Bosch Digital, the IT and digital solutions provider for Bosch, has empowered more than 1,500 pro-code developers to create between 5,000 and 10,000 objects using the ABAP Cloud development model — generating a 20% increase in developer productivity with SAP Joule for Developers and 15-20% faster creation of unit test cases.
According to Gamze Öztürk, head of the Center of Excellence for ERP Product Excellence at Bosch Digital, "Using the ABAP Cloud development model on SAP BTP and on SAP Cloud ERP Private has empowered us to modernize our development landscape while preserving our core strengths. The clean core approach coupled with generative AI capabilities has significantly accelerated our innovation journey and delivered measurable business value." Ajay Kulkarni, chief architect of the center, added that ABAP Cloud "democratized development and cloud access to our 1,500-plus pro-code developers."
Following almost three decades of software development and multiple acquisitions, Bosch was running more than 50 ERP systems and 80 subsystems across more than 300 legal entities in over 100 countries. The business wanted to merge these complex legacy systems and modernize its IT landscape, reduce technical debt, and enable more-agile development by adopting a standardized system. "We recognized the need to reduce technical debt and modernize our code base, and a clean core strategy became a key enabler of that transformation," Kulkarni explained.
Bosch Digital executed the largest-ever software replacement at the company, migrating to SAP Cloud ERP Private solutions from SAP R/3 software using a clean core approach. The company also introduced the ABAP Cloud development model on SAP BTP. Most major business divisions are now in various stages of implementing ABAP Cloud in their SAP BTP instances.
The stack runs on SAP Build solutions on SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP) plus SAP Cloud ERP Private. ABAP Cloud is used both on the SAP BTP ABAP environment for side-by-side extensibility and on SAP Cloud ERP Private for on-stack extensibility. Generative AI capabilities include SAP Joule for Developers with ABAP AI capabilities for unit test generation, the SAP AI Core infrastructure for accessing LLMs, Joule Studio with agent builder for rapid SAP Fiori prototyping, and SAP Joule for Consultants for AI-driven recommendations to consulting teams.
1,500+ developers use the platform; 5,000–10,000 objects created; 12 business divisions supported; 200,000+ users who will be affected by the ERP modernization; 1,000+ consultants trained in building and deploying AI agents. Öztürk noted that Bosch previously budgeted about 15-20% of a developer's time for unit tests — a workload Joule for Developers has helped reduce, with unit test cases now created 15-20% faster.
Bosch Digital is exploring AI capabilities for process automation in SAP Build solutions and ABAP Cloud, participating in a proof of concept for humanoid robotics and physical AI, and running a proof of concept with SAP Build Work Zone to centralize access to business information. Integration of AI developer capabilities in Joule copilot is expected to further improve productivity and reduce time to market.