At the Globes Israel Business Conference, Orna Kleinman, Managing Director of SAP Labs Israel and Senior Vice President of Technology and Innovation at SAP Cloud Platform Foundation, addressed the various hurdles posed by ongoing conflict to international high-tech firms operating in Israel. Kleinman highlighted that "60% of advanced technology in Israel depends on international organizations," indicating a significant reliance on external partnerships. She further elaborated on the complications brought by war, stating, “War presents us with challenges that go beyond the reservists and the difficult situation we all face. Some companies store entire products or services in the cloud. If our service goes down, if we don’t have a network even for just an hour, the entire control service goes down.”
Despite these adversities, SAP proceeded with its strategic goals, completing its twelfth acquisition in Israel during the ongoing conflict. The acquisition of WalkMe, valued at approximately $1.5 billion, was finalised in the United States. Kleinman noted, “This shows that when there is business and value, the deal happens despite the war.”
In her presentation, Kleinman articulated SAP’s vision for integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into business operations. She introduced a framework in which companies can harness their business data to develop a linguistically-driven model tailored to their needs. “We enable companies to upload all their business data and get a language model that works for it,” she said. This allows managers to communicate with data naturally, which is intended to facilitate accurate business forecasting.
Kleinman underscored that this shift towards AI represents a transformation in corporate management, stating, “This will be the new way of running companies.” She indicated that while the industry is not ready for fully self-managing firms, the technology offers insights that significantly enhance decision-making grounded in data analyses. She stated that, “Managers can actually use the language model and make more accurate decisions based on their data.”
Highlighting SAP's operational scale, Kleinman pointed out that the company employs around 110,000 staff worldwide and generates revenues of approximately $30 billion. In Israel alone, SAP has a workforce of 1,200 employees. She noted that a large portion of the world's 500 largest companies leverages SAP's services.
Kleinman, who has led SAP Labs Israel for 11 years, also commented on the imperative of increasing female representation within the technology sector. “The mission is to show how much it matters and how possible it is,” she conveyed, appreciating the significant presence of women at the Globes event.
As part of her insights on the advancement of AI in business practices, Kleinman elaborated on how generative AI will transform data accessibility. Rather than relying on complex dashboards or development teams for answers, businesses will be able to engage directly with their data in straightforward queries. She explained that while current language models like ChatGPT lack operational relevance for businesses, SAP's model fills this gap by integrating company-specific data. “You can ‘play’ with the data endlessly,” she remarked, highlighting the ease with which users can generate analytical reports, charts, and tables, processes that previously consumed substantial time.
Kleinman concluded her address by hinting at future acquisitions that would focus on companies that integrate business applications with artificial intelligence capabilities, signaling a commitment to continual innovation in this evolving landscape of business technology.
The Globes Business Conference, noted for being a significant platform for industry dialogue, was co-hosted with Bank Hapoalim and Phoenix Holdings, attracting sponsorship from various large organisations including El Al, Bezeq, and BlackRock, demonstrating a broad interest in the intersection of technology and business amidst current geopolitical challenges.
Source: Noah Wire Services