SAP Executive Summit 2025: AI as the future for business

The SAP Executive Summit 2025 proved a turning point in the debate on technological innovation in business.  Held at the historical Villa D’Este in Cernobbio, the summit brought together over a hundred leading Italian decision makers from both the public and private sectors.

The event’s central theme was how artificial intelligence, in all its latest versions, can play a strategic part in redesigning business models, improving efficiency and creating market value, in an increasingly demanding and interconnected economic context.

From the future to the present: an inverted perspective

The conference slogan –‘Tomorrow first’- was not selected at random.  The idea it represents is to completely reverse the traditional order of priority, by starting with future objectives in order to be able to shape present decisions.

This approach highlights the urgent need for systematic and proactive thought, especially in a scenario where the speed of change obliges people to take decisions today about problems that will emerge tomorrow.  It is a rallying call to try to predict trends and embrace digital transformation as a means of boosting both resilience and progress.

As mentioned above, the focus of almost every discussion at the summit was artificial intelligence.  It is no longer considered a mere instrument to be introduced into certain processes, but rather as an infrastructural component, destined to become a thoroughly integral part of the way in which companies take decisions, organise their business and create value.

AI is not only a simple ‘project’ or technology to be tested for small scale use.  It is an architecture for thought and operational procedure which must, by its very nature, be integrated into business flows.  This new perspective implies the rethinking of roles, skills and organisational models.  The use of AI enables:

• the automation of repetitive tasks;
• added support in complex decision making thanks to predictive analysis;
• the creation of original content via generative AI.

From GenAI to Agentic AI

One of the most interesting developments to emerge at the event involved the transition from Generative AI to Agentic AI.  While the former focuses on autonomous content creation, the latter offers an upgrade in terms of quality, allowing intelligent systems to act in pre-defined contexts, manage complex tasks, interact with other systems and learn from each interaction they have.  Agentic AI takes automation to a new level, bringing it closer to autonomous decision-making.

These intelligent agents can carry out managerial functions, supervise projects, customise commercial offers in real time or supervise complex production networks.  The result is a more agile, flexible company which can adapt more easily to meet market requirements.

In order for AI to be able to fulfil its potential, the data must be accessible, integrated and reliable.  In this sense, the cloud acts as the foundation on which the new company intelligence is constructed.  It enables real time data access, favours the ongoing implementation of innovative methods (thanks to frequent releases) and allows a more fluid interconnection between partners, suppliers and clients.

At this point, digital business networks take on a key role, as the place where value is created thanks to collaboration between the various entities involved, all interconnected and powered by intelligent systems that are ready to learn, suggest and optimise.

Overcoming fragmentation: a cultural and technological challenge

One of the most relevant aspects discussed at the SAP Executive Summit 2025 was the imperative need to overcome fragmentation, both at a technological and cultural level.  All too often, data is scattered in company silos, processes are managed independently from and there is no single strategy to enable all company components to work in harmony.

Artificial intelligence however, requires coherence and sharing: a connected ecosystem where every decision is supported by integrated, updated data in which trust is the glue holding together the technology, processes and people.  In this scenario, data security and governance also become levers for enablement.

Another essential task still requiring considerable work is to spread understanding among the public that AI does not aim to replace human intelligence, but to broaden it.  The summit highlighted how the real challenge, is not only technical, but also human.  People must be able to understand, embrace and use AI as an instrument of empowerment.

A new working culture is needed, based on trust, ongoing training and the ability to collaborate with new technologies.  Only in this way will it be possible to achieve the widespread, inclusive adoption of AI, while leaving nobody behind and encouraging shared growth.

From experimentation to practicality

One of the most encouraging aspects to emerge from the SAP Executive Summit 2025 was the growing maturity of the Italian market.  It was pointed out that now, unlike in the past, over 250 companies across Italy are not only experimenting with AI, but regularly use it.  This is a clear sign that the theoretical phase is now over.  Artificial Intelligence is here to stay and has become an integral part of company flows, already generating tangible results.

It has a wide range of applicational environments: from supply chains to financial management, as well as marketing, human resource management and client support.  In all these sectors, AI is turning out to be an efficiency accelerator and an enabler of new business models.

The digital transformation powered by AI also brings with it social responsability.  Business leaders present at the summit reflected on the ethical role that companies must take when managing these technologies.  Transparency, inclusion, responsible governance, attention to impacts on employment and the environment: these are the factors forming the matrix into which this innovative technology is to be introduced.

It is not only a question of making more profits, but of actively contributing towards the construction of a fairer, more sustainable and resilient economy.  In that sense, AI is more than just a technological tool, it is also a political and cultural stimulus.

Translated by Joanne Beckwith