Cohort: 1 

Locations: Amstelveen, Netherlands & Walldorf, Germany 

Application Title: AI copilot for ERP acceleration and cloud transformation 

Application Subtitle: 

Team Members

KMPG: Hendrick Thörner

SAP: Philipp Herzig (Executive Sponsor), Sachin Kaura, Natalie Han, Joachim von Goetz, Christian Karaschewitz, Caroline Ngo

The challenge 

Many large organisations rely on enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems to manage finance, supply chains and core operations. A significant share of these systems were built on on-premise infrastructure and are now being migrated to the cloud. These migrations are technically complex and often span several years. 

ERP transformation projects require consultants and internal teams to navigate extensive technical documentation, system-specific rules and legacy custom code. For SAP environments, this often involves working with ABAP, a programming language used to customise business processes. Understanding what existing code does, whether it remains compliant in the cloud, and how it should be adapted takes substantial time. 

Traditionally, teams rely on manual searches through documentation, static guides and community forums. This slows progress, increases the likelihood of errors and leads to rework when incorrect assumptions are discovered late in the project. 

The solution 

An AI copilot grounded in ERP expertise 

KPMG partnered early on to leverage SAP’s AI capabilities via SAP Joule for Consultants, which is designed to support ERP migration teams during cloud transformation projects.

The copilot is built on a vast body of trusted SAP documentation and best practices to answer consulting questions, explain ABAP code, and suggest configurations helping practitioners move faster, with less error and work with greater confidence. It draws from SAP documentation of more than 100 million pages, along with curated best-practice materials and validated implementation guidance (up to 12 Terabytes of content - 25 million documents and growing). Instead of acting as a general chatbot, the system is tailored to answer questions specific to ERP configuration and migration work. KPMG has additionally grounded their SAP Joule for Consultants instance with KPMG’s proprietary knowledge from past migration projects. Consultants can ask questions in plain language and receive natural language responses that are based on and directly linked to authoritative sources.

How it works 

Retrieval-augmented guidance during implementation 

The copilot uses a retrieval-augmented architecture that connects user questions to curated SAP knowledge. When a query is submitted, the system retrieves relevant content and uses language models to explain it in context. 

For developers, the copilot can analyse ABAP code and explain its purpose, structure and dependencies. It can also suggest code changes or generate new code when appropriate. This reduces the need for manual interpretation and helps teams assess whether customisations should be migrated, modified or retired. 

The system operates within existing SAP project environments and supports human review, ensuring that final decisions remain with experienced consultants. 

How it differs from conventional approaches 

Replacing manual search with contextual assistance 

Conventional ERP migrations depend heavily on keyword searches across large document repositories and individual expertise. Information is fragmented and often outdated, making it difficult to apply consistently across projects. 

The copilot consolidates prior learning and existing knowhow into a single interactive system. Rather than searching across multiple sources, teams receive contextual guidance at the point of work. Responses are grounded in validated content, reducing the risk of incorrect configuration or non-compliant code. 

This approach shortens feedback loops without removing professional judgment. 

Impact 

• Up to 1.5 hours saved per consultant per day 
• Reduce average project duration from 18 to 15.5 months 
• Up to 18% faster execution, translating to approximately USD 1.3 million in potential savings for a 2,000-employee program  
• Reduced rework and improved quality through expert-aligned guidance based on current SAP best practices  
• Faster understanding of custom ABAP code, reducing interpretation time and accelerating remediation

Why it matters 

Reducing friction in large-scale ERP change 

ERP migrations are among the most complex transformation programmes organisations undertake. The collaboration between KPMG and SAP shows how AI can support these efforts by reducing time spent on documentation and code interpretation, while building on both's organizations strengths.

By embedding expertise directly into daily workflows, the copilot helps teams move faster while maintaining accuracy and compliance, supporting more predictable outcomes in long-running transformation projects.