SAP BTP powers the rise of the AI-native enterprise core

Dr Michael Ameling, President - SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) and Member of the Extended Board, leads its global platform strategy, overseeing security, reliability, and user experience across SAP Build, SAP Integration Suite, SAP HANA Cloud, and the SAP BTP ABAP environment. With nearly two decades at SAP—spanning roles from Research Associate to Managing Director of SAP Labs Dresden—he has built a reputation for bridging software architecture and enterprise innovation. His work centres on making SAP BTP the trusted digital foundation for customers worldwide, enabling seamless integration, governed low-code development, and generative AI-driven intelligence across industries.

In an in-depth conversation with Voice&Data, he discussed how SAP BTP is evolving into the AI-native backbone of enterprise software. He shared insights into SAP’s multi-model AI strategy, the rise of agentic AI, governance for low-code and AI development, and the complexities of operating in hybrid multi-cloud environments. He also outlined how partnerships with NVIDIA, Google, and Databricks are shaping SAP’s next-generation ecosystem, and why India—home to SAP’s largest R&D expansion—is emerging as a critical innovation hub driving global advances in AI, data, and cloud technologies. Excerpt:

SAP’s Business Technology Platform underpins data and integration across all applications. How are customers in the Asia Pacific using it to modernise and extend their core systems?
SAP’s Business Technology Platform, or BTP, is the technology foundation that unifies and extends our enterprise applications. It provides essential services, including identity and access management, audit logging, master data integration, and persistence, through SAP HANA Cloud and ABAP environments. 

Asia Pacific is fascinating because most companies operate hybrid IT estates, combining long-standing on-premise systems with local third-party applications and new cloud solutions. BTP helps them in two major ways. First, through SAP Integration Suite, we connect disparate systems, allowing core processes such as order-to-cash or hire-to-retire to run seamlessly end-to-end. Besides, customers can extend their systems by adding local compliance layers, industry-specific logic, or user-friendly applications. They might build these side by side on BTP or directly within SAP Cloud ERP using ABAP or modern programming models. This approach enables companies to maintain a clean ERP core while still innovating rapidly—whether that involves meeting regulatory requirements for a bank or creating mobile shop-floor apps for a manufacturer.

AI is reshaping enterprise software. What is SAP’s AI strategy for BTP, and what long-term vision are you pursuing?
Our AI strategy has three main pillars. We start with multi-model flexibility, as the field evolves rapidly. We partner with the leading large language model providers and have built a prompt optimisation layer that allows customers to switch models without rewriting prompts. This offers a significant productivity gain. 

Second, we focus on embedding intelligence rather than bolting it on. We want AI to drive measurable outcomes where it matters most—in recruiting with SuccessFactors, finance in S/4HANA, supply chain planning in IBP, and more. Finally, we bring it all together with a unified experience layer. Our AI copilot, Joule, provides users with a natural-language interface across SAP applications and orchestrates what we call agentic AI—agents that can act, not just advise. 

With embedded AI, Joule Copilot, and agentic automation, SAP BTP is shaping the next-generation digital infrastructure for enterprises.

At SAP Connect, we showcased over 40 pre-built AI agents. Customers can use them as they are or customise them with BTP tools like SAP Build. However, I often remind CIOs that not every process requires an agent—sometimes, deterministic workflows are faster and more cost-effective. 

Our long-term vision is to make BTP the AI-native foundation of enterprise software. You can already see this with the next-generation Ariba, Business Network, and Supply Chain Orchestrator, all of which are built fully on BTP. They utilise HANA Cloud’s advanced capabilities, including vector search, knowledge graphs, and temporal and spatial analytics, which connect naturally to Joule. Over time, I expect SAP applications to evolve into app-less, conversational experiences with Joule at the centre.

Low-code and no-code platforms are gaining traction. How is SAP Build helping customers innovate while maintaining governance?
A few years ago, many CIOs wanted complete freedom with cloud-native tools. Today, those same leaders are asking for control and lifecycle management. With SAP Build, we created what we call a Golden Path developer guide, as well as modern programming models such as CAP—the Cloud Application Programming Model—for non-ABAP development, and ABAP Cloud for SAP environments. These enable customers to create enterprise-grade, compliant, and maintainable applications. IT departments retain full visibility over data privacy, audit logging, and security, while still empowering business teams to innovate. 

We are now applying the same governance framework to AI agents. Rapid innovation is beneficial, but it must be accompanied by oversight to prevent the proliferation of shadow IT and uncontrolled AI.

Many enterprises now run hybrid, multi-cloud environments. How does BTP maintain security and performance across different providers?
BTP runs on all major hyperscalers—Google Cloud, AWS, Microsoft Azure, Alibaba Cloud—and also in sovereign environments such as NS2. We offer managed persistence services, such as SAP HANA Cloud, with built-in governance and multi-tenancy, enabling enterprises to store and process their data safely. 

If a customer prefers to use native hyperscaler tools, they can, but then the governance responsibility shifts to them. This is why we launched Business Data Cloud earlier this year. It is an SAP-managed data environment that lets customers focus their time and investment on business innovation, improving supply chains, talent management, or customer experience—instead of spending resources on operating complex data lakes.

SAP BTP serves as the digital foundation, unifying data, integration, and intelligence across hybrid, multi-cloud enterprise landscapes.

You are building an ecosystem around agentic AI. How are partnerships shaping that strategy?
We recognise that the future will involve both SAP agents and non-SAP agents, making partnerships crucial. We work with Databricks for AI and data capabilities, and collaborate with companies such as Google and NVIDIA on agent-to-agent (A2A) communication protocols. 

Our Agent Hub enables enterprises to view which agents exist, the data they access, and their behaviour. This kind of governance is critical because without it, organisations risk the creation of uncontrolled agents, potential data leakage, and compliance issues. Our goal is to provide not just the innovation platform but also the safety framework enterprises need.

Tell us more about SAP’s partnership with NVIDIA in the context of BTP.
Our work with NVIDIA is about optimising hardware acceleration for AI workloads. This encompasses everything from enhancing the performance of in-memory databases, such as SAP HANA, to supporting the runtime needs of our AI models. The result is a cost-effective, high-performance AI infrastructure for enterprises running on BTP, without sacrificing governance or compliance.

India is emerging as one of SAP’s most strategic innovation hubs. What is the Made in India story of SAP for the world?
India is on track to become SAP’s largest R&D hub. We have expanded our campus in Bengaluru, where teams are working on everything from Kubernetes infrastructure to advanced AI scenarios. We also engage deeply with India’s startup and developer ecosystem through initiatives such as TechEd on Tour. 

The energy and talent in India are incredible, and many global innovations in BTP, Joule, and Business Data Cloud have origins there. India’s startup culture and can-do attitude help us build use cases that can scale globally while still meeting strict enterprise-grade requirements.