SAP is expanding its efforts to collaborate with partners and customers on industry-specific AI solutions
Enterprises across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia have made impressive strides in preparing for effective use of Business AI, a YouGov survey commissioned by SAP shows. The results, which were shared at this year’s LEAP event held in Riyadh, will be used to inform SAP’s efforts to expand collaboration with customers and partners in the Kingdom to create industry-specific AI solutions and use cases at its Experience Innovation Center in Al Khobar in the Eastern province.
The survey examined several key factors for effective AI implementation including whether companies are operating their core business functions on the cloud, the extent of existing AI implementations, the quality of business data available, and the AI expertise of staff. Significantly, 75% of the Saudi enterprises surveyed are already hosting their core business processes on the cloud, with a further 22% planning to do so within the next 15 months.
Hosting enterprise resource planning solutions on the cloud maximizes the effectiveness of AI thanks to real-time data access, scalable computing power and the ability to integrate advanced AI models seamlessly into business processes.
Another pertinent finding was that 64% of Saudi enterprises stated they were highly confident of the quality of their data, while a further 32% describe themselves as ‘somewhat confident’. Having accessible, high-quality data is important as AI systems rely on data to learn patterns, make decisions, and generate reliable and actionable insights.
Business AI
“It is very encouraging to think that around 96% of these companies will be hosting core business functions on the cloud by the end of next year. SAP customers moving to the cloud immediately benefit from the cutting-edge Business AI infused in our cloud solutions,” stated Ahmed AlFaifi, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, SAP, Middle East Africa–North.
“However, it is important to see higher confidence in data quality, which is enabled through implementing solutions such as SAP S/4HANA for enterprise resource planning. The result is clean, organized data that allows AI algorithms to forecast demand accurately, streamline supply chains, and enable AI models to be fair and unbiased, among other things,” he continued.
Companies do, however, face some challenges in broader implementation of AI across business functions. The most cited of these were the associated costs (51%), lack of skilled personnel (47%), integration with existing systems (42%) and privacy and security concerns (41%).
Accessibility
In discussing these challenges, AlFaifi highlighted how embedded AI solutions were helping to make the power of AI accessible to everyone, as well as SAP’s role in delivering training in Business AI.
The SAP Experience & Innovation Center, which opened in Khobar in 2024, serves as a pivotal platform for fostering a vibrant community of development and co-innovation. Designed to empower individuals and organizations to collectively tackle operational challenges and drive incremental business value across various industries, custom-tailored to the Saudi market, the center brings together SAP global and regional experts, local businesses, startups, and partners in a collaborative environment.
