Building Better Answers With AI Agents: SAP’s Walter Sun

Building Better Answers With AI Agents: SAP’s Walter Sun

Author: MIT Sloan Management Review May 13, 2025 Duration: 33:53
The suggestions and support offered by AI are helpful only if they’re relevant. On today’s episode, Walter Sun, senior vice president and global head of artificial intelligence at SAP, joins Sam and Shervin to share how his organization is helping employees get smarter about artificial intelligence through the company’s AI Days. Additionally, Walter gives specific examples of support that AI agents could provide to an end user, and makes the case that small language models (fine-tuned large language models) can be built to assist in decision-making. Read the episode transcript here. Guest bio: Walter Sun is senior vice president and global head of artificial intelligence at SAP, where his team applies AI across applications for improved automation, natural human-machine interaction, and augmentation of decisions. Sun joined SAP in 2023 from Microsoft, where he was vice president of Copilot Applied Artificial Intelligence. While there he founded Bing Predicts, which leveraged anonymized and aggregated data for predictive analytics. He also delivered many AI features for the Bing search engine, Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Microsoft Power Platform. Previously, Sun worked at BlackRock Financial Management and at Apple as a senior software engineer. Sun has taught at Seattle University and the University of Washington, and he is currently an advisory board member at Georgia Tech and the University of Rochester, and an MIT Tech Review Global Insights panelist. He obtained his bachelor’s from Georgia Tech and his Ph.D. and master’s from MIT. Me, Myself, and AI is a collaborative podcast from MIT Sloan Management Review and Boston Consulting Group and is hosted by Sam Ransbotham and Shervin Khodabandeh. Our engineer is David Lishansky, and the executive producer is Allison Ryder. Stay in touch with us by joining our LinkedIn group, AI for Leaders at mitsmr.com/AIforLeaders or by following Me, Myself, and AI on LinkedIn. We encourage you to rate and review our show. Your comments may be used in Me, Myself, and AI materials.

Ever wondered how some organizations manage to turn artificial intelligence from a buzzword into a genuine engine for growth, while others struggle to move beyond the pilot phase? Me, Myself, and AI, a production from MIT Sloan Management Review, goes straight to the source to find out. Instead of theoretical discussions, this podcast features candid conversations with the people who are actually building and implementing AI systems at scale. You'll hear directly from leaders at prominent companies like YouTube, Cisco, and Hugging Face as they recount their journeys-not just the polished successes, but the real-world challenges, strategic decisions, and sometimes surprising lessons learned along the way. Each episode digs into the practicalities of creating measurable business value, cutting through the noise to reveal what effective AI leadership and integration truly look like. It’s a focused exploration for anyone in technology, business, or education who wants to understand the human and operational stories behind the algorithms. Tune in for an unvarnished look at the future being built, one practical application at a time.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Me, Myself, and AI
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