Simplifying the SAP S/4HANA Upgrade with GenAI + SAFe
SAP upgrades and mountain summits have one thing in common: the hardest moments come right before the breakthrough.
When you hear “SAP implementation,” “simple” usually isn’t the first word that comes to mind.
Much like summiting a Colorado 14er, the journey often feels steep, unpredictable, and filled with moments where turning back would be easier than pushing forward. But the summit—and the transformation—only comes to those who keep climbing.
My own journey with SAP has been a story of extremes—one full of lessons about complexity, automation, and what it actually takes to modernize.
An Unexpected First Encounter: SAP and the Art of Automation
My introduction to SAP came during the development of an eCommerce distribution center at Under Armour. And let me tell you—it shattered every preconceived notion I had about ERP systems.
Instead of the traditional finance-and-procurement backend most people associate with SAP, what I witnessed was a masterclass in supply chain orchestration. SAP didn’t just “support the business”; it ran the distribution operation, synchronizing robotic pickers, conveyor belts, human operators, and real-time inventory systems into a high-velocity ballet of precision and speed.
Most people don’t realize that SAP’s distribution and automation capabilities can serve as the literal nerve center of a logistics powerhouse—until you see it in action.
That experience taught me something important: SAP, when properly architected and executed, can be more than an administrative system. It can be a competitive weapon.
A More Traditional Challenge: Surviving the ERP Beast
My second brush with SAP was more typical—and a lot more painful.
At Laureate Education, we embarked on a large-scale SAP implementation touching finance, HR, procurement, and student lifecycle management. It was everything you’d expect from a “classic” ERP project: massive scope, endless process workshops, stakeholder fatigue, and a looming “big bang” go-live that kept everyone up at night.
Frankly, the initiative would not have survived without the discipline brought by Accenture and the structure of the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe). SAFe gave us a steady, reliable cadence to manage risk, incremental delivery so sponsors saw progress early, and ongoing engagement so alignment never slipped.
It wasn’t easy, but it worked. And it left me convinced: no matter how complex the system, agility is essential to success.
The New Frontier: The S/4HANA Upgrade
Today, SAP customers around the world are facing a new existential challenge: the move to S/4HANA.
SAP’s sunsetting of ECC and legacy systems forces a choice: modernize or risk obsolescence. But let’s be real about what’s actually happening out there.
According to ASUG’s 2024 research, 49% of organizations that have already gone live on S/4HANA reported costs that exceeded their original budgets—up 17% from 2023. Consulting fees were the main culprit, increasing by 20% since the prior year. The average migration takes about 1.5 years, and 46% of respondents said the multi-step nature of migration, combined with existing business complexities, made the process more time-consuming and resource-intensive than anticipated.
A Horváth study from early 2025 found that more than 60% of companies experience deviations in budget, schedule, or result quality during S/4HANA migration. And Precisely’s November 2025 research with ASUG revealed that while 59% of companies are now fully or partially live on S/4HANA (up 13 percentage points from 2024), the top barriers remain business process change (49%), customizations (44%), and organizational resistance (37%).
These aren’t just statistics. They’re warning signs.
This upgrade is not a “technical refresh.” It touches business processes, data models, custom code, integration layers, and security frameworks. Organizations are asking important questions: How do we upgrade without destabilizing day-to-day operations? How can we avoid falling into another “big bang” trap?
The traditional ERP playbook will not save you. The world moves faster now. Customer expectations shift quarterly. Employees will not tolerate clunky systems. “Get it right in five years” is no longer a viable strategy.
SAFe: Your Operating Model for a Smarter Upgrade
The Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) offers a modern, proven blueprint for SAP transformation, one that fits the realities of today’s business environment.
For global, multi-brand, highly integrated SAP landscapes, Large Solution SAFe manages the orchestration of multiple Agile Release Trains (ARTs), aligns cross-functional teams, and continuously surfaces and mitigates systemic risk. For regional instances or focused process domains, Essential SAFe and Solution SAFe offer a lighter-weight approach. You still gain Lean-Agile rigor, without the overhead of larger configurations.
Across all configurations, SAFe provides incremental value delivery aligned to business outcomes, structured governance with enough flexibility to adapt, continuous risk management integrated into every iteration, and a human-centric model that keeps stakeholders engaged and empowered.
Here’s the thing most people miss: SAFe’s relevance to SAP transformations is not theoretical, it is explicitly recognized within the SAP Activate methodology.
In October 2024, SAP released the SAP Activate and Scaled Agile Framework Playbook as an accelerator in the Prepare phase. This playbook serves as a practical resource for teams embarking on S/4HANA Cloud implementations in organizations using SAFe. As SAP’s own community documentation states: “SAP Activate enables program excellence in SAFe environments by combining the strengths of SAP-specific implementation methodology with the principles of the Scaled Agile Framework.”
Activate provides the “what”, the milestones, phases, and checkpoints. SAFe delivers the “how”, the operating model that turns a plan into an outcome. Together, they unlock the speed, transparency, and enterprise agility required for today’s most successful SAP transformations.
GenAI: Fuel for Your Acceleration
Now, let’s layer in GenAI.
GenAI is not a silver bullet, but it is a catalyst. Applied correctly, it radically shortens timelines and reduces human friction points.
SAP’s Chief Revenue Officer for Cloud ERP, David Robinson, told The Register that GenAI can reduce the time and cost associated with documenting current processes and assessing the delta between the as-is and to-be business process by 50-80%. That’s not theoretical—that’s SAP’s own leadership quantifying the impact.
Here’s what GenAI can actually do in the context of an S/4HANA migration:
Analyze and categorize custom SAP code to accelerate modernization. GenAI tools can scan your existing ABAP code, identify compatibility issues with S/4HANA, and generate remediation recommendations—or even automated fixes. SAPinsider research confirms that AI is a significant factor driving S/4HANA adoption, with organizations moving beyond pilot projects to implementing practical AI applications that deliver tangible business value.
Generate test cases, user documentation, and change management assets. According to research from ImpactQA, GenAI can translate test cases written in natural language into executable test scripts, drastically reducing manual effort in test design. It can analyze requirements documents and process flows to automatically generate comprehensive test cases, ensuring better coverage and accelerating initial testing phases.
Automate elements of regression testing and code remediation. The same capabilities that analyze code can predict integration risks and propose mitigation strategies by examining patterns in test execution results and historical defect data.
In practical terms: GenAI does not replace your SAP upgrade team—it amplifies their effectiveness and brings usable outcomes to fruition faster. But it’s not magic. It requires governance, quality gates, and human oversight. The organizations getting this right are treating GenAI as a force multiplier, not a replacement for expertise.
Why Change Management Is the Real Migration
Let me be direct about something most consultants won’t tell you.
The Prosci Institute found that 75-80% of projects fail due to lack of change management—stemming from poor planning, communication, or stakeholder engagement. And here’s what makes it worse: the average employee underwent ten planned enterprise changes in 2022, compared to just two in 2016. Employee support for change has plummeted from 74% in 2016 to 43% in 2022.
Your people are exhausted. They’re not resisting S/4HANA because they’re afraid of technology, they’re resisting because they’ve been through too many transformations that promised the world and delivered chaos.
This is why SAFe matters beyond the technical delivery. It’s not just about sprint cadence and PI planning. It’s about creating a rhythm that people can trust. It’s about showing progress early and often so stakeholders stay engaged instead of checking out. It’s about giving teams the structure to absorb change without burning out.
I’ve seen what happens when organizations stay stuck. I’ve also seen what happens when they adapt, move smarter, and work with systems instead of fighting against them. The difference isn’t technology. It’s leadership.
A Smarter, More Human Approach to Modernization
Upgrading to S/4HANA is not “just” an IT project.
It is an opportunity to rethink how your organization operates, serves customers, and competes. It demands a shift away from “big bang or bust” toward a model of continuous modernization and rapid learning.
To succeed, you need a structure (SAFe) to deliver iteratively and continuously. You need AI acceleration (GenAI) to handle the heavy lifting and surface insights faster. You need executive sponsorship willing to embrace a new way of working. And you need cross-functional teams aligned around delivering real business value.
The old way, big budgets, endless consulting armies, and the blind hope of a perfect cutover weekend, will not get you there.
In the SAP world, agility is not a luxury anymore. It is a survival skill.
Parting Advice
Do not fear the complexity, understand it. Do not chase perfection—optimize for progress. Do not “wait until you are ready”, start iterating now.
If you are about to embark on your S/4HANA journey: Embrace SAFe. Harness GenAI. Build momentum early.
Because just like a mountain summit, the hardest parts come right before the breakthrough. Turning back is easy. But the view from the top, the transformation you achieve, is worth every step.
In a world where change is the only constant, adaptability is your superpower.
References
ASUG. “The State of SAP S/4HANA Adoption: Trends, Successes, and Challenges.” ASUG Research, March 2025. https://www.asug.com/insights/the-state-of-sap-s-4hana-adoption-trends-successes-and-challenges
Horváth. “SAP S/4HANA Migration Study.” CIO Magazine coverage, March 2025. https://www.cio.com/article/3851772/sap-users-struggle-with-s4-hana-migration.html
Precisely & ASUG. “Transforming SAP Processes Through Automation: 2026 Trends and Challenges.” PRNewswire, November 2025. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/new-research-reveals-sap-s4hana-migration-momentum-despite-ongoing-automation-challenges-302603235.html
SAP Community. “SAP Activate and Scaled Agile Framework Playbook.” October 2024. https://community.sap.com/t5/enterprise-resource-planning-blog-posts-by-sap/sap-activate-and-scaled-agile-framework-playbook-is-publicly-available/ba-p/13899818
The Register. “SAP says GenAI will help solve legacy migration skills shortage.” December 2024. https://www.theregister.com/2024/12/10/sap_says_genai_will_help
Oxford Global Resources. “SAP S/4HANA Migration & Implementations: Overcoming Challenges for Success.” April 2025. https://www.oxfordcorp.com/insights/blog/sap-s-4hana-migration-implementations-overcoming-challenges-for-success/
SAPinsider. “The Transformative Role of GenAI in QA and Testing During SAP S/4HANA Migration.” April 2025. https://sapinsider.org/map/the-transformative-role-of-genai-in-qa-and-testing-during-sap-s-4hana-migration