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WALLDORF — SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced that Nestlé S.A., one of the world’s leading food and beverage companies, has completed its first major upgrade to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition. This wave covers 112 countries, with more countries in Europe and the Americas to follow soon.

The first of three upgrades, this one involved more than 50,000 employees and was completed in under 20 hours. Supported by a standardized technology landscape that enabled minimal downtime, this smooth transition to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition sets a new benchmark for digital transformation in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry.

A long-time SAP customer, Nestlé since 2000 has used SAP software as its single unified system to manage its global operations and moved to the cloud in 2022. The upgrade to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition is a strategic leap in its transformation journey to future-proof the company as consumer expectations evolve and new technologies reshape the marketplace.

“We are building a future-ready enterprise—one that works smarter and faster,” said Chris Wright, Nestlé’s head of IT and CIO. “Having a common ERP system as our backbone is already a tremendous advantage for Nestlé. It provides a unified platform and data foundation that allows us to execute end to end across the value chain and have visibility across the entire company and beyond. With the upgrade, we gain new capabilities and insights that will help scale new products faster globally to meet the needs of our customers and consumers, and with AI and automation at scale, we’ll drive efficiency and effectiveness across our value chain.”

With a portfolio that includes global icons such as Nescafé, Kit Kat and Maggi, Nestlé chose to upgrade to SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition to accelerate the rollout of new products and innovations across the group. The upgrade also supports it in making data-driven insights and improving processes to drive efficiency and effectiveness across the company’s business operations to better serve consumers worldwide who rely on its products every day.

“Nestlé’s successful go-live of SAP S/4HANA Cloud Private Edition showcases how scale can be a strategic advantage for innovation,” said Thomas Saueressig, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, Customer Services & Delivery. “As one of the world’s most recognizable and forward-thinking companies, Nestlé exemplifies how cutting-edge technology empowers global brands to anticipate consumer trends, optimize operations and deliver exceptional experiences at scale.”

The upgrade also provides a robust digital core ready for AI and automation at scale across the company’s value chain, enabling Nestlé to gain real-time data insights for smarter decision-making. By harnessing AI and the Joule copilot at scale across its operations, value chain and product portfolio, Nestlé can personalize consumer engagement and optimize operations with greater agility. This helps ensure it remains responsive to evolving consumer expectations and lays the foundation for a truly omnichannel experience.

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Media Contact:
Lesa Plingen, +49 622 776 9000, lesa.plingen@sap.com, CET
SAP Press Room; press@sap.com

Top image courtesy of Nestlé

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The European Innovation Council (EIC) has announced the results of the 2025 EIC Pathfinder Open call, awarding over €140 million to visionary research projects developing radically new technologies with the potential to create future markets. 

The 2025 call drew record interest from the research community, with proposals received from 71 countries. Following evaluation, 44 projects were selected for funding. 

The selected consortia bring together universities (48%), private companies (27%) and research organisations (25%), to explore breakthrough ideas in fields such as quantum technologies, advanced materials, health, energy, and artificial intelligence. 

In addition to financial support, the selected projects will benefit from tailor-made coaching, mentoring, and networking opportunities through the EIC Business Acceleration Services, helping them translate their scientific vision into real-world innovation and impact. 

Examples of the selected projects include:  

• CEREBRIS tackles one of today’s most pressing health challenges: neurological disease. The project is developing a secure, federated, and explainable AI ecosystem for stroke care, capable of learning from diverse patient data such as brain scans, motion patterns, and neural signals. By enabling hospitals to collaborate without sharing raw data, CEREBRIS ensures privacy while improving diagnostics and rehabilitation outcomes. They aim to transform the entire stroke-care pathway—from early diagnosis to recovery—reducing long-term disability and healthcare costs worldwide.
• Superspin aims to achieve a major milestone in quantum communication by creating the technology to link a superconducting quantum computer with a spin-based quantum memory operating at different frequencies. The project will develop innovative devices to convert quantum signals between microwave and optical regimes, allowing distant quantum systems to interact. This breakthrough will provide a building block for interconnected quantum networks, enabling scalable, secure, and high-performance quantum technologies in Europe.
• Fiber3D pioneers a new fabrication method that integrates optical fibre sensors directly into metal structures using advanced 3D-printing and spraying techniques. This innovation allows real-time monitoring of temperature and strain in critical infrastructure such as railways, hydrogen pipelines, and nuclear power plants, dramatically improving safety, sustainability, and maintenance efficiency.  

Background information 

The Pathfinder programme supports visionary ideas for radically new technologies. It promotes high-risk/high-gain, interdisciplinary collaborations focused on early-stage technology development (Technology Readiness Levels 1–3), up to proof of concept.  

Funded projects benefit not only from grants of up to €3-4 million, but also from direct engagement with EIC Programme Managers. Additional funding opportunities are available to explore the innovative potential of research results or to support collaborative portfolio actions. 

Funding opportunities in 2026 

New funding opportunities and Pathfinder Open and Challenges deadlines will be announced in the 2026 EIC work programme that is expected to be adopted at the beginning of November 2025.  

More information