Artificial intelligence brings business value only when it operates on reliable data, understands organisational context and remains under control. ERP is becoming the shared data and process environment on which companies can build analytics, automation and AI solutions. Examples presented at SAP Connect 2026 showed that well-ordered processes and data work are key.
After years of intensive digital investments, companies are increasingly evaluating technology not by the number of deployments, but by its impact on results and operational efficiency. The key question today is whether digital solutions help make faster decisions, increase operational resilience and control costs more effectively.
– The digital transformation of enterprises is visibly shifting from the implementation phase to the evaluation of effectiveness. What matters now is not the number of solutions launched, but whether the organisation makes decisions faster, responds better to disruptions, limits risk and maintains cost control. Technology ceases to be a separate area of company operations and becomes part of the operating model. Production, procurement, logistics, finance, HR, sales and customer service cannot be managed in isolation because any disruption in one area quickly triggers consequences in others. The condition for efficient operation is not only access to data, but also its consistency, timeliness and embedding in the context of business processes. Only then can a company move from recording events to real-time analysis, predicting consequences and taking action at the right moment – said Dariusz Denicki, Business Solutions Architect at SAP Polska.
Erp as the foundation for ai and automation
The discussion at SAP Connect 2026 showed that ERP remains the foundation of the digital enterprise, but its role is clearly changing. It is no longer just about recording transactions, accounting or organising administration. The system becomes the common language of data and processes on which an organisation can build analytics, automation and AI-based solutions.
The value of ERP is revealed primarily when it connects areas that previously operated separately. This allows the company not only to reconstruct the sequence of events, but also to assess their consequences faster and take action before the problem translates into costs, delays or a drop in service quality.
– Implementing ERP should not be treated as an end in itself or solely as a technology project. Its success depends on whether the organisation can organise processes, clearly define business responsibility and decide which areas should follow a standard and where customisation is justified. Without this, even a comprehensive system may remain just another layer of technology – said Dariusz Denicki.
Human-machine synergy in the autonomous enterprise
In the era of AI, the importance of ERP grows further. Artificial intelligence needs current, reliable data embedded in a business context. If information is scattered or inconsistent, AI may replicate errors instead of improving decision quality. ERP provides not only data, but also structure, auditability and process dependencies without which safe automation is difficult.
The maturity of digital transformation is no longer about automating individual tasks, but about shortening the time between the occurrence of an event and the response of the entire organisation. The system should not only record what happened, but recognise deviations, analyse possible consequences, recommend actions and, in selected cases, execute part of the operations within limits previously set by the company.
This is the basis of the concept of the Autonomous Enterprise developed by SAP, where humans are responsible for strategy, judgement, risk assessment and non-standard decisions, while systems take over repetitive tasks, identify problems faster and trigger actions that do not require employee intervention every time. Success depends on the readiness of teams to change the way they work, develop new competencies and collaborate across organisational boundaries. The future of enterprises will be based on the synergy of people and intelligent systems: technology is to increase employee capabilities, and humans give it direction, context and boundaries.
Źródło: wnp.pl, Fot. SAP Polska
