Consultant Obsolescence

The meme is called “Guess I’ll Die” - but that seemed a bit harsh.

On the r/SAP subreddit, AmbitiousAvocado7 asks: "Could SAP eventually reach a point where all of its products are so user-friendly and straightforward to implement and used by end-users, that the role of consultants becomes obsolete?" Jelena and I discussed this in a recent video rant-cast episode, and I thought I'd further break down a couple of perspectives.

So, will SAP get so easy to use that there won't be a need for consultants?

Perspective 1: NO F*****G WAY

• It doesn't matter whether it's SAP or Joe's Custom ERP - businesses will find a way to make their unique needs exceed the capabilities of their software. If SAP becomes so user-friendly and straightforward to implement, that will simply invite more customizations!

• Making software easy to use often means it's easy to break, or to do things you didn't intend. If there are a billion easy ways to do something, there are a billion and one easy ways to screw it up.

Perspective 2: Well…Maybe?

• SAP seems to think that it can be easier and more straightforward. I would like to see it more in action, but there's Joule For Consultants - will Joule be the sneaky Skynet to take consultants' jobs?

• CEO Christian Klein said "within the next two years, SAP software users will no longer be manually entering data, and all tasks will be processed with natural language commands". If that's actually true, does it affect consultants' role?

Perspective 3: The Wimpy Middle Ground

I think AI can get us there faster than most people think. But there’s a pretty big difference between AI that can do the magic and every corner of SAP having that magic. I don’t know how quickly that bridge will be crossed. Probably faster than I think…but that's because my expectations for SAP innovation speed are not high. PM