WEBINAR
Procurement AI that holds up in practice:
what ElringKlinger's SAP Ariba rollout revealed
22 July, 2026 · 10:00 - 11:00 a.m. CEST (UTC+1)
Johanna Noack (ElringKlinger), Philipp Beikirch (apsolut) and Can Akin (Lhotse) share what the move from SAP SRM to SAP Ariba Buying and Lhotse's Copilot taught them, live from the project.
Why attend this webinar?
Plenty of procurement AI solutions impress in the demo and disappoint in production. A few are built the other way round. By automatically reading supplier quotations and drafting purchase requisitions, they spare procurement teams the line-by-line transfer of data into SAP Ariba. Manufacturer ElringKlinger introduced the technology alongside SAP Ariba Buying in a coordinated rollout, and the solution now runs reliably across multiple regions, including China. Johanna Noack reports first-hand where the new system won over internal customers, while apsolut project lead Philipp Beikirch and Lhotse founder Can Akin share early lessons on flexibility, IT security and data protection. They also discuss how current-generation SAP Ariba combined with AI compares with the Next-gen SAP Ariba roadmap, and where the broader procurement AI landscape is heading. AI inside SAP Ariba, it turns out, is not a promise for the day after tomorrow. Can Akin shows what it already delivers in practice.
In this webinar, you will learn:
- How the move from SAP SRM to SAP Ariba Buying and Lhotse's Copilot played out in practice, told first-hand from inside the project
- Where it won over the procurement team's internal customers, including requisitions that once took minutes and now take seconds
- Why it clears the hurdle so many AI tools stumble on, running reliably even in China, with straight answers on flexibility, IT security and data protection
- How current-gen SAP Ariba plus Copilot differs from Next-gen SAP Ariba, and what that means for your own roadmap
- What else Lhotse's portfolio covers, where it is headed, and the ROI other projects already deliver
- Plus: a live look inside the new tool
Speakers
Johanna Noack
Purchasing Process Manager
ElringKlinger
Can Akin
Co-Founder & Managing Director
Lhotse
Philipp Beikirch
Manager
apsolut
Registration
apsolut has won the SAP Ariba Partner of the Year award in the MEE region eight times in a row. No other consultancy has ever received this award, let alone eight times. As a consultancy specialising in SAP-based procurement and SAP's closest implementation and innovation partner, apsolut has been part of the All for One Group since 2026. Its unparalleled procurement expertise, forged through the most complex transformations at global corporations, is now backed by a comprehensive SAP ecosystem covering S/4HANA, Customer Experience, Data & Business Analytics, Finance and HR.
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