SAP and Fresenius have embarked on a significant collaboration to develop a sovereign artificial intelligence (AI) platform specifically tailored for the healthcare sector. This initiative aims to address a critical need within the medical community: enabling secure data processing and AI model deployment in clinical settings, where strict governance requirements often surpass the capabilities offered by typical public cloud solutions. By creating a controlled environment, the partnership ensures that AI models can operate effectively without compromising the crucial aspect of data sovereignty, a cornerstone for medical data integrity and compliance.

The joint project extends beyond mere pilot programs, striving to build an open and integrated ecosystem that empowers hospitals to securely utilize AI technologies. The companies envision creating a robust digital backbone, essential for a truly sovereign and AI-supported healthcare system, particularly across German and European landscapes. Michael Sen, CEO of Fresenius, underscored the transformative potential of this partnership, stating that it would accelerate the digital transformation of healthcare systems and establish a sovereign European solution vital in the current global environment. The objective is to seamlessly integrate data and AI into the daily routines of doctors and hospital staff, ensuring these tools are secure, simple, and scalable, thereby freeing up valuable time for patient care.

Technologically, the platform is built upon SAP Business AI and the SAP Business Data Cloud, components that together form a compliant and sovereign foundation for operating AI models within healthcare. This infrastructure is meticulously designed to handle sensitive health data responsibly, a prerequisite for scaling automated processes across various aspects of patient care. Furthermore, the collaboration addresses the pervasive challenge of data fragmentation through SAP’s innovative “AnyEMR” strategy. This approach facilitates the seamless integration of diverse hospital information systems (HIS), electronic medical records (EMRs), and other medical applications by leveraging open industry standards like HL7 FHIR. Such connectivity is pivotal for Fresenius to develop AI-supported solutions that promise to enhance efficiency throughout the entire care chain, ultimately leading to an individual, scalable platform for connected, data-driven healthcare processes.

Both SAP and Fresenius are committing substantial resources to this endeavor, with plans to invest a “mid three-digit million euro amount” in the medium term. These funds are earmarked for accelerating the digital transformation of German and European healthcare systems through advanced AI-supported solutions. The investment strategy also includes joint ventures in startups and scaleups, alongside internal technological developments, all geared towards expanding a comprehensive library of tools that can integrate into the sovereign platform. Christian Klein, CEO of SAP SE, emphasized the ambition to create an interoperable healthcare platform for Fresenius globally, leveraging SAP’s leading technology and Fresenius’ deep healthcare expertise. He highlighted the commitment to setting new benchmarks for data sovereignty, security, and innovation in healthcare, enabling Fresenius to fully harness the potential of digital and AI-supported processes to sustainably improve patient care.

This strategic alliance signals a clear direction for the next phase of healthcare AI in Europe: a strong focus on sovereign infrastructure. Given the stringent regulatory demands inherent in industries like healthcare, a controlled environment is indispensable. Without a robust, sovereign data backbone, AI initiatives risk stagnation due to mounting compliance concerns, making this collaboration a critical step towards future-proofing AI adoption in medical practice.