Responsible AI

SAP Business AI is designed for people to get their best work done, valuing human oversight and agency.
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Our AI ethics put the well-being of people at the center of everything we do

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SAP delivers AI based on the highest ethical, security, and privacy standards

At SAP, we care deeply about the impact of AI on the well-being of people, the health of our customers’ businesses, and society and economies. We address bias and discrimination concerns when designing AI into our applications, and work to be transparent and explainable. We uphold our highest standards with respect to data privacy, data protection, and cybersecurity.

 

Building on the fundamental dedication to responsible AI that we started back in 2018, SAP is proud to further the commitment by affirming the 10 guiding principles of the UNESCO Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence. These principles cover proportionality, safety, fairness, sustainability, privacy, human oversight, transparency, responsibility, awareness, and multi-stakeholder collaboration, ensuring that AI solutions respect human rights and contribute to sustainable development.

Putting AI ethics into practice at SAP

Learn how SAP governs AI ethically, addressing opportunities, challenges, and regulatory advancements.

Take the SAP Learning Journey

What guides our approach to AI

Our guiding principles are based on UNESCO’s Recommendation on the Ethics of Artificial Intelligence.

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Our principles are:

  • Proportionality and do not harm

  • Safety and security

  • Fairness and non-discrimination

  • Sustainability

  • Right to privacy and data protection

  • Human oversight and determination

  • Transparency and explainability

  • Responsibility and accountability

  • Awareness and literacy

  • Multistakeholder and adaptive governance and collaboration

Operationalizing responsible AI across our business

Our AI Ethics Steering Committee and our AI Ethics Advisory Panel are part of our governance bodies.

Our Global AI Ethics Steering Committee comprises senior SAP leaders who review our approach, processes, and product capabilities to ensure operationalization and alignment with our policies and guidelines.
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J G ChirapurathChief Marketing and Solutions Officer, SAP
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Mathias CellariusData Protection Officer, Head of Data Protection and Privacy, SAP
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Peter SelfridgeGlobal Head of Government Affairs, SAP
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Freek StaehrHead of Global Legal Commercial and Operations, SAP
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Supriya JhaChief Diversity and Inclusion Officer, SAP
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Claus HolzknechtVP Customer Data Office, SAP T&I
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Wiebke TheloGlobal Head of Quality, Security & Production, SAP
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Daniel SchmidChief Sustainability Officer, SAP
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Rico ModessChief Audit Executive and Chief Risk Officer, SAP
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Jan BungertChief Revenue Officer for SAP Business AI, SAP
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Walter SunGlobal Head of AI, SAP
Our External AI Ethics Advisory Panel consists of academics, policy experts and industry experts. They provide constructive, outside-in feedback, perspective and strategic guidance to SAP on ethical AI.
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Peter DabrockChair of Systematic Theology (Ethics), University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
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Susan LiautaudLecturer in Public Policy and Law, Stanford University
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Paul TwomeyCo-Chair of the Global Initiative for Digital Empowerment and global founding figure of ICANN
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Prof. Emma Ruttkamp-BloemProfessor and Head of the Department of Philosophy, Faculty of Humanities at the University of Pretoria
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Nicholas WrightConsultant and Intelligent Biology Affiliated Scholar, Georgetown University Medical Center and Honorary Research Associate, University College London

SAP’s commitment to protecting customer data in Artificial Intelligence

The strategic use of business data is integral to the success of AI, and by leveraging business data responsibly, we not only enhance the capabilities of our AI solutions, but also improve outcomes for your business. We remain firm in our commitment to prioritize data privacy and security as we release new AI capabilities.

Your data remains safeguarded within our ecosystem

  • Where permitted, we may use your data to help innovate and improve our products

  • We do not share your data with third-party LLM providers for the purpose of training their models

Our AI solutions are developed responsibly

  • The same rigorous standards that govern all SAP product development extend to our AI offerings

We stand by the security of your data

  • We employ advanced data security measures to protect your personal data at all times

Frequently asked questions

Customer data can be used to improve existing AI features and functionalities of the SAP cloud service to which the customer has subscribed, subject to the terms of the customer agreement, including the general terms and conditions for cloud services and the data processing agreement.

 

Customer data can be used by SAP to develop new AI features and functionalities, subject to the terms of the product development schedule, which is part of the customer contract.

 

Customers who agree to the product development schedule can monitor in which SAP solutions their data might be used and opt out in the SAP for Me interface.

Customer data remains safeguarded in SAP’s ecosystem. Customer data entered in SAP AI technology is treated in the same manner as all customer data that is entered into the cloud service. Therefore, all rights, duties, and obligations around customer data set forth in the cloud agreement with SAP are honored.

 

Specifically for the usage of data to create new features and functionalities, as per the product development schedule, only authorized named persons in SAP can access specific data.

SAP stands by the security of customer data and does not share customer data with other vendors for the purpose of training or improving their large language models (LLMs) or image models.

When customers use an SAP AI technology that leverages a third party–hosted foundation model, their data is sent to the model provider for processing only and is not stored or otherwise retained by the model provider.

At the end of the agreement, SAP deletes the customer data remaining on servers hosting the cloud service, unless applicable law requires retention. Retained data is subject to the confidentiality provisions of the data processing agreement. Customers can export their data before the subscription term expires.

 

The general terms and conditions for SAP cloud services describe the handling of customer data, and the data processing agreement further describes the processing of personal data.

To promote ethical use of AI, SAP requires that all its user interfaces display a short AI notice when the user is using an AI feature or its result has been created by AI. More complex or high-risk AI features show a more detailed acknowledgment. Icons or messages also let customers know when they are triggering an AI-based action.

Customers seeking official responses to AI security inquiries should refer to the SAP Trust Center or get in touch with their SAP account executive.

SAP is dedicated to aligning our operations with the new regulatory standards outlined in the EU AI Act, which will come into effect in phases beginning in February 2025. We also monitor the regulatory landscape, implementing acts, and national laws of EU member states.

 

Under the supervision of the SAP Executive Board, a dedicated cross-functional team is enhancing SAP’s existing AI ethics process to establish a comprehensive classification process by 2025 that will ensure the fulfillment of applicable requirements.

 

As a B2B company, SAP is particularly focused on how responsibilities and tasks are distributed along the AI value chain. SAP may take on multiple different roles within this value chain, such as provider, deployer, purchaser, or integrator of AI systems, as well as developer of our own AI foundation models.