Disruption has been the defining backdrop of global supply chains. Over the past decade, organizations have demonstrated remarkable resilience — navigating a global pandemic, shifting trade policies, and geopolitical conflicts.
At the same time, there is a huge opportunity to entirely re-think supply chains with AI and agentic workflows as the powerful transformation agents of the next decade. The lesson is clear: companies that invest in AI-driven applications and reliable data and re-think processes maintain continuity and customer trust, while others risk prolonged shocks, lower service levels, increased cost, and lost revenue.
Today at Supply Chain Connect at SAP Connect, we are building on the phenomenal momentum of AI-driven supply chain transformations with innovations designed to help supply chain leaders not just endure disruption, but transform it into an opportunity for resilience and growth.
Introducing SAP Supply Chain Orchestration
In today’s dynamic market, foresight and a reduced time-to-recover are everything. Business leaders must know where their products are, which suppliers or sub-suppliers are at risk, and how to respond with confidence. Yet, visibility gaps often leave organizations blindsided.
SAP Supply Chain Orchestration is a new AI-centric solution built to detect potential disruptions early, contextualize risk to a company’s unique supply chain configuration, apply intelligent impact analysis, and trigger AI-driven actions across planning, logistics, procurement, and manufacturing. Soon, supply chain stakeholders will be supported by powerful Joule assistants that leverage AI agents to strengthen supplier compliance, increase customer service, and reduce revenue exposure.
What sets SAP Supply Chain Orchestration apart is its foundation on SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP). The solution integrates data from SAP Business Network and SAP Business Data Cloud, providing a comprehensive view across every tier of the supply chain. These multi-tier insights help turn external and internal risk signals into prioritized actions, boosting operational efficiency, compliance, and customer satisfaction.
Set to be available in the first half of 2026, SAP Supply Chain Orchestration is the next step toward a future where businesses can anticipate global shifts before they escalate with a severe business impact.
Advanced AI capabilities and unified scenario simulations optimize supply chain planning
SAP is enabling its customers to reimagine supply chain planning to become faster, smarter, and more connected with SAP Integrated Business Planning (SAP IBP). This evolution of the product combines intelligent automation, a harmonized data model, and AI-driven capabilities to enhance forecasting, streamline processes, and help planners focus on critical decision making.
A harmonized planning area now supports both time-series and order-based planning, allowing users to move seamlessly among strategic, tactical, and operational levels, which ultimately enables seamless telescopic planning. New harmonized scenario simulations reveal the impact of alerts and risks to orders across all planning horizons. Embedded AI strengthens forecasting and inventory management, while characteristic-based planning adds right-fidelity supply planning to optimize stock and capacity matching for critical industries such as fashion retail, high-tech, life sciences, or consumer products.
The new Configurable Planner Workspace provides a unified interface where planners can monitor performance, simulate scenarios, and act immediately — guided by Joule, SAP’s copilot, which delivers contextual assistance and actionable insights from forecasts, supply plans, and multi-echelon inventory.
AI capabilities are currently in beta mode and planned for general availability in Q2 2026, while all other enhancements are now generally available.
New Joule Agents accelerate decisions and automation across the supply chain
SAP introduces three new Joule Agents for supply chain management, designed to automate critical, time-consuming tasks and empower teams to focus on strategic decision-making. These agents embed AI-native automation directly into SAP Cloud ERP, SAP Cloud ERP Private, and SAP Business Network workflows, reducing manual effort and minimizing errors.
- Production Planning and Operations Agent: Automates prerequisite checks for releasing production orders, validates material, capacity, and scheduling, and can recommend workarounds or release orders instantly – shortening order-to-delivery cycles and reducing costs. General availability is planned for Q1 2026.
- Change Record Management Agent: Supports product managers and engineers by reasoning over problem reports and change requests, recommending next steps, and initiating changes, which improves governance, traceability, and decision speed. General availability is planned for Q2 2026.
- Supplier Onboarding Agent: Streamlines onboarding in SAP Business Network by reasoning over supplier details, orchestrating invitations, validating data, and handling escalations, which enables procurement teams to scale faster while focusing on strategic supplier development.
With these agents, SAP is embedding intelligence deeper into day-to-day supply chain workflows, accelerating decisions where they matter most.
Upgrading SAP Business Network to meet customer needs
Global commerce is more interconnected than ever, but too many organizations still operate with fragmented procurement and logistics processes. SAP is introducing upgrades to SAP Business Network, the world’s largest B2B platform, facilitating over US$6.3 trillion in annual commerce across 190 countries.
- Availability on SAP BTP: SAP Business Network now runs on SAP BTP, providing a modern data foundation and enabling organizations to coordinate deals at scale. It connects easily across SAP and third-party systems, introduces a unified global directory with guided onboarding, and offers workflow customization through SAP Build. Joule integration will be available in January 2026, bringing embedded AI to analytics, automation, and approvals across the network.
- Network-centric integration across the business suite: Rolling out later this year, SAP Business Network will support end-to-end value streams with SAP Cloud ERP, SAP Ariba, SAP Fieldglass, and SAP Transportation Management. This will accelerate dispute resolution, improve emissions tracking, and enable AI-assisted navigation.
- Simplified supplier data access: By Q4 2025, users will be able to search for suppliers directly from their ERP interface, eliminating manual onboarding. Buyers will gain faster access to new vendors, reducing activation costs and expanding visibility.
Together, these innovations enhance SAP Business Network with intelligence, reach, and usability — delivering embedded AI, seamless business suite integration, and ERP-native supplier discovery.
SAP launches new logistics management solution
SAP is announcing SAP Logistics Management, a new cloud-native solution designed to complement operations of large distribution centers with capabilities to support smaller, local, and regional warehouses. This will help establish multi-tier distribution networks that strengthen resilience and increase delivery speed.
Fully connected to SAP Cloud ERP Private and SAP Business Network for Logistics, the solution centralizes inventory, shipments, and partner coordination. Unlike standalone tools, it extends ERP capabilities directly to satellite warehouses, drastically reducing manual tasks and ensuring consistency across networks.
Built-in AI capabilities guide operational decisions, eliminating silos and strengthening collaboration across logistics ecosystems. SAP Logistics Management will be available in Q1 2026.
Doehler, a global producer of technology-driven natural ingredients for the food, beverage, and nutrition industry, will leverage the solution in its warehouses to manage its production sites, samples and spare parts.
“SAP Logistics Management is set to deliver lean process automation and accelerated transformation for most of our more than 50 production sites, sampling operations and technical warehouses,” said Dr. Michael Merget, Chief Operating Officer of Doehler Group. “We see its powerful, integrated AI capabilities not as an add-on, but as the core intelligence that will define the future of our logistics.”
Looking ahead
Resilient, intelligent, and collaborative supply chains are no longer aspirations — they are necessities. Together, these innovations reflect SAP’s vision for a fully orchestrated supply chain. The next generation of supply chain technology will empower businesses to detect disruptions early, harness data at scale, and consistently exceed customer expectations. By leading with intelligence and foresight, companies can transform crises into opportunities and position themselves to thrive in a world defined by uncertainty.
For more details on all announcements made this week, please refer to the SAP Connect Innovation Guide.
Dominik Metzger is president and chief product officer for SAP Supply Chain Management.