Kyndryl has established a dedicated SAP Transformations Center of Excellence (CoE), signalling a sharper push toward agentic AI–driven SAP modernisation as enterprises accelerate moves to cloud-native and intelligence-led ERP environments.
The new CoE is designed as a co-creation hub, bringing customers together with Kyndryl’s SAP specialists, designers, and engineers to rework complex SAP landscapes using AI. According to the company, the centre will act as a focal point for applying agentic AI to some of the most persistent challenges in SAP transformation, including legacy technical debt, custom code sprawl, and slow migration cycles.
Michael Bradshaw, Global Practice Leader for Applications, Data and AI at Kyndryl, said the CoE is backed by more than 500 SAP-focused professionals and anchored in the company’s Agentic AI Framework. The intent, he said, is to help customers move past incremental upgrades and instead build resilient digital foundations that can support long-term growth and continuous innovation.
Clean-field and clean-core approaches take centre stage
At the heart of the CoE’s operating model are two distinct but complementary modernisation paths. For organisations still running SAP ECC, Kyndryl is promoting a “Clean Field” approach that accelerates migration to SAP S/4HANA by minimising historical baggage. This approach uses AI agents from Nova Intelligence along with Kyndryl’s own Data Transformation Suite to strip out redundant customisations, reduce technical debt, and deliver a cleaner core that is easier to scale.
For enterprises already on S/4HANA, the focus shifts to “Clean Core” modernisation. Here, agentic AI is used to analyse and rationalise existing custom code, helping customers adopt new SAP capabilities faster and at lower cost, without destabilising production environments.
Data as the foundation for agentic AI
The CoE also places a strong emphasis on data readiness. Kyndryl is leveraging SAP Business Data Cloud to unify enterprise data estates and integrate them with platforms such as Databricks for AI model training. The goal is to provide customers with a governed, trusted data layer that can support scalable and responsible AI adoption across SAP-driven business processes.
In parallel, Kyndryl has expanded its engagement around the Journey to RISE with SAP, supporting customers moving to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition. This is aimed at organisations looking to modernise SAP environments while laying the groundwork for AI-driven automation and decision-making.
Early customer outcomes
Kyndryl pointed to early results from a European manufacturing customer to illustrate the model in action. A leading Austrian industrial food company used the Clean Field approach to migrate from ECC to S/4HANA, deploying AI agents to accelerate the programme and achieve full Clean Core compliance. The company reported shorter project timelines, reduced manual effort, and a future-ready SAP platform capable of supporting new digital capabilities.
With the SAP Transformations CoE, Kyndryl is positioning itself not just as a migration partner, but as an AI-first SAP transformation orchestrator. As enterprises increasingly look to embed agentic AI into core business systems, the company is betting that structured co-creation, clean-core principles, and data-centric architectures will define the next phase of SAP modernisation.