How autonomous are AI agents and how should companies deal with them? We discuss this question with Jonathan von Rueden at SAP Now in Rotterdam.
Technological innovation occasionally leads to major shifts: the internet, the smartphone… and now AI. But according to Jonathan von Rueden, Head of AI Innovation at SAP, the rise of artificial intelligence brings something else with it: not just disruption, but also self-disruption.
“Every technological wave creates disruption, but with AI, the impact is more profound,” he says. “When companies completely redesign their way of working, they must proceed carefully. Only then can they innovate faster than their competitors.”
According to Von Rueden, it’s not about abruptly phasing out functions. Organizations must primarily be more flexible and be able to adapt processes and roles faster than the competition. “And AI is the catalyst that makes that possible. It forces companies to think about which functions and tasks can be performed faster, smarter, or completely differently.”
AI is the catalyst for self-reinvention.
Jonathan von Rueden, Head of AI Innovation SAP
AI Agents as the Centerpiece of the Strategy
SAP focuses on three core pillars. The first is implementing basic AI agents in all key business processes. “That is our highest priority: to integrate standard AI agents into all our processes, enabling companies to perform their activities partly autonomously.”
However, full autonomy is not yet for tomorrow. “Companies will give AI agents more independence, but never without supervision.” Nevertheless, SAP already sees possibilities for systems to independently execute transactions within safe limits. “Imagine an external system independently placing orders within agreed parameters. Then companies are essentially doing business directly via AI.”
Engaging with Data – and Building Agents Together
The second pillar involves expanding the capabilities of SAP Business Data Cloud, a new integrated data environment that supports an open ecosystem. “Current LLMs cannot yet handle enormous amounts of shared data well. That needs to improve.”
In addition, customers increasingly want to ‘talk to their data’. “We literally get the question whether they can converse with their SAP application or data.”
Finally, the third pillar is co-creation. “We need to sit down with our customers and build together.”
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AI Embedded in the Application Itself
Furthermore, SAP is strongly committed to embedded AI, meaning AI that is directly built into the applications customers use daily. “That ensures a better user experience,” Von Rueden emphasizes. “No hassle with copying and pasting or switching between apps. AI must live within the existing interface, not in separate tools.”
Where SAP started with simple AI functionalities, it is now working on intelligent embedded agents that understand and execute complete business processes. “Tasks are becoming increasingly complex, which is why we are introducing agents that can perform more advanced actions.” This makes AI not only more accessible to users but also more valuable to organizations.
Impact above all Else
Although ROI is on everyone’s lips, many companies struggle with selecting the right use cases. “Many initiatives are small or too complex for a limited return. Companies must select more strictly based on impact.”
Sometimes IT departments also retain too much control. But internally, Von Rueden sees the opposite: “We actually encourage colleagues to develop AI agents themselves – essential for understanding the technology. Some experiments don’t make it to production, but the ideas are often brilliant. And furthermore, that’s how you learn to develop an AI agent. Generally, if the tools are simple, great things happen.”
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What will the future bring?
According to Von Rueden, companies will deploy AI agents to take over functions or sub-processes, but not immediately fully autonomously in critical processes. “Many customers have already migrated to SAP S/4HANA in recent years. As a result, embedded AI agents will soon be easily accessible, and cloud customers will be able to innovate much faster.”
Ultimately, AI agents will perform tasks such as order processing or handling emails – but always with human oversight. “We’re not there yet, but it’s in the pipeline: a completely new form of B2B integration.”
Self-reinvention as a Necessity
Von Rueden therefore considers AI not as a gimmick, but as a catalyst for self-reinvention. “SAP wants to integrate AI as deeply as possible into processes, data, and interfaces, so that it evolves from a tool into a full-fledged agent within business processes.”
Will AI agents quickly become commonplace? According to SAP, yes. As companies adopt them more frequently, it seems inevitable that AI agents will take over certain tasks and enable new forms of collaboration.