SAP Forum 2017: Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and 25th Anniversary Celebrations

Prague — SAP ČR held this year’s conference for customers and partners on May 31st. Six hundred guests came to hear the latest news and trends in Digitization, artificial intelligence and robotics from SAP representatives and IT leaders. This year’s special guests were visionary Karel Janeček, Vladimír Mařík from the Czech Technical University and Martin Wezowski, Chief Designer SAP. This year’s SAP Forum was also a part of our celebration of SAP 25th year on the Czech market.

Roman Knap, Managing Director SAP Czech Republic launched the conference, discussing with presenter Libor Bouček if and how artificial intelligence might replace people. Roman Knap then invited Martin Bednár, the first CEO of SAP’s Czech subsidiary, to the stage. ‘25 years ago we had no idea that robots might replace us, at least in certain activities. But today we can see where technology has advanced over the past quarter century, and artificial intelligence is now a part of our lives. To put it simply, the future, or you might say sci-fi , is already here, so let’s be ready for it,’ said Roman Knap.

This was followed by an appearance by Karel Janeček, who presented his Human 21 vision. Martin Wezowski, SAP Chief Designer, spoke about shaping our future together. ‘Technological evolution is transforming the concept of human work and opening up new opportunities. I call this “Humachine” – a symbiosis between human creativity, empathy and the arti cial intelligence of machines. With innovation and design, we can shape this dynamic change.’ Vladimír Mařík of the Czech Technical University’s Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics focused his talk on the prospects for artificial intelligence and robotics.

Representatives of major Czech companies, start-ups and partners built on these concepts through a panel discussion on the topic ‘Tomorrow is already here’. Besides Digitization and innovation, the panellists also discussed Industry 4.0 within Central and Eastern Europe and compared the situation with the Czech Republic. Petr Ulvr of Intel presented the conference’s General Partner’s ideas on the potential of arti cial intelligence. The panel discussion was followed by DEMO JAM with specific demonstrations of solutions developed on SAP’s S/4HANA platform. SAP’s implementation partner demonstrated how technology has transformed customer business. The conference ended with a concert by Miro Žbirka and Jelen.