AWS re:Invent 2025 - Reimagining Business Processes with Joule Agents (AIM107)

Reimagining Business Processes with Joule Agents

Overview of SAP's Business AI Capabilities

• SAP provides a range of business applications across different domains (e.g., HCM, travel, procurement, ERP)
• These applications are embedded with AI features for tasks like document understanding and business OCR
• SAP has gone a step further with "Joule", an AI co-pilot that connects with natural language to business processes

Joule: SAP's AI Co-Pilot

• Joule allows users to interact with business processes using natural language, without needing to understand the underlying systems
• Example: A new hire can use Joule to request vacation time, without having to navigate the HR application
• Joule is built on a foundation of "agents" - specialized AI models that can interact with different business functions

Agents: Connecting Across Business Processes

• Agents are available for various domains like finance, procurement, supply chain, etc.
• Agents can communicate across different business functions, enabling seamless end-to-end processes
• Example: A user can use Joule to find top customers, book travel to visit them, and coordinate with colleagues - all through natural language interactions

Motivating the Need for Agents

• Contrast between manual, step-by-step processes of the past vs. real-time, dynamic processes enabled by agents
• Agents can reason about logical constraints and optimal solutions, going beyond simple task execution

Key Capabilities of Agents

1. Reasoning: Agents can apply logic and learn from data to make informed decisions, going beyond simple task execution
2. Planning: Agents can plan complex, multi-step processes, taking into account factors like availability, inventory, and seasonality
3. Action: Agents can not only plan, but also take actions to execute business processes

Pre-Built Agents

• SAP currently has 40 pre-built agents available, with 15 more planned by the end of the year
• Examples:
  • Catalog Optimization Agent: Reduces time to update product catalogs by 70% and asset maintenance by 65%
  • Accruals Agent: Reduces time to calculate accruals by 80% and review/post entries by 50%

Developing Custom Agents with Joule Studio

• Joule Studio allows users to build their own custom agents, extending SAP's pre-built capabilities
• Demonstration of building a Logistics Agent in Joule Studio, including defining inputs, outputs, and a workflow
• Custom agents can be integrated with SAP's agent ecosystem, enabling cross-agent collaboration

Agent Interoperability and the Agent Ecosystem

• SAP supports interoperability with third-party agents through standards like MCP and task handover
• Agents can collaborate with each other, iterating on tasks and exchanging information
• Example: A CRM agent can hand off a travel booking request to a Concur agent, with the agents negotiating and finalizing the booking

Managing the Agent "Zoo"

• Challenges of managing a growing number of agents, both internal and external
• SAP's "Lean Agent Hub" provides a centralized interface to discover, access, and monitor agents
• AI Assistants help scope down the relevant agents based on user context and persona

Accelerating Agent Development with SAP and AWS

• SAP and AWS offer a collaborative program to help customers accelerate the development and adoption of agents
• The program provides a structured 5-phase process, from exploration to implementation, with access to SAP's Generative AI Hub and AWS capabilities
• Funding and technical support are available to help customers get started quickly

Additional SAP Capabilities

• ABAP AI Model: A fine-tuned language model for SAP's domain-specific programming language, available in the Generative AI Hub
• Code Migration Agent: Leverages the ABAP AI Model to assist with migrating custom code
• Prompt Optimization Service: Helps optimize prompts across different language models for consistent performance
• Joule Integration with Microsoft 365 Copilot: Enables seamless access to agents from productivity tools

Advancing Agent-Based Business Processes

• Agents can now handle more complex, multi-step processes by leveraging "deep research" capabilities
• Example: Agents can coordinate travel plans, customer visits, and employee schedules to optimize a business trip

Key Takeaways

1. SAP's Joule agents provide a natural language interface to connect users with business processes, enabling more intuitive and efficient interactions.
2. Agents can reason about logical constraints, plan complex multi-step workflows, and take actions to execute business tasks, going beyond simple task execution.
3. Joule Studio allows users to build custom agents, extending SAP's pre-built capabilities and enabling cross-agent collaboration.
4. SAP supports agent interoperability through standards like MCP, allowing agents from different systems to work together seamlessly.
5. SAP and AWS offer a collaborative program to help customers accelerate the development and adoption of agents, providing technical and financial support.
6. SAP is continuously enhancing its agent capabilities, including fine-tuned language models, code migration assistance, and deep research to handle complex, multi-step business processes.