SAP AI Core is a service on SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) that manages AI asset execution in a standardized, scalable, hyperscaler-agnostic manner. SAP AI Launchpad provides the management UI for AI runtimes including the Generative AI Hub.
Core Capabilities
| Generative AI Hub | Access to LLMs from multiple providers with unified API
| Orchestration | Modular pipeline for templating, filtering, grounding, masking
| ML Training | Argo Workflows-based batch pipelines for model training
| Inference Serving | Deploy models as HTTPS endpoints for predictions
| Grounding/RAG | Vector database integration for contextual AI
Three Components
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SAP AI Core: Execution engine for AI workflows and model serving
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SAP AI Launchpad: Management UI for AI runtimes and GenAI Hub
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AI API: Standardized lifecycle management across runtimes
Quick Start
Prerequisites
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SAP BTP enterprise account
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SAP AI Core service instance (Extended plan for GenAI)
-
Service key with credentials
1. Get Authentication Token
# Set environment variables from service key
export AI_API_URL="<your-ai-api-url>"
export AUTH_URL="<your-auth-url>"
export CLIENT_ID="<your-client-id>"
export CLIENT_SECRET="<your-client-secret>"
# Get OAuth token
AUTH_TOKEN=$(curl -s -X POST "$AUTH_URL/oauth/token" \
-H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded" \
-d "grant_type=client_credentials&client_id=$CLIENT_ID&client_secret=$CLIENT_SECRET" \
| jq -r '.access_token')
2. Create Orchestration Deployment
# Check for existing orchestration deployment
curl -X GET "$AI_API_URL/v2/lm/deployments" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AUTH_TOKEN" \
-H "AI-Resource-Group: default" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json"
# Create orchestration deployment if needed
curl -X POST "$AI_API_URL/v2/lm/deployments" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AUTH_TOKEN" \
-H "AI-Resource-Group: default" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"configurationId": "<orchestration-config-id>"
}'
3. Use Harmonized API for Model Inference
ORCHESTRATION_URL="<deployment-url>"
curl -X POST "$ORCHESTRATION_URL/v2/completion" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $AUTH_TOKEN" \
-H "AI-Resource-Group: default" \
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{
"config": {
"module_configurations": {
"llm_module_config": {
"model_name": "gpt-4o",
"model_version": "latest",
"model_params": {
"max_tokens": 1000,
"temperature": 0.7
}
},
"templating_module_config": {
"template": [
{"role": "system", "content": "You are a helpful assistant."},
{"role": "user", "content": "{{?user_query}}"}
]
}
}
},
"input_params": {
"user_query": "What is SAP AI Core?"
}
}'
Service Plans
| Free | Free | No | Community only | Default only
| Standard | Per resource + baseline | No | Full SLA | Multiple
| Extended | Per resource + tokens | Yes | Full SLA | Multiple
Key Restrictions:
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Free and Standard mutually exclusive in same subaccount
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Free → Standard upgrade possible; downgrade not supported
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Max 50 resource groups per tenant
Model Providers
SAP AI Core provides access to models from six providers:
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Azure OpenAI: GPT-4o, GPT-4 Turbo, GPT-3.5
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SAP Open Source: Llama, Falcon, Mistral variants
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Google Vertex AI: Gemini Pro, PaLM 2
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AWS Bedrock: Claude, Amazon Titan
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Mistral AI: Mistral Large, Medium, Small
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IBM: Granite models
For detailed provider configurations and model lists, see references/model-providers.md.
Orchestration
The orchestration service provides unified access to multiple models through a modular pipeline with 8 execution stages:
- Grounding → 2. Templating (mandatory) → 3. Input Translation → 4. Data Masking → 5. Input Filtering → 6. Model Configuration (mandatory) → 7. Output Filtering → 8. Output Translation
For complete orchestration module configurations, examples, and advanced patterns, see references/orchestration-modules.md.
Content Filtering
Azure Content Safety: Filters content across 4 categories (Hate, Violence, Sexual, SelfHarm) with severity levels 0-6. Azure OpenAI blocks severity 4+ automatically. Additional features include PromptShield and Protected Material detection.
Llama Guard 3: Covers 14 categories including violent crimes, privacy violations, and code interpreter abuse.
Data Masking
Two PII protection methods:
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Anonymization:
MASKED_ENTITY(non-reversible) -
Pseudonymization:
MASKED_ENTITY_ID(reversible)
Supported entities (25 total): Personal data, IDs, financial information, SAP-specific IDs, and sensitive attributes. For complete entity list and implementation details, see references/orchestration-modules.md.
Grounding (RAG)
Integrate external data from SharePoint, S3, SFTP, SAP Build Work Zone, and DMS. Supports PDF, HTML, DOCX, images, and more. Limit: 2,000 documents per pipeline with daily refresh. For detailed setup, see references/grounding-rag.md.
Tool Calling
Enable LLMs to execute functions through a 5-step workflow: define tools → receive tool_calls → execute functions → return results → LLM incorporates responses. Templates available in templates/tool-definition.json.
Structured Output
Force model responses to match JSON schemas using strict validation. Useful for structured data extraction and API responses.
Embeddings
Generate semantic embeddings for RAG and similarity search via /v2/embeddings endpoint. Supports document, query, and text input types.
ML Training
Uses Argo Workflows for training pipelines. Key requirements: create default object store secret, define workflow template, create configuration with parameters, and execute training. For complete workflow patterns, see references/ml-operations.md.
Deployments
Deploy models via two-step process: create configuration (with model binding), then create deployment with TTL. Statuses: Pending → Running → Stopping → Stopped/Dead. Templates in templates/deployment-config.json.
SAP AI Launchpad
Web-based UI with 4 key applications:
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Workspaces: Manage connections and resource groups
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ML Operations: Train, deploy, monitor models
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Generative AI Hub: Prompt experimentation and orchestration
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Functions Explorer: Explore available AI functions
Required roles include genai_manager, genai_experimenter, prompt_manager, orchestration_executor, and mloperations_editor. For complete guide, see references/ai-launchpad-guide.md.
API Reference
Core Endpoints
Key endpoints: /v2/lm/scenarios, /v2/lm/configurations, /v2/lm/deployments, /v2/lm/executions, /lm/meta. For complete API reference with examples, see references/api-reference.md.
Common Patterns
Simple Chat: Basic model invocation with templating module
RAG with Grounding: Combine vector search with LLM for context-aware responses
Secure Enterprise Chat: Filtering + masking + grounding for PII protection
Templates available in templates/orchestration-workflow.json.
"masking_providers": [{
Troubleshooting
Common Issues:
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401 Unauthorized: Refresh OAuth token
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403 Forbidden: Check IAM roles, request quota increase
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404 Not Found: Verify AI-Resource-Group header
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Deployment DEAD: Check deployment logs
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Training failed: Create
defaultobject store secret
Request quota increases via support ticket (Component: CA-ML-AIC).
Bundled Resources
Reference Documentation
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references/orchestration-modules.md- All orchestration modules in detail -
references/generative-ai-hub.md- Complete GenAI hub documentation -
references/model-providers.md- Model providers and configurations -
references/api-reference.md- Complete API endpoint reference -
references/grounding-rag.md- Grounding and RAG implementation -
references/ml-operations.md- ML operations and training -
references/advanced-features.md- Chat, applications, security, auditing -
references/ai-launchpad-guide.md- Complete SAP AI Launchpad UI guide
Templates
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templates/deployment-config.json- Deployment configuration template -
templates/orchestration-workflow.json- Orchestration workflow template -
templates/tool-definition.json- Tool calling definition template
Official Sources
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SAP AI Core Guide: https://help.sap.com/docs/sap-ai-core
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SAP AI Launchpad Guide: https://help.sap.com/docs/sap-ai-launchpad
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SAP Note 3437766: Model token rates and limits