SAP, ANYbotics Gathering Insights from Robots Performing Dangerous Tasks

SAP and Swiss robotics company ANYbotics are turning high-risk industrial inspections into integrated business insights by embedding the ANYmal inspection robot into SAP workflows through Project Embodied AI and SAP Business Technology Platform.

Robots as Native SAP Field Technicians

For technology leaders, the most immediate change is that inspection robots now show up in SAP as standard field resources rather than exotic pilots. The first major integration point is SAP Field Service Management, where dispatchers can assign work orders directly to ANYmal just as they would to a human technician.

ANYmal then autonomously executes inspection routes, captures visual and multi-modal sensor data, and feeds results back into SAP as part of the same operational system of record. That means field, maintenance and operations teams stay inside familiar SAP screens while robotic inspections run in the background, reducing the need for custom side systems or manual data upload.

One offshore wind customer already uses ANYmal to manage inspections on a remote platform, eliminating the need to send personnel on-site for months at a time. When a human visit was finally required, SAP users already knew what was wrong, which expert to send and which equipment to bring, avoiding trial-and-error trips and raising both safety and ROI on each intervention.

For CIOs and enterprise architects, the partnership shows how SAP’s Project Embodied AI can operationalize AI agents that act on physical assets using SAP business context like work orders, asset histories and operational priorities. ANYbotics retains control of robot behavior while SAP orchestrates how insights drive decisions, reflecting a clear separation of concerns that will matter as more physical systems connect to SAP landscapes.

From Hazardous Inspections to Persistent Intelligence

Plant managers and reliability leaders gain a continuous digital thread from “dirty, dusty and dangerous” environments into SAP analytics and maintenance planning. ANYmal collects thermal, gas, ultrasonic and acoustic data beyond what human inspectors can capture, then converts that into “inspection intelligence” used to improve uptime, extend asset lifecycles and strengthen safety.

Because the integration is expanding from Field Service Management into asset-related scenarios on SAP BTP, organizations can land robot-generated data wherever it has the most value in their SAP estate. That flexibility lets IT leaders align robotics data flows with existing master data, performance dashboards and planning processes without rebuilding their core architecture.

More than 200 ANYmal robots are already in productive use worldwide, signaling that autonomous inspection is moving from experimentation into scaled deployment for refineries, offshore wind platforms, cement plants and chemical facilities. Each implementation includes extensive on-site testing and training, keeping humans in the loop and reinforcing safety and change management as companies introduce robotic coworkers.

As industrial workforces age and expertise becomes scarce, ANYmal’s repeatable programs and captured inspection data become institutional knowledge that persists in SAP even as personnel change. For SAP executives responsible for resiliency and operational excellence, that shift turns hazardous inspection work from a staffing constraint into a reusable, data-driven asset.

What This Means for SAPinsiders

Embedded robotics will redefine SAP-centric operations.
By treating robots like native SAP field resources, this integration blueprint shows SAP customers how to bring physical automation into existing maintenance, service and asset processes, reducing travel exposure and unplanned downtime while keeping SAP as the authoritative system of record for inspection activity.

AI-driven inspection data will become core master intelligence.
ANYmal’s multi-modal sensor readings flow into SAP as “inspection intelligence,” giving asset and operations leaders new inputs for uptime, lifecycle and safety decisions, and pushing vendors and SIs to design data models and extensions that assume continuous, robotic data streams from the edge.

Human-centered automation will guide embodied AI adoption.
The partnership’s emphasis on user research, native SAP workflows and humans-in-the-loop highlights a practical pattern for scaling embodied AI safely, signaling that future SAP roadmaps, partner offerings and SI playbooks must pair automation with clear governance, workforce training and separations of control.