Machine learning is already having a huge impact on our lives. When we talk to a call center, our interaction is often with a robot. Articles that we read online might have been written by a machine. In many cases, such as online shopping, machine learning understands our behavior and intent, and makes precise, intelligent recommendations. Successful companies realize the potential of machine learning used across business processes, applications, and line-of-business solutions to sustain a competitive advantage.

SAPPHIRE NOW took place on June 5-7 in Orlando with impressive numbers: more than 21,000 attendees from 102 different countries and 1,275 lectures, which was the SAP's main global event at the year. It was 3 days of much learning, where I had an opportunity to attend lectures, several demonstrations of products and applications, and meet interesting people. At the opening keynote of the event, called "The Next Move", SAP CEO Bill McDermott made the main announcements: the launch of SAP C/4 Hana and the SAP HANA Data Management Suite, the importance of SAP Leonardo, and also defined and listed what he considered the 10 main characteristics of an intelligent enterprise. McDermott commented on the importance of artificial intelligence to drive economic growth through the use of machines and the judgment of humans. "Great moments are born from great opportunities."

Organizations have found a lot of new value for themselves and their customers over the past year, thanks to Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, blockchain and other SAP Leonardo-related technologies. These successes usually result from a focus on solving a specific problem -- and they often lead to the creation of new business models. "SAP Leonardo is on the frontlines of next practices in 25 distinctly different industries," SAP CEO Bill McDermott said during his opening keynote at SAPPHIRE NOW this month. SAP Leonardo is a system of intelligent technologies that include IoT, machine learning and blockchain. "Last year, we said a combination of maturing technologies -- IoT, machine learning and blockchain -- would help reimagine business processes," SAP CEO Bill McDermott said during his opening keynote at SAPPHIRE NOW this month.

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Chances are that you cannot scroll through your inbox each morning without running across at least one email trumpeting the impending arrival of artificial intelligence, blockchain and machine learning. They are just two of today's hot topics in a long list of new technologies that promise to radically transform the way business is done -- much as electricity, production lines, computers, and the internet transformed business and society in days past. As a long-time innovator for businesses, SAP is keenly focused on utilizing breakthrough technologies to help companies of all stripes deliver on their digital transformation goals. SAP has been researching the topic extensively, both from a pure technology standpoint and from the perspective of business value. Results from SAP's latest global survey of business leaders show two big hurdles to adoption.

In recent years, SAP has been harnessing machine learning in its applications, which unites human expertise and computer insights. SAP is launching its own machine learning on a digital platform that is known as the SAP Leonardo Machine Learning Foundation, which provides an enterprise-grade platform for machine learning in the cloud. SAP Leonardo is a digital innovation system that delivers software and microservices that enables customers to leverage new technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, analytics, blockchain and Big Data. SAP Leonardo was inspired by Renaissance painter, architect, engineer and philosopher Leonardo da Vinci. Markus Noga, SAP's Head of Machine Learning, told me that SAP Leonardo was introduced on January 11, 2017 and was extended to include SAP's entire digitization efforts with a machine learning foundation at SAP's SAPPHIRE event in May of 2017.

We've just begun to scratch the surface of the impact of machine learning on the enterprise. Organizations are applying machine learning algorithms to business processes to automate manual tasks and identify patterns in transactional data to drive strategic decisions. Many applications are focused on efficiency and automation, but that trend is shifting. More and more businesses are using machine learning to develop disruptive new business models. What does this mean for your organization?

SAP SE has brought former IBM Watson executive Marc Teerlink into the fold as global vice president for SAP Leonardo, responsible for new markets in artificial intelligence. At IBM, Teerlink was chief business strategist for IBM Watson, driving and overseeing the new offerings portfolio for the Watson Platform. In his new role at SAP, he will assist with strategy and vision for the SAP Leonardo digital innovation system, reporting to Mike Flanagan, SVP of SAP Leonardo and SAP Analytics and based in Washington DC. "[Marc] is an innovative business strategist whose experience and vision will help create more value for our customers from SAP Leonardo. I am confident that we will meld broad thinking and passion in his approach to help our customers transform their businesses with the SAP Leonardo technologies including artificial intelligence and machine learning," said Flannagan.

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To help clients rapidly develop capabilities for addressing some of tomorrow's most complex challenges, Deloitte Consulting today announced its intention to team with SAP America, Inc. to build a new suite of services for enabling digital transformation. Deloitte Consulting and SAP are expected to co-innovate on the development of offerings that will help organizations benefit from the expanded SAP Leonardo portfolio--to automate processes, gain deeper insights for decision-making, and deliver innovation and value throughout the enterprise. SAP Leonardo is a Digital Innovation System that combines machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT) capabilities, blockchain technology, analytics, and big data on SAP Cloud Platform to enable rapid innovation that can scale across the entire organization. Deloitte Consulting and SAP also intend to create new "micro-services" that extend the capabilities of SAP Leonardo, with an initial plan to focus on offerings that address evolving machine learning, analytics, and IoT needs in finance and throughout the supply chain. "As businesses strive to adopt digital business models, they are seeking trusted technology that enables them to operate with more agility, to deliver more effective results and to simplify their operations," said Rob Enslin, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE and President of Cloud Business Group, SAP.