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Apps, Data & AI on One Foundation: Highlights from the SAP 2602 Release

Written by Vasim Mistry | Feb 17, 2026 8:09:14 PM

In a world where transformation never stops, organizations need more than incremental improvements; they need a unified foundation that brings applications, data, and AI together.

With the SAP 2602 release, SAP Cloud ERP delivers exactly that: an intelligent, suite-based architecture designed to help businesses run faster, operate smarter, and lead with greater confidence.

 

SAP S/4HANA Cloud Public Edition Release 2602 | Key Updates for Finance, Strategic Insights, & More

One Intelligent Foundation for the Enterprise

SAP continues to advance its integrated suite strategy, connecting every signal, every process, and every insight across the enterprise. Rather than innovating in silos, the 2602 release introduces AI-powered capabilities embedded directly into core business processes, enabling scalable growth and cross-functional alignment.

The result: finance, sales, and operations teams working from a single source of truth, powered by real-time intelligence.

Finance That Leads the Business Forward

Finance is no longer a back-office function; it’s a strategic driver of enterprise performance. The 2602 release introduces innovations designed to help finance teams close faster, operate with greater transparency, and unlock actionable insight.

AI-Driven Financial Close

The new Accounting Accruals Agent automates significant portions of the accrual process using AI. This reduces manual effort, improves accuracy, and accelerates the financial close,  allowing teams to focus on analysis rather than administration.

Green Ledger & Carbon Border Adjustments (2026)

Beginning in 2026, SAP Green Ledger will embed carbon border adjustments directly into finance processes. Organizations will be able to track carbon liabilities and manage certificates within their core financial workflows.

With deep integration and smart automation, carbon accounting becomes part of day-one financial operations, enabling compliant, insight-driven sustainability management.

Enhanced Margin & Profitability Insights

Finance leaders gain access to:

  • Multidimensional margin analysis
  • Smarter Profitability Review booklets with period comparisons
  • Embedded AI-driven insights
  • Enhanced financial statement review capabilities

These capabilities help surface optimization opportunities and provide a more mature, strategic review process across business units.

Joule: Natural Language Intelligence Across the Enterprise

Joule acts as an intelligent AI co-pilot embedded across SAP applications. Users can query transactional data using natural language and instantly compare planned versus actual performance.

By democratizing access to insight, Joule empowers business users,  not just analysts, to make faster, more informed decisions.

Modern Billing & Revenue Recognition

To support increasingly complex business models, SAP has enhanced flexibility across billing and revenue processes:

  • Milestone-based billing
  • Variant configuration support
  • Third-party configurable and free-of-charge items
  • Full support for solution and digital business models within Universal Revenue Recognition

These enhancements ensure tight integration between sales and finance, reducing friction and improving revenue accuracy.

Sales Productivity at Scale

Sales teams benefit from major productivity gains, including:

  • Automatic order creation from unstructured data
  • Configurable sales order templates
  • Expanded intercompany sales capabilities
  • Parallel quoting for contracts and subscriptions
  • New APIs for integration flexibility
  • AI-assisted subscription features powered by Joule

These capabilities reduce manual work, accelerate deal cycles, and enable more scalable growth.

Accelerating the Intelligent Enterprise

The 2602 release reinforces SAP’s commitment to delivering:

  • More automation
  • Better insights
  • Stronger cross-functional connections

By bringing applications, data, and AI together on one intelligent foundation, SAP enables organizations to move with speed, operate with confidence, and stay ahead in an increasingly competitive landscape.

The world moves fast. With SAP’s integrated suite and embedded AI innovations, your business can move faster.