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What Business Looks Like When 95% of Products Are IoT-enabled

SAP

Gartner’s recent prediction that IoT technology will be in 95 percent of electronics by 2020 is getting well-deserved attention, but the most transformational story for business is quietly taking place behind the scenes. Companies are plowing ahead to make investments in IoT and AI plus robotics, and after meeting COZMO the robot at the recent SAP TechEd event, it’s easy to see why.

Miniature powerhouse of intelligence

SAP

A surefire crowd-magnet on the show floor, this small but powerfully intelligent robot operating on the SAP Cloud Platform used sensors to follow voice-activated commands, finding and picking up designated items, and bringing them to specific locations on the table. According to Mariah Perry, SAP Cloud Platform Marketing, sophisticated automation at the edge is what distinguishes this latest breed of IoT and AI-powered devices. She showed me what the robot could do in this VIDEO.

“Devices are becoming much more autonomous,” said Perry. “You can tell this robot to do something, and it uses its own intelligence to navigate around objects, pick up what it’s supposed to, and carry out the order.”

While Perry issued commands to the robot through Alexa of Amazon Echo fame, she said any voice-activated system could be used. The robot emitted beeping noises as it acknowledged orders and carried them out.

Cute #sensor-tagged robots have the potential to explode exponential value in the back office @SAPTechEd #AI @sapcp

Cozmo, transform our business

As cute as the robot was, its exponential value has the potential to really explode in the back office. Companies can use similar intelligent, sensor-tagged devices to perform tasks, connecting the information to the rest of the organization, from warehouse through supply chain management, customer service and delivery. “In an actual automated warehouse or similar business scenario, commands would be integrated with any ERP system such as SAP S/4HANA,” said Perry. “We’re using this toy robot to show how valuable IoT and robotics can be in helping businesses automate and regulate daily processes using the cloud for digital transformation.”

This blog was originally published on the SAP News Center.

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