The Power of Joule for Developers, ABAP AI Capabilities

[lienards]

There are only a few moments like this during a professional lifetime. This is huge, and I’m certain many of you will remember this moment years later – it is game-changing.

We’re thrilled to announce today Joule for developers, ABAP AI capabilities. The wait is over. ABAP AI is here for you. As I announced earlier, a real treasure.

The AI capabilities for ABAP are designed to enhance developer productivity by delivering new generative AI-powered assistance for frequent developer tasks. The ABAP AI capabilities utilize a purpose-built large language model (LLM) trained on millions of lines of ABAP code to deliver the most precise, contextual results for ABAP workloads. We’re offering these ABAP AI capabilities free to all customers using SAP BTP ABAP environment or SAP S/4HANA Cloud, public edition, until September 15, 2025.  

Enhancing Developer Efficiency  

At SAP, we remain steadfast in our commitment to delivering unparalleled value and improving the lives of developers around the world. This steadfastness is evident by our continued investment in AI features across the SAP portfolio, including Joule for developers, AI capabilities. At SAP TechEd in October last year, we announced how we’re bringing SAP Build and ABAP Cloud closer to each other and introducing new AI assistive capabilities. 

These new AI capabilities for ABAP Cloud include:

• AI Chat Assistance: Developers can receive real-time assistance via Joule in ADT by asking questions about ABAP programming or related processes. Developers have access to real-time chat assistance, embedded in the ABAP for Eclipse Integrated Development Environment (IDE). 

• Code Explanation: Developers can retrieve detailed explanations of selected ABAP or ABAP Core Data Services (ABAP CDS) code to understand complex programming logic and code written by others.  

• Predictive Code Completion: Developers can speed up coding by leveraging code prediction capabilities. Based on context, comments, and previously entered specifications, AI suggests the following line of ABAP code while the developers are still typing. This predictive code completion improves code quality and ensures the generated code is cloud-compliant.  

• Automated Unit Test Generation: Developers can save time and effort by automatically generating ABAP unit tests for ABAP classes and CDS code.  

In addition to these capabilities, our new software development kit, the ABAP AI SDK (software development kit), powered by ISLM (Intelligent Scenario Lifecycle Management), enables developers to create intelligent scenarios within ABAP code using any GenAI model they choose. This flexibility allows developers to expand solutions, tweak functionalities, and unleash creativity with their ABAP apps and extensions. 

Early Adoption and Feedback 

We provided early access to these features to over 6,500 ABAP developers at SAP and select customers and partners. The feedback we’ve received from these developers has been overwhelmingly positive, highlighting the transformative impact that the AI capabilities in ABAP can have on the development lifecycle. Here are some excerpts from the anonymous feedback survey:  

“The capabilities of the language model [knowing ABAP] are very good and beneficial in my daily development. Good Job!” 

“[These new capabilities] are well-structured and allowed me an easy start with Gen AI in ABAP Development Tool. Excellent job!” 

“The code completion is the state-of-the-art feature of Joule's ABAP developer capabilities. It understood what I was coding and suggested the perfect snippets.” 

In addition, we also provided an early briefing on these AI enhancements to a few analyst firms. Here’s what Holger Mueller from Constellation Research, a leading analyst firm, had to say on the AI capabilities in ABAP:  

“It's great to see SAP’s holistic strategy addressing the needs of the millions of ABAP developers. The introduction of proprietary LLMs for ABAP has significant potential, particularly in simplifying the migration from ECC to S/4HANA. The expanded SAP Build offering, now including ABAP, provides customers with a powerful solution to build and extend a wide range of business applications across both SAP and non-SAP systems” - Holger Mueller, Principal Analyst & VP at Constellation Research, Inc. 

Our Vision for the Future  

Joule for developers, ABAP AI capabilities, will improve developer workflows and open the door for continued innovation and growth. Especially as customers continue to adopt SAP S/4HANA, our offering will revolutionize the migration journey by meticulously analyzing legacy code, providing clear code explanations, and delivering suggestions for code simplification and proposals for optimized migration. These new AI capabilities for ABAP Cloud aren’t merely an approach for lift-and-shift; instead, these enable intelligent optimization and cloud-centric evolution of business-critical custom codebases.  

Our aspirations don’t stop there. We have a complete roadmap of cutting-edge features to streamline business logic development, automate ABAP doc generation, and fortify data protection and compliance. These upcoming innovations will mark significant steps in a journey towards more innovative, efficient, and secure ABAP development. Stay tuned as we continue to leverage the latest AI innovation to shape the path for successful SAP S/4HANA migration for our customers. 

Call to Action 

To learn more, visit SAP Help, learn how to get started, and get more details. Please join the conversation here, in the SAP Community. We welcome feedback and look forward to seeing how these AI features transform your projects.  

Join us on this exciting journey as we redefine the future of ABAP development. With Joule for developers, ABAP AI capabilities, we have a treasure in our hands – a tool that not only streamlines workflows but also opens new possibilities for innovation and growth. 

Links

Joule speaks ABAP!

Unleash Your Inner ABAP Rockstar with Joule for developers , ABAP AI capabilities

[Bruno_Ribeiro]

Thank you for sharing @lienards. I have BTP ABAP Environment running in one subaccount and one ABAP Cloud Project connected to it in ADT, but in eclipse it shows the project does not support Joule. Anyone also facing this issue ?

Update: Its probably related with SAP Note 3571857 - Additional license required for Joule for developers, ABAP AI capabilities in SAP BTP ABAP Environment, which we don't have it yet.

[acancelado]

Thanks for sharing @lienards 

[AlexanderRother]

Hi @Bruno_Ribeiro ,

please check the license and setup instructions described here: https://community.sap.com/t5/technology-blogs-by-sap/joule-speaks-abap/ba-p/14018226 

Note that this also includes updating ABAP Development Tools if you haven't done this so far.

Best regards,
Alexander

[JoseBastidas]

SAP Partners; register to our upcoming webinar SAP BTP Partner Community Live – Ask Me Anything on ABAP Development with Joule, our generative AI copilot:

https://partneredge.sap.com/en/library/education/psd/2025/jan/e_oe_te_w_PSD_WEB_00008933.html

Regards,

Jose

[kw-vlad]

Hi @lienards  , thank you very much for sharing, amazing news for all the ABAP community. Are there any plans to release similar developer co-pilot AI for on-premise ABAP?

Does LLM consider any of open-source ABAP projects available on Github ?

Thank you!

Vlad

[MichaelSchneide]

@Bruno_Ribeiro  @AlexanderRother : facing the same issue here:
Having a running ABAP environment in BTP, updated ADT for Eclipse, additional licence "8019124 - Joule for Developer Limited Promotion, ABAP" activated (more than 48 hours), role SAP_A4C_BC_DEV_AIQ_PC assigned to Business user - but eclipse still states there's no open project supporting Joule... 
Is there any entitlement that needs to be assigned to the subaccount or any other configuration to be performed beforehand?

BR Michael

[Bruno_Ribeiro]

Hi @MichaelSchneide, I'm still trying to get the additional license. Once I have it I will let you know in case I face the same issue.

BR. Bruno

[cimerman]

I tried to give it a try, hit the wall of licencing difficulties as usual - so I'll keep this treasure burried and go back to my LLAMA by Meta (yes, it is trained in ABAP, CDS, HANA etc) in VSCode. Maybe next time.

[Vlad8w]

@cimerman 

Hello!

I am using Claude from Anthropic, which can be called from both VSCode and Eclipse. Also, you can call to it directly via Anthropic API or via Github co-pilot extension. I have tried it less on HANA , but it performs well with ABAP artifacts, incl. ABAP CDS.

Thanks -Vlad

[Dwarakesh]

@lienards - Is this available for on Prem versions? or are there plans to make it available ?

[sebastian_baskovich]

Hi @cimerman 

We are sorry for the licensing issues. A TDD (Test, Demo and Development) license for SAP partners is in preparation. Once it is available, we are eager for you to try it out, fully integrated in ADT with the ABAP LLM trained on own codebase compared to third-party models

[sebastian_baskovich]

Hi @Dwarakesh 

ABAP AI SDK powered by ISLM is available for lower releases of SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition and OnPrem supported via Transport-based Correction Instructions (TCI). Please, see more details in SAP Note 3513374 and in the blog Joule speaks ABAP by @AlexanderRother 

[cimerman]

Hi @sebastian_baskovich, thank you for your reply! I’m eager to see it in action as well. The billion-dollar question is: does Joule have access to OSS notes? Since they are still not publicly available (and I’m not questioning whether this is part of a long-term strategy or just a coincidence), this would definitely give Joule a significant competitive edge.

[FabioPagoti]

That is really awesome and I do congratulate SAP for releasing such kind feature "soon enough". ChatGPT was released at the end of 2022 so it took a little bit more than 2 years for SAP to evaluate the hype/usefulness of all AI stuff and bringing it in BTP/ABAP. No irony here, for SAP standards - that was very fast. I can remember how much time it took for SAP to pivot the HANA strategy in regards to native development... XS... XSA.. Cloud Foundry... MTA... now CAP... sometimes it seemed as if there was no long term strategy but that is a different story.

What is really intriguing (but not surprising) is once again SAP release stuff only for cloud scenarios requiring an extra license. IMHO.. once again... just the same awful strategy.

So there were 6500 ABAP developers with early access inside SAP and it seems that NO ONE has complained that this is just bad. We have in this post (14 including myself) - a huge number based on the recent SAP Community activity nowadays where pretty much everyone is complaining that either they don't have license in BTP or they are willing to see this On-Premise. It's just not possible that this feedback was not done internally by many people.

Why not releasing this On-Premise up front?

Why this isn't already included in the regular BTP / BAS license? (which is already expensive considering other IDEs around there)

Why isn't included in Work Zone for those companies already paying for Work Zone?

The answer is "obvious". SAP tries to be a money machine for everything. Even for those things SAP has not invented. Even for those things is just a new and small challenger in the market.

Guess what? I can use ChatGPT (or any other AI) for free just by opening a new browser tab.

And EVERY developer knows that. 

AND EVERY decision maker knows that as well.

Why buying another license if we can get it for free elsewhere ? Sometimes not free but definitely cheaper than SAP.

SAP money-machine strategy is the reason why so many products were decommissioned. I understand that stuff like that costs a lot of money... BUT...

BTP as a whole must have a payback

BAS does not need to have a payback
Work Zone does not need to have a payback
Joule does not need to have a payback

If everything has a payback, some stuff will fail because it didn't generated profit. And when that happens, other stuff will fail as the other stuff is only good enough if you had the first stuff which failed.

If Joule is not used because it requires a whole license which is only feasible for those in the cloud, not everyone uses... BAS will stay behind other similar tools... Work Zone will stay behind other similar tools... everything "Joule-capable" will stay behind.

And if SAP wants to compete with CoPilot for example, let's consider that Microsoft had embedded CoPilot on pretty much everything at no/low cost, including the user browser - which run on-Prem :-). So I don't need Joule in BAS/BTP if I can place CoPilot just besides the same window I use BAS. How cool is that? Maybe Joule is better and I am wrong... but is it worth checking it? No for me and for most IMHO. At least I don't have to convince my employer to reach someone at SAP to buy it. I can buy myself CoPilot and SAP will never know that I am using an AI together with BAS. So maybe in the future SAP will do a fancy presentation saying that most developer are not using AI just because they are not using Joule... so customers should buy Joule. I've seen that movie before and it is hilarious.

If SAP was a retail store it would charge customers to use the fitting room. And only customers with the SAP credit card would be allowed to use the fitting room.

Instead of listening to employees, customers and other people who would like to use the fitting room as this should be part of the whole package of buying a T-shirt, SAP is actually promoting some events saying how cool is to have a fancy fitting room inside a empty store.