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The model was never the hard part.
New SAPinsider research reveals why AI adoption in the SAP ecosystem is stalling, and what the organizations actually moving forward have in common.
74%
of SAP customers still in early AI adoption phases
63%
cite accuracy and reliability as their top AI concern
39%
see low-code platforms as core to governing AI output
Five findings every SAP leader needs to see.
- 1. AI adoption is earlier than the headlines suggest: 74% of SAP customers are still identifying use cases or in experimentation. The Autonomous Suite timeline is 2 to 3 years out. Now is the time to get the execution layer right.
- 2. Workflow automation is where value actually lands: Workflow automation and task routing lead the value rankings at 30%. The use cases that pay off are the ones that run inside real processes, not in sandboxes.
- 3. Governance is the blocker, not the AI itself: 63% flag accuracy and reliability. 59% flag data leakage and GDPR compliance. The governance stack has to come before production scale-up.
- 4. SAP-aligned access control is the top security requirement: 49% of organizations require role-based access control that maps to SAP authorizations. AI agents operate on the same data. The same rules must apply.
- 5. Low-code platforms are the execution layer of choice: 39% of respondents already see low-code and no-code platforms as core or important to turning AI output into governed business applications.
- + Plus: three required actions from SAPinsider: Research Director Robert Holland maps the exact sequence organizations need to follow to move from pilot to production without losing governance control.
Independent. Rigorous. Sponsored by Neptune.
This SAPinsider Spotlight Series report was authored by Research Director Robert Holland, based on primary survey data collected across April and May 2026. The study covers AI adoption patterns, governance readiness, integration approaches, and the role of execution platforms in SAP-centric enterprises.
Neptune Software sponsored the research. The findings and analysis are SAPinsider's own. The Neptune perspective appears in a clearly labeled section at the end of the report.
"The use cases that pay off are the ones that get deployed and run as part of a real process. The ones that stall share a quieter trait. AI produces an output, and then there is no safe, native path to turn that output into something the business can run inside SAP."
Robert Holland, Research Director, SAPinsider
Governance is not bolted on. It is inherited.
Neptune DXP runs inside SAP, not alongside it. Applications and agents execute against the customer's own data and business logic, carrying the existing role and authorization model with them.
- SAP-native execution: Neptune is part of the SAP application layer. No middleware, no data copies, no new attack surface. AI runs where the data lives.
- AI agents with SAP authority: AI Agent Studio and MCP Designer for SAP Joule let agents plan and act on SAP data inside defined guardrails, with full authorization model inheritance.
- Pilot to production without the risk: Clean-core compliant by design. ISO/IEC 42001:2023 certified for AI management systems. 850+ customers, 4M+ licensed users worldwide.
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