Questions and answers

Everything people ask us.

39 answers on one page - for management, IT, security, finance, business units and works councils. Type a keyword and the page shows only what matches.

For the management

What is Xient Bridge in one sentence?

An agent in Microsoft Teams that answers questions to your SAP in seconds - as text, table or chart, with no new system and no data copy.

Which problem does Bridge solve first?

The detour from a simple question to a reliable SAP answer: find the transaction, filter, export, or ask someone who can. Bridge answers where your people work.

Why a start-up out of a consultancy?

Because the question was the same in every SAP programme: why do you need someone who knows SAP just to get an answer? Bridge is that answer as software - built by people who have run SAP, data and AI programmes since 2011.

How fast are we productive?

After the readiness check, onboarding takes two to three weeks. The pilot runs for three months and ends with a value review showing what Bridge has replaced.

Does Bridge replace people?

No. Bridge replaces searching, clicking and waiting. The time gained stays in the team - for suppliers, expertise and decisions. People still decide.

For IT leadership

What does our IT need to provide?

Your existing Microsoft 365 with Teams, a connection to your SAP and each user's existing SAP access. No new server, no new cloud, no modification to SAP. The guidance is part of onboarding.

Which SAP systems does Bridge support?

S/4HANA and classic ECC - on-premise, private cloud or RISE. Bridge uses approved standard interfaces; customer-specific extensions are available on request.

What does onboarding in two to three weeks actually mean?

After the prerequisites are in place: set-up in your tenant, connection to SAP, authorisation review, test cases for the first process, training of the pilot group. For large enterprises with a security review and architecture workshop, six to ten weeks.

How does Bridge differ from SAP Joule?

Joule requires the SAP cloud chain and answers inside the SAP interface; classic ECC is left out. Bridge starts where that chain ends: in your Teams, on your ECC or S/4, within weeks. Both can run side by side.

What happens when our SAP is updated?

Bridge uses release-stable standard interfaces. Regression tests per use case are part of operations; extensions are tested against your release plan.

Can we use models other than OpenAI?

Model choice sits in your Microsoft 365 Copilot - including other providers and your own models. Bridge licenses no model separately and prescribes none.

How do we get out again?

Reports and configuration are exported, extensions stay in your SAP and belong to you. No data migration is needed, because Bridge holds nothing.

For security and privacy

Where is data processed, and where does it stay?

In your Microsoft 365 tenant and your SAP. Bridge runs no cloud of its own, keeps no SAP data permanently and sends nothing to third parties. Logs follow your configuration and retention.

What rights does Bridge have in SAP?

None of its own. Every query runs under the SAP access of the person asking. Whoever cannot see something in SAP cannot see it through Bridge either.

Can the AI choose its own paths in SAP?

No. Bridge executes only approved, tested functions. When a question is unclear, it asks back or declines - it does not guess.

What happens if a user cannot be identified?

Bridge does not answer. There is no shared account and no technical detour as a fallback.

Can Bridge write to SAP?

Bridge reads. Write operations are deliberately excluded and come only at your explicit request, with preview and human approval - never from the chat.

What is deliberately excluded?

Write actions, payment and posting approvals, assessments of individuals, prioritisation of dunning or blocks, HR decisions, free mass queries.

What evidence is there?

Three independent sources: the Bridge log per transaction in your tenant, the Microsoft consumption record per agent and day, and SAP's own logging of every access. The auditor can inspect all three.

Does Xient have access to our tenant?

No permanent access. Support access only after your approval, time-boxed and logged.

How does Bridge relate to ISO and regulation?

Xient is certified company-wide to ISO 9001. Bridge is engineered in line with ISO/IEC 42001; we run our AI management system for our productive document process. We document Bridge's EU AI Act classification as an information tool without automated decisions in the governance pack.

For finance and procurement

What is the benefit based on?

On what one question replaces: not a single SAP screen, but a search chain of about twelve minutes on average - open the transaction, filter, check individual cases, export. Bridge answers in seconds.

How does time gained become money?

Through four routes: time for expertise instead of searching, faster processes, cash effects from captured discounts, detected duplicates and collected credit notes, and avoided risks around bank details and deadlines. Our calculations count only 30 per cent as realised.

What does Microsoft cost on top?

For users with a Microsoft 365 Copilot licence, Microsoft includes the use of internal Copilot agents in the licence. Anything beyond that in your environment we calculate during the readiness check, based on your licensing.

What is a unit?

One answered business question. Simple answers count one, document checks two, analyses three. Follow-up questions in the same conversation are free.

How predictable are the costs?

Through quotas per plan, notification thresholds at 80 and 100 per cent, an optional soft cap and a price guarantee over the term. Never a hard stop, never an invoice you did not see coming.

Why are there no prices on the website?

Because the right price depends on your use case. In a first conversation we name it, binding and in writing - together with the list of what is not included.

How do we measure whether the pilot paid off?

Before the start we agree a baseline and go/no-go metrics. The monthly report shows every transaction, the value review shows the effect - numbers instead of slides.

Who is liable if an answer is wrong?

Bridge displays information from SAP, assesses check results and points to next steps. Decisions are made by people; the three levels are distinguished contractually.

For business units and heads of

What can I ask Bridge?

Anything you would look up in SAP today: order status, open deliveries, contracts and terms, blocked invoices, credit notes, cash discounts, master data - and on request you get a table or a chart instead of a list.

Does my team need to know SAP?

No. Anyone who can ask a question is productive. Transaction codes, selection screens and exports are handled by Bridge.

Can I ask follow-up questions?

Yes, in the same chat and at no extra cost. Bridge keeps the context and refines the answer.

What about documents, such as invoices as PDF?

Drag the file into the chat. Bridge reads it, checks it against purchase order, payment terms and supplier master in SAP and gives a reasoned recommendation - you decide.

Which areas are best to start with?

Procurement and invoice verification have proven themselves: many people, many recurring questions, clear benefit. Further areas follow afterwards.

What if I need a question Bridge does not know yet?

That is what extensions are for - an answered business question that does not exist in the standard. We build it for you, and it belongs to you permanently.

For works councils

Does Bridge see more than the employee?

No. Every query runs under the employee's own SAP access. Bridge sees only what the person asking is allowed to see anyway.

Is performance or behaviour evaluated?

No. The Bridge log serves the billing of transactions, not performance or behaviour monitoring. Assessments of individuals are excluded.

Is data stored at Xient?

No. Bridge holds no data; everything stays in the company's tenant.

Which documents do we receive?

Functional description, data flows, logging concept and the exclusion list - we supply the pack for co-determination.

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