Feed aggregator

BTC price attempts to challenge overhead resistance as market observers hope for a resumption of the Bitcoin ETF frenzy.

It took 203 days for Coinbase’s Base network to notch $1 billion in total value locked but only 25 days to reach $2 billion.

SEC aims to classify Ethereum as a security, while Binance offers rewards for reporting insider trading: Hodler’s Digest

The recent Anti-Money Laundering legislation imposes certain limits for cash transactions and anonymous cryptocurrency payments.

Bitcoin faces its “biggest headwind” in the form of GBTC outflows, but the good times could be back for BTC price action after next week, predictions say.

Put the technology you already have to new use, SWIFT advised the world. It had itself in mind.

Bitcoin bulls fail to catch a break as BTC price weakness defies a slowdown in GBTC offloading.

Although women comprise about 35% of the workforce at SAP, when it comes to shaping AI it seems they are punching above their weight.

Here, five SAP employees share about their roles, motivations, and tips for anyone wanting to step into AI. The women – Khawla Mallat, Camila Lombana Diaz, Xin Chen, Nadine Hoffmann, and Puntis Palazzolo – span four countries and three areas: Data Science Engineering, Product Management, and AI Ethics.

SAP Business AI: Revolutionary technology, real-world results Learn more

Data Science Engineering

Dr. Khawla Mallat, Security and Quantum Exploration Team, SAP France

“Be ready to be challenged all times,” says Mallat, if you want to build a career in AI.

Unlike most data scientists at SAP, Mallat does not work directly on the product but is firmly anchored in researching and addressing “some of the technical challenges related to AI, namely fairness, explainability, privacy, and security.”

Photo courtesy of Khawla Mallat

Prior to joining SAP two years ago, Mallat was confronted with the unintended prejudices of face analysis systems. Certain demographic groups, explains Mallat, used to be inadvertently omitted or underrepresented in the underlying data sets, leading to shortcomings in the face analysis capabilities. Such cases highlight the broader issue of bias in other AI applications. In areas like HR, she continues, removing personal details in data sets might seem to solve the bias issues, but AI can still infer these details. This leads to potentially biased outcomes and the lack of explainability in AI models makes identification of such biases difficult. Letting data sets like this take root and grow into powerful data models not subject to scrutiny will only magnify the inherent bias or discrimination.

Today Mallat’s passion for addressing such unfairness aligns well with her role of identifying the inherent risks of AI, educating teams about them, and defining technological solutions to mitigate them.

“We need to adopt an interdisplinary approach to AI, with experts from ethics, legal compliance, and domain experts, for example, and abstract ourselves from the role of data scientists to succeed,” says Mallat.

“I love working in AI,” she continues. “Everything is progressing at an incredible pace so if you want to work in AI, you have to have a certain thirst for knowledge. And, regardless of your role, you must take AI ethics – regulations and regulatory frameworks – seriously because these have huge implications not only for SAP but for individuals and societies in general.”

AI Ethics

Camila Lombana Diaz, Responsible AI, Germany

“AI is a mirror of our capacities as humans. And the biggest responsibility for those working in AI is, what do we want to see in that mirror?” explains Lombana Diaz, AI ethics research expert in the AI Ethics/Responsible AI team located in the SAP Business AI growth area.

Lombana Diaz’s responsibilities include maturing and applying the SAP AI Global Ethics policy, creating and delivering enablement content, defining AI personas and processes, and giving guidance to make responsible AI an operational reality for development, as exemplified in SAP’s AI ethics handbook.

Photo courtesy of Camila Lombana Diaz

When she joined SAP eight years ago, initially as a UX designer and then a strategic designer, machine learning and AI were core topics. But it became increasingly clear to her that “understanding the human implications of AI for a responsible and ethical AI demands a human-centric perspective.”

Even though SAP is committed to the ethical development of AI – developers must now complete AI ethics assessment tasks and a steering committee scrutinizes all high-risk use cases – Lombana Diaz emphasizes the need to remain focused on the inherent risks and unintentional harms that AI may present. Part of her role is an ongoing assessment of the technology, identifying risks and limitations and communicating them to different teams.

As AI continues to evolve at speed, so do the roles. Lombana Diaz is passionate about seeing AI beyond the confines of a technology-centric perspective. “AI is now an omnipresent technology shaping our daily lives; hence, we need individuals working in the field who challenge AI technology to be community centric. AI ethics is a space for experimental, open, curious, collaborative, and human-centered individuals,” and, she concludes, “the time to step into AI and build a career is now because, unlike the technology, the business of AI, the legal and ethical aspects, are still being shaped.”

Data Science Engineering 

Dr. Xin Chen, SAP HANA Machine Learning, China

“I have always enjoyed working at SAP since joining nine years ago. I like the work environment and the colleagues here and I really want to encourage others to join us here in AI,” says Chen, data science researcher on the SAP HANA Machine Learning team.

Photo courtesy of Dr. Xin Chen

The team works on a toolbox providing different kinds of machine learning algorithms for regression, classification, clustering, and so on for the SAP HANA predictive analysis library.

Part of Chen’s role is investigating research papers on the latest machine learning algorithms and, together with the team, deciding which algorithms would be beneficial to customers. Once the machine learning algorithms are implemented, Chen and the team evaluate feedback from customers and deliver enhancements.

Recently Chen and her team researched machine learning algorithms investigating notions of fairness. “Fairness is a very hot topic just now,” she says. “In mathematics, there are different notions of fairness, but it is still a complex and evolving topic.”

And Chen’s advice to would-be AI developers? “Critical thinking will become even more important to understand what solutions to offer, to make judgements on your own innovations, and to know if the generated output is right or wrong,” she says, reflecting on how this skill will become ever more important for future AI developers.

Product Management

Nadine Hoffmann, SAP Business AI, Germany

“I translate and I want to fascinate,” says Hoffmann, global AI product manager in the SAP Business AI growth area.

Even after more than 20 years at SAP, disruptive ideas and mindset shifts still energize Hoffmann. To be an expert in new technologies, and to be energized and enthused by the constant volume and speed of them, is critical to being successful in the AI product management teams of today because product management is the glue between partners, customers, the field, and development.

Photo courtesy of Nadine Hoffmann

“On the one hand,” says Hoffmann, “SAP has data scientists, software engineers, and researchers taking our software to the next level. And on the other, there are experts defining the legal and ethical guardrails.” Product management must be fluent in both “technical software speak” and “customer speak” to understand desires, pain points, and business processes.

Pivoting between these and aligning customer speak with technical software speak is akin to being a  translator, Hoffmann says. Our software will only meet the requirements of customers if there is a common understanding between the teams responsible for the technological development, the legal teams responsible for ethical and legal compliance, and the customer.

Regardless of the latest innovation, Hoffmann says success in product management is “not only about convincing teams and partners about the ease and positiveness of a technology, but also infusing them with a fascination about it so that they become passionate advocates and are intrinsically motivated to find out more by themselves.”

Data Science Engineering

Puntis Palazzolo, AI Strategist & Ethics Lead, SAP SuccessFactors, U.S.

“The ethical challenges presented by AI have transcended the scope of individual enterprises, extending beyond entities like SAP. It is crucial that we collaborate with others to collectively address AI’s emerging concerns,” says Palazzolo, who leads the SAP SuccessFactors Data Science team.

The team acts as a consulting service on AI use cases for product teams in SAP SuccessFactors, analyzing the problem, developing code and algorithms, and building proof-of-concepts. Successful AI use cases are then integrated into SAP SuccessFactors solutions.

Photo courtesy of Puntis Palazzolo

Much of the data in SAP SuccessFactors solutions is sensitive customer data. With the dramatic increase in generative AI use cases, safeguarding customer data must take precedence, Palazzolo says. “Generative AI is a powerful technology that introduces new challenges, such as hallucinations and automated decision-making. In high-risk sectors like HR, we need to explain how we reach certain decisions, especially when we are impacting people’s lives.”

Palazzolo joined SAP 11 years ago and has been based in Palo Alto, California, since 2013, where she represents SAP on MLCommons – a collaboration of academia and companies, such as Google and NVIDIA, dedicated to developing safe practices and industry-standard benchmarks to improve AI models. 

Her advice to current and would-be AI practitioners? Follow your passion, be ethical, and make your voice heard while we still have time.

“Legislators alone cannot write AI regulations for us because they do not have a full understanding of its complexities,” she says. “We cannot solve all the problems by ourselves, but we must make our voices heard to shape the future of AI.”

Alexa MacDonald is an SAP News editor.

Follow SAP News on LinkedIn to stay in touch Connect with us

A new “unpatchable” vulnerability in Apple’s M-series of chips was discovered, potentially allowing hackers access to extract secret keys and encrypted data from Macs.

It’s been another big day of outflows from Grayscale’s Bitcoin ETF, but ETF analyst Eric Balchunas believes they will taper off soon.

The regulator does not want to undermine its arguments in ongoing legal action against Coinbase and Binance.

“Companies go bankrupt all the time,” says 3AC founder, Brit found guilty of laundering $6B in Bitcoin for fast food worker: Asia Express

Bitcoin could use a deeper dip to reset “bull market sustainability,” some of the latest BTC price analysis concludes.

In 2008, at the height of the global financial crisis, an anonymous figure named Satoshi Nakamoto proposed Bitcoin, a groundbreaking electronic cash system.

AI can read your mind after a 1-hour scan, Facebook has been overrun with fake AI posts for boomers, NVIDIA robots, and Rejuve.ai: AI Eye.

OKX was among the nine foreign crypto exchanges blocked in India after the local regulators issued compliance notices.

WALLDORF — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced that Deutsche Telekom, one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies, has chosen the RISE with SAP solution to accelerate its journey to the cloud.

RISE with SAP: Improve compliance and build business resilience in a managed cloud offering Learn more

Deutsche Telekom is the first enterprise to implement RISE with SAP through SAP’s recently expanded partnership with T-Systems as a premium supplier of RISE with SAP, marking a significant milestone in the relationship between SAP and Deutsche Telekom.

As Europe’s largest telecommunications provider, with more than 252 million mobile customers, 25 million fixed-network lines and 22 million broadband lines, Deutsche Telekom operates in more than 50 countries. Aligned with the company’s vision to be the leading digital telecommunications provider in the world, Deutsche Telekom has chosen RISE with SAP to transform a major part of its ERP landscape to SAP S/4HANA Cloud. As a premium supplier of RISE with SAP, T-Systems will migrate, consolidate and manage more than 300 systems into the public and private cloud using T-Systems’ Future Cloud Infrastructure (FCI) and select hyperscalers. This is designed to enable customers to meet all German and European data protection requirements, as well as to benefit from tailored migration and orchestration of complex landscapes.

Peter Leukert, chief information officer of Deutsche Telekom, said, “SAP is a trusted and important partner for Deutsche Telekom in both reliably running core business processes and accelerating innovation in the cloud. Through RISE with SAP, we can drive business transformation and take our partnership to new heights. With SAP S/4HANA Cloud, Deutsche Telekom will be able to drive efficiency across key business functions such as logistics, procurement and finance.”

“Deutsche Telekom’s decision to select RISE with SAP to migrate and streamline more than 300 of their systems to the cloud marks an important milestone in their business transformation and continues a long history of our two companies innovating together for our customers,” said Scott Russell, member of the executive board of SAP SE, customer success. “This investment by Deutsche Telekom will give them new capabilities, drive greater efficiencies, and allow them to access key insights from across their enterprise so they can adjust to changing market conditions and seize new opportunities faster than they could before. We look forward to supporting Deutsche Telekom in this exciting new era of their cloud transformation.”

As a premium supplier of RISE with SAP, T-Systems offers “Thrive with T-Systems,” a collection of end-to-end transformation services that includes consulting, migration, implementation and operation of RISE with SAP and support for RISE with SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition.

Visit the SAP News Center. Follow SAP at @SAPNews.

Get news, stories and highlights from the SAP News Center delivered to your inbox weekly Subscribe today

About SAP

SAP’s strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent, sustainable enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: SAP customers generate 87% of total global commerce. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 26 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people’s lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

Note to editors:
To preview and download broadcast-standard stock footage and press photos digitally, please visit www.sap.com/photos. On this platform, you can find high resolution material for your media channels.

For customers interested in learning more about SAP products:
Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
United States Only: 1 (800) 872-1SAP (1-800-872-1727)

For more information, press only:
Lesa Plingen, +49 622 776 9000, lesa.plingen@sap.com, CET
SAP Press Room; press@sap.com

This document contains forward-looking statements, which are predictions, projections, or other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations, forecasts, and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results and outcomes to materially differ. Additional information regarding these risks and uncertainties may be found in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including but not limited to the risk factors section of SAP’s 2023 Annual Report on Form 20-F.
© 2024 SAP SE. All rights reserved.
SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP SE in Germany and other countries. Please see https://www.sap.com/copyright for additional trademark information and notices.
Please consider our privacy policy. If you received this press release in your e-mail and you wish to unsubscribe to our mailing list please contact press@sap.com and write Unsubscribe in the subject line.

Crypto exchange Coinbase has announced plans to launch futures trading for Dogecoin, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash as soon as April 1.

The transfers ranged from Bitcoin-based Ordinals Pepe (PEPE) coin to a CryptoDickbutts S3 NFT.

Coinbase holds BTC for eight of 10 Bitcoin ETFs. Trezor CEO Matej Zak warns it could become irresistible for thieves… and the government.