In May, the CWG North American Spring Conference 2025 gathered the SAP configuration community in Milwaukee for three days of focused exchange around Variant Configuration, CPQ, SSC, and end-to-end sales solutions. This year, a clear shift was visible: AI, and especially Generative AI, stepped into the spotlight.
With a mix of customers, consultants, SAP insiders, and solution providers, the conference pulsed with real-world insights and forward-looking strategies.
CLARITY joined the programme with two sessions and a roundtable, sharing practical lessons from ongoing projects and accelerating the shift from traditional configuration to AI-supported innovation.
Turning Paper into Profit: AI-Powered Efficiency in Q2C
Karyna Mihalevich, SAP Solution Advisor and AI Stream Lead at CLARITY, and a CWG Board Member, showcased the real impact of Intelligent Document Processing (IDP) in the Q2C lifecycle.
Karyna presented a session titled “From Paper to Profit” that focused on optimizing sales processes using Graip.AI – CLARITY’s IDP tool. Her demo showed how Graip.AI extracts relevant data from unstructured sources like customer specifications, identifies inconsistencies, and feeds structured information into systems such as CRM, CPQ, and ERP.
Instead of wasting time manually sorting through documents, sales and engineering teams can focus on solving real business problems. “We’re seeing real business outcomes when AI is applied with purpose – faster processing, fewer errors, smarter decisions,” she explained during the talk.
Beyond Implementation: Fixing the CPQ Gaps That Matter
Sergey Jermakov, Senior Partner and Monetization Architect at CLARITY, led the second session: “CLARITY SAP CPQ Accelerators: Resolve Gaps Rather Than Just Implement CPQ.”
CLARITY’s approach is based on templates and accelerators that address common blind spots in CPQ projects: mismatches between engineering and sales logic, broken approval chains, and complex pricing conditions that block go-lives. Sergey shared examples of how this method helps clients go live faster, with fewer compromises.
“Implementation is not enough,” he emphasised. “Our accelerators target the cracks that clients usually stumble over. We help close those gaps before they become project risks.”
Customer Voices, CPQ Depth, and Unified Conversations
This year’s conference made it clear that configuration solutions are evolving rapidly, with a noticeable shift towards AI-enabled approaches. SAP shared its roadmap for bringing more AI into AVC, while Mitchell Clark’s demo illustrated the potential of intelligent product recommendations integrated with 3D environments.
ConfigAir’s roundtable highlighted how LLMs can enhance the configuration experience for both end users and internal teams.
Kevin Meyer, CWG President, noted a key development this year: “The number of customer-related stories and presentations – it’s above normal. That’s a real benefit.” Sessions featured a wide range of voices, from new customers to long-time partners, sharing hands-on experience and lessons learned.
As he explained, “When attendees hear it from someone who’s done it, it lands differently. And they can speak directly to the speakers to get extra details they wouldn’t get from a slide deck.”
The mix of technical and business stakeholders added richness to the conversations. “You’ll get technical depth from SAP and partners, but also hear how it fits into business decision-making,” Kevin added.
Luka Pilipovic from the CWG Board also pointed out the increasing importance of Sales CPQ, saying: “It’s always about feedback. This is the community that helps us shape the roadmap. Sales CPQ wasn’t part of SAP’s original portfolio but it’s gaining momentum thanks to discussions like these.”
AI in Practice: Strategy Roundtable and AI Workshops
During the AI Strategy Roundtable “From Quick Wins to Long-Term Value” the CLARITY team initiated an open conversation about real-world AI adoption. Far from generic tech talk, this was a practical exchange on how businesses can filter the AI noise, define concrete goals, and choose tools that deliver.
The CLARITY team introduced AI Workshops, which help clients cut through the AI noise, define actionable goals, and select the right tools for their context.
What set the discussion apart was CLARITY’s transparency: “We’re eating our own food”, meaning the company applies the same methods and tools internally that they recommend to clients. Internally, they run a structured AI programme with a catalogue of initiatives across departments, complete with implementation timelines. They use Microsoft Copilot daily, actively develop an internal prompt library, and continuously evaluate the impact of AI tools on operations.
The roundtable created space for a more grounded exchange: one focused on practical lessons, implementation hurdles, and the evolving cultural mindset required to embed AI meaningfully in day-to-day operations. Participants shared implementation challenges, compared tooling strategies, and exchanged perspectives on the cultural shifts needed to embed AI across organisations.
What’s Next?
The community is moving toward fully integrated, end-to-end configuration flows that go beyond traditional silos. Sessions on CTO+ with ETO Special Requests, Cideon Conify, and CAD–S/4HANA integrations illustrated the push for more connected, intelligent, and responsive systems.
As the CWG community looks ahead, the goal is clear: configuration should be usable, scalable, and smart enough to evolve with the business.
While technology drives the future, CWG remains committed to strengthening the human connections that make innovation possible. Through conferences, working groups, and shared initiatives, the community will continue to serve as a space for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and shaping what comes next – together.
See you at the next CWG.