Meet the Experts
Architecture & Governance Gaps Are the Main Obstacle Only 3% have a unified governed data layer, while 38% remain siloed. With one third lacking formal governance, foundational gaps slow analytics maturity and limit AI scalability.
AI and Data Products Are Driving SAP BDC Adoption AI and agent-based use cases (26%) now match S/4HANA transformation as top investment priorities. Organizations are heavily focused on data products—finance, AI-ready datasets, and cross-domain composites (each 47%)—and early adopters report >25% gains in decision-making speed, data quality, and operational efficiency.
SAP Business Data Cloud (SAP BDC) is becoming SAP’s unified, governed, AI ready data platform, addressing the limits of legacy architectures that cannot support real time analytics or AI-driven decision-making. While strategic interest is high, adoption is still early: only 3% of organizations have a unified governed data layer, and 38% remain siloed. Governance maturity is also low, with one third lacking formal governance—gaps that slow analytics progress and block AI scalability.
Despite this, investment momentum is strong. Analytics modernization (28%), AI and agent-based use cases (26%), and S/4HANA transformation (26%) are top drivers, signaling a shift toward SAP BDC as an AI-first platform. Early adopters are already deploying predictive analytics, supply chain visibility, and agentic workflows powered by Joule-based AI.
Data products are central to value realization. Finance data products, AI-ready datasets, and cross-domain composites—each at 47% adoption—reflect the need for LLM-ready data to fuel AI and automation. Barriers remain significant, including budget constraints (44%), landscape complexity (34%), unclear positioning (32%), and limited skills (30%). Another 26% lack sufficient SAP BDC knowledge.
Where SAP BDC is in production, results are compelling: >25% improvements in decision-making speed (43%), data quality (36%), AI acceleration (36%), and operational efficiency (38%). The research makes clear that SAP BDC represents a strategic architectural shift. Organizations that modernize data foundations, strengthen governance, and prioritize early AI and finance use cases will gain the strongest competitive advantage.
