Morning Brief — January 18, 2026

Good morning, SAP practitioners. As we hit the ground running in 2026, digital sovereignty and Clean Core strategies are no longer optional—they’re imperatives ahead of S/4HANA migration deadlines. This brief distills today’s critical updates into actionable steps to accelerate your AI scaling, secure data handling, and drive production-ready innovations. Let’s prioritize what moves the needle for your enterprise today.

Platform Updates

SAP’s platform ecosystem is evolving rapidly to support omnichannel operations and AI-embedded ERP. Key highlights include enhancements in SAP Commerce Cloud 2211, which now streamlines customer experience with real-time personalization via embedded Joule AI copilot—reducing cart abandonment by up to 15% in retail pilots. For distributors, SAP Extended Warehouse Management (EWM) 2023 introduces scalable inventory fulfillment with MFS (Material Flow System) optimizations, enabling real-time visibility across 10,000+ SKUs.

Action Items:

• Upgrade SAP Commerce Cloud: If on 2105 or earlier, migrate to 2211 by Q1 end using SAP Help Portal migration guide. Test Joule integrations in your dev tenant today—expect 20% faster order processing.
• Implement SAP EWM real-time dashboards: Deploy the new wave management app in your next sprint; configure via Fiori Launchpad for mobile access. Benchmark against legacy WM to quantify 30% throughput gains.
• Integrate Crescense for SAP AI automations: Start with procurement workflows, piloting in a sandbox to optimize POs by 25%.

These updates align with industry-specific needs, like aerospace via iBASEt Solumina AI modules for manufacturing workflows—provision a trial if in that vertical.

Security & Patches

Digital sovereignty is now a board-level mandate, per recent IBM analysis, emphasizing compliant data handling amid AI regulations like EU AI Act Phase 2 (Digital Sovereignty Is a Board-Level ‘Mandate’ in the AI Era). SAP Automation Pilot v2.0 introduces low-code/no-code builders with natural language prompts for secure AI deployment, fortified by HANA Cloud’s data masking 2.0. JiVS platform patches legacy data silos, enabling Clean Core decoupling without exposure risks.

Immediate Actions:

• Patch SAP Automation Pilot: Apply hotfix 2026-01-15 via SAP Support Portal—scan your estate for vulnerabilities using RAPID DIAGNOSE tool. Test NL prompts in a isolated tenant to ensure governance compliance.
• Audit for sovereignty: Run HANA data residency checks (query SYS.DATA_RESIDENCY_VIEWS); relocate non-EU data by Feb 1. Deploy JiVS connectors for ECC-to-S/4HANA data extraction—target 50% legacy decoupling this quarter.
• Enable AI governance dashboards in SAP Datasphere: Configure row-level security for agentic models today to preempt compliance fines.

Prioritize these to safeguard AI pilots scaling to production.

Community Alerts

Debates in the SAP Community rage on agentic AI funding misalignments, with Workday’s research flagging 40% productivity losses from rework—mirroring SAP gaps in impact measurement. SAP Analytics Cloud (SAC) emerges as the scalable choice over Tableau/Power BI, per benchmarks showing 3x faster SAC story builds (Comparing Data Analytics Software Solutions). Frugal AI wins from Schneider Electric (cost-per-insight under $0.10) and Pure Storage highlight low-code paths; insurance CIOs report 2x faster modernization.

Takeaways & Actions:

• Measure AI ROI rigorously: Adopt SAC’s predictive planning models—build a rework tracker dashboard this week using SAC 2026 Q1 release. Compare baselines to vendor claims.
• Embrace frugal AI: Replicate Schneider’s approach: Prototype 3 agentic workflows in SAP Build Process Automation (no-code edition). Target <10% budget overrun.
• Join SAP Community thread on agentic funding—post your metrics to benchmark against peers.

These insights expose the shift from pilots to production—act now to align budgets.

Development & Tools

Low-code/no-code tools like SAP Build and AI Core are accelerating Clean Core ahead of 2026 S/4HANA deadlines (standard support ends Oct 2027 for ECC). New AI Core extensions support domain-specific models, e.g., construction workforce optimization via predictive scheduling. Frugal AI leverages HANA vector search for efficient embeddings.

Implementation Steps:

• Set up Clean Core dev env: Provision SAP BTP trial with ABAP Cloud—decouple custom code using RAP (RESTful ABAP Programming) models. Migrate one Z-table today.
• Build agentic apps: Use SAP Build Apps v3.0; integrate Joule for NL-to-code. Step 1: Clone SAP GitHub RAP samples; deploy to CF for testing.
• Optimize with frugal AI: Fine-tune LLMs on HANA ML 2023.12—use vector embeddings for 80% cost reduction vs. cloud hyperscalers. Run inference benchmarks this afternoon.

These tools cut deployment from months to days—ideal for aerospace/manufacturing integrations.

Market Context

Enterprises face budget hurdles for agentic AI amid digital sovereignty mandates and 2026 legacy cleanups. Trends show AI-enhanced ERP tackling construction shortages (e.g., 25% faster crew allocation) and aerospace (yield improvements via Solumina). Clean Core reduces migration risks by 40%, per SAP benchmarks. Domain-specific platforms challenge generic PLM, pushing flexible digital cores (Unlocking Growth by Embracing the Paradoxes of the Intelligent AgeStrategic Implications:

• Prioritize flexible cores: Assess your stack for AI embeddability—score via SAP Readiness Check. Shift 20% budget to low-code for scalable production.
• Address industry pain: For construction/aerospace, pilot SAP Industry Network with AI; quantify sales growth (retail benchmarks: +12%).
• Fund smarter: Propose frugal models to CFOs, citing Schneider’s 50% savings—tie to measurable KPIs like rework reduction.

This positions you for Intelligent Age growth.

Looking Ahead

S/4HANA 2027 migration wave peaks; SAPPHIRE 2026 (May 12-14, Orlando) spotlights AI Core 2.0. EU AI Act enforcement ramps Q2; Clean Core webinars start Jan 25.

Preparation Steps:

• Register for Jan 25 webinar: SAP Clean Core series—export agenda to your calendar; prep ECC inventory questions.
• SAPPHIRE prep: Build POC for AI Core demos; book 1:1s with product leads via attendee portal.
• Compliance roadmap: Draft Q2 AI governance plan—align with 2026 deadlines using SAP Signavio Process Intelligence.

Stay ahead of the curve.

Key Recommendations

• Daily: Scan SAP Support Portal for patches (10 mins); test one low-code AI flow in sandbox.
• Weekly: Run Clean Core decoupling audit (RAP scan); measure AI pilot KPIs in SAC—aim for <20% rework.
• This Month: Migrate one Commerce/EWM module; benchmark frugal AI vs. hyperscalers. Track sovereignty compliance weekly.

Execute these for immediate wins.

Community Spotlight

Schneider Electric’s frugal AI playbook—deploying HANA-embedded models for 40% energy optimization—offers gold-standard lessons: Start small (single domain), measure obsessively, iterate with low-code. Pure Storage’s insurance modernization via SAP Build scaled to 50 apps in 6 months. Lessons Learned: Validate vendor ROI claims with your data; prioritize domain-specific over generic AI. Share your wins on community.sap.com—tag #CleanCoreAI.

Keep innovating,
Giulia Ferrari
AI Research Director & Enterprise Technology Specialist, SAPExpert.AI

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References

• Unlocking Growth by Embracing the Paradoxes of the Intelligent Age
• Digital Sovereignty Is a Board-Level ‘Mandate’ in the AI Era: IBM Whitepaper
• Comparing Data Analytics Software Solutions