Karlsruhe, 28.10.2024 – For anyone interested in innovative future technology, the Gartenhalle in Karlsruhe was the “place to be” at the end of September. ERP specialist Asseco Solutions hosted its major customer conference Vision Days there – and, true to the event motto, celebrated a veritable “festival of innovations”. A dense line-up of visionary and practice-oriented specialist presentations inspired the more than 600 guests attending
and aroused anticipation for the groundbreaking possibilities of the intelligent ERP of the future. There were also plenty of opportunities for informal discussions with experts and other users – not least at a rousing after-show party.
“Innovation is and always has been a crucial component of success,” emphasized Ralf Bachthaler, CSO and member of the Asseco Management Board, right at the beginning of the opening keynote. “Just think back to the days of the good old cell phone. Back then, the market shares of the leading manufacturers amounted to 40 percent and more. And with the introduction of the smartphone, they plummeted to three percent virtually overnight. Today, an even more profound change is taking place in the context of AI. Large language models are revolutionizing the way ERP is thought about and how it can support companies in their daily work. Together with our customers, we want to set the course for them to emerge from this change as winners with a competitive advantage – just like the visionaries of smartphone technology once did.”
New AI power for APplus
As a further step towards this intelligent ERP future, Asseco unveiled upcoming product innovations. Among other things, the experts presented exclusive sneak peaks of what Asseco customers can look forward to in the future: In future, APplus will have significantly expanded options for running process flows as automatically as possible at the customer’s request. This lays the foundation for future-oriented interaction between man and machine. This takes the handling of central processes in day-to-day business to a whole new level of efficiency.
Intelligent assistants will also provide practical support for everyday tasks. A foretaste of this was given live on stage when the Asseco experts interacted with corresponding prototypes. In future, the intelligent chatbot “Ask.APplus” will provide information on the functionality and operation of APplus. The virtual assistant Elly, on the other hand, will support APplus users in natural language with a wide range of concerns and tasks. Pioneering AI innovations like these are making the intelligent ERP of the future a reality in APplus.
Opening up new horizons
Artificial intelligence, its potential for companies and its concrete implementation in APplus formed a central thematic pillar of the two-day customer event. But general innovations, important focus areas of APplus and relevant digitization aspects were also highlighted in numerous presentation formats. The event also focused on panel discussions and practical sessions on security, sustainability, updates, e-commerce, funding opportunities for digitalization projects, internationalization, EDI and e-invoices.
The practical input provided the participants with new perspectives and suggestions for aligning their corporate strategy with future requirements. As part of their presentations, the speakers repeatedly discussed specific approaches to achieving strategic goals, optimizing processes and securing competitive advantages in the long term.
Technology festival with exclusive flair
Both the information on offer at the customer conference and the numerous networking opportunities followed the festival theme throughout – from the guests’ festival wristbands to the numerous musical allusions in the titles of the expert presentations. This created a relaxed, enthusiastic atmosphere among the visitors, which whetted their appetite for new information and mutual exchange. Covered by a festival tent and equipped with comfortable lounge furniture, the “Success Stories Lounge”, for example, offered easy opportunities to exchange ideas with other APplus customers and learn from their best practices. In the “Tech Talk Corner”, which was modeled on a backstage area, Asseco experts from the fields of IT, IT security, architecture, systems engineering and release management were on hand to answer individual technical questions.
Finally, the festival character was particularly evident at the evening event in the atmospheric ambience of the Schwarzwaldhalle. Under the slogan “Rock the Night”, live musicians on the Central Stage and futuristic LED walking acts created a great atmosphere. The extensive selection of food and drinks from various regions of the world, which were offered to visitors at numerous food stands, also contributed to the special flair. The guests enjoyed the party vibes until midnight and rounded off the impressions of the day with a relaxed networking session and a cool beer or drink.
Festival feeling on demand
Participants who would like to review the Festival of Innovation can find the event film here . Photos and impressions of the event days can be found here.
The next Asseco Vision Days are planned for 2026.
