TALKING

SAP maintains that business AI needs to be relevant , reliable and responsible . Can you explain how this will work in practice ?

We design SAP business AI to be relevant ; reliable ; and responsible .

What we mean by ‘ relevant ’ is that everything is embedded within our applications , which of course gives customers an advantage . Customers can count on our systems to be equipped with the most relevant AI experiences as they are based on their data and processes .

When referring to ‘ reliability ’, the outcome of your AI is as good as your data and the business processes and contacts you have within your applications . The data in SAP applications is of extremely high quality , with the business context intact .

This brings us to ‘ responsible ’. We deliver AI with the highest levels of concern for security , privacy , compliance and ethics . Our customers trust us with their internal critical data and processes because we know how to build and run powerful and trustworthy solutions , including AI , that touch the most critical data and systems .

In addition to following the three Rs , SAP has adopted the 10 guiding principles of UNESCO recommendations of the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence , which aim to ensure AI technologies are developed and used in ways that respect human rights , promote fairness and contribute to sustainable development .

SAP innovations in AI and sustainability are largely based on cloud computing , but aren ’ t there still many customers using onpremises software ?

Digital Transformation in the UAE and in our entire region has been extremely impressive . The UAE is one of the most advanced countries in adopting new technologies .

It ' s not a secret – if you want to benefit from the latest technologies like AI , you have to run on the cloud .

Issues such as data residency , for example , are being addressed by many companies including SAP , which has launched several data centres in the region . Many of our hyperscaler partners , including Microsoft and AWS , also have local data centres where we run some of our applications . In the UAE specifically , we have a great partnership with Digital DEWA ’ s local data centre called Moro Hub , which hosts RISE with SAP .

In light of all these offerings , more than 90 % of our customers in the UAE today either run on the cloud or are fully moving to the cloud , so it ’ s fair to say cloud adoption is very high here and we are very proud of that .

As Managing Director of SAP UAE , how do you foresee the AI and cloud technology landscape evolving in the Emirates ?

We are lucky we live in a country such as the UAE , especially when it comes to AI .

The UAE was the first country in the world to appoint a Minister of AI , which is very impressive . In addition , H . H . Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum , Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of The Executive Council of Dubai , this year announced the appointment of 22 Chief AI Officers across various government entities in Dubai .

The UAE has the ideal infrastructure , policies and governance to be a leader in advanced technology and AI , and SAP is committed to supporting this development .

Most top businesses in the UAE are customers of SAP and we are working with them very closely to create AI use cases that will help automate and achieve the results they require daily .

SAP is also helping to train young Emiratis in digital skills . We have a digital skills centre to help young talents learn more about SAP solutions and business AI specifically . We have a programme called SAP Young Professionals Programme ( YPP ) and the Dual Study Programme to empower UAE nationals and graduates to come to market or find a job easily with the right skills and understanding of new technologies before they start their journey .

We ’ ve already trained more than 1,000 students and graduates and we have plans in the near future to have another 40 new graduates trained on SAP Business AI specifically .

As you can see , we are investing in the country and the talent , to make sure our shared visions are recognised . p

Transitioning to the cloud doesn ' t need to be daunting . SAP is committed to helping customers make the transition , so we have lot of programmes to help make this as easy as possible . Our hyperscalers and partners also support in funding this transition .

New initiatives improve time-to-value for customers transitioning to RISE and help them find partners with the expertise needed for such complex projects or complex cloud transformations .

38 INTELLIGENTCIO MIDDLE EAST www . intelligentcio . com