The Future of ERP

In this episode of The Future of ERP, Abhishek Vesudevan from Westernacher shares the story of a company overcoming growth pains caused by disjointed systems and manual workflows. Listeners will learn how a strategic Cloud ERP implementation integrated sales, procurement, finance, warehousing, and transportation—enabling real-time data visibility and driving impressive benefits like freight cost savings and efficiency gains. Abhishek emphasizes that successful transformation hinges not only on technology but on process standardization and engaging users throughout the journey. He also highlights emerging trends, from AI-powered automation to sustainability innovations embedded in ERP. This episode offers practical insights and inspiring stories for any business pursuing digital transformation. Tune in to hear how ERP is evolving from a backend system to the brain of business. Listen now and rethink what ERP can do for your organization!

This episode delves into the dynamic future of retail, spotlighting the pivotal role of AI in reshaping supply chains and customer interaction. Experts discuss how retailers are harnessing AI to deliver hyper-personalized shopping experiences, leveraging clean data to anticipate consumer needs and optimize inventory. The conversation explores the increasing importance of sustainability, with brands adopting eco-friendly practices and transparent supply chains to meet conscious consumer demands. The rise of social commerce platforms like TikTok is also examined, revealing how retailers are integrating social media into their sales strategies and supply chain management for unprecedented agility. This episode offers valuable insights into how technology, strategic data utilization, and a commitment to sustainability are converging to redefine the retail landscape and create new opportunities for brands and consumers alike.

In this episode of The Future of ERP, host Richard Howells welcomes Sakis Tabakis from E.ON Digital Technology and Max English of PwC to explore how cutting-edge cloud ERP and Generative AI are reshaping financial excellence. Sakis shares how E.ON’s Digital Lighthouse project is not just about technology upgrades - it’s a strategic foundation for agility in a fast-moving energy sector. The trio dive into how SAP Datasphere, SAP PAPM, and AI-driven insights create a unified, reliable data platform that breaks down silos, ensures compliance, and empowers smarter decisions in real time. Sakis highlights a bold vision: “The future of ERP is invisible. It thinks before you do, it speaks your language, and it acts when it really matters.” Max emphasizes the human side of digital transformation, reminding listeners that embracing AI means gaining efficiency and trusting technology as an enabler - not a threat. Whether you're curious about AI’s impact on finance or the future of cloud ERP, this episode offers inspiring lessons and practical insights. Tune in and discover what’s next for enterprise systems in a rapidly changing world!

This episode explores the evolution of ERP cybersecurity, emphasizing the shift from on-premise to cloud ERP and the shared responsibility model. Key topics include the rising risk of cyberattacks on supply chains, the benefits of expert collaboration in cloud security, and the importance of integrating security from the design phase. The discussion highlights cultural changes, trust-building, and the role of employee training in strengthening defenses. Emerging technologies like AI are examined for their potential to enhance threat detection, automate responses, and proactively defend against increasingly sophisticated cyberattacks, shaping the future of secure and resilient ERP systems.

This episode examines how generative AI is fundamentally changing ERP systems and financial decision-making. It explores AI’s role in enhancing cash flow management, forecasting, and scenario modeling by integrating diverse data sources and automating complex analyses. The discussion highlights AI-driven hyper-personalized financial strategies, fraud detection, and cross-system communication, showing how AI helps manage uncertainty and volatility. It also addresses the importance of data quality, governance, potential biases, and risks in deploying AI in finance, emphasizing the ongoing value of ERPs as trusted platforms in a complex digital ecosystem.

This episode examines how digital transformation, cloud migration, and AI are shaping the future of banking and ERP. It opens with an overview of the most significant trends for 2025, highlighting the shift to digital-first strategies and the growing reliance on cloud solutions. Falk Rieker discusses the challenges banks face in understanding customer needs, building loyalty, and managing data complexity. The conversation covers practical examples of AI integration in banking, explores strategies for effective data management, and considers how banks can differentiate themselves in a competitive landscape. The episode concludes with advice for leaders on navigating business transformation and enhancing user experience in financial services.

This episode explores how technology and business truly come together to drive meaningful change, focusing on the shift from on-premise to cloud ERP. You’ll hear how companies are breaking free from outdated systems, overcoming technical debt, and embracing more agile, modular approaches to stay ahead in a fast-changing world. The conversation unpacks common myths about security and customization, explains why cloud ERP offers greater trust and flexibility, and highlights the priorities today’s CIOs are setting to future-proof their organizations. With insights on continuous innovation, compliance, and keeping your business unique, this discussion will leave you rethinking what’s possible for the future of work.

SAP’s Lauren Husum, Vice President of Product Marketing for SaaS ERP, dives into the evolving landscape of ERP systems. Lauren explains why ERP remains the heart of organizations, serving as a critical foundation for innovation rather than becoming obsolete. She highlights three key trends shaping the future of ERP: the integration of AI, the importance of smart data, and the continued evolution of ERP applications. Lauren explains how AI is revolutionizing business processes by enhancing decision-making, boosting operational efficiency, and increasing employee productivity. SAP’s approach to AI emphasizes relevance, reliability, and responsibility, ensuring AI solutions are embedded in enterprise applications, trained on extensive business data, and developed with strong ethical standards. She stresses that AI’s success depends on high-quality, harmonized data across systems, which ERP platforms uniquely provide. Ultimately, the episode underscores that ERP is not dead but evolving into a powerful enabler of digital transformation. Organizations that leverage ERP combined with AI and smart data will unlock greater agility, efficiency, and growth in the years ahead.

SAP's Brent Potts discusses five key trends shaping the sector in 2025. Companies are balancing traditional hydrocarbon production with investments in renewables like wind, solar, and hydrogen, recognizing that oil will remain vital for decades. Decarbonization efforts, including carbon capture and biofuels, are accelerating under pressure from stakeholders. The industry is also adopting standardized cloud ERP systems to improve efficiency, focusing AI on automating complex processes. Finally, collaboration and partnerships are crucial as companies navigate this complex transition, driving innovation and resilience in a rapidly changing energy landscape.

In this episode of The Future of ERP, Gaye Bingul, SAP Insurance Industry Lead, and Javier Gil, Head of Global Insurance & Reinsurance at SAP, discuss how the future of insurance relies on AI-powered ERP systems that unify all types of data-structured, unstructured, SAP, and non-SAP-to unlock deeper insights into customers and climate risks. They highlight key challenges insurers face, including complex global data privacy regulations, the growing aging population (“silver segment”), and a widening skills gap due to retiring experts and difficulty attracting new tech talent. Gaye and Javier emphasize how insurers can leverage connected devices, wearables, and AI-driven analytics to offer personalized health and wellness services that help the aging population stay healthy and independent while driving innovation and growth. Listeners gain insight into why digital transformation and advanced ERP solutions are critical for navigating regulatory demands and demographic shifts in the insurance industry.

In this episode of the Future of ERP, Sandeep Chowdhury, Senior Director in SAP’s Telecommunications Industry Business Unit, discusses how the telecom industry is evolving with advanced ERP systems to support Industry 4.0, 5G adoption, and smarter networks. He explains how emerging technologies like 6G and AI are transforming network operations and customer experiences. Sandeep also explores telecom’s influence on other sectors, regulatory challenges, and the increasing importance of AI in automation and fraud prevention. Sustainability is a key theme, as he addresses energy use, e-waste, and circular economy efforts. Overall, Sandeep reveals how telecom is balancing innovation and environmental responsibility to shape the future of connectivity.

What does the future hold for businesses striving for success? This episode explores the convergence of Cloud ERP, Artificial Intelligence, and sustainability, and how these elements are reshaping the business landscape. Peter Pluim discusses how businesses can harness data for sustainability insights, AI-driven automation, and process optimization. Discover how a connected enterprise can make informed choices within its supply chain, balancing price, delivery speed, and environmental impact. Learn how AI is transforming the user experience and driving the need for integrated suites that break down traditional application silos. Gain insights on navigating complex trade-offs, making better decisions through enhanced visibility, and empowering stakeholders with informed choices.

In this episode, joined by SAP's Judy Cubiss, we delve into the key manufacturing trends of 2025 and explore the transformative role that AI and digitization play in shaping the industry. Discover how digitization and AI are revolutionizing the industry by streamlining solution integration, facilitating efficient data transfer, and providing essential information to workers across the ecosystem. Gain insights into the challenges and opportunities presented by globalization, uncertainty, and resource scarcity, and learn how industrial manufacturers are adapting to these forces.

In this episode, SAP’s Lalit Patil explores the impact of AI on cybersecurity within cloud ERP. It emphasizes the need for agile business transformation, sustainability, and robust security. The discussion includes cybersecurity strategies like zero trust, and AI's role in threat detection/response. The speaker highlights balancing AI benefits with data integrity risks, advocating for proactive, AI-enabled security measures to protect sensitive business data in the cloud.

In this episode, SAP's Gabriele Fiata delves into the rapidly evolving cybersecurity landscape, where technology is becoming a crucial component of defense strategies. While people, processes, and technology remain essential, innovations like Artificial Intelligence (AI) are revolutionizing the field. AI enhances cybersecurity by detecting unusual activities, identifying threats, and accelerating security processes, leading to faster incident response times. The discussion highlights how these advancements automate security tasks, enable quicker threat detection, and improve incident response. We also talk about the importance of effectively integrating these technologies and training security teams and how it helps businesses to mitigate critical risks. Come join us as we discuss the future of ERP!

As quantum computing advances, experts warn of an impending "quantum apocalypse" that could jeopardize current encryption methods. With roots tracing back to the 1990s, this threat highlights the urgent need for organizations to adopt quantum-safe cryptography. While significant technological hurdles remain, the potential for quantum attacks on sensitive data looms large. Experts emphasize the urgency of transitioning to quantum-safe cryptography to protect sensitive data from future threats, particularly as attackers may collect encrypted information now for later decryption. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is advocating for organizations to phase out non-quantum-safe cryptography by 2035, underscoring the need for immediate action in the face of evolving quantum capabilities.

In this week’s episode of the Future of ERP podcast, we explore the evolving role of CFOs in driving corporate sustainability with McKinsey's Peter Spiller. Spiller highlights the increasing pressure on CFOs to manage carbon emissions effectively, driven by stricter regulations like CSRD, CBAM, and ETS2. He emphasizes the need for accurate carbon data to inform business decisions across sourcing, R&D, and sales, and advocates for treating carbon as a "currency" within organizations. The conversation covers the advantages of integrating carbon accounting into ERP systems, using a low-carbon aluminum product example. Spiller also touches on capturing Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions, the importance of supplier data, and the evolving relationship between CFOs and Chief Sustainability Officers in driving holistic sustainability changes within companies. The episode provides insights for finance professionals and sustainability leaders on navigating the intersection of ERP and environmental responsibility.

In this episode of The Future of ERP podcast, Richard Howells interviews Jonathan Rhodes from SAP, focusing on the evolution of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems towards cloud-based solutions. Rhodes emphasizes the shift to Software as a Service (SaaS) ERP, which automates many traditional processes, enhancing efficiency and user experience. He discusses how these systems help small and medium enterprises achieve sustainable growth by providing ready-to-run processes and reducing IT burdens. The conversation also covers the importance of agility in adapting to market changes and the role of intelligent assistance in improving daily operations. Rhodes highlights that cloud ERP solutions are designed to scale with businesses, offering flexibility to meet unique needs while ensuring compliance with evolving regulations.

In this episode of The Future of ERP, SAP's Chief Sustainability Officer Sophia Mendelsohn discusses how sustainability is becoming a fundamental part of business operations. She highlights that today’s ERP systems are designed to treat environmental factors like carbon emissions with the same importance as financial metrics, enabling organizations to make informed decisions that benefit both the planet and their bottom line. Mendelsohn emphasizes the role of technology in enhancing transparency and accountability, particularly through innovations like the SAP Green Ledger, which allows businesses to track carbon emissions alongside financial transactions. The conversation also touches on the collaborative nature of sustainability efforts, involving various departments such as finance, procurement, and R&D, to ensure that sustainability is embedded into every aspect of business strategy.

In this episode, Dr. Marko Lange and Sergey Nozenko discuss the transformative impact of AI on the chemical industry. They address key challenges such as intense competition, fluctuating raw material prices, and stringent regulations. The conversation highlights how companies are enhancing research and development (R&D) investments and leveraging modern technologies like AI and IoT to improve efficiency and sustainability. Additionally, they cover the importance of skilled labor, with firms focusing on talent development and strategic partnerships to navigate these complexities effectively.