Objective
In this video Sebastian Steinhaeuser, Chief Operating Officer for SAP, outlines SAP’s vision for the agentic AI era, introducing the concept of the "Autonomous Enterprise" — where AI agents manage end-to-end business processes in real time. Sebastian highlights SAP’s unique strengths in deep process & industry knowledge, semantically rich business data and enterprise-grade governance, and presents a five-pillar strategy to help customers unlock AI value at scale.
Today, most enterprises operate through fragmented systems, processes, and reports. In Supply Chain Management, for example, this fragmentation leads to reactive operations: disruptions are addressed only after they occur, and every functional hand-off introduces delay. Planning passes to procurement, procurement to manufacturing, manufacturing to logistics – slowing response at every step.
Daily work is dominated by routine transactions such as placing orders, checking inventory, moving goods, and running quality checks, while performance is reviewed quarterly and targets are set annually. Leaders are left to reconstruct reality from disconnected data sources, long after decisions should have been made.
As SAP, we will now change the future of how a business runs. Our answer: The Autonomous Enterprise.
The Autonomous Enterprise is a vision. That means we don't 'SELL' an Autonomous Enterprise; it isn't the new name for our portfolio. Rather, our portfolio has evolved to deliver on this vision and help every customer realize the benefits of becoming an Autonomous Enterprise.
Here is how it works: An Autonomous Enterprise runs on AI assistants and agents who manage and execute end-to-end processes and tasks. In the Autonomous Enterprise, AI does the busy work, so people spend less time navigating systems and coordinating work, and more time focusing on strategic tasks and decisions that truly move the business.
The Autonomous Enterprise does not imply removing humans from the loop. It means enabling agents to execute processes proactively within defined boundaries, while involving humans at the right moments for oversight, judgment, and control.
Work is executed across one connected, adaptive, real-time system. Signals in one area trigger immediate, coordinated responses across all affected domains. Demand changes no longer wait for planning cycles, they automatically drive production adjustments, inventory reallocation, and procurement actions. AI agents continuously sense demand shifts, supplier risks, and capacity constraints, simulate scenarios, and optimize processes as operations run.
All of this is possible through process and industry context embedded and encoded from day one. Governance is integrated to manage the full AI lifecycle securely and reliably.
The result is a business that responds faster, operates smarter, and performs better by design.
The Autonomous Enterprise is SAP’s vision for the future of how a business runs: An AI‑driven enterprise where assistants and agents execute end‑to‑end processes, reduce manual coordination, and enable people to focus on strategic decisions - while humans remain in control.