Email
GE
EN
ES

When everyone has the same copilot – where companies really differentiate in the SAP AI era

Executive whitepaper by Marc Hofheinz, who has worked in SAP logistics projects for almost 30 years – with a clear model of why SAP Joule alone is not yet a competitive advantage.

With Joule, SAP is building an impressive standard AI offering – by the end of 2025, it is expected to include around 400 AI use cases and about 40 Joule agents. Every company running SAP systems gets this copilot equally. The decisive question is therefore not whether you use Joule, but where you stand out with it.

This whitepaper shows why the real competitive advantage emerges in the customized layer above it – in your own Joule skills and agents.

Download the whitepaper for free

Cover of the executive whitepaper “When everyone has the same copilot”

Whitepaper features

  • Executive perspective for CIOs, IT and logistics leaders
  • A clear model: communication, action and autonomy – the three maturity levels of Joule, skills and agents
  • Current status: what is productive today, and what is still a pilot, on the roadmap or a vision
  • Architecture and toolchain: SAP BTP, Joule Studio, grounding, MCP/A2A protocols, AI Agent Hub
  • Your own skill factory: four stages from requirement to productive use
  • Recommendations for CIOs, staged by maturity level

The numbers behind the hype

According to the DSAG Investment Report 2026, 43 percent of companies already use AI productively – but only 3 percent of them with SAP solutions, compared to 77 percent with non-SAP solutions.

‍

The whitepaper shows what is behind this and how you can turn this gap to your advantage.

What the market needs most urgently right now is not more enthusiasm and not more skepticism. It is more precision.
Portrait of Marc Hofheinz

Marc Hofheinz

Managing Partner | Qinlox Consulting GmbH

Three key findings

The same copilot is not a competitive advantage

"SAP gives all companies the same standard AI offering. Differentiation only emerges in the customized layer above it – in your own skills and agents."

‍
Three maturity levels determine the real benefit

"Communication, action and autonomy describe how far an SAP AI function actually reaches today. Most current announcements still sit between the first two levels."

‍
Now is the time to build your own skill factory

"Companies that start systematically building their own Joule skills and agents today secure a head start before new industry standards take hold."

Futuristic warehouse with digitally connected racks and conveyor technology
Employee monitoring automated warehouse systems on screens in a control room

Want to understand where genuine differentiation is still possible in the SAP ecosystem?

The whitepaper shows why access to Joule, copilots and AI agents alone no longer provides a competitive advantage – and where companies can still make the difference with their own decision logic and process know-how.

Download whitepaper