Organisations across industries are using cloud modernisation to build stronger digital foundations, unlock greater agility and embed artificial intelligence directly into business processes.
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, June 23rd 2026-/African Media Agency(AMA)/ – Companies across Europe are demonstrating how cloud transformation is creating the foundation for more intelligent, resilient and efficient business operations, with several organisations showcasing recent implementation progress at SAP SAPPHIRE, held in Madrid between 19 and 21 May.
Nazia Pillay, Managing Director for Southern Africa at SAP, says: “Cloud transformation has become the foundation for the next phase of business innovation. By modernising core systems and moving to more scalable, secure and intelligent platforms, organisations can simplify complexity, strengthen resilience and create the conditions for AI to deliver measurable business value.”
Companies RISE to the cloud
Salling Group is emerging as a leading force in AI-driven retail transformation, combining large-scale cloud adoption with hands-on co-innovation to shape the future of the industry together with SAP. Following its successful go-live in 2025, Salling Group now operates what is widely regarded as the largest private cloud deployment of SAP S/4HANA globally. This transformation has laid the digital foundation for embedding AI directly into core retail processes—turning ERP from a transactional backbone into an intelligent, real-time decision engine.
For Salling Group, technologies such as SAP Joule and SAP Business AI are not incremental improvements, but a fundamental change in how the business operates. From forecasting and replenishment to store operations and reporting, AI is enabling faster decisions, reducing manual workloads, and helping employees focus on higher-value tasks.
Agents automate time-consuming procurement task
The Danish wholesaler Lemvigh-Müller has deployed artificial intelligence to automate one of the most time-consuming tasks in procurement: processing supplier order confirmations. The solution consists of multiple AI agents, each responsible for a clearly defined task, orchestrated into a single automated workflow built on SAP’s Business AI framework. The outcome is faster processing, improved data quality, and more accurate delivery information for customers.
With the coordinated AI agents in place, the company can now automatically identify delays, quantity changes, and price discrepancies — and respond significantly faster.
“We have previously tried both robotic process automation (RPA) and traditional automation approaches without really achieving the desired effect. The key difference this time is that we broke the task down into multiple independent AI agents, each responsible for a specific part of the process. Together, they now handle what previously required manual review,” says Frederik Aakerlund, IT Director at Lemvigh-Müller.
The solution was implemented in close collaboration with NTT DATA Business Solutions, which was responsible for making the solution production-ready and fully integrated into Lemvigh-Müller’s SAP landscape.
“By distributing responsibilities across multiple AI agents, Lemvigh-Müller has been able to automate a complex process without losing transparency or control. This has enabled a fast and secure transition from pilot to production and ensures a more robust solution that can easily be expanded as new requirements emerge,” says Kristian Dahl, SAP UX Manager at NTT DATA Business Solutions.
“This is the first AI agent solution we have put into production. The experience has given us the confidence to consider similar approaches across other areas, including invoice processing and order management,” Frederik Aakerlund concludes.
Pillay adds: “These examples show how cloud modernisation and AI adoption are becoming inseparable. When organisations have a strong digital core, trusted data and scalable cloud infrastructure, they can move beyond experimentation and start embedding intelligence into the processes that matter most. That is where transformation begins to translate into real business impact.”
Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of SAP
About SAP
As a global leader in enterprise applications and business AI, SAP (NYSE:SAP) stands at the nexus of business and technology. For over 50 years, organizations have trusted SAP to bring out their best by uniting business-critical operations spanning finance, procurement, HR, supply chain, and customer experience. For more information, visit www.sap.com.
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