SAP to infuse IBM’s Watson AI engine into its entire portfolio

Typically, SAP uses the term digital assistant to collectively address or define all the digital assistants and chatbots in its portfolio, according to Juergen Butsmann, head of intelligent technologies in solution management for S/4 HANA.

“The Digital Assistant is the end-users ‘support center’ for ad hoc tasks, help, FAQ, or any other off-context inquiry. Whenever a user requests tasks or services (whether that be via commands, chat questions, or, in some cases, voice commands) digital assistants/chatbots can convey and interpret the user’s request, execute it efficiently in the system, and promptly provide a response,” Butsmann wrote in a blog post.

IBM Watson integration to aid backend automation

The integration of IBM’s Watson AI into SAP’s portfolio will not only help automate backend tasks but also aid in churning business insights, said Bradley Shimmin, chief analyst of AI platforms at Omdia Research.

“I think the integration will help SAP customers in creating a natural language assistant that is capable of taking programmatic action on backend services. This can help SAP customers maximize the value that SAP offers as part of its rich yet diverse product portfolio,” Shimmin said.

The other value proposition of the Watson integration, according to the chief analyst, is the ability to surface enterprise knowledge from across large and disparate datasets.

“Experientially, these two capabilities when intertwined will allow SAP users to surface and take action on valuable business insights,” Shimmin said.