Alibaba Group and SAP collaborate to accelerate AI-powered digital transformation in China

The collaboration will initially focus on the China market, with rollout planned for Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

Alibaba Group and SAP have partnered to jointly accelerate enterprise innovation and digital transformation through advanced cloud and AI technologies in China and several other markets in the region. The partnership combines SAP’s industry-leading enterprise software with Alibaba Cloud’s secure, scalable cloud infrastructure and cutting-edge AI capabilities.

Alibaba Cloud joins the latest SAP Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Certification Program to fully support customers using SAP’s enterprise cloud solutions. As part of this collaboration, Alibaba Group will adopt SAP Cloud ERP Private to strengthen its own enterprise infrastructure.

The partnership focuses on helping businesses implement SAP Integrated Business Planning (IBP) and advance their RISE with SAP and GROW with SAP initiatives. Enterprises will be able to deploy both SAP Cloud ERP and SAP Cloud ERP Private on Alibaba Cloud’s infrastructure.

The two companies also plan to launch a joint go-to-market strategy to deliver scalable, intelligent solutions tailored to local needs for global businesses across industries. Additionally, Alibaba Group intends to integrate a broad suite of SAP solutions—including SAP Business AI, SAP Business Technology Platform, SAP Ariba, SAP IBP, SAP SuccessFactors, SAP Concur, and SAP Emarsys—to enhance its technology infrastructure and boost operational agility and resilience.

Apart from that, the partnership marks a key milestone in enterprise AI integration. SAP is evaluating the integration of Alibaba’s large language model, Qwen, into the SAP generative AI hub within SAP AI Core in China, enabling localized generative AI within SAP applications and custom AI solutions. SAP is also considering deploying its SAP AI Foundation on Alibaba Cloud, bringing robust, scalable AI tools to customers in China.

According to Joe Tsai, Chairman of Alibaba Group, the collaboration with SAP reinforces their commitment to empowering global businesses with world-class technologies.

“By combining SAP’s enterprise software with Alibaba Cloud’s robust infrastructure and AI capabilities, we are enabling customers to build smarter, more agile operations,” said Tsai.

For Christian Klein, CEO of SAP SE, the collaboration with Alibaba Group is a testament to the power and flexibility of SAP’s cloud solutions.

“Our joint go-to-market strategy can unlock new opportunities for enterprises by providing them with access to a comprehensive suite of tools and services. Together, we can help our joint customers drive innovation, improve operational performance, and create new competitive advantages. We look forward to working with Alibaba to shape the future of cloud-powered digital transformation,” said Klein.