Next-Gen SAP Ariba: An Insider's View from the Beta Program

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Hi {{FIRST_NAME|readers}},

Quick update before we get to tonight's note.

Last week, I mentioned ProcureTech Unpacked (our first 100% virtual conference happening April 22-24) for the first time.

One-third of the spots sold out within a week.

So far, we've got industry peer groups forming in:

The format is simple: solution deep-dives and peer breakouts with people in your industry navigating the same digital procurement challenges you are.

No vendor pitches. No sales. Just education and connections.

If you want to upskill yourself or your team on digital procurement on fast forward ( and make contacts with peers doing the same thing), this is for you.

Spots are intentionally limited to create an intimate, impactful experience.

Answer a few questions if you’re interested in learning more (no commitment).

I’ll get back to you with the details.

Now, onto tonight's main course...

A delicious Q&A with someone in the Next-Gen Ariba beta program. Beans will be spilt. 🫘

Onwards!

📰 In this week’s edition:

Note: Some of the content listed above is only available in the email version of this newsletter. Don’t miss out! Sign up for free to get the next edition.

Debadatta Dash is currently a Technology Platform Leader, Source-to-Pay at a major global enterprise. He’s been driving Source-to-Pay transformation with organizations within the SAP ecosystem for 15+ years, making Ariba, Fieldglass, Concur, ECC and S4/HANA work together to support procurement processes in complex global organizations.

Debadatta is one of those rare people who lives at the intersection of procurement domain knowledge and deep technical SAP expertise. (IYKYK - This is a combination that is hard to find. 👀)

Debadatta and I had very similar early careers in SAP and procurement. But where I eventually went wider (covering the full ProcureTech landscape across vendors and categories) he kept going deeper into the SAP ecosystem. That's why I have enormous respect for his perspective on SAP procurement solutions past, present, and future.

He's also a prolific educator on LinkedIn and YouTube, has completed 37+ openSAP courses, and has been selected for SAP's Early Adopter Care program for Joule in Ariba. He's currently beta testing next-gen Ariba's contract management module.

In short: when Debadatta talks about what's coming, I listen. I thought you would find our most recent conversation valuable if you’re curious about what the historic market leader in ProcureTech is up to…

(Earlier this year, I asked whether SAP Ariba was still "King of the Hill". This Q&A is arguably the clearest answer yet.)

Let's get into it.

Joël: You're constantly immersed in the SAP procurement space. You attend events, implement solutions, talk to professionals across industries. What are you seeing right now that procurement leaders need to pay attention to, SAP or otherwise?

Debadatta: There are many things. I'll highlight three.

First, the unprecedented speed of innovation.

The pace of innovation in B2B digital procurement right now is both staggering and humbling.

Take SAP as an example. Early in 2025, I highlighted the historically long "gestation period" between SAP product announcements and actual releases in a LinkedIn post. We exchanged views on that post at the time.

Fast forward to now and I stand corrected on many fronts.

SAP announced its proprietary LLM at Sapphire in May 2025 (SAP’s own yearly conference). The first version of SAP RPT-1 is already publicly available. Joule for Ariba early adopters was completed in September 2025. More than 30 sourcing and procurement use cases were released before end of 2025. Next-gen Ariba was announced in October 2025, and beta testing with customers is already underway.

This level of agility from SAP is unprecedented in my 15 years as a practitioner and observer in this ecosystem.

Beyond SAP, the momentum is equally strong. Look at Coupa's two moves in 2025 alone in category management and the buyer-supplier network space.

And Joël, you as a hyperactive digital procurement analyst and community builder have a frontline view of the SMB procurement tech space more than anyone else. That space is buzzing with startups and agentic AI innovations almost every day! We see it in your newsletter.

Second, looking inward and sensing business direction.

In a world where external choices seem endless, sustainable decisions can only come from looking inward.

The cornerstone is deep business understanding and alignment with both short-term priorities and long-term strategic direction. It's not enough to know how your organization operates today. As leaders, building a deep sense of anticipation and digital literacy around how the organization will transform over the next 18-24 months is crucial.

Is the company entering new markets, or consolidating its existing footprint? Will the focus be on differentiated, research-driven product portfolios, or on partnerships, mergers, acquisitions, and operational standardization?

For large enterprises, the reality is often a blend of all these strategies, requiring leadership to strike a delicate balance in attention and capital allocation. This balancing act is essential to ensure that technology investments and procurement decisions align seamlessly with the organization's evolving business objectives.

Third, best-in-class business and IT collaboration.

Organizations aiming for integrated, end-to-end business processes with minimal disruption cannot afford an ungoverned approach to technology assessment, deployment, and usage/operations.

The starting point must be a unified strategy with IT. Don’t simple engage IT in later stages… Involve them early in the your thinking and decision-making processes. Share business requirements upfront to evaluate whether existing technology can meet the need. If gaps exist, conduct joint market research and enable IT to perform technical vetting before onboarding new solutions.

This is not a one-off interaction. It must be a genuine team sport.

Joël: We keep hearing about "clean core" as an SAP guiding principle. What does that actually mean in practice? How are companies balancing it with their real business needs?

Debadatta: You used the appropriate term: guiding principle. Clean core is a non-technical concept in ERP governance. A mindset shift more than anything else.

I often describe this as the contrast between the aspirational state and the practical state. The aspirational state represents the ideal vision: where ERP systems operate with seamless integration, agility, and intelligence. In reality, most organizations function within the practical state, managing day-to-day ERP operations with inherent complexities and constraints. Bridging this gap is a progressive journey, requiring deliberate steps toward modernization, simplification, and innovation.

At its heart, clean core calls for avoiding unnecessary customizations. When customization becomes unavoidable, refrain from altering the core ABAP code. Instead, leverage in-app extensions (such as CDS views within S/4HANA) or adopt side-by-side extensions using SAP BTP capabilities.

However, enabling this guiding principles in practice comes with responsibility. As business users witness the power to create new applications through BTP, there is a real risk of accumulating technical debt at an alarming pace if governance is not enforced rigorously.

Remember: systems like ECC and S/4HANA have evolved over three decades, offering extensive built-in functionality. For example, there is no need to develop a custom three-way match cockpit (PO–Receipt–Invoice) in BTP. The core ERP natively provides this capability… But if you don’t know that, you might be tempted to build it again outside the ERP… And nothing will stop you.

The mantra should be: maximize native ERP capabilities first. Only consider extensions when the business requirement exceeds the scope of the core system. And don't hesitate to explore non-SAP platforms or technologies if SAP ecosystem extensions introduce excessive complexity or technical debt.

The foundational pillars of a clean core strategy are clean data and clean business operations. From a governance perspective, tolerance for deviations in these areas should be little to none. I've seen a few customers starting their cloud-ERP journey with zero legacy data migration… A straight up clean slate. A bold step indeed.

Based on my own observations of organizations that have matured in their clean-core cloud ERP journey over the past three to five years, a typical governance committee ends up with roughly these numbers:

Joël: Your answer illustrates why SAP BTP (Business Technology Platform) has gotten more attention in recent years. How should procurement professionals be thinking about this? What's actually possible today?

Debadatta: SAP BTP is the bedrock upon which the entire SAP application portfolio rests. It acts as the unifying layer that is supposed to seamlessly connect every element of SAP's offering:

In essence, BTP is the glue that binds SAP's suite into a coherent, integrated story. It is the vehicle that brings the clean core concept to life.

If clean core represents the vision of a painter, BTP is the paintbrush that turns that vision into reality.

The BTP bet seems to have paid off. Today, the BTP PaaS tops the chart in terms of buzzwords in the SAP ecosystem, and BTP services are some of the most in-demand skillsets in ERP hiring. Customers are leveraging BTP to unlock solutions and innovations that were not possible within SAP's offering just a few years ago.

Beyond foundational services, BTP delivers five major capability areas:

These are all tools built on SAP BTP.

Joël: There's a lot of buzz around Joule, SAP's AI assistant. What does it actually do for procurement users day-to-day? Is it living up to the hype?

Debadatta: First, it's essential to underscore that Joule is currently available exclusively for SAP's cloud product portfolio: S/4HANA Cloud editions, Ariba, Concur, SuccessFactors, etc.

From a technical perspective, Joule is architected ground-up on SAP BTP, making BTP and several BTP-based capabilities mandatory prerequisites for activation and use.

I have had the privilege of being part of a select cohort of SAP ERP experts inducted into the Early Adopter Care program for Joule for Ariba in Q3 2025. Leading Joule implementation for the Ariba suite has been a standout experience. Its capabilities are impressive and evolving rapidly.

Out of the promised four types of Joule skills, we already see released use cases for three:

Some concrete Ariba buying examples of what Joule can do today:

As of today, there are 34 Joule prompts dedicated to Ariba sourcing and procurement, with new prompts added in every release.

Looking ahead, Joule will serve as the launchpad for agentic AI use cases with simple text-based prompts. Sourcing event creation agents and bid analysis agents are scheduled for rollout in 2026.

SAP has also announced an early version of Joule Studio, which will provide lifecycle management for custom Joule agents, empowering customers to tailor AI-driven experiences to their unique business needs.

This is an exciting phase for SAP ERP professionals.

Joël: SAP recently announced they're "replatforming" Ariba on SAP BTP (“Next-Gen Ariba”). What does this mean for companies currently on “Current-Gen” Ariba 😅?

Debadatta: As a seasoned practitioner in the SAP procurement space, the October 2025 announcement from SAP regarding Next-Gen SAP Ariba feels like a watershed moment for the company.

As someone who is part of the beta testing group for the upcoming contract management module, I can confirm that the earliest version of the next-gen contract solution is significantly cleaner, more intuitive, and better aligned with modern UX expectations.

If SAP sustains this level of quality across next-gen buying, sourcing, and supplier management, the Ariba portfolio by late 2026 to early 2027 will represent a substantial leap forward.

What customers need to know about Next-Gen Ariba architecture:

Next-gen Ariba capabilities will be built on SAP BTP, with prerequisites similar to those for Joule. The enablement process will follow a structured approach including application provisioning via the SAP for Me portal, BTP setup jointly by SAP and customers, and SAP Cloud Identity Services for authentication.

Here's the big one: SAP has confirmed that there will be a single master data layer cutting across applications (S/4HANA, Ariba, etc.). Many of the data validation errors in integrated flows are going away (e.g. CLID, Supplier sync across SLP-MDG-S/4HANA, Sourcing integration between S/4HANA and Ariba) . That will be a massive improvement in itself.

In addition to migrating Ariba's buyer-side applications to BTP, SAP announced during Sapphire 2025 that SAP Business Network (formerly Ariba Network) will also transition to BTP. While this announcement received limited attention, its long-term impact will be significant.

Release timeline and transition strategy:

SAP plans to release the initial version of next-gen Ariba in February 2026 (right now!). This first iteration will not achieve full functional parity with the current generation. SAP will progressively enhance capabilities through quarterly releases in May, August, and November 2026, moving closer to the existing scope.

Key considerations for customers:

SAP's strategic direction for procurement is clear: enhanced user experience, data consistency across platforms, and AI-driven innovation through expanded Joule use cases.

Joël: Where is SAP missing the boat in procurement? What are the gaps between what they're promising and what companies can execute today?

Debadatta: There are multiple areas of improvement. I'll highlight three that stand out for me.

1. Supplier Onboarding and Enablement Challenges

Current SAP Business Network onboarding and enablement processes are complex, often frustrating both suppliers and buyer enablement teams.

What needs to improve: if a supplier faces login issues (say, three failed attempts), the homepage should display their admin contact or open an Ariba support window. Guided in-app assistance for suppliers (e.g. step-by-step handholding in responding to sourcing events or completing qualification questionnaires) would go a long way.

One of the other issues I see is that many suppliers with standard (free) accounts don't even know their SAP Business Network account exists. They don't need to. These accounts are often auto-created when buyers send POs or payment confirmations. While these actions don't affect supplier experience directly, they lead to confusion later (e.g. suppliers receive system downtime or certificate update emails that have nothing to do with them).

2. SAP Ariba Buyer Support Services

Despite 13 years post-acquisition, SAP and Ariba still operate in silos in some customer experience areas, undermining end-to-end product positioning.

Coordination among incident management, product management, and engineering teams is fragmented, causing delays. Delays with engineering teams on product bugs continue for weeks, or months at times.

Customers need faster, more seamless issue handovers among SAP support teams… Especially for integration issues (S/4HANA-Ariba, Ariba-MDG, VIM-SAP Business Network).

3. Product Rollout Delays

Historically, SAP has had long gaps between capability announcements and deployment, frustrating customers. Example: Spend Control Tower, announced in 2023 as an enhanced Ariba Spend Analysis solution, remains limited even in late 2025… Especially for customers using custom taxonomy over UNSPSC. New SAP Analytics Cloud-based dashboards lack intuitiveness and offer minimal customization options.

Joël: Companies take more agile and iterative approaches to cloud adoption instead of waiting for massive end-to-end migrations. What does this look like in practice for procurement?

Debadatta: Individual SAP Procurement transformation projects can adopt a more agile-like approach without disrupting other workstreams.

Guided Buying aligns well with agile delivery. Begin with a single category as a proof of concept (e.g. create landing pages, integrate catalogs, preferred suppliers, and forms, then test and deploy). After a successful pilot, expand iteratively by category. Similarly, SAP's new Ariba Category Management, along with sourcing, contract, and supplier management deployments, can follow this model.

Running a pilot with one category manager or buyer and showcasing results can build cross-functional momentum.

While a textbook agile approach may not suit large-scale, multi-workstream S/4HANA transformations, a modular or phased strategy with short milestones for individual teams is feasible. SAP Activate methodology offers a reference framework adapt and tailor phases as needed rather than applying them rigidly.

Joël: If you're a procurement leader tied into to the SAP ecosystem at a mid-to-large enterprise, what should you be doing in the next 6–12 months?

Debadatta: I would focus on improving the aspects that will be largely constant and always relevant over the next 12 months and longer in this hyper-evolving world.

First and always, data hygiene processes. You can’t do much without good data.

Second, operational discipline. This goes hand-in-hand with process optimization and standardization. If the team or function has system adoption goals, I would be championing that cause and leading by example.

Third, intentional development of a digitalization roadmap in partnership with IT and the teams that report to me. SAP will be a good fit for some of it. It won’t for other parts of it. You need to be scouting the ProcureTech market to know where to draw that line. Reading your newsletter certainly helps ME do that 😅

Finally, I would be raising the bar on what it means to "hire for the future" for all open positions.

Joël: Thanks so much for agreeing to chat with me Debadatta. Great insights here.

This conversation reinforced what we outlined in our analysis last fall, as well as one of our core 2026 ProcureTech predictions:

According to SAP’s target release dates, rubber will be hitting the road very shortly.

We’ll see whether this new platform really is a game changer or if it was yet again smoke and mirrors… (I’ve being called hopelessly naïve often in my life… 😅)

For the whole ProcureTech industry’s sake, I hope it’s a good one. SAP isn’t going anywhere in the short term and so I’d much rather procurement have great products available from them than the alternative.

Time will tell…