SAP’s AI Revolution Cuts Costs, But Shareholders Have a Full Agenda in May

SAP resolves 20% of support tickets via AI, proposes a 6.4% dividend hike, and faces analyst splits on cloud growth ahead of its May 5 AGM.

The software giant is quietly solving a fifth of its internal support tickets through artificial intelligence alone, freeing up employees for higher-value work and trimming costs in the process. Yet the market has taken little notice. SAP’s shares have slumped roughly 26 percent since the start of 2025, hovering near €149 as analysts clash over the trajectory of its cloud business.

That divergence will come into sharp focus on May 5, when the virtual annual general meeting packs a series of critical decisions into a single day. Shareholders will vote on a dividend, elect a new supervisory board chairman, and weigh the implications of an ongoing EU antitrust probe — all while the company’s AI-driven efficiency drive continues to gather pace.

A Dividend Decision and a Buyback Pause

The board has proposed a dividend of €2.50 per share, a 6.4 percent increase from the prior year. If approved at the May 5 meeting, the payout will land in investors’ accounts three trading days later, on May 8. The stock will trade ex-dividend on May 6.

Around the AGM, SAP’s ongoing share buyback program will take a breather. No repurchases will occur between April 27 and May 8, a standard blackout period tied to the corporate calendar.

Board Succession Takes Center Stage

A leadership transition is also on the ballot. The supervisory board has nominated René Obermann to eventually take the chairman’s gavel. Obermann, who currently chairs Airbus’s board of directors and serves as chairman Europe at private equity firm Warburg Pincus, would formally assume the role when Pekka Ala-Pietilä steps down from the committee in 2027. Shareholder approval on May 5 would set that succession process in motion.

The AI Efficiency Machine

While governance changes grab headlines, the internal transformation is delivering measurable results. AI systems now autonomously resolve 20 percent of all internal support tickets, and employees across the organization rely on AI assistance for every support case. The productivity gains are tangible: consultants save an average of one working day per week through new tools, while marketing teams have clocked over 83,000 hours in time savings from AI-driven campaigns. That automation has also generated an additional €50 million in sales pipeline.

Management is targeting efficiency gains in the billions by the end of 2028, and the early returns suggest the strategy is gaining traction.

Cloud Growth: The Analyst Divide

The operational progress has not translated into a unified view on the stock. DZ Bank recently downgraded SAP to a sell, slashing its price target to €130 on fears that cloud revenue growth could decelerate sharply in coming quarters. Berenberg, by contrast, maintains a buy rating with a €215 target, while Goldman Sachs and Barclays have set similar targets above €200, adjusting only for the shifting macroeconomic backdrop.

For the full year 2026, SAP’s management is guiding for cloud growth of 23 to 25 percent, with expectations of further acceleration in 2027. The efficiency gains underway are meant to underpin operating margins over the long haul.

The Reltio Deal and the EU Shadow

Alongside the AGM, SAP is pressing ahead with its acquisition of Reltio Inc., a master data management specialist whose technology stitches together disparate data sets into a single, unified view. The deal, financial terms of which have not been disclosed, is expected to close in the second or third quarter of 2026, pending regulatory approvals. It is central to SAP’s broader push to embed AI more deeply into its product stack.

All of this unfolds against the backdrop of an active European Commission investigation into whether SAP restricted competition in maintenance and support services for on-premise ERP software. The worst-case penalty could reach €3.4 billion, though SAP has submitted a remedy proposal and says it does not expect a material financial impact. The cloud business is not affected by the probe.

A Solid Q1 Provides Tailwind

The AGM follows a strong first-quarter performance. Total revenue rose to €9.56 billion, a 12 percent increase on a currency-adjusted basis, while IFRS operating income climbed 17 percent. SAP is sticking with its 2026 targets: cloud revenue between €25.8 billion and €26.2 billion, and free cash flow of approximately €10 billion.

Immediately after the AGM, the company heads to Orlando for its Sapphire conference, where management is expected to offer public commentary on the Reltio transaction, the EU case, and the broader strategic direction. For shareholders, the next few days pack a year’s worth of decisions into a single week.