SAP Build is being reimagined to enable faster enterprise software and AI agents

AI-powered enhancements for SAP Build platform: SAP is introducing significant artificial intelligence capabilities to its Build platform, aiming to position it as the primary extension solution for all SAP applications.

• The company unveiled an extensibility wizard that provides developers with direct access to SAP Build from S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition, enabling seamless extension of custom fields, business logic, and processes.
• This integration preserves crucial business context, allowing developers to switch between environments without losing important information.
• By the end of 2024, the extensibility wizard will also support the creation of custom SAP Fiori and SAPUI5 applications.

Joule Studio: A dedicated environment for AI copilot skills: SAP plans to release Joule Studio within SAP Build, offering a specialized workspace for businesses to develop and manage custom skills for its AI copilot, Joule.

• Custom skills will extend conversational AI capabilities to organization-specific workflows, complementing Joule’s out-of-the-box functionalities.
• Customers will have the ability to integrate third-party systems into Joule, creating a fully integrated conversational user experience.
• Joule will also be incorporated into SAP Build Work Zone, providing generative AI support for navigating data from connected business systems.

Enhanced developer tools and AI assistance: SAP is introducing new capabilities to support developers working with various programming languages and platforms.

• Code explanation and documentation search features in SAP Build Code will assist Java and JavaScript developers.
• Developers will be able to automate workflows in SAP Build Process Automation with generative AI assistance.
• Early 2025 will see Joule extended to help ABAP developers generate high-quality code and unit tests compliant with SAP’s ABAP Cloud development model.
• Joule will also be capable of generating explanations for legacy code, facilitating the modernization of legacy codebases and migration to a “clean core” ERP system.

Generative AI hub updates and customization: SAP is expanding the capabilities of its generative AI hub to provide developers with more flexibility and power.

• By the end of 2024, developers will be able to customize pre-trained AI models using a guided process to create their own AI-driven applications.
• New SDK support for ABAP, Java, and JavaScript will enable the integration of advanced AI capabilities into web applications.
• The ABAP AI SDK will allow developers to access generative AI hub capabilities from within custom ABAP applications.

Expansion of large language models: SAP is significantly increasing the number of large language models available in its generative AI hub.

• By the end of 2024, the number of available LLMs will increase to more than 30.
• New additions include Aleph Alpha Pharia-1, Amazon Titan Image Generator, IBM Granite, Mistral Large 2, and OpenAI Dall-E 3.

Looking ahead: Implications for SAP ecosystem: These AI-powered enhancements to the SAP Build platform represent a significant step towards more intelligent and efficient enterprise software development.

• The integration of AI capabilities across various SAP tools and environments could potentially streamline development processes and improve productivity for businesses using SAP solutions.
• As SAP continues to expand its AI offerings, it may lead to increased competition in the enterprise software market, potentially driving innovation and improvements across the industry.
• However, the success of these initiatives will likely depend on factors such as ease of adoption, performance of the AI tools in real-world scenarios, and the ability of businesses to effectively leverage these new capabilities within their existing SAP environments.