Today at SAP Sapphire, we announced plans to bring our generative AI copilot Joule together with Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365.

SAP Sapphire: Taking Business to the Next Level in the Era of AI

The deep bi-directional integration will allow employees to get more done in the flow of their work through seamless access to information from interactions with business applications in SAP, as well as Microsoft 365.

I often get asked the question, “How many copilots do I need for my business?”

The answer is not about how many, but which you use when.

By integrating two of the leading generative AI copilots for business, users can use both simultaneously to get work done. And future plans for bi-directional integration will allow users to benefit from one experience, no matter which copilot they use.

“Unlocking the massive potential AI has to offer requires capabilities that are high value, reliable, and available in-context in the applications that people use today,” said Muhammad Alam, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE and head of SAP Product Engineering. With the bi-directional integration of Joule and Copilot for Microsoft 365, we’re enabling employees to get more done in the flow of their work through seamless access to information from business applications in SAP as well as Microsoft 365.” 

“Microsoft and SAP are committed to providing world-class solutions to help our customers solve their most fundamental business challenges,” said Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of Cloud + AI at Microsoft. “The integration of Microsoft Copilot and Joule brings together the power of generative AI to unlock greater employee productivity and will enable enterprises to accelerate customer-centric innovation in a unified experience.”

SAP and Microsoft will start integrating their Joule and Copilot for Microsoft 365 later this year, combining enterprise data residing in SAP with contextual knowledge from Microsoft 365, including Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Word, and more, delivering richer insights for better decision-making. 

With this integration, SAP and Microsoft are creating entirely new ways to boost productivity.

For example, by bringing Copilot for Microsoft 365 into Joule, a user can book a flight using SAP Concur and Joule, and Joule can block their calendar in Microsoft Outlook.

Or, consider a product manager working on a new product launch with a cross-functional team: they have regular meetings on Microsoft Teams and collaborate with Microsoft 365. Joule can connect to the team’s individual skill profiles stored in SAP SuccessFactors software and core business information that resides in SAP S/4HANA Cloud. The new integration enables product managers to coordinate business activities with the team, simply by using a few queries.

Today’s collaboration, as well as the three new AI SAP BTP regions announced last week, is the next step in a long-standing partnership between SAP and Microsoft, using the latest in enterprise-ready generative AI innovation to help solve customers’ most fundamental business challenges.


Philipp Herzig is chief artificial intelligence officer of SAP.

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