How data and intelligent applications will reshape business

Economist

20-05-2025

Businesses have faced more instability in 2025 than in the last 25 years. While the pandemic challenged corporate leaders with supply chain slowdowns and rapidly changing consumer demand related to global lockdown, we're operating in an environment where age-old business rules and conventions are shifting beneath our feet.
In fact, the Economic Policy Uncertainty Index shows that since January, daily trade policy uncertainty has spiked to unprecedented levels globally. 1
At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) promises to be the most significant transformation in business software since the maturity of cloud computing over the last decade. But to fully take advantage of AI, business and technology leaders must address the data silos and complexity within their organisation.
How can business leaders stay on top of—and even anticipate—the quickly shifting economic environment and ensure the success of their AI initiatives? The answer lies in creating a holistic data strategy that feeds relevant data into their AI landscape.
The new data imperative
Every organisation on a digital transformation journey needs to turn intelligence into action at scale. Gartner predicts that by 2028, over 50 percent of enterprises will adopt industry cloud platforms, integrating critical business processes to create a robust, flexible, and agile platform. 2
Chief information officers (CIOs) are already in the process of creating the technology infrastructure required to harness every signal from their business—and that of their extended ecosystem of partners and customers. But to drive reliable decision making and AI efforts, CIOs must harmonise that data into a single, unified and trusted layer.
That's where SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC) comes in. This new software service integrates all of a company's most important information—both structured and unstructured no matter where it resides—ensuring that business context and data semantics are preserved and exposed as consumable primary data products reflecting the most critical business processes. BDC provides a fully governed and AI-ready foundation enabling businesses to expose the agility needed to navigate today's volatile landscape.
Through a partnership with the Databricks platform, SAP BDC also offers seamless machine learning capabilities to data and AI professionals.
The advent of intelligent applications
A modern data platform like SAP BDC empowers enterprises to create and use intelligent applications. These can utilise a wide spectrum of SAP data products that promise to reshape how organisations operate—embedding real-time data and critical operational context within AI models to enable swift and insightful decisions.
Unlike traditional software governed by rigid business rules, these modern applications can learn and adapt to rapidly evolving customer and market demands—detecting changes to optimise processes, anticipate needs, and collaborate with both human and artificial 'thinkers' to create competitive advantage for your organisation.
Intelligent applications align with organisations' most important business functions such as human resources, finance and supply chain. For example, at SAP, People Intelligence is designed to provide HR and business leaders with AI-driven recommendations to optimise talent decisions, drive employee engagement and ensure compliance.
At the same time, SAP is actively collaborating with leading partners to build the next wave of intelligent applications including Adobe, Thomson Reuters, Accenture and Moody's. By working together, SAP and its partners aim to enable organisations to navigate the complexities of today's business environment and become truly AI-ready.
The future belongs to data-driven organisations
SAP customers generate 84 percent of total global commerce and 98 of the 100 largest companies run on SAP systems. In other words, the vast majority of the most important business data powering the global economy runs through SAP software. This is a watershed moment, providing seamless access to information within SAP and non-SAP solutions.
In a zero-sum game, only a robust data strategy will allow businesses to deftly navigate volatility, remain agile and keep their competitive edge.
Learn more about SAP Business Data Cloud at www.sap.com/BDC.