue isn’t the software itself – it’s the architecture and governance model that prioritize control over speed. 

SAP’s data model is incredibly rich and structured. That’s exactly why it’s still the backbone of the Fortune 500. But connecting that model to modern digital experiences – mobile apps, AI agents, or cloud integrations – has historically required expensive middleware or complex redevelopment. 

So, CIOs face a choice: 

• Rip and replace, moving parts of their SAP stack to new platforms (high risk, high cost), or 

• Modernize from within, extending SAP’s value without touching the core. 

The most forward-thinking CIOs are choosing option two. 

The Modernization Mindset: Extend, Don’t Replace 

Modernization doesn’t have to mean migration. The new mindset for enterprise IT leaders is simple: Keep SAP as the system of record. Make everything around it faster, simpler, and more intelligent. 

This is where AI powered low-code platforms like Neptune DXP redefine what’s possible. Whilst some capabilities may overlap with the SAP portfolio, such approach is not an either-or decision. They help to amplify the value of the SAP investment: 

• Modernizing the user experience – turning complex SAP transactions into intuitive, mobile, or web-based workflows. 
• Accelerating delivery – allowing developers to build and deploy SAP-connected apps up to 60% faster. 
• Enabling AI-led automation – through conversational interfaces and intelligent agents that connect directly to SAP data. 
• Simplifying integration – with tools like the Neptune Integration Hub for SAP Solutions, which securely exposes SAP data as REST APIs to external systems like Salesforce or ServiceNow. 

In essence, they make SAP feel modern – without the risk or disruption of core changes. 

Why This Matters Now 

The shift to AI-led operations and agentic enterprises is reshaping how work gets done. AI agents need access to reliable, contextual data – and no system provides that better than SAP(C). 

The opportunity for CIOs is clear: 

• Keep as the trusted core. 

• Use platforms like Neptune DXP and Naia to make SAP data and logic accessible everywhere it’s needed – by people, apps, and AI. 

Build agility and intelligence around stability. 

Four Recommendations for CIOs and IT Leaders 

1. Reframe Your SAP Strategy Around the User 

SAP already runs your processes – now make it work for your people. 
Prioritize user experience, speed, and accessibility as key modernization goals. Focus on simplifying how users engage with SAP, not just on what the system can do. 

2. Extend, Don’t Migrate 

Avoid “rip-and-replace” thinking. Instead, use low-code platforms like Neptune DXP to extend SAP’s capabilities and deliver innovation faster. Modernization can happen incrementally – process by process, app by app – with full governance and security. 

3. Include non-SAP applications in a unfied user experience 

Whilst SAP is likely the core of your business, it’s probably not the only application that is used in your company. Look for opportunities to unify the user experience for business processes that span multiple applications to make the life of the business user better, remove bottlenecks and make them more productive. And happy! 

4. Prepare for AI-Led Operations 

AI can’t transform what it can’t access. Start connecting your SAP data to intelligent systems now. Tools like Naia for Business make it possible to embed AI safely and securely into your existing workflows – bringing intelligence to where your business already runs.

Conclusion: The Future of SAP Is Collaborative 

The future isn’t SAP versus modern systems. It’s SAP plus intelligent, flexible, AI-driven experiences that empower every user – from the field technician to the finance analyst. 

SAP will remain the enterprise backbone. But with the right approach, CIOs can make that backbone agile, connected, and ready for the next decade.

See for Yourself Today! 

Want to see how a modern user experience looks like based on SAPUI5? 

We have released The World’s First Prompt-to-Low-Code Experience for SAP Apps. 

Checkout yourself, choose an industry, select the use case, adjust the prompt, generate the application and see a working application in just a few minutes.