SAP insider Magazine
“The pressure to move quickly will cause many companies to fail because they aren’t cleansing, automating, and making their data agent-ready
simultaneously.”
It’s about pushing intelligence to where the data lives — whether that’s on-premises, in a private cloud, or at the edge of a manufacturing line — rather than forcing everything into a single, cen- tralized model. The Rise of Agents and the MCP Standard The conversation inevitably goes deeper into the agentic future. Lucas is keeping a close, “squinty- eyed” watch on Model Context Protocol (MCP). While he acknowledges its importance as a two- way street for agent communication, he reminds us that MCP alone isn’t a panacea. The concern isn’t the standard itself, but the lim- itations around it — specifically around authenti- cation and authority. “On whose behalf are these agents acting?” Lu- cas asks. “Are we going to allow an agent to make decisions on behalf of the CFO? Today, it sounds ludicrous. But there will come a time where that becomes reality.” This is where the Boomi Enterprise Platform enters the fray. It provides a governance layer that spans both agents and the APIs which they communicate through, a capability not provided by MCP. Lucas views the world as a mix of deter- ministic systems (traditional apps that follow the if-then-else logic, like running payroll on Friday) and probabilistic engines (AI agents that predict the next best action). “Why would we want an agent deciding if it feels like running payroll?” he asks. Still, according to Lucas, the future isn’t about one replacing the other; it’s about using an orchestration platform to allow probability engines to participate safely in a deterministic world.
To illustrate this point, Lucas cites Mark Cuban’s ominous prediction: there will soon be two kinds of companies—those that are good at AI, and those that used to exist. However, here’s the twist: Lucas doesn’t think organizations need all their data to be successful. In fact, he believes most companies are drowning in “digital sand.” “I would guess that 10% of the data companies actually collect is what matters to an organization,” he says. He adds that the secret to the coming years isn’t storing more; it’s identifying that 10% which informs an agent or a human to make a difference. Navigating the SAP Clean Core Anxiety For the SAP ecosystem, the conversation around Data Activation is inseparable from the 2027 dead- line. There is palpable anxiety in the market, but Lucas sees an opportunity for Boomi to act as the bridge. The challenge isn’t just about moving data; it’s about data sovereignty and compliance. In a world of shifting tariffs and rapidly changing regulations, where data resides and who administers it has be- come a boardroom-level concern. “One single person or agent with the wrong idea in an IT department can break every bit of sovereign effort you’ve made to comply with data laws,” Lucas says. Boomi’s solution for SAP allows customers to move data while ensuring that local, residency, and governance regulations are hon- ored — a feature he describes as unique to their runtime technology. He explains that by acting as a neutral orches- tration layer, Boomi allows SAP customers to keep their core clean while still innovating at the edge.
let’s connect sapinsider.org 23
Made with FlippingBook - Share PDF online