Joule: The future is conversational

An interview with Dr. Christian Tietz, Manager and SAP Business AI Expert at PwC Germany, discussing how PwC is using SAP’s generative AI copilot Joule, how SAP S/4HANA Cloud clients can make use of Joule, and what challenges are anticipated in using Joule. 

1. What is Joule? 

Joule is SAP’s new conversational interface to assist and enhance the daily operations of end users across SAP’s solution portfolio. By leveraging Large Language Models (LLMs), Joule supports three conversational patterns: navigational, transactional and informational. For example, by leveraging Joule as conversational interface in S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition, end users are able to a) be navigated to applications for Finance, Procurement, Sales and Professional Services, b) get insights on role-based transactional content for operational purchaser and shipping specialists as well as c) perform a conversational search summarizing content originating from SAP Help Portal and SAP Community pages for instance.  

2. Can you provide an overview of PwC's implementation of Joule to offer clients AI solutions with SAP? 

We are leveraging Joule from different perspectives: first, with PwC being the largest S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition – customer, we have enrolled in the Joule Early Adopter Care Program in S/4HANA Cloud, Public Edition to get support with the early implementation of Joule in SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition because we are convinced that Joule will have a transformative impact on our business operations, providing real-time insights, automating routine tasks, as well as ultimately driving innovation and increasing operational efficiency. In addition, we are testing SAP’s consulting capability for Joule which will further enhance the efficiency of our SAP service delivery and allow our consultants to concentrate on high-value tasks. Of course, and as always, we are closely collaborating with SAP here as SAP’s CEO Christian Klein also emphasized in his keynote at Sapphire Orlando.  

3. How does PwC ensure the seamless integration of Joule with SAP systems?

Luckily, we do not need to take care of such a seamless integration of Joule with our SAP systems in place because Joule is already integrated tightly. 

4. What is the process of implementing Joule for SAP clients, including the key steps involved?

As Joule heavily relies on SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) services, customers need a global BTP account and entitlements for Joule,  the Cloud identity services needed to ensure that Joule is able to manage user access and permissions across SAP applications and SAP Build Work Zone, standard edition for supporting navigation to different applications via Joule and handle role based access scenarios via configuring the navigation service therein. For finally provisioning Joule, customers must create a subaccount in their global BTP account. 

5. What benefits can SAP clients expect to gain from adopting AI solutions through Joule?

Leveraging Joule means to adopt a new course of interacting with SAP solutions through an interface supporting queries in natural language and to be provided with proactive, contextual, and personalized insights into business processes for a tailored end user – specific experience.

6. How does PwC enable the security and privacy of client data while implementing Joule for SAP clients?

At PwC, we know how Joule is working behind the scenes and strongly adhere to and educate our clients on SAP’s guidelines with respect to security, data protection and data privacy, e.g.  to double-check the output of Joule before processing it further as well as to not submit sensitive personal information (cf. Article 9 GDPR). 

7. What are the key governance and legal challenges you anticipate, and how is PwC effectively managing these challenges to ensure compliant implementation?

With the advent of Generative AI, the importance of governance, security, and data protection has intensified. As a consequence, it is crucial to understand how Joule is processing the input, which security guidelines to adhere to, how potential misuse of Joule is going to be prevented and how the usage of Joule may affect the Target Operating Model already in place. At PwC, we can leverage our profound expertise in these areas to accompany our clients on their way to seamlessly integrate Joule into their business processes and to finally ensure a compliant and efficient organizational transformation in this regard.

If you’d like to learn more about Joule and our wider GenAI offering, please get in touch.