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SAP leverages agentic AI to transform legacy ABAP code and prepare businesses for a cloud-first future, signalling a disruptive shift in enterprise system modernisation.
SAP is betting that the next phase of artificial intelligence will not just speed up programming work, but help re-engineer the vast body of custom code that still sits at the heart of enterprise systems. In an interview published by SAP News, Sonja Liénard, the company’s head of ABAP platform, said agentic AI would become central to how customers modernise legacy applications for the SAP cloud. She described the shift as one that could eventually change the market rather than merely improve developer productivity.
ABAP, the proprietary language SAP created for business software, has been part of the company’s stack for four decades and remains embedded in its core ERP products. TechTarget describes it as SAP’s main programming language, while SAP’s own documentation traces its role back to the company’s early application software. Liénard said the language has survived because it was built for enterprise logic, with security checks, authorisation controls and other safeguards designed into the development model from the start.
That legacy matters because SAP still has a huge installed base to support. Liénard said there are roughly five million registered ABAP developers worldwide and about two million active ones, and she argued that ABAP Cloud is now the bridge between older on-premise environments and SAP’s newer cloud products. According to SAP, ABAP Cloud is intended to support a “clean core” approach, helping customers prepare custom code for migration without stripping out the business logic that makes their systems unique.
SAP is already folding AI into that process. Liénard said the company has introduced tools that can explain code and suggest completions, and in February 2026 it extended its custom code management app with AI features aimed at identifying what code does and what changes are needed to keep it future-ready. She also pointed to SAP-ABAP-1, a specialised model released on the generative AI hub in January 2026 to explain ABAP program code. The company’s wider ambition is to package these capabilities into a service that can be used across system versions.
The longer-term goal is more ambitious still. SAP says it wants agentic AI to coordinate multiple specialised agents that can assess, explain and modify code, while humans retain final control over quality and security. Microsoft defines agentic AI as systems built around agents that can work together on complex tasks, often through an orchestrator that coordinates them dynamically. Liénard said this model could eventually help transform old SAP ECC-based systems into cloud-ready applications, while developers shift towards reviewing AI-generated code, shaping business rules and deciding what the software should do. For now, she said, the technology is still early, but the company expects it to become an important part of ABAP’s future.
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Source: Noah Wire Services
Noah Fact Check Pro
The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
warrant further investigation.
Freshness check
Score:
8
Notes:
The article was published on May 1, 2026, and discusses SAP’s plans to integrate agentic AI into ABAP development. Similar discussions about agentic AI in SAP have appeared in recent months, such as the April 2026 article on operationalizing agentic AI for resilient manufacturing. ([news.sap.com](https://news.sap.com/2026/04/sap-at-hannover-messe-2026-agentic-ai-resilient-manufacturing/?utm_source=openai)) However, the specific focus on ABAP and legacy code transformation appears to be a new development.
Quotes check
Score:
7
Notes:
The article includes direct quotes from Sonja Liénard, head of ABAP platform at SAP. While these quotes are attributed to her, they cannot be independently verified through other sources. The lack of external verification raises concerns about the authenticity of the statements.
Source reliability
Score:
9
Notes:
The article is published on SAP’s official news site, which is a reputable source. However, as an internal publication, it may present a biased perspective.
Plausibility check
Score:
8
Notes:
The integration of agentic AI into ABAP development aligns with SAP’s ongoing efforts to incorporate AI into their platforms. ([news.sap.com](https://news.sap.com/2025/07/joule-abap-transform-developer-experience/?utm_source=openai)) However, the claim that AI agents will soon autonomously generate code and transform legacy applications for the SAP cloud is ambitious and may face significant technical challenges.
Overall assessment
Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): FAIL
Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): MEDIUM
Summary:
The article presents SAP’s plans to integrate agentic AI into ABAP development, citing statements from Sonja Liénard. However, the lack of independent verification of these statements, reliance on internal sources, and the ambitious nature of the claims raise significant concerns about the credibility and accuracy of the information.
