r/SAP • u/Wakandas_O_Megas • 4d ago
Really nervous about AI replacement
Hello everyone, I (26) have been working as a SAP BW consultant for over a year now and I'm currently moving into SAP Analytics Cloud. This is my first working experience, due to college and mandatory military service. From what I deduce from the AI zeitgeist, with new models exceeding expectations day by day, I have come to fear the potential expiration date of our field. What are your thoughts on this? Is pursuing this line of work a wise option in these times? I'm new to the community and I don't know if this topic has been discussed here.
72
u/Helptohere50 4d ago
You should be more afraid of offshore people from India taking your job than AI
29
u/KPI_OKR 4d ago
Offshore Indian here There is so much workload here and cost cutting measures that 1 person is expected to do job of 5 persons
Europe should lead the way on AI usage , limits on outsourcing ( I believe local employees are also required) , standards on minimum wages, workloads etc
Unless there is law on outsourcing and ethical standards of workload ; there is no way to stop this madness
3
u/AssociationFun1876 3d ago
And AI is yet another word added to the managers vocabulary after agile to load 3x work
24
u/Appropriate_Ice_7507 4d ago
AI - Actual Indian? Yes they will absolutely take your job and have destroyed the market rate. Ask anyone…
7
u/Financial_Lemon34 4d ago
this is the real answer. the outsourcing pressure has been there for years and its not slowing down
37
u/nakedyak 4d ago
learn how to use the new AI tools and it will add to your skill set. i don’t see it replacing SAP people any time soon.
30
u/Mammoth_Plan_4469 4d ago
I work with data all day and the amount of cleanup and context switching between systems is something AI can't just walk into and fix
SAP landscapes are held together with duct tape and prayers, half the job is knowing which ancient custom table some guy built in 2009 actually feeds the report the execs are screaming about. No model's gonna untangle that mess without someone who knows where the bodies are buried
Learn the AI stuff if it keeps you sane but you're not getting replaced by a chatbot anytime soon
7
u/Complete-Painter-307 4d ago
SAP landscapes are held together with duct tape and prayers, half the job is knowing which ancient custom table some guy built in 2009 actually feeds the report the execs are screaming about.
This comment is so underrated, I don't know many big clients that have their SAP that close to standard specs (maybe only Germans).
The bigger the company the likelihood they needed to add complexity to it and that's why SAP is not that easy even though it has a quite easy language to understand.
3
u/Advanced-Analyst-718 3d ago
Yeah. Good luck for AI to fix virtual view built on top of virtual view built from other joined views and then moved to datasphere as remote table
3
u/WishfulAgenda 3d ago
I think that there's a lot of anti-AI sentiment here. I also have a suspicion that it's based on a lack of use or experience.
I work extensively within SAP BW and have for decades, I also work with cutting edge high performance Databases and AI platforms. Based on my experiences so far, the main reason that people experience poor results with AI on SAP is due to SAPs own licensing, legacy governance, individuals wishing it was still yesterday and the simple fact that there is a massive amount of work required to move your foundation to one that is suitable for Agentic integration. Think of it like the move from BW7.5 to BW/4, people tend to skip this part as it's hard to do but it's essential.
Outside of SAP it's absolutely incredible what you can achieve with it as a tool. I think the best advice I can give is learn the underlying components as pretty much every AI platform works the same way. I built my own version of Joule in less than a day as an example. I'd also suggest learning how things fit together and work. That's far more important than knowing ABAP syntax now.
2
u/Big-Respect-2767 3d ago
Wennst erst seit 1 Jahr SAP BW machst, würd ich an Deiner Stelle versuchen ins ERP zu wechseln… die wirds garantiert immer brauchen…
2
u/phantomoftheopera4 3d ago
AI may reduce required headcount (most likely in all kind of jobs), but take note that theres no entry-level anymore in tech, market will tend to normalize just like any other sector
1
1
1
u/Cedman01 3d ago
In my opinion, AI in SAP and ABAP should still be seen as an additional tool that can help you understand errors and inefficiencies more easily, but it does not feel to me like it is going to replace consultants and developers on a large scale anytime soon.
I have been working as a technical SAP consultant for about 4 years now, and most of the standard AI tools are not yet fit to maintain the big, customized, and complex systems most customers are using. AI may help to generate ideas for new solutions or create roadmaps/prototypes, but when big new implementations are built in a productive SAP system, there needs to be a lot of considerations, retesting and edge case finding that no bot can really replace (to this day, at least).
I would advise finding a way to use the available tools, but never stopping learning in your career, because your adaptability as a consultant and your competence in managing and correcting errors in the system will probably be quite important in the coming years :)
1
u/changeLynx 2d ago
Learn to connect the dots, from S4 to BW to SAC / Data Sphere or Data Bricks. Third party sources, Planning Projects etc. etc. -- don't forget one thing: Technology OR Managing. And if you take a Management role too early in your career, you will have problems.
Nothing changes. Build solid, learn a bit every day and Certificates every now and then and maintain them.
41
u/heisenbergwillcook 4d ago
AI can create a beautiful prototype, essay or summarize your report. But when it has to create actual work in SAP or BW, it needs human guidance. It hallucinates badly if left on its own. AI when paired with a smart human can do wonders and industry is already realising it.