Implementing Generative AI Into ERP Software

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems digitize all business processes within companies in order to enhance automation and optimize efficiency. These solutions integrate data and processes across multiple functions such as sales, marketing, finance, supply chain, manufacturing, services, procurement, and human resources, serving as a central repository of information for numerous organizations. ERP systems typically encompass tens of thousands of business processes and manage data across thousands of tables, creating significant opportunities for the integration of Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) for increasing process automatization and optimization. Nonetheless, embedding Generative AI into ERP solutions is a complex task due to the intricate nature of these systems, which consist of hundreds of millions of lines of code and cater to a wide array of industry-specific and regional requirements. Consequently, the key research question addressed in this paper is: How to systematically develop and operate Generative AI business applications in ERP systems? This article aims to answer this question by conducting a use case analysis, deriving business requirements, designing and implementing a solution framework, and evaluating its effectiveness through real-world ERP use cases.