SAP identifies five AI themes that will shape 2025, as enterprises pivot towards practical AI applications, anticipating tangible returns on investments As technology providers pivot from crafting general-purpose tools to deploying specific business applications, enterprises are eagerly anticipating returns on their AI investments following years of experimental groundwork. Globally, giants like SAP, Oracle and Microsoft are weaving AI functionalities into their core offerings. This strategy is supported by a prediction from IDC, which estimates that by 2025, global expenditure on AI technologies will hit US$337bn, largely funnelled towards operational applications rather than just research. The mounting pressure on tech enterprises to manifest tangible business value through AI deployments has spurred major software firms to craft AI systems tailored for a maturing marketplace, where practical usage overshadows technological experimentation. According to SAP, the year 2025 is critical, showcasing prominent shifts in five essential domains: autonomous AI agents, specialised AI models, adoption patterns in enterprises, user interface innovations and adherence to regulatory measures. The rise of autonomous AI The evolution of AI agents is accelerating, advancing from mere document retrieval functions to orchestrating complex business operations.
These agents ensure seamless automation of formerly daunting tasks like handling exceptions in customer service and administrative functions. Vastly superior to traditional robotic process automation (RPA), these agents provide a nuanced approach to intricate challenges, reacting autonomously to fluctuations in demand or supply chain disruptions, thereby driving efficiency without human intervention. Specialisation in AI models The terrain of LLMs is stabilising, with standardised models gaining prominence for basic text generation and concurrently, there’s a surge in crafting bespoke models tailored for specific tasks. For instance, Knowledge graphs which chart the interrelations among data points, are finding renewed interest for enhancing the precision of AI systems.
AI Officer EMEA at SAP, Jesper Schleimann
As SAP’s AI Officer EMEA, Jesper Schleimann elaborates in a LinkedIn post: “2025 will be a transition year for AI as we move from AI pilots to wider scale adoption. This will also require a greater focus on how we adjust our organizations to this new way of value creation.”
The user experience AI’s integration into enterprise software is revolutionising user interactions, potentially leading to AI copilots that could one day replace conventional user interfaces. This transformation champions a more integrated, collaborative intelligence where human expertise and AI capabilities merge, necessitating novel training methodologies and metrics..
“AI won’t be limited to one app; it might even replace them one day. With AI, frontend, backend, browser and apps are blurring,” according to the report. Regulatory compliance Moreover, with the global scene of AI regulation remaining fragmented, firms are taking proactive steps by instituting internal safety and ethical guidelines while the industry gravitates towards debating AI’s broader societal roles rather than mere technicalities. “The discussion will shift from what we try to regulate from a technical standpoint to how we innovate and what we deem fundamentally human,” the report concludes. “I believe adoption will be the hardest to tackle”, Jesper adds. “My advice to get started: begin the education early to prepare the grounds, establish a safe AI space for your organisation to try it out and scale adoption by integrating AI in business processes to ensure user acceptance at scale.”
