SAP and the Shift to Agentic AI: Practical Keys for 2026

Artificial intelligence within SAP is entering a new phase. After several years focused on conversational assistants and support features, attention is now shifting toward a more advanced model: agentic AI. Throughout 2025, SAP introduced capabilities that expand AI’s role beyond user assistance, aiming to enable intelligent systems to execute business actions within defined enterprise processes. This shift marks an important milestone heading into 2026.

From Copilot to Automated Action

In its early stage, Joule established itself as an AI copilot, designed to provide contextual answers, summaries, and recommendations within SAP applications. That approach remains part of the ecosystem, but SAP has broadened its scope to include agents capable of initiating and coordinating tasks.

The difference is significant. While a copilot assists the user, an agent can act within predefined boundaries, interacting with processes, data, and events. This positions AI as an operational component of the system—not just a support interface.

Joule Studio and Process Redesign

One of the most relevant announcements of 2025 was Joule Studio, introduced as the environment for designing and managing agents within the SAP ecosystem. Its primary purpose is to enable the configuration of AI behaviors, rules, and execution flows across business processes.

Joule Studio is positioned as a workspace designed to support:

• The creation of specialized agents by functional area, such as finance, procurement, or human resources.
• The integration of business rules with real-time data and events.
• Process adaptation without relying on complex custom development.

This approach reinforces a clear trend: business processes are evolving toward more dynamic and adaptive models.

Open Architecture and Orchestration

SAP has defined agentic AI as part of an open architecture built on SAP BTP. Agents do not operate in isolation; they interact with SAP applications and external systems through APIs, events, and integration services.

This capability is especially important in hybrid and cloud environments, where automation requires coordination across multiple platforms. Intelligent orchestration of processes and systems thus becomes a central element of the model.

Governance, Security, and Compliance

Introducing agents with the ability to take action brings new challenges. SAP has emphasized that any deployment of agentic AI must be supported by strong governance, security, and traceability mechanisms. Key considerations include:

• Clearly defined permissions and operational boundaries.
• Segregation of duties within automated processes.
• The ability to audit decisions and actions executed by AI.

The maturity of these controls will be critical to long-term adoption.

Organizational and Operational Impact

Beyond technology, agentic AI requires changes in how organizations work. SAP’s proposed model calls for closer collaboration between business and IT teams in the design and oversight of agents. In this context, data quality, clearly defined rules, and continuous monitoring take on a central role.

A Gradual and Controlled Evolution

The move from copilot to agentic AI within SAP does not represent an abrupt break, but rather a gradual evolution. Looking ahead to 2026, the focus is on specific, well-governed use cases where automation delivers operational value without compromising control or compliance. The real challenge will be turning these capabilities into tangible results within a solid, transparent management framework.