Every SAP developer has googled it by now. Probably late at night.
“Will AI replace ABAP developers?”
Bas Paardekooper went to TechEd 2025 in Berlin to find out. Not by sitting through keynotes about “transformation,” but by testing actual tools and asking the uncomfortable questions: What can I do with AI today? And will I still be relevant in five years?
He is known for cutting through hype: the developer who sees a polished demo and immediately wonders how it behaves in a messy production landscape. So when he came back both enthusiastic and realistic, it was worth listening.
What he found: AI tools that are finally genuinely useful. A role that is shifting but not disappearing. And practical advice for SAP customers and consultants who want to stay ahead without the panic.
So Bas, you just got back from TechEd. What actually got you excited this time?
“This year it finally felt like AI is becoming part of a developer’s real toolbox. The demos were practical and close to what you could imagine using in a real project.
The progress on the ABAP side stood out. ABAP Cloud itself is not new, but the graphical modeler for RAP CDS really improves how you design and understand models. And the upcoming ABAP integration in Visual Studio Code is something many of us have wanted for years. It just makes daily work smoother.
I also liked how AI can now explain ABAP concepts and legacy custom code. For ECC to S4HANA Cloud migrations this is incredibly valuable. It removes a lot of the detective work required to understand older developments.
Joule for ABAP developers looked strong too. It knows SAP patterns and generates decent ABAP Cloud code. But all of this was shown in clean demo systems. Real landscapes in the Netherlands and Belgium are much more chaotic. I am curious to see how well the tooling handles that. The potential is big, but we are not there yet.”
What else caught your attention from a technical perspective?
“SAP is clearly moving toward a more flexible and consistent UI approach. Better alignment between SAPUI5 and frameworks like React and Angular is a welcome change. The Project Accelerator helps with quick setups, and SAP Web Components will make front-end landscapes more coherent across frameworks.
GenAI support for SAPUI5 also speeds up repetitive tasks and shifts the focus to describing the intended outcome instead of hand building everything.
But it all depends on the foundation. AI will not fix years of modifications or inconsistent data. It will only reveal those weaknesses faster. Many landscapes in our region have grown organically, and you notice that immediately when applying GenAI. These tools work best when the basis is solid.”
Looking ahead, what does this mean for developers and for the way people will work with SAP?
“I think our role will change. Developers will spend less time typing code and more time guiding and reviewing what AI generates. Structure, integration and edge cases become the core of the job.a
Looking further ahead, I expect end users will interact with SAP very differently. Classic transactions and apps will become less central. Users will increasingly work through AI Agents, simply describing what they need. The system will handle the process behind the scenes.
For developers this means that models, services and consistency become even more important. With the introduction of MCP which enables AI Agents to interact with backends, tools and data in a standardized way the need for a robust and consistent backend only increases. If the backend is messy or inconsistent, even an AI Agent with MCP integration cannot magically fix it. In fact, MCP will only amplify the impact of poorly designed models and APIs. A clean and well-structured backend remains the foundation for reliable AI driven automation.”
A final word of advice, Bas?
“My advice is simple. Start experimenting now. Test these features in your own landscape and see where they help and where they fall short. I am optimistic but realistic. Strong knowledge of ABAP, system design and business processes will remain essential for every good development team.
And to my fellow coders, do not worry. The robots are still too scared to touch our oldest Z programs.”