A very different road
The door you haven't opened with the biggest difference in steps from this one.
9. Keep AI outside SAP for now
Open door 9
Door 6Draft
Build your own AI agents
What this road promises
“MCP servers let old RFC and BAPI logic work with AI.”Source: SAP Community
Ask yourself:
1Pick the first use caseAsk yourself:Is this a real business need, or my team playing with agents?
Start with one business problem.
2Choose the architectureAsk yourself:Inside SAP or outside? Who makes that call here?
Inside SAP in ABAP, or outside over RFC.
3Align with SAP's API policyAsk yourself:Can I prove this fits SAP's rules if someone asks?
Connect through a pathway SAP accepts.
4Design identity and authorizationsAsk yourself:Would my Basis lead sign off on an agent writing into SAP?
Decide how the agent signs in.
5Build the tools, one BAPI at a timeAsk yourself:BAPIs fail quietly. Can the agent tell?
Wrap each SAP function with error handling.
6Security review and testingAsk yourself:Who tests this for misuse? We don't have that skill in-house.
Test for misuse and data exposure.
7Production and maintenanceAsk yourself:If the person who built this leaves, who maintains it?
Run it, monitor it, keep it working.
8When we migrateAsk yourself:Everything built on ECC BAPIs needs retesting on S/4.
Retest every tool on S/4HANA.
Where this road lands
- AI you get
- Exactly what you build.
- Time to production
- No public benchmark.
- Cost
- Engineering time, model usage, maintenance.
- Team load
- High. Rare SAP and AI skills.
- New systems
- MCP servers, agent runtime, monitoring.
- Survives migration
- Logic stays. Tools need retesting.
- Security and licensing
- API policy and licensing apply. Design is yours.
- Source: SAPinsider (Independent press and analysts)
- Adoption risk
- Depends on use case. Key-person risk.
Add this road to my plan
Open another door
Another road you haven't opened
One of the doors you haven't opened, picked at random.
1. Get SAP's AI after moving to S/4HANA
Open door 1