The direction SAP is taking with AI is beginning to reshape how projects are planned, developed, and delivered.
Joule Studio and Skill Builder, introduced under SAP Build, are part of that. Both tools allow consultants and developers to create AI agents and modular components that can take on tasks once handled manually.
But aside from learning and using the tools, what matters is the strategic context: where SAP is going, what this means for implementation work, and how those of us in the SAP field can adapt.
This article looks at how these new tools are changing the day-to-day and long-term aspects of working on SAP systems, to give consultants and developers a broad view that helps them prepare and make informed decisions.
Core Innovations: What Are Joule Studio And Skill Builder?
Joule Studio is a development environment within SAP Build where users can define and deploy AI agents. These agents can handle workflows, connect systems, and support decision-making.
The Skill Builder, which sits inside Joule Studio, is where specific actions or logic are defined as reusable building blocks. These blocks, called skills, can be combined to support a range of business scenarios.
These tools are designed to be used by people who may not be full-time developers.
SAP has leaned heavily into visual interfaces and guided workflows to open the door for more contributors, especially those with process knowledge but limited coding experience.
Developers can still use code when needed, but they’re now working in an environment that prioritises adaptability over depth of code.
The difference between this and other AI tools lies in how deeply it’s tied to SAP’s system knowledge of business processes. Rather than asking users to bring in all the logic themselves, Joule Studio is built on the assumption that the system already knows something about the context. That creates opportunities, but also new limitations, so some contexts will probably still require professional coders.
SAP’s AI Vision And Ecosystem Transformation
At SAP Sapphire 2025, the keynote described their new innovation roadmap as a “flywheel” model.
The idea is that SAP’s applications generate large amounts of business data, that data feeds AI tools, and those tools then influence how the applications behave. The cycle repeats, each loop generating more value from the last.
This cycle depends on everything being connected.
Joule Studio has a role as the interface where users can create the logic that turns data into action. SAP is pushing toward a future where these AI agents become regular parts of how companies run, present not just in the ERP core, but also in related tools like Microsoft 365, through integrations that allow agents to respond across systems.
SAP is responding to how other platforms are making AI available, and trying to keep the environment cohesive without locking users into one way of working. For those working in the SAP space, that means learning to think about the SAP ecosystem as a set of components that talk to each other more freely than they did in the past.
Joule Studio’s Capabilities And Enterprise Applications
From a functional perspective, Joule Studio is a base for building different types of assistants.
Developers and consultants can use it to automate data classification, flag compliance issues, recommend financial strategies, or generate planning simulations. These tasks all depend on connecting SAP’s data with business rules and then giving users a way to act on the results.
The skills defined in Skill Builder make this possible by breaking tasks down into parts that can be mixed and matched. For instance, one skill might fetch data from a planning module, another might analyze it, and a third might recommend next steps. By designing in this way, the system avoids rigid automation scripts and instead supports flexible responses to business situations.
That flexibility also changes who is involved in development within SAP landscapes. People in operations, finance, and HR can now be part of the development cycle, not just as stakeholders but as participants. That introduces some risk, particularly around quality control and governance, but it also means development is no longer solely the responsibility of technical teams.
Enhancing Developer Productivity With Joule
Joule Studio’s interface supports a way of working that skips many of the usual steps in project initiation. Rather than writing long design specs or building complex prototypes, a developer can open the studio, define a new agent, drop in a few skills, and test it in a few clicks.
When deeper logic or custom integrations are needed, developers can still use JavaScript or other SAP-supported languages. What’s different is the expectation that development should move faster and that more of it can be packaged as shareable content across projects.
The integration with SAP Build Code also means developers can create full applications, as well as agents.
In some cases, that might mean using Joule to create backend logic and Build Code to define the interface. In others, the agent might be the interface, responding to user queries and prompting actions through natural language.
This kind of development won’t suit every situation, but it reduces the time spent on repeatable work and gives developers more room to focus on things like system architecture, performance tuning, and integration logic that still require expert judgment.
Effects On SAP Development Practices
The introduction of modular agents and low-code skill definitions alters the rhythm and scope of SAP projects.
Previously, development cycles, particularly in large SAP implementations, often involved long planning phases followed by rigid execution. Joule Studio moves development toward more iterative cycles. Consultants can prototype ideas quickly, refine them with business users, and push them into test environments within days.
Because of this, development is becoming more exploratory. You’re not always starting with a fixed specification, but a business objective, improving margin visibility, adjusting for tariffs, or identifying delivery risks, and then building out agent-based tools that tackle the issue in layers. That opens the door to more experimentation, but it also requires tighter feedback loops and more frequent check-ins between business and technical teams.
The idea of “best practice” is also starting to change. Now, knowing how to build and test small, functional components that work in context, matters more than relying on pre-configuration. The practice of debugging and refining requires consultants to calibrate how the AI interprets the environment and applies logic. This needs technical knowledge and a deep understanding of how different SAP modules interact.
Shifts In SAP Implementation Methodologies
With the increase of AI-driven development, implementation frameworks like Activate and Agile must stretch to include new roles and new types of deliverables. In a typical implementation project, you might now have tasks focused entirely on defining, testing, and deploying agents, separate from traditional development or configuration work.
The kinds of workshops you run with clients are also changing. Instead of collecting hundreds of requirements at the beginning, you’re more likely to explore scenarios, identify decision points, and then design agents that support those decisions.
That’s a big change, and it also affects how time is estimated and billed, as work is done in short, iterative cycles rather than large milestones.
Testing, in this context means making sure the agents interpret business conditions correctly, return useful outputs, and don’t create conflicts across processes. That means your test scenarios must account for context, not just inputs and outputs.
And then there’s the question of support.
When projects go live, clients will need support not only for technical issues but also for agent behavior. Who manages updates to the skills library? Who decides when to retrain agents on new scenarios? These responsibilities need to be assigned early, ideally before go-live, to avoid confusion later on.
Strategic Implications For SAP Consultants
As projects become more AI-driven, the role of the consultant is expanding, to include knowledge on how information flows across modules, how agents can be used to direct that flow, and where logic should live. That changes how consultants prepare, how they work with developers, and how they contribute to project outcomes.
Consultants who can move between process thinking and system design will excel in this environment, as it’s more cross-functional than before. You might still be defining workflows in S/4HANA, but now you’re also working with skill definitions in Joule Studio and thinking through how agents contribute to overall goals.
At the same time, the people defining agents are often not developers. They might be planners, controllers, or HR managers. So, consultants need to be able to guide these users without overwhelming them. That means using soft skills: explaining logic in plain terms, showing how different parts of the system connect, and being patient when things don’t work right away.
The New SAP Talent Economy
More companies are looking for people who can work within SAP Build and understand AI agent design, but also those who can bridge the gap between technical teams and business units.
That means roles are becoming more fluid. Some consultants are becoming what you might call “AI product owners”, responsible for overseeing agents from design through to business adoption.
The skills that get you hired are changing too. Knowing how to create reusable skills in Skill Builder, or how to guide a team through agent lifecycle management, adds a layer of value that module-focused profiles don’t always offer.
At the same time, consulting tasks that are currently routine are the first things likely to be absorbed by AI agents. That doesn’t mean these jobs disappear entirely, but they won’t command the same rates or demand unless part of broader design or advisory capabilities.
SAP Ecosystem And Marketplace Dynamics
One part of the ecosystem that deserves attention is the growing AI Agent Store.
SAP is moving toward a model where agents and skills can be shared, adapted, and even sold. For developers and consultancies, this creates a new kind of asset: reusable logic.
If you’ve built a pricing recommendation agent for a client, there’s a chance it could be adapted and reused elsewhere. That kind of reuse isn’t just efficient, it could become a revenue stream if structured right: though ownership of the IP of agents and skills among consultants, their employers and partners will get very complicated.
This also means clients will expect more out-of-the-box functionality. Consultants will need to help clients select, adapt, and deploy prebuilt agents, while still maintaining control over quality and relevance.
The platform is becoming more interoperable as well. With SAP opening up connections to platforms like Microsoft 365, AWS, and Databricks, agents are no longer restricted to the SAP landscape. They can act on insights from outside systems and bring that data back into SAP for action. That opens new project opportunities, especially in analytics, supply chain optimization, and service management.
Building The Skills… To Build Skills
SAP Learning Hub and community forums have enough material to get started, but hands-on experience counts more.
Begin by creating a few basic agents in Joule Studio. Understand how to structure a skill. Play with how different parts of a business process can be broken down and reassembled with AI support.
Don’t wait for a project to introduce you to these tools. If you can, set up a sandbox and experiment. Try replicating something you’ve previously built, this time using agents and skills instead of scripts and batch jobs. Then look at what changed. What was easier? What was harder? That’s where the real learning starts.
It’s also worth considering where you want your career to go. Some consultants will become specialists in agent orchestration. Others will focus on integration or governance. The point is to pick a direction and start building your knowledge now, before clients start asking for it.
SAP’s shift toward AI development through Joule Studio and Skill Builder is part of a new phase in how SAP systems are designed, built, and run.
This fundamental change requires consultants and developers to rethink what makes their work valuable, and how they can contribute to systems that are smart, adaptive, modular, and built to move with the business.
Those who take that seriously, and begin to develop the skills and thinking it demands, are the ones most likely to find their place in this brave new SAP world.
Reference article: https://ignitesap.com/how-joule-studio-and-skill-builder-will-affect-development-in-sap-projects/
