SAP

(NYSE: SAP · $217.85 ▲ 1.4%) SAP is an enterprise software company that builds business applications and business AI used to run core operations across finance, procurement, supply chain, human resources and customer experience. Such applications, often grouped under the ERP label, serve as the system of record for large organisations, holding the transactional data that accounting, purchasing and logistics rely on. The company describes its direction as moving from systems that record work to systems that can help execute it, a concept it calls the Autonomous Enterprise, in which applications, business data and AI agents reason, recommend and act within business processes with governance built in.

Joule serves as the engagement layer across SAP systems, connecting data, workflows and agents, while SAP Autonomous Suite combines Joule Work, AI agents, data and applications to run end-to-end processes in areas such as spend management and human capital management. The SAP Business AI Platform is intended for building, integrating and running AI, and more than 25 Industry AI editions address sector requirements in fields including pharma, automotive, consumer goods and energy. RISE with SAP and SAP GROW help organisations move to the cloud at their own pace, a shift many enterprises are making away from on-premise installations, and the portfolio also includes the SAP HANA in-memory computing platform.

SAP was founded in 1972 by five programmers and reports more than 110,000 employees from over 157 countries, more than 100 development locations and offices in 130 countries. Its cloud user base exceeds 300 million subscribers, and a partner network supplies services and product expertise around its software, alongside regional SAP User Groups where customers exchange knowledge. This combination of a large installed base and a partner ecosystem is typical of enterprise software vendors whose products sit at the centre of customer operations for many years.