With the 54th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, 2024, now is a good opportunity to review the progress of corporate Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) initiatives with an eye toward the future and a review of available tools for monitoring, managing and reporting ESG information. 

Previously in this series, we have explored the big picture regarding How Generative AI is Impacting the Digital Solutions Economy. In this new post, we get more granular to provide an update on how AI and Gen AI can enhance productivity, insights, and results in finance applications such as order-to-cash to compliance (OTC²), along with a look at how new SAP AI initiatives are key to this transformation.

In recent years, the semiconductor industry has experienced a roller coaster ride of widely swinging changes in both challenges and opportunities. During the pandemic, the mass movement to work-from-home scenarios and heavy reliance on networked applications drove demand up at the same time that global supply chains were severely disrupted. Then, in the past two years, the meteoric rise of artificial intelligence with generative-AI applications popping up seemingly everywhere has been driving another peak in demand for chip makers.

In addition, geopolitical concerns about semiconductor IP and manufacturing are also significantly influencing decisions on where semiconductor foundries and assembly facilities should be located and whether advanced chip designs should be banned from export to certain countries.

According to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA), the industry will see a 13% sales rise in 2024, after declining 8.2% in 2023, while Gartner, Inc. forecasts that global semiconductor revenue will grow 16.8% in 2024 to total $624 billion.  International Data Corporation (IDC) also upgraded its Semiconductor Market Outlook, calling for a return to growth, with a 20.2% increase to $633 billion in 2024.

Recent posts in this series have provided updates on SAP RISE and GROW, with a focus on how they can help streamline the path for companies migrating to SAP public and private cloud editions.  This new episode drills down into the concept of maintaining a "clean core" in your ERP system to assure a solid foundation that minimizes unnecessary customization, which could impede organizational agility going forward.

As we come to the end of another year, this is a good opportunity to look ahead at the key trends to watch during 2024.

In previous blog posts, we have addressed the challenges and opportunities regarding digital transformation and the Digital Solutions Economy (DSE) across a range of industries including, software & SaaS, semiconductors, media & entertainment, medical devices, transportation, electronics manufacturing,  energy, and utilities.

Previous posts in this blog series have addressed how SAP solutions such as Quote-to-Cash (QTC), the Billing and Revenue Innovation Management (BRIM) portfolio, and Revenue Accounting and Reporting (RAR) can be meshed seamlessly to integrate frontend and backend processes for subscription-based Digital Solutions Economy (DSE) offerings.  We have also explored how SAP RISE and GROW can enhance and streamline overall implementations.

Driven by sweeping changes such as digital transformation, globalization of markets, the subscription-based Digital Solutions Economy™ (DSE), carbon-accounting mandates, a rising emphasis on artificial intelligence, and other disruptive trends, the role of Chief Financial Officer (CFO) is undergoing radical transformation too.