Just Ask: Are We Facing the SAP AI Revolution?

With Just Ask from SAP, the name says it all: Users should be able to search data in the SAC using natural language by asking simple questions. Complex technical queries or clicking through various submenus are a thing of the past, says SAP. The goal behind this is equally simple: to make data analysis accessible to users without deep technical expertise – regardless of technical (prior) knowledge or experience with business intelligence tools.

Such questions or requests could be, for example:

• “What revenue did we generate from November 2023 to January 2024?” or
• “What revenue did we generate in Austria and Germany?”

That does sound simple. However, there are currently the following limitations, or the system does not support the following inputs.

Source:Help SAP

In terms of practical use, this primarily means that data must currently be stored persistently in the SAC and queries must be formulated in English, which will certainly be a show-stopper for many regarding the technology. However, SAP has news: It has been announced that in 2024, the Just Ask feature will also be rolled out for LIVE connections and support other languages, including German.

A first, small test

Since Just Ask was rolled out with Q1 2024 and is already available on the SRB SAC system, we had the chance to take a first look at it.

The setup is straightforward. First, Just Ask must be activated as the default mode in the SAC administration,…

…then the relevant data models must be indexed. For our first test, we used a Sales Sample Model.

Then we can actually get started. Based on the model, we created a story and asked the first questions. By the way: Within the story, the Just Ask symbol – a light bulb with a star – can be used to access this feature.

Back to the story: We start with the question about the three highest-grossing product categories per country in 2024 with the input “Top 3 sales product category per country in 2024”. And after a short time, we received the following result:

When looking at the result in detail, not only was the input “translated”, but the filters in the evaluation were also correctly applied.

The query for revenue per country compared to the previous year is also interpreted correctly.

If we need the query, for example, in a pie chart, this can also be taken into account in the query. “Revenue per country in 2024 compared to last year with pie chart” yielded the following result:

The result of the query can additionally be output as a table in the SAC, analysed more closely with the Data Analyzer function, or pasted into an SAC story via copy & paste.

Promising outlook

Even though this was just a first, small example: With Just Ask, SAP has made a promising new feature available in the SAC that is likely to herald a range of new, future AI features. Simple evaluations are already possible and create a desire for more. It is also pleasing that Just Ask does not need to be licensed separately but is already included in the SAC.

Looking to the future, it is clear that this can only be the beginning – the beginning of a future where not only simple queries but complex stories and dashboards can be created automatically in a workflow-based manner in combination with the Copilot Joule.

SAP's vision is even more ambitious. In the distant future, entire applications and complex coding in Data Actions / planning functions and scripting are to be created with AI support through Generative AI. This is consistently thought out, as it aligns perfectly with the self-service concept that is being promoted with the SAC.

We will stay on top of this and will clearly present and test new functions in the SAC as soon as they are available. However, until a true AI revolution takes place in the SAP worlds, we will have to be a little patient.

Source: Infusing AI in SAP Analytics Cloud (01/2024)