Artificial Intelligence capabilities are no longer limited to external services or side-by-side extensions. With recent SAP S/4HANA releases, AI scenarios can be consumed and modeled directly within ABAP, allowing existing applications and processes to be enhanced with Generative AI in an enterprise-ready way.
At the center of this enablement is the ABAP AI SDK powered by Intelligent Scenario Lifecycle Management (ISLM). It provides the runtime APIs and lifecycle concepts required to define, manage, and consume AI scenarios from ABAP code in a consistent manner. This makes it possible for customers and partners to build Custom AI scenarios inside their own SAP S/4HANA systems, closely aligned with business logic and system architecture.
Why ABAP AI SDK and ISLM Matter
The ABAP AI SDK powered by ISLM, enables ABAP developers to interact with Generative AI models without embedding provider-specific logic into applications. ISLM acts as the central framework and lifecycle component for AI scenarios, while the ABAP AI SDK exposes standardized APIs to consume these scenarios at runtime.
Beyond pure large language model (LLM) interactions, SAP AI Core provides an orchestration service. Orchestration in SAP AI Core is a managed service that enables unified access, control, and execution of generative AI models through standardized APIs, prompt templating, and configurable AI workflow components.
Using orchestration, LLM interactions can be enriched with additional capabilities such as data masking, content filtering, document grounding, and translation. The ABAP AI SDK powered by ISLM in ABAP can leverage both direct LLM interactions and orchestration features, allowing ABAP applications to consume advanced AI workflows while keeping governance and lifecycle management aligned with SAP standards.
These capabilities are available as of SAP S/4 HANA 2023.
Learn by Doing: An SAP Developer Mission
To provide a structured, hands-on entry point, we offer an SAP Developer Mission that guides you through the setup and usage of Custom AI scenarios in ABAP.
The mission consists of a tutorial group, guiding you how to set up your SAP S/4 HANA system for custom AI scenarios and dedicated tutorials demonstrating how Custom GenAI scenarios are built and consumed from ABAP using the ABAP AI SDK, including orchestration-based interactions with generative models.
Who Is This Relevant For?
The mission is intended for:
- ABAP developers who want to understand how Generative AI can be consumed from ABAP
- Architects evaluating AI integration options for SAP S/4HANA
- Development teams exploring Custom AI scenarios within their existing SAP landscapes
No prior AI expertise is required, but familiarity with ABAP development is assumed.
Getting Started
Ready? Let's explore the SAP Developer Mission
👉Get Started with GenAI Development in SAP S/4HANA
which provides a guided and practical introduction on Generative AI scenario creation and consumption in ABAP.
