Introducing Joule for Developers: AI-Powered Capabilities Across SAP

Generative AI has revolutionized how developers work. Rather than spending countless hours on repetitive tasks like debugging errors and dealing with legacy codebases, developers can transform their ideas into code quickly. SAP is at the forefront of embedding AI capabilities across SAP Business Suite, including SAP Build, application development and automation solutions specifically designed for extending and creating business applications.

With more than 17,000 customers now leveraging SAP Build solutions globally, momentum continues to surge, enabling developers to build, automate, and innovate with greater speed and ease. Today, we’re taking a huge step forward to bolster developer productivity within SAP Build solutions!

We’re thrilled to announce new Joule-powered AI capabilities for SAP Build Process Automation and SAP Build Apps. These enhancements complement the previously announced AI capabilities in SAP Build Code and ABAP Cloud—empowering developers of all skill levels to build more efficiently by leveraging comprehensive, AI-infused developer tools to deliver precise, contextualized outcomes powered by purpose-built, SAP-centric AI models. This can free up time for developers to be more productive, creative, and proficient in accelerating ABAP, Java, JavaScript, and visual tool-based application development and automation of SAP processes.

Let’s look at how Joule can unlock new levels of productivity:

“The latest AI features across SAP Build solutions provide developers with a powerful tool kit to build and extend business applications across both SAP and non-SAP systems.”Holger Mueller, Principal Analyst & VP at Constellation Research, Inc.

Comprehensive developer assistance for all SAP development needs

Joule can understand SAP development framework intricacies, anticipate developers’ needs, offer intelligent suggestions, and automate repetitive, mundane tasks like documentation and sample data generation. It can enable developers across low-code, pro-code, and automation projects to be more productive, creative, and proficient in accelerating apps or extensions for business applications like SAP S/4HANA.

Key capabilities include:

  • Application creation: Generate code, UI, data models, and sample data across SAP programming models for Java, JavaScript, and ABAP, using Joule
  • Code optimization: Refactor code, create unit tests, and generate code explanations, summarizations, and more with natural language queries and intuitive actions with Joule
  • Process and workflow automation: Generate automation workflows and business rules using natural language queries
Screenshot showing how Joule capabilities in SAP Build Code can help generate a data model
Joule capabilities in SAP Build Code can help generate a data model. Click to enlarge.

“In utilizing generative AI, SAP Build Code offers our joint clients easier integration capabilities and a streamlined developer experience for cloud application development, boosting overall productivity and driving tangible value.”Chip Kleinheksel, Global SAP Chief Technology Officer and Principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP

Contextual and precise results with purpose-built LLMs

Joule uses purpose-built large language models (LLMs) specifically tailored for SAP workloads, such as our ABAP LLM, which can power code predictions and explanations. Developers can derive precise, contextualized results—like code snippets or explanations—faster and more efficiently. Joule can also provide developers with real-time, context-aware support for code completion and optimization, as well as automation pipeline creation that understands the customers’ application environment, development project artifacts, and SAP-specific syntax.

Key capabilities include:

  • Predictive code completion based on context, comments, and project heuristics
  • Code explanations of core data services (CDS) view entities, classes, interfaces, and functional modules
  • AI-powered assistance for documentation, best practices, and new concepts
  • Workflow development and decision assistance based on processes, API specifications, and connected systems
Screenshot showing how Joule capabilities in ABAP development tools can explain a CDS view
Joule capabilities in ABAP development tools can explain a CDS view. Click to enlarge.

Integrated AI tooling for seamless development

Developers can now enjoy a fully AI-infused development environment. Joule’s capabilities are integrated within SAP Build development tools, including ABAP, to help ensure a smooth, cohesive AI-enhanced experience. This AI integration helps eliminate the headache of switching between development and AI tools and can generate actionable insights and outputs within a single place so developers can focus on what they do best—building innovative solutions.

Key capabilities include:

  • Joule support for SAP Fiori apps, SAPUI5 guided development, and more in SAP Build solutions
  • Joule integrated inside SAP Business Application Studio and ABAP development tools for Eclipse for all Java, JavaScript, and ABAP-related development tasks
  • Joule integrated into SAP Build Process Automation project canvas for generation and summarization of processes, decisions, forms, and more, right in place using natural language
Screenshot showing how Joule capabilities in SAP Build Process Automation can explain a process workflow
Joule capabilities in SAP Build Process Automation help explain process workflows. Click to enlarge.

Road map and future enhancements

Our commitment to AI-driven innovation for developers is unwavering. Over the last year, we’ve unveiled groundbreaking capabilities across our portfolio: Joule in SAP Build Codefreestyle SAPUI5 and SAP Fiori app development with AI, RAG with JouleABAP AI capabilitiesJoule in SAP Build Work Zone and SAP Mobile Start, document groundingAI agents embedded deep within SAP Business Suite processes, and more. 

Looking ahead, we have a complete road map of cutting-edge features, including optimizing business logic, automating documentation, and enhancing data protection and AI compliance. To enable an agentic journey, developers will be able to develop custom AI agents tailored to their specific needs. Additionally, as customers continue to adopt SAP S/4HANA Cloud, we plan to simplify the migration journey with enhancements that can meticulously analyze legacy code, provide clear code explanations, and suggest code optimizations. This will help ensure customers have a smooth, intelligent transition to the cloud alongside SAP’s clean core guidelines.

These new features will help empower developers to build more innovative, efficient, and secure workflows and applications. Stay tuned for more AI-driven innovations!

Get started for free

Don’t wait to transform your development experience! You can take advantage of our Joule for developer capabilities today at no charge for a limited time.

We can’t wait to see how developers leverage the new Joule capabilities in SAP Build solutions.

Happy coding!

Source: https://news.sap.com/