The Future of ERP

AI is changing everything; so why does ERP keep coming up as the thing that makes it all work? This episode gets real about what actually happens when you put AI on top of your core business systems.

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ERP is not dying and if anything, AI is making it more important than ever. Benjamin Krischer from cbs answers that question without hesitation and builds a compelling case from there. The episode unpacks why ERP remains the foundational data layer that every AI decision ultimately depends on. A new architectural reality is emerging where data, front-end, and AI are separating into distinct layers, reshaping how enterprise systems are built. The autonomous enterprise is closer than people think, but Benjamin is clear that humans must stay in the loop because someone still has to sign off the year-end results. Data quality is the make-or-break factor since bad data fed into AI does not produce bad outputs, it produces confidently wrong ones. Structured ERP data and messy external sources need to be governed, semantically aligned, and treated as real business assets. Greenfield implementations offer a clean AI-ready start, but Benjamin notes that most companies are navigating selective data transitions from existing landscapes. Transformation is not a project with an end date. It is a continuous journey, and as Benjamin puts it, it never truly ends.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Download Episode Transcript⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Useful Links:
SAP Cloud ERP
Explore cbs System Landscape Transformation  

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Guest 1: Benjamin Krischer, Global Head of System Landscape & Transformation and Member of the Executive Board at CBS

Benjamin Krischer is Global Head of System Landscape Transformation (SLT) at cbs and a member of the Executive Board. With more than 20 years of experience inSAP and business transformation, he has dedicated his career to helping organizations align data, processes, and technology. After starting his professional journey with database development and SAP data migration projects, he went on to lead complex transformation initiatives across industries. Today, he heads the global Landscape Transformation practice of cbs, supporting customers worldwide in SAP S/4HANA transformations, data migration, and system landscape optimization through a unique combination of process and data expertise.
 
Benjamin’s LinkedIn

Host 1: Richard Howells, SAP

Richard Howells has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.

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Thinking about moving from a single, tightly coupled ERP to a modular, composable setupwithout slowing the business? Explore how a shift to a “system of intelligence,” with AI orchestrating processes across applications, unlocks agility and resilience.

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This episode explores how enterprises can evolve from monolithic ERP to a composable, modular landscape without disrupting operations. It explains the shift from a system of record to a system of intelligence, with AI as the connective tissue across processes and applications. It also highlights governance must haves, central guardrails with federated innovation, governed extensions, reversible AI actions, cost governance, and consistent global templates. Finally, it covers change practices that stick, from reframing “one system” to “one platform” to building champion networks and sustaining adoption after go live.
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Useful Links:
⁠SAP Cloud ERP⁠https://atos.net
https://atos.net/en/services/smart-platforms/sap-services
https://atos.net/en/blog/fast-tracking-ecc-to-sap-s-4hana

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Guest 1: Andy Brown, Global CTO at Atos
Andy is the Global CTO for the SAP Business within Atos. He’s been in the SAP ecosystem for over 30 years, always in a technical role. He believes the impact of AI on SAP will be the most significant since the launch of R/3 and the client-server architecture of the 90’s.

Host 1: Richard Howells, SAP
Richard Howells has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.

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Is AI eliminating jobs or creating better ones? Join us as we unpack how ERP roles, leadership, and skills are being redefined, and what it truly takes to thrive in the era of the autonomous enterprise.

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AI and automation are fundamentally changing what ERP expertise looks like, from entry-level roles to senior leadership. Trijoy Saikia from HCLTech shares how organizations are rethinking talent models, upskilling strategies, and management structures to keep pace. The conversation covers real-world human-AI collaboration, the barriers slowing AI adoption from pilot to production, and what SAP's Autonomous Enterprise roadmap means for every professional working in the ERP space today.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Download Episode Transcript⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Useful Links:
SAP Cloud ERP
https://www.hcltech.com/

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Guest 1: Trijoy Saikia, HCLTech Business Acceleration Center for SAP

Host 1: Richard Howells, SAP
Richard Howells has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.

Follow Richard Howell on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Host 2: Oyku Ilgar, SAP
Oyku Ilgar is a marketer and thought leader specializing in SAP’s digital supply chain and ERP solutions since 2017. As a marketer, blogger, and podcaster, she creates engaging content that highlights innovative SAP technologies and explores key topics including business trends, AI, Industry 4.0, and sustainability.

Follow Oyku Ilgar on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SAP Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Your cloud ERP holds the keys to your entire business: finance, HR, supply chain. But who actually controls the locks? This episode exposes the identity access gaps most organizations never see coming, and why AI is making them more dangerous than ever.

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Identity and access management (IAM) is often misunderstood. But getting it wrong can cost millions. EY's Joe Surmeier breaks down IAM in cloud ERP: from the most common mistakes organizations make during migration, to navigating the shared responsibility model between vendors, SIs, and customers. The conversation also explores how AI is reshaping both threats and defenses, and shares three actionable priorities for any organization starting its cloud ERP journey, and why cybersecurity must have a seat at the table from day one.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Download Episode Transcript⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Useful Links:
 ⁠⁠SAP Cloud ERP⁠⁠

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Guest 1: Joe Surmeier, Senior Manager, Cybersecurity at Ernst & Young LLP
Joe Surmeier has spent more than a decade at the intersection of cybersecurity, business transformation, and risk management. He works with organizations to integrate security into complex transformation programs, helping leadership teams navigate evolving cyber risks while accelerating innovation, compliance, and operational resilience.

Host 1: Richard Howells, SAP
Richard Howells has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.

Follow Richard Howell on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Host 2: Oyku Ilgar, SAP
Oyku Ilgar is a marketer and thought leader specializing in SAP’s digital supply chain and ERP solutions since 2017. As a marketer, blogger, and podcaster, she creates engaging content that highlights innovative SAP technologies and explores key topics including business trends, AI, Industry 4.0, and sustainability.

Follow Oyku Ilgar on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SAP Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Cloud ERP is reshaping how organizations manage risk. In this episode with EY, we explore why security, governance, and AI must be built into ERP transformation from day one, not added later.

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As organizations accelerate their move to cloud ERP, managing risk is becoming less about reacting to issues and more about designing secure, resilient processes from the start. In this episode, EY's Natalie Freedline and Dan Crawley discuss how cloud transformations are reshaping risk management, from understanding the shared responsibility model to embedding security, governance, and automated controls early in every implementation.

The conversation explores why successful ERP transformations depend as much on people, processes, and clear ownership as they do on technology. The speakers explain how organizations can strengthen governance, prepare teams for change, and build trusted data foundations that support long-term business resilience.

⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Download Episode Transcript⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Useful Links:
 ⁠SAP Cloud ERP⁠
SAP-EY Allience
5 common compliance myths when moving to S/4HANA
The role of governance in Continuous Controls Monitoring enablement
Disclaimer: The views reflected in this video are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the global EY organization or its member firms.

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Guest 1: Dan Crawley, SAP Security and Identity Architect at EY
Dan Crawley is an SAP Security and Identity Architect with more than 15 years of experience providing strategic leadership and delivering scalable, maintainable solutions in application security and identity management within the SAP ERP space. Having delivered complex implementations and enterprise transformations across many different industries, he enjoys the challenges of learning new technologies and implementing them to provide more compliant and efficient solutions. 

Guest 2: Natalie Freedline - Principal, Technology Consulting, Ernst & Young LLP | EY - Global
Natalie has more than 18 years of Technology consulting experience serving Industrial Products and Consumer Products clients undergoing transformations. Starting her career in audit, Natalie has a wide range of experience assisting clients with SAP and Oracle process and controls enablement/optimization, application security, business transformation, governance, risk and compliance (GRC) technology enablement and enterprise risk management (including IT risk). 

Natalie has delivered strategic programs for SAP S/4 HANA transformations and specializes in quantifying the business case to drive efficiencies and lower the cost of compliance through analytics and monitoring, security and GRC technologies.
In addition to helping clients deploy risk and compliance programs, Natalie holds a leadership role managing the Risk Technology team focused on SAP of over 100 resources to streamline growth, collaboration, knowledge sharing and improve the quality of engagement delivery.

Host 1: Richard Howells, SAP
Richard Howells has been working in the Supply Chain Management and Manufacturing space for over 30 years. He is responsible for driving the thought leadership and awareness of SAP’s ERP, Finance, and Supply Chain solutions and is an active writer, podcaster, and thought leader on the topics of supply chain, Industry 4.0, digitization, and sustainability.

Follow Richard Howell on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Host 2: Oyku Ilgar, SAP
Oyku Ilgar is a marketer and thought leader specializing in SAP’s digital supply chain and ERP solutions since 2017. As a marketer, blogger, and podcaster, she creates engaging content that highlights innovative SAP technologies and explores key topics including business trends, AI, Industry 4.0, and sustainability.

Follow Oyku Ilgar on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠SAP Community⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠