Peter Warren

SAP clients are excited about AI , but too many expect too much. Here, the value of SAP consultants lies in showing what SAP AI can (and can’t) deliver, in the context of their business. Here are some practical ways to educate and advise clients on SAP AI: 🤔👇 🚫 Explain what AI won’t deliver Clients may expect full autonomy or flawless accuracy. Counter this by setting limits. AI supports humans, it doesn’t replace them, so design escalation paths when AI has low confidence. This ensures reliability and trust. 📊 Clarify the business goal Ask: what problem are we solving? AI in SAP should tie to specific outcomes like reducing cycle times or improving forecast accuracy. 📏 Link AI to measurable KPIs Define clear before-and-after metrics. If success isn’t measured in business terms, trust in AI fades. 🔍 Audit embedded AI already licensed Many clients already have AI in S/4HANA, and other SAP solutions. Revealing this “hidden value” builds credibility and quick wins. 🗣️ Communicate in plain English Explain SAP AI as “a new colleague”, fast, tireless, but still needing training and oversight. Present outcomes in business terms. 🤖 Joule as a copilot Frame SAP Joule as an assistant: surfacing insights, suggesting actions, and saving time. It guides, but humans stay accountable. 🗺️ Map interventions inside processes AI doesn’t run entire workflows. It intervenes in specific steps like invoice clearing or ticket categorization where automation saves effort. 🧹 Stress the role of master data AI amplifies data quality, good or bad. Clean, consistent master data is a prerequisite for trustworthy results. 📉 Set data quality thresholds before go-live Agree minimum standards for completeness and accuracy. Without this, AI outputs will frustrate users. 🛡️ Highlight security and compliance guardrails Reassure clients that SAP AI respects regulations. Show how prompts, logs, and approvals are controlled. 📈 Show clients how to scale responsibly Expansion should follow success criteria: proven outcomes, adoption, and data readiness, not hype. ⚖️ Differentiate high-value vs. high-risk AI ideas Steer clients away from attractive but impractical scenarios, focusing instead on proven, lower-risk use cases. 📜 Treat prompts and models as enterprise assets Prompts must be versioned, tested, and portable. Managed well, they become long-term IP, not one-off experiments. The role of SAP consultants is changing. Clients don’t just need implementation, they need educators, advisors, and translators who can guide them through AI-powered transformations. How are you educating your clients about SAP AI? Share your experiences in the comments below ⬇️ #IgniteSAP #SAPCommunity

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State of the Nation - SAP ECC vs. S/4HANA version split by number of clients. Here were are at the tail end of 2025, and this suggests ECC very much still rules the roost, as well over 50% of customers continue to nest there. Excellent analysis, courtesy of David Lees at Basis Technologies

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What most clients get wrong when hiring niche SAP talent... You’ve got a critical SAP role open You send the JD to recruiters… and wait. The CVs that come in? Either too generic or don’t match at all. Here’s why: Too many specs describe the system, not the person. ❌ “Must have COPA, asset accounting, costing, interfaces…” ✅ “Needs to advise finance stakeholders, handle multi-entity setups, and work in a lean SAP team.” Good candidates don’t engage with a list of transactions. They engage with a story they can see themselves in. How to fix it: ✔ Focus on 2 to 3 key skills that actually matter ✔ Show what’s interesting about the role, not just the tech ✔ Move quickly when someone hits 80% - unicorns don’t apply Struggling to hire in SAP? Happy to sense-check your approach.

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Who Really Runs SAP Projects? (Hint: It is Not on the Org Chart). I learned this the hard way while directing a brownfield S/4HANA conversion across 5 countries. On paper, we were golden: Clean core strategy? ✅ Fiori dashboards? ✅ Process redesigns? ✅ Yet… every Fit-to-Standard workshop kept getting mysteriously derailed. 📞 Project Status Call: Me: “So this redesign is good to go, right?” Finance Lead: “Well… not until Vinod gives the nod.” Me: “Vinod? He is not even on the stakeholder list.” Finance Lead: “Exactly. But he is on everyone’s speed dial.” That exchange said it all. Why were decisions stalling? Because Vinod, the finance ninja two levels down, was not in the room. And everyone refused to proceed until they knew what Vinod thought. “Has Vinod seen this yet?” became the question of the day. That is when it hit me. We were not dealing with one org chart; we had two: ·        The official org chart: neat lines and lofty titles. ·        The shadow org chart: where influence truly lives. (Spoiler: Vinod was the star here.) So, I made it my mission to find these “quiet influencers,” the unofficial SAP Avengers who actually ran the show behind the scenes. 🎯 My Playbook: Pre-Wiring Consensus Here is what I did to pre-wire consensus before the big meetings: ·        Mapped the informal power network: I identified the analysts, planners, and supervisors who were not on the formal escalation path but were definitely on the approval path. ·        1:1 pre-meeting: I met them individually before every workshop. I shared early solution drafts and asked the golden question, “Will this make your life easier, or will it blow up your month-end close?” ·        Built an informal advisory squad:  I called them my “pre-alignment panel” (unofficial title, disproportionate influence 😄). They stress-tested ideas before the formal reviews. ✅ The Outcome? By the time we reached the steering committee, guess what? Consensus was not managed in the room; it was already engineered in the hallways. The results were dramatic: ·        No more ambush objections in meetings. ·        No post-meeting escalations or surprise vetoes. ·        And yes, Vinod became my best friend and unofficial project sponsor. 🧠 Lesson for SAP Leaders: If you are only working with the official org chart, you are playing chess blindfolded. To lead successful SAP transformations, do not just manage stakeholders; pre-align the ones who really matter, even if they do not have a fancy title. In S/4HANA programs, influence is not always at the top. It often lives two levels down, wearing a headset, sipping tea, and quietly approving your future. #SAP #S4HANA #CleanCore #SAPLeadership #DigitalTransformation #SAPProgramDirector #StakeholderManagement #ERPTransformation #ChangeLeadership #PreAlignment #EnterpriseIT #SAPRecruiting #ShadowOrg #SAPHumor

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60% of SAP projects fail. Here's why (and how to fix it): The problems I see over and over: • Messy data going in = messy system coming out • Too much customization when standard SAP would work fine • Users get zero training, then wonder why adoption is terrible • Unrealistic timelines set by people who've never done this before What actually works: • Clean your data first • Use vanilla SAP whenever possible • Train your people properly • Set realistic expectations Most failures aren't technical. They're human. #SAP #ERP #ProjectManagement

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Trying to hire SAP Professionals on Fixed-term contracts? Here’s the reality, SAP transformations are high-stakes, high-skill programs. Yet too many organisations still hit the market expecting world-class consultants to jump at fixed-term roles that offer little flexibility and even less appeal. The best SAP talent aren't sitting around waiting for fixed-term contracts. They’re: ✔️ In demand across multiple clients ✔️ Running their own independent consulting practices ✔️ Partnering with firms that can deliver speed, scale, and depth of capability The result of ignoring this? ❌ Slow hiring cycles ❌ Mismatched expectations ❌ Missed deadlines and underwhelming program outcomes If your SAP program really matters, treat it that way. Invest in the right expertise, not the cheapest resourcing option. In SAP, the cost of getting it wrong is far greater than the cost of getting it right.

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