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Recent weeks have brought major advances across AI and ERP

AI is accelerating: Time to reassess your ERP strategy to improve business value

Article
12 minute read
22 Jun 2026

A new chapter is unfolding in how ERP and AI combine to drive business value. SAP, the big tech players, and leading professional services firms are placing AI agents at the heart of this transformation. SAP recently announced its Autonomous Enterprise concept, built on an entirely new business AI platform architecture. At the same time, big tech is scaling up computing power at an unprecedented pace. Together, these shifts set a clear direction for the near future. AI is fundamentally reshaping how organisations design, implement, and operate their IT architecture and business processes. Now is the decisive moment to reassess your ERP strategy. The goal is no longer simply to complete an S/4HANA transformation. It is to move beyond ERP and lay the foundation for AI-native business operations.

Key points

Latest AI developments are changing the role of ERP from a transactional backbone to the “brain” of an increasingly autonomous enterprise.
A clean S/4HANA core, lean IT architecture, and strong master data governance are key prerequisites for scalable AI value.
AI agents can help increase real-time transparency, enhance process automation, reduce complexity and improve flexibility.
New AI-enabled implementation methods can reduce required project FTEs by up to 35% and decrease implementation timelines by up to 40%.
Whether you are already live, currently implementing, or not yet started, now is the time to reassess your S/4HANA strategy.

The latest AI developments fundamentally change the way ERP systems provide business value and how they are deployed

AI is transforming S/4HANA in two dimensions at once: what companies can achieve with their ERP landscape – and how they implement it.

On the value side, AI-enabled ERP architecture unlocks new opportunities for transparency, automation and decision support. AI agents analyse exceptions, support planning, accelerate reporting and take over scalable processes in your core business – driving faster insights and more flexible operating models.

On the delivery side, AI accelerates S/4HANA transformations: from as-is analysis and custom code review to specification, testing, training and error resolution. According to recent SAP announcements and our own experience, AI-enabled methodologies can reduce project FTEs by up to 35% and shorten timelines by up to 40% – a unique opportunity to rethink both the ambition and execution of S/4HANA programmes.

ERP is the brain to run an Autonomous Enterprise

For decades, ERP has been the operational backbone of the enterprise – standardising processes and serving as the reliable system of record across core business functions.

The next wave of value, however, won't come from the ERP alone. It will come from combining a clean ERP core with an AI agent network that automates processes, interprets data and supports business decisions across the enterprise.

SAP's vision of “The Autonomous Enterprise: AI-Native Business Operations” reflects this shift: ERP becomes the brain of the autonomous enterprise – working best with a modern IT landscape, standardised core processes and a contingent data model.

The strategic question is therefore no longer “How do we implement S/4HANA?” but “How do we design an S/4HANA ecosystem that unlocks business value in the age of AI?”

Fundamentals to unlock full value realisation

The key to unlocking more value from S/4HANA lies in combining a strong ERP foundation with a tailored AI agent network. This approach starts with the basics – but it doesn't stop there.

The essential foundation consists of four elements:

Clean core
A clean S/4HANA core reduces unnecessary customisation and creates the flexibility to adopt innovation faster.

Lean IT architecture
A simplified architecture reduces complexity, improves integration and enables scalable AI use cases across business functions.

High master data quality
Reliable, well-governed data is essential for meaningful automation, analytics and AI-supported decision-making.

AI agent platform
An AI agent platform that governs the reasoning and qualification of information by agents, the execution of actions, and compliance and auditability.

With these basics in place, companies can build a powerful combination: an ERP brain that provides structure, governance and transactional integrity, and an AI agent network that drives automation, insights and flexibility across the process landscape.

The transformation paradox: higher impact, easier delivery

Even as SAP's architecture and process design change more fundamentally than ever, implementation is becoming markedly faster and more standardised. A comprehensive set of native AI tools, covering migration, configuration, testing, and custom code transformation is embedded in our delivery approach.

AI in delivery is not a future scenario: we are already leveraging these tools in current S/4HANA programmes. Combining them with our in-depth functional and industry expertise, we turn what once were manual, high-risk transformations into faster, AI-accelerated journeys with significantly reduced effort and risk.

A compelling example is our ERP Process Composer, which combines SAP standards with industry best practices to translate your business requirements into a tailored solution design.

What our clients are asking and what really matters

In our work with clients across industries, four themes consistently shape the path forward, from real-time transparency to workforce adoption. Expand each to explore what matters and where to start.

From retrospective reporting to forward-looking insight.

AI-enabled S/4HANA architectures significantly improve the speed, flexibility, and quality of reporting. Instead of predefined dashboards or manual analysis, AI detects patterns, explains deviations and supports decisions in real time.

This is especially relevant for finance, supply chain and operational performance management – moving leaders from retrospective reporting to forward-looking insight, with S/4HANA as the trusted data foundation.

The result isn't more information. It's better transparency: faster, more contextual, and closer to the decisions that matter.

Automate the repetitive, focus on the valuable.

Many ERP processes still involve manual checks, repetitive tasks and exception handling. Connected to a clean S/4HANA core, AI agents can automate or support these activities – from issue detection and guided error resolution to workflow support, data migration and testing.

The result: lower process costs, higher quality, and more time for higher-value work. But AI agents must be aligned with the enterprise process model, data governance and IT architecture, which is where industry-specific process know-how becomes critical.

Clean core and best-of-breed satellite systems with a strong governance.

AI increases the need for architectural discipline. Without a clean core and lean architecture, companies risk adding complexity instead of reducing it.

A future-ready S/4HANA architecture defines which capabilities belong in the ERP core, which extensions sit outside it, and where AI agents create the highest value.

The goal isn't to add AI everywhere, it's to build a scalable architecture in which AI delivers measurable value without compromising stability, compliance or maintainability.

AI provides the capability, people create the impact.

The move beyond ERP isn't only a technology shift. It changes how people work with systems, processes and data, with employees increasingly interacting with AI that analyses, automates and recommends.

To capture the value, organisations need to build trust in AI-supported processes, define clear responsibilities, train employees in new ways of working and empower teams to identify practical use cases.

AI provides the capability, but people turn it into impact.

Meet our senior experts to explore how to move beyond ERP with SAP S/4HANA and AI

We can help you assess your current S/4HANA strategy, identify value potential, review your target architecture and define a practical roadmap for AI-enabled ERP business value.

Frequently asked questions

“Beyond ERP” means using S/4HANA not only as a transactional system, but as the foundation for AI-enabled business operations, automation and real-time decision support combining ERP with an AI agent network.

A clean core reduces complexity and makes it easier to adopt innovation, integrate AI capabilities and scale process improvements without creating unnecessary technical debt.

Yes. AI can support system analysis, specification generation, testing, training, data migration, error handling and project management, helping reduce effort and timelines.

Yes. Companies already live on S/4HANA can assess unrealised value potential and define where AI can improve transparency, automation, cost efficiency and flexibility.

Companies should start with a focused assessment of their S/4HANA landscape, business value potential, clean core maturity, data governance and possible AI use cases.

The authors

Moritz Wewer

Partner, PwC Germany

Stephan Kerner

Partner, PwC Germany

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