One of my favorite times of the year is here—the time when SAP dedicates a forum to honor our customers that are leveraging emerging technology to transform their fields. Submissions for the SAP Innovation Awards in 2025 are open! Until March 14^th, you’ll have the opportunity to showcase how you’ve not only revolutionized your organization, but helped the world run better.

Now in its 12^th year, SAP Innovation Awards celebrate future-minded organizations that have harnessed the power of SAP products, including cloud-based solutions using artificial intelligence (AI) or generative AI. In a time of immense change, these awards feel more relevant than ever as they highlight innovations that drive business growth and move society forward.

Making a Difference

The 2025 winners will be recognized for utilizing SAP technologies in distinct and dramatic ways to support new business models, inspire industry convergence, and connect with customers. And I, for one, cannot wait to see what you all bring to the table!

At its core, SAP Innovation Awards are devoted to encouraging every organization to live up to its social responsibility by creating initiatives that engage the broader community around environmental and other crucial issues that, in one way or another, affect us all.

Before entering a submission, think about how your innovation is resilient and sustainable, helps businesses, including your own, addresses workforce concerns, and adapts to the needs of the public.

How to Tell Your Story

Every organization has its own story, and the judges want to hear them all—specifically the challenges each group faced and how SAP products were used to effectively overcome obstacles.

When asked about the best way to catch the judges’ attention, I always say that more important than simply listing the products you used is sharing the thought process that motivated you to use technology creatively to overcome barriers and forge new paths. Want to get a sense of what winning looks like? Check out the 2024 entries for examples of inspiring submissions.

The heart of your story should revolve around the outcome of your efforts:

• The impact the solution had on your company, community, and individuals
• How it transformed your vision of the future

The best way to showcase this? Provide at least three primary metrics and business proof points that demonstrate your business outcomes.  Remember, nobody understands your innovation story better than you. After all, you are the storyteller! Keep it compelling, human, and, yes, inspiring.

So Many Ways to Win

Along with access to networking and promotional opportunities, each winner receives a trophy and the option of either a complimentary pass to SAP Sapphire—where an exclusive SAP Innovation Awards celebration will be held—or a US$1,000 SAP4Good donation voucher to a charity of your choice.

The great thing is that you can win in a variety of categories. These include:

• Partner Paragon, for an SAP partner that has developed a next-generation application
• Business Network Innovator, for a client that utilized cloud solutions from SAP—including those using AI—to transform supply chains, processes, or business networks
• Cloud ERP Champion, for a customer that took advantage of SAP cloud ERP opportunities to future-proof its business
• Transformation Titan, presented for solving problems by making the most of SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), an integration suite combining such technologies as data and analytics, application development, AI, and automation