SAP Ariba Unveils Plans for Procurement Bot

Company developing digital assistant to make procurement simpler, smarter and faster

LAS VEGAS--()--Let’s face it. Procurement can be a painful process. But this is about to change. SAP Ariba today unveiled plans for an enterprise digital procurement bot powered by artificial intelligence that will allow users of its cloud-based applications to manage key tasks with greater simplicity, efficiency and speed. The intelligent digital assistant can interact with the users naturally wherever they are, from web applications or any communication channel. The news came during SAP Ariba Live, the premier business commerce conference being held this week at The Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas.

“Intelligent bots are facilitating a whole new paradigm of interactions that allow people to be more efficient and smarter in what they do,” said Dinesh Shahane, Chief Technology Officer, SAP Ariba. “We are investing in these types of applications and technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to deliver a next-generation user experience for our customers that promises to transform procurement as we know it.”

Siri® and Alexa®, Meet Procurement

How many times have you received an invoice from a supplier that had errors in it? Either the amount was wrong or price was incorrect – so you rejected it. Then you spent a week going back and forth on what needed to be fixed to get it approved. Or, as a supplier, how many times have you waited to get paid – only to find that your invoice was rejected due to some mismatch with buyer rules?

SAP Ariba intends to make issues like this a thing of the past. Through its bot, the company plans to enable buyers and suppliers to converse with their SAP Ariba applications much as they would Siri® or Alexa®. Leveraging machine learning, the bot will be able to train and learn about a user’s preferences and a company’s policies and procedures and guide actions in line with them to reduce errors and speed processing.

SAP Ariba aims to make its procurement bot available as part of a portfolio of bot applications that SAP is developing by the end of the year.

About SAP Ariba

SAP Ariba is how companies connect to get business done. On the Ariba Network, buyers and suppliers from more than 2.5 million companies and 190 countries discover new opportunities, collaborate on transactions and grow their relationships. Buyers can manage the entire purchasing process, while controlling spending, finding new sources of savings and building a healthy supply chain. And suppliers can connect with profitable customers and efficiently scale existing relationships – simplifying sales cycles and improving cash control along the way. The result is a dynamic, digital marketplace, where more than $1 trillion in commerce gets done every year.
To learn more about SAP Ariba, visit www.ariba.com.

About SAP

As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE:SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable approximately 345,000 customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

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Contacts

SAP Ariba
Karen Master, +1-412-297-8177
karen.master@sap.com

Contacts

SAP Ariba
Karen Master, +1-412-297-8177
karen.master@sap.com