SAP Hungary’s 2026 survey indicates that over the next one to two years Hungarian mid‑sized companies are likely to accelerate ERP modernization, cloud adoption and the integration of AI into everyday business processes. The firm presented the survey findings at the SAP NOW AI Tour 2026 conference.
Event and survey details
The SAP NOW AI Tour 2026 was a two‑day event held on September 14–15 at the Balatonfüred Congress Centre, focusing on AI’s business applications, SAP’s latest innovations and corporate experiences. The survey was conducted online with 379 participants involved in ERP decisions or related expert roles. Data collection took place between June 5 and July 27, 2026.
How strong is the modernization intent?
Eighty‑four percent of respondents said it is certain or likely that their company will modernize its ERP or other business systems within the next one to two years. AI and automation top the list of planned IT investments, cited by 48% of respondents, followed by procurement system upgrades (43.8%) and cybersecurity improvements (42.7%).
On the spending side, 38.5% of companies expect short‑term increases in IT budgets, 47.8% plan to keep spending unchanged and only 10.6% expect a decrease.
Integration gaps and technical debt
Despite the strong appetite for modernization, the sector shows significant technological shortfalls. Nearly half (49.3%) of respondents operate multiple, only partially integrated business systems, 19.3% rely on siloed systems and Excel, and 7.4% report predominantly manual operations. Only 24% run core business processes on a fully integrated ERP system.
Among companies using SAP solutions the share with integrated ERP is higher (37.7%) compared to non‑SAP customers (15.5%).
These figures suggest the next wave of investments will need to tackle not only new technologies but the unification of existing systems and data and the integration of business processes.
Cloud migration momentum
Current use of deployment models is relatively balanced: 39.6% run cloud‑based ERP, 36.4% run on‑premise systems and 24% use hybrid setups. Intent to move is nevertheless clear: 76.8% of on‑premise users said they would certainly or likely shift to cloud or hybrid, and 70.4% of hybrid users are open to a fully cloud‑based model.
When selecting cloud ERP, data security is the top priority (76.8%), followed by ease of use (63.3%), continuously available new features (49.9%) and availability of AI capabilities (42.5%). Among decision‑makers specifically, 61.5% regard AI capability availability as particularly important, 60.4% value rapid deployment and 53.1% emphasize scalability.
AI: practical business benefits in focus
The survey shows companies are less interested in AI as an abstract technology and more in concrete applications that produce measurable business value. Fifty‑five point four percent consider ERP‑embedded AI agents useful; potential use cases mentioned include cash‑flow forecasting, faster month‑end closing, sales support and document processing.
Custom, company‑specific AI applications were considered important by 49.9%, and AI assistants by 41.2%. By contrast, only 20.6% saw replacing traditional UIs with AI‑based interfaces as useful.
There are role‑based differences: decision‑makers tend to favor AI agents and assistants, while experts and internal requesters show more interest in bespoke, company‑specific AI solutions.
Investment goals and data readiness
Among companies planning projects, 64.1% expect IT investments primarily to increase efficiency, 51.5% aim to improve competitiveness and 47.5% expect revenue growth. Cost reduction appears lower on the list at 31.6%.
Key expectations from a new ERP are data security (53.3%) and operational efficiency (50.1%), with AI and automation capabilities ranking third (38.5%).
On data maturity, responses are mixed: 53.8% believe their company’s data are largely unified, well structured and easily accessible, while 43% feel that although large volumes of data exist, it is difficult to quickly extract business‑relevant information. Therefore, in the next development stage data quality, integration and contextualization are likely to gain prominence.
Conclusions
SAP Hungary’s research suggests that for mid‑sized firms ERP modernization, cloud migration and AI adoption will form an integrated modernization agenda rather than isolated projects. Achieving measurable business value will require not only deploying new technologies but also unifying legacy systems and data onto secure, scalable platforms.
Hidvégi Péter, Managing Director of SAP Hungary, noted that the mid‑market is strategically important because digitalization there directly affects growth and competitiveness, and today integrated, automated and secure operations are achievable without large corporate scale.
Survey methodology in brief
The online questionnaire drew on three sources and collected responses from 379 participants who are ERP decision‑makers, influencers, preparers, experts or internal requesters. Data collection ran from June 5 to July 27, 2026.
