SAP took the stage at DPW Amsterdam 2025 to reveal the next generation of SAP Ariba — a complete AI-native rebuild of its flagship source-to-pay suite. The launch marks a defining moment in SAP’s evolution and signals how artificial intelligence is reshaping the future of enterprise procurement.
The moment the future took the stage
When Baber Farooq, Senior Vice President for SAP Ariba, walked onto the DPW Amsterdam main stage, the energy was unmistakable. Procurement leaders, innovators, and founders from around the world leaned in as he unveiled what many called the boldest transformation in Ariba’s 25-year history.
“Announcing something this significant deserved the right stage,” said Baber Farooq, Senior Vice President Product Marketing, SAP Ariba. DPW Amsterdam was the perfect place to do it.”
He described an industry standing at an inflection point — much like the Industrial Revolution — with AI set to redefine how organizations operate. “We’re living in an era of peak procurement,” he said, noting how the function has evolved from back-office administration to a driver of business resilience. “But what’s gotten us here won’t get us there.”
And that moment set the tone for what followed — the unveiling of next-generation SAP Ariba, rebuilt from the ground up for a new era of intelligent procurement.
From complexity to clarity
For decades, SAP Ariba has powered procurement at scale — trusted, powerful, but often complex.
Now, SAP has rebuilt it from the ground up on SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) — creating a faster, smarter, and more intuitive experience designed for how modern teams actually work.
Farooq drew a striking comparison. For years, the benchmark for great procurement software was to make it “feel like shopping online.” But business, he argued, isn’t about browsing — it’s about moving forward.
“E-commerce experiences are designed to keep you shopping. In business, you don’t have time to waste. Procurement shouldn’t feel like scrolling — it should feel like driving.”
He likened the new SAP Ariba experience to Waymo — autonomous, intuitive, and purposeful. A system that senses what’s needed, reasons through options, and acts when it can. Procurement powered not by clicks, but by confidence.
Available from Q1 2026, this next-generation Ariba is more than a redesign — it’s a redefinition of how technology supports business impact.
Joule: The brain behind it
At the heart of this transformation is Joule, SAP’s generative AI engine. Joule connects every part of Ariba through specialized agents that automate, anticipate, and advise.
Farooq made it clear: AI matters only when it delivers outcomes. It’s not intelligence for its own sake, but for what it enables — productivity, resilience, and value creation.
“AI isn’t a side project for SAP — it’s the foundation of how our customers will run their businesses. By embedding Joule into every process, we’re helping people work 30 percent more productively and make faster, better decisions.” — Christian Klein, CEO, SAP
With Joule, Ariba doesn’t just process — it thinks. It senses, reasons, and acts across sourcing, contracts, and supplier management. It turns decision-making into orchestration, giving procurement teams more time to focus on strategic work.
Procurement is ready
A recent Economist Impact study found that nearly nine in ten procurement leaders are ready to use AI to drive efficiency and resilience. That readiness was on full display in Amsterdam.
SAP’s message was clear: this isn’t a distant vision — it’s technology ready to deploy.
With no new contracts, no new SKUs, and migration tools built in, the transition to next-gen Ariba is designed to be simple, fast, and real.
The next-generation Ariba is part of SAP’s broader AI transformation — but in Amsterdam, all eyes were on procurement’s defining leap forward.
A defining moment for enterprise procurement
When the lights rose on the DPW Amsterdam main stage, the audience knew they’d witnessed a turning point. SAP — a company synonymous with scale and reliability — had shown that even industry giants can reinvent themselves.
“For twenty-five years, Ariba has powered procurement. Today, it learns, adapts, and acts. That's not an update. That's a turning point.” — Matthias Gutzmann, Founder, DPW
For enterprise procurement, this launch marks a new era — from process management to intelligent orchestration. And for DPW, it reaffirms our role as the stage where the world’s most influential companies unveil what’s next.
Looking Ahead
The debut of next-gen Ariba at DPW Amsterdam wasn’t just a product announcement — it was a glimpse into the next chapter of intelligent enterprise.
👉 Explore the transformation — request your demo of next-gen SAP Ariba
SAP’s AI-native architecture and ecosystem approach signal a future where technology augments human decision-making rather than replaces it.
As Christian Klein has championed, AI will be most powerful when it is embedded into the processes that matter most — and procurement is now leading that charge.
At DPW, we’re proud to be the stage where that future unfolds.
💬 Want to dive deeper? Explore the full Next-Gen SAP Ariba FAQ →
(Answers to availability, migration, and AI features)
