SAP Outlines How South African Enterprises Can Unlock Measurable AI ROI

Recently, SAP leadership has been emphasizing how cloud ERP and embedded AI are shaping Africa’s next phase of enterprise transformation. Across those discussions, a consistent theme has emerged around tying cloud ERP and AI initiatives directly to execution discipline and measurable business outcomes.

According to SAP, the most effective way to secure a measurable return on investment is by utilizing embedded AI, which integrates intelligence directly into existing business applications rather than using standalone platforms.

And while AI may now be firmly on enterprise roadmaps across Africa, turning AI investment into provable business value remains a practical challenge for many organizations.

Dumi Moyo, marketing director for Africa at SAP, addressed this challenge in a recent interview originally reported by IT-Online. He outlined how South African businesses are beginning to move from AI experimentation to measurable return on investment (ROI). Rather than positioning AI as a future ambition, he spoke about how organizations are embedding intelligence into core processes to deliver tangible cost, productivity, risk, and revenue gains today.

From AI Experimentation to Measurable Outcomes

The strategic approach of utilizing embedded AI focuses on four essential pillars: lowering operational costs, accelerating decision-making, mitigating risks, and driving revenue growth.

“A native approach means faster deployment, less disruption, and clearer outcomes,” Moyo explained. “For example, SAP has built more than 295 AI-powered scenarios into business applications that span supply chain, procurement, finance, customer experience and HR, empowering business users to complete navigational and transactional tasks up to 90% faster,” he added.

In the interview, Moyo framed this approach around four practical pillars that help organizations translate embedded AI into measurable business value across functions.

1. Cutting Manual Effort to Save Cost

Moyo emphasized that the most reliable early returns typically come from automating repetitive work.  “SAP data shows that companies achieve up to 20% operational cost reduction in key functions like accounts payable and HR through effective AI deployments.”

By automating repetitive, rule-based tasks, teams can redirect labor hours toward higher-value, strategic work. This transition is critical because organizations still reliant on manual processes and disconnected spreadsheets face concrete risks, including shrinking margins and higher operating costs, a point also highlighted previously by Sergio Maccotta, senior vice-president and GM of SAP Middle East and Africa – South.

2. Speeding Better Decisions

In planning-intensive areas such as supply chain and demand forecasting, embedding AI into existing workflows has helped business planners make decisions faster and with greater confidence.

“Data shows that embedded AI improves forecasting and demand planning in the supply chain, resulting in less downtime and a 25% productivity bump for planners,” says Moyo.

This pillar aligns with the broader goal of moving South African enterprises from reactive operations to proactive, insight-driven decision-making. Because mobile access is the primary interface for many enterprise users in African markets, these insights must be delivered via mobile-first, cloud-based applications that can function effectively even in low-connectivity areas.

This enables a “system-driven execution” where the enterprise can sense change and act with minimal human intervention.

3. Risk Controls That Show Up in the Numbers

For South African businesses, risk mitigation is a foundational requirement for navigating regional infrastructure constraints and regulatory complexity. By embedding governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) capabilities directly into digital systems, organizations can address cybersecurity concerns and local regulatory obligations as they expand.

“AI embedded into core business processes can flag anomalies, detect fraud patterns, and monitor compliance thresholds in real time. AI agents are increasingly being used in risk reduction, for example by scanning procurement data for irregularities and highlighting non-compliant purchases,” Moyo said.

4. Revenue Growth Through Smarter Engagement

Finally, AI’s contribution to revenue is often visible through customer behavior metrics: improved conversion rates, reduced churn, and higher sales from targeted interactions. As South Africa emerges as a fast-growing digital economy, this pillar represents the shift toward the “Autonomous Enterprise” – a business capable of learning and adapting in real-time to enhance profitability.

What This Means for SAPinsiders

Embedded AI favors platform-first transformation strategies. Organizations pursuing AI through core ERP and business applications are better positioned to scale use cases consistently, govern outcomes, and avoid the fragmentation that slows ROI in large, complex environments.

Measurable outcomes are now shaping AI investment decisions. Leading enterprises are defining success through operational metrics such as cost reduction, planning accuracy, cycle-time improvement, and risk exposure, bringing financial discipline to AI programs.

AI is reinforcing the case for modernizing core enterprise processes. As automation, planning, and decision intelligence mature, organizations with standardized processes and clean data foundations are seeing faster returns than those running fragmented or manual environments.