Feeling swamped with too much data and slow processes? Picture this: Your ERP software becoming a crystal ball, predicting trends, doing tasks automatically, and uncovering hidden insights using the magic of AI. That’s where SAP AI Services comes in – your key to making smarter decisions and simplifying how things run.
Forget about boring tasks and say hello to being more proactive. It’s not some far-fetched idea; it’s the future of business, and it’s ready for you now. Get ready to explore the cool world of SAP AI and see how it can make your company way better, step by step.
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SAP AI Services
SAP AI Services is a suite of artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities offered by SAP. It enables businesses to incorporate advanced analytics and predictive capabilities into their ERP business processes and applications.
By democratizing access to leading-edge AI, SAP AI Services aims to help companies become intelligent enterprises that can leverage data and algorithms to drive better decisions, boost efficiency, and create innovative products and services.
Following is the list of SAP AI services readily available for customers to start their intelligent enterprise journey.
- Business Entity Recognition
- Data Attribute Recommendation
- Document Information Extraction
- Personalized Recommendation
Let’ s dive into each of these SAP AI services and how you can leverage these AI services in SAP S/4HANA business process.
1. Business Entity Recognition
Business Entity Recognition (BER) is an AI service offered by SAP that helps you identify and categorize specific entities within unstructured text data. It uses machine learning to automatically tag things like:
- People names (e.g., customer names, employees)
- Organizations (e.g., suppliers, competitors)
- Locations (e.g., cities, countries, addresses)
- Dates and times
- Products and services
- Amounts and currencies
Benefits
- Efficient handling of large text volumes: Automates information extraction, saving time and resources.
- Improved data quality: Ensures consistent and accurate identification of entities.
- Reduced manual work: Frees up human employees for more strategic tasks.
Features
- Pre-trained models: Out-of-the-box recognition of common business entities.
- Custom models: Train models specific to your organization’s needs.
Applications
- Extracting information from emails and documents: Automate tasks like invoice processing, contract analysis, and customer service inquiries.
- Enriching existing data: Add information tags to data sets for better analysis and reporting.
- Compliance and risk management: Identify entities of interest in documents for audits and regulatory checks.
Important
- Consider factors like data quality and technical limitations before implementing BER.
Here are some business use cases specific to SAP S/4HANA business processes where you can apply the “Business Entity Recognition (BER)” AI service:
Financial processes:
- Automatic invoice processing: Extract data like supplier name, invoice number, and amount from scanned invoices for faster processing and payment.
- Contract analysis: Identify key dates, clauses, and obligations within contracts to streamline approvals and manage risks.
- Financial statement analysis: Analyze unstructured financial reports for trends and insights, supporting informed decision-making.
Supply chain management processes:
- Purchase order processing: Extract supplier information, product details, and delivery terms from purchase orders for efficient procurement.
- Shipment tracking: Identify key entities like shipment status, location, and ETA from tracking information for proactive logistics management.
- Customs document processing: Extract relevant data from customs documents to expedite clearance and reduce delays.
2. Data Attribute Recommendation
Data Attribute Recommendation is an AI service offered by SAP that uses machine learning to classify and predict missing values in your data records. It can handle various data types, including text, numbers, and categories.
Features
- Classification: Categorizes entities like products, stores, and users based on available data.
- Prediction: Estimates missing numerical values (e.g., price) based on other attributes.
- Applications: Integrates with SAP products and can be used for various tasks like:
- Material classification and price estimation
- International trade commodity code prediction
- Data inconsistency resolution
Benefits
- Automates and speeds up data management
- Reduces manual effort and errors
- Improves data consistency and accuracy
Here are some business use cases specific to SAP S/4HANA business processes where you can apply the “Data Attribute Recommendation” AI service:
Finance and Accounting:
- Automated Account Reconciliation: Recommend potential matches for open items based on historical data and transaction patterns, improving reconciliation accuracy and efficiency.
- Fraud Detection in Purchase Orders: Classify purchase orders as high-risk based on supplier information, order characteristics, and historical data, helping prevent fraudulent activity.
- Inventory Valuation Optimization: Predict future inventory values based on market trends and demand forecasts, improving financial reporting accuracy.
Supply Chain Management:
- Supplier Risk Assessment: Classify suppliers based on performance data, financial stability, and quality metrics, informing sourcing decisions and risk mitigation strategies.
- Demand-Driven Material Planning: Recommend production plans and material requirements based on predicted demand and inventory levels, optimizing production scheduling and logistics.
- Transportation Route Optimization: Recommend the most efficient transportation routes for deliveries based on distance, traffic patterns, and vehicle capacity, reducing transportation costs.
3. Document Information Extraction
Document Information Extraction (DIE) is an AI service from SAP that automates extracting key information from business documents, especially those with structured data like headers and tables. It’s designed to:
- Improve efficiency: Process documents faster, with fewer errors and manual effort.
- Enhance quality and compliance: Extract data accurately and consistently, complying with regulations.
- Free up resources: Allow employees to focus on higher-value tasks.
Key Features
- Automated extraction: Pulls data from headers and tables automatically.
- Data enrichment: Links extracted data to existing records for deeper insights.
- Multi-tenancy support: Enables use in shared environments across various departments.
Applications
- Automating invoice processing: Streamlines payment and reconciliation processes.
- Contract analysis: Quickly extracts key terms and conditions.
- Customer service inquiries: Efficiently identifies relevant information from emails and tickets.
- Compliance reporting: Automates data gathering for regulatory requirements.
4. Personalized Recommendation
Personalized Recommendation is an AI service offered by SAP that delivers tailored suggestions to users based on their interaction history and preferences. It utilizes machine learning to understand user behavior and recommend items they’re likely to engage with.
Key features
- Next-item recommendations: Suggest items users might pick next based on their current context and past activities.
- Similar-item recommendations: Offer alternative items matching the one currently viewed.
- Smart search results: Personalize search outcomes based on user input, context, and preferences.
- User-affinity recommendations: Tailoring suggestions to individual user characteristics and preferences.
Benefits
- Enhanced user experience: Increased engagement and satisfaction through relevant recommendations.
- Improved item discovery and conversion: Users easily find desired items, leading to higher conversion rates.
- Business control and KPI alignment: Maintain control over recommendation strategies while focusing on key performance indicators.
Applications
- E-commerce websites: Recommending related products based on browsing history and purchase patterns.
- Content streaming platforms: Suggesting movies or shows based on viewing habits and interests.
- Learning management systems: Recommending personalized learning materials to students.
- Digital assistants: Providing context-aware suggestions based on user interactions.
SAP AI Services Feature Matrix
| Feature | Data Attribute Recommendation | Business Entity Recognition | Document Information Extraction | Personalized Recommendation |
| Environment Availability | Cloud Foundry, Kyma | Cloud Foundry | Cloud Foundry, Kyma | Cloud Foundry |
| Trial Availability | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Multitenancy Support | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| Free Tier Availability | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Key Functionality | Classify & predict data records | Extract entities from text | Automate information extraction from documents | Personalize recommendations based on user behavior |
Tutorials
There are many tutorials available from SAP to follow and get familiar with SAP AI Services APIs and functionalities. You can find the list of available tutorials here.
