NTT DATA Business Solutions Transformation NOW! 2025 – Unlocking the Future of AI-Driven ERP

This week, PAC attended the annual NTT DATA Business Solutions Transformation NOW! 2025 event in London. Keynotes and sessions led by UK&I leaders and customers revealed a clear message: AI is no longer a future consideration; it is foundational to ERP transformation from day one.

NTT DATA believes AI must be embedded across the enterprise, in every department, to avoid bottlenecks. Their goal: touchless workflows powered by Agent2Agent (A2A) automation. While this is ambitious, in reality, most UK organizations currently lack the cultural and technological maturity to successfully deploy touchless workflows across the business. Instead, proof of concepts are rolled out by workflow or department and scaled once proven to significantly reduce manual tasks and errors, save time, or boost revenue.

AI in Action: Customer Success Stories

Amey, an infrastructure and public services provider in the UK, went live on S/4HANA in September 2025 with the help of NTT DATA. Recently, they partnered with NTT DATA to pilot AI and GenAI solutions aimed at enhancing health and safety and improving commercial planning across the business. In 12 weeks, the PoC delivered measurable improvements in cost efficiency, revenue generation, and field safety outcomes, demonstrating the real-world impact of AI on operational excellence.

Aspen Pumps, a manufacturer of condensate removal pumps and HVAC accessories, worked with NTT DATA by deploying its GenAI Connector (launched in July 2025) to embed AI directly into SAP systems to automate email triage and sales order processing. By integrating RPA and ML, Aspen significantly reduced manual errors, saving on costs and hours, highlighting how AI can streamline finance and customer service operations.

Evergreen Garden Care, a major manufacturer of garden products, began its AI journey in 2024. The firm implemented NTT DATA’ GenAI Connector into its SAP Business ByDesign cloud-based ERP system to automate the manual processing of sales orders into SAP. The rapid PoC helped build a strong business case for further AI adoption across the organization.

While all customer cases were equally impressive, Aspen Pumps stands out as a noteworthy example. Despite not being on SAP S/4HANA, Aspen has successfully leveraged SAP technologies alongside bespoke AI tools to deliver tangible business value. Their use of AI spans master data checks, email triage, customer service chatbots, and intelligent sales order processing directly from email content.

SAP has consistently emphasized that customers who do not migrate to S/4HANA risk missing out on new AI functionalities. However, Aspen’s experience suggests that partnering with a capable SAP expert, one with deep technical expertise and proprietary IP, can unlock innovation without the immediate need for a full platform migration. This approach not only reduces complexity but can also lead to significant cost savings through targeted co-innovation.

New Offering: Switch to Suite

NTT DATA announced a compelling, UK-only offering for SAP Cloud ERP (public cloud) targeting the SMB segment.

• Spread the implementation cost over 3 years
• Access a £5m business innovation fund
• 7-year NTT DATA partnership commitment

This new offering complements its existing Zero Cost Move (Cloud ERP Private) proposition, which has seen good traction in the US and with a few UK customers.

Food for Thought

SAP has consistently emphasized that AI’s effectiveness depends on the quality of data and processes behind it. To fully unlock the potential of embedded AI and platforms like SAP BTP, organizations need skilled teams with a deep understanding of the SAP suite. PAC recommends following the lead of partners like NTT DATA by investing in training and certifications (i.e., NTT DATA’s GenAI Academy and SAP’s Learning Hub), which foster better alignment between IT providers and users, ultimately accelerating collaboration and time-to-value.

This approach supports SAP’s “living roadmap” philosophy, where transformation continues beyond go-live. Moreover, exploring AI use cases early (even before migrating to S/4HANA) allows IT and business innovation to evolve together. It also helps demonstrate value through process redesign, driving user adoption and learning, especially when supported by tools like WalkMe, a digital adoption platform acquired by SAP in 2024, that overlays SAP applications to provide real-time guidance, automate workflows, and reduce user friction.