The SAP Fiori landscape has transformed dramatically by 2025. With Joule AI integration, SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) connectivity, and embedded intelligence powered by Business Data Cloud (BDC), today’s Fiori apps aren’t just prettier interfaces—they’re AI-powered productivity accelerators. As a member of the SAP AppHaus Network, Mindset has witnessed this evolution firsthand, helping enterprises bridge the gap between traditional SAP and the intelligent enterprise.
Recently, someone asked me what my favorite S/4HANA Fiori Apps are. That’s a tougher question than you might think. With over 3,500+ apps now available (including 2025’s latest AI-embedded lighthouse scenarios), choosing favorites is like choosing between my three sons—I love them all for different reasons and unique qualities.
In this analysis, I’ll showcase example S/4HANA Fiori apps and explain why they matter through UX design principles, comparisons to legacy SAP GUI, and insights into 2025’s AI-assisted features. I’ll reference general user experience guidelines and draw from 15+ years of SAP implementation experience.
A note on the “wow factor”: These aren’t flashy consumer apps or main-stage Sapphire demos. They’re SAP Fiori lighthouse apps—practical tools that employees worldwide use daily to accomplish real work. What makes them valuable is how they move enterprise applications in the right direction, and in 2025, that direction is increasingly AI-powered through Joule, SAP’s generative AI copilot.
The Evolution: From SAP GUI to AI-Enabled Fiori
Before diving into specific applications, it’s important to understand where we are in 2025. SAP Fiori has evolved through three distinct phases:
- Phase 1 (2013-2019): Visual improvement over SAP GUI with responsive design
- Phase 2 (2020-2023): Insights-to-action apps with embedded analytics
- Phase 3 (2024-2025): AI-embedded intelligence with Joule integration, natural language processing, and predictive recommendations
Today’s S/4HANA 2025 brings SAP Business AI directly into Fiori apps through features like AI-assisted Easy Filter, Smart Summarization, and Joule-powered navigation. These aren’t just UX improvements—they’re fundamental transformations in how users interact with enterprise data.
Classic Fiori Excellence: Three Foundational Apps
Application 1: Stock – Single Material (Workflow Consolidation)
This might seem simple, but it’s a perfect example of how SAP Fiori apps streamline workflows by consolidating common actions in one place. In the stock overview screen, I have visibility to stock levels plus access to perform additional actions along the bottom. In traditional SAP GUI, at least 5 different transactions would need to be remembered and entered. This embodies the UX principle: recognition is better than recall.
SAP has also streamlined the steps for managing stock transfers. From a UX design standpoint, SAP provides excellent signifiers: an up arrow indicates which storage type you can transfer stock from, then shows available destination types. This is intuitive even for first-time users.
Transfer details like quantity and date are entered via screen overlay, minimizing navigation. The overlay balances contextual information with clarity—no screen overcrowding.
Application 2: Monitor Purchase Order Items (Insights to Action)
This represents a critical category of SAP S/4HANA Fiori lighthouse apps: Insights to Action (or Analytics to Action). Users shouldn’t be forced to switch between SAP BW, SAP Analytics Cloud, Tableau, Power BI, or Excel to filter data. Context-switching and multiple tools frustrate end users.
Modern workers want to stay in their primary toolset. Constant copy-paste between screens kills productivity. Fiori apps with embedded analytics provide sufficient searching, filtering, and visualization to drill down to actionable items, then offer clear next steps.
Application 3: Manage Scheduling Agreements (Learnability & Usability)
For my third example, I wanted a transactional application that showcases SAP Fiori UX design superiority. Manage Scheduling Agreements is perfect. (For context: a scheduling agreement is a special purchase order for materials ordered in high quantities over extended periods.)
When I first learned scheduling agreements in SAP GUI, I kept a Word document titled “cheatsheet.doc” on my desktop just to remember the steps. I’m confident that wouldn’t be necessary with the S/4HANA Fiori app.
Until now, I’ve avoided direct comparisons between Fiori and GUI. But here it’s essential—it highlights the massive differences in usability and learnability. There’s much more than just Fiori’s delightful appearance.
Search & Discovery: GUI vs. Fiori
In SAP GUI, I must use a transaction to enter the exact scheduling agreement number, or use a different transaction with input criteria that returns an archaic report. Changing criteria means navigating back and forth between screens.
With Fiori, everything is in one place. I can update search criteria, refresh results, change table displays intuitively, and see available actions clearly. I can even create a new scheduling agreement from this screen.
Information Display: Clarity Matters
The SAP GUI transaction doesn’t clearly label additional information or where to find it. You must investigate each icon to understand its purpose. Editing or performing actions isn’t obvious.
In Fiori, all information displays on one main page. Section labels appear at the top in plain text. As you scroll, the viewable section highlights in the tab bar. You could use browser search to find fields as a new user. Additional actions are clearly labeled—minimal searching, maximum efficiency.
Creation Workflow: Guided Intelligence
The best improvements appear in scheduling agreement creation. In SAP GUI, users play a frustrating game of “what info do they require?” by typing in fields and hitting enter to see error messages at the bottom.
This happens one-by-one across multiple screens. Combined with the “Where am I?” navigation issues, it’s incredibly frustrating for new or novice users. Remember my “cheatsheet.doc”? It had steps 1-25 in perfect order.
In the S/4HANA Fiori app, everything is intuitive, streamlined, and efficient. Required fields identify themselves multiple ways. As you fill them out, they populate related fields below, helping you understand relationships. Pop-up warnings display as you progress.
You can even save scheduling agreements “in preparation”—a handy feature letting you return later without forcing immediate completion. Is every dropdown perfect? Probably not. But it’s vastly superior to GUI. I wouldn’t need a cheat sheet—the app guides me through the process. I’d love to usability-test both versions with new users to prove this.
The 2025 Revolution: AI-Embedded Fiori Lighthouse Apps
While the above apps showcase classic Fiori excellence, S/4HANA 2025 takes user experience to unprecedented levels with embedded AI capabilities. These aren’t theoretical features—they’re production-ready Joule-powered applications delivering measurable productivity gains.
Application 4: AI-Assisted Asset Management (Joule Integration)
S/4HANA 2025’s asset management apps with embedded AI demonstrate the future of enterprise software. Using Joule, SAP’s generative AI copilot, workflows that traditionally required 16-26 manual steps now complete through simple natural language prompts.
Key AI-powered features include:
- AI-Assisted Easy Filter: Query lists using natural language instead of manually setting filter fields—powered by SAP Business AI with intelligent value interpretation
- Smart Summarization: Generate concise summaries of complex Fiori Elements object pages for faster decision-making
- Joule-Powered Maintenance Recommendations: AI analyzes historical patterns to suggest optimal maintenance orders, saving supervisors hours on repetitive workflows
- Intelligent Insights Cards: Create personalized data views for My Home using conversational AI—simply ask Joule to build custom dashboards
- AI-Generated Depreciation Explanations: Natural language explanations of complex calculations directly within asset accounting
These capabilities are built on SAP Business Data Cloud (BDC), ensuring AI recommendations are grounded in trusted, semantically-rich enterprise data. The second half of 2025 will see expanded AI enablement across additional applications.
Joule for Developers: Building the Next Generation
Beyond end-user features, SAP Build Code with Joule for Developers is revolutionizing how custom Fiori applications are created. Using SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP), developers can:
- Generate complete CAP-based Fiori apps from natural language business requirements
- Create custom Joule Skills embedded directly in applications
- Build data models, UI components, and business logic through AI-assisted development
- Extend S/4HANA with clean core-compliant custom apps on BTP
At Mindset Consulting, our AppHaus methodology combines human-centered design thinking with these AI capabilities to create intelligent, user-centric Fiori extensions that drive real business value.
Why SAP Fiori Lighthouse Apps Matter for Your Business
SAP Fiori lighthouse scenarios represent apps designed to deliver immediate business benefits. They offer exceptional user experience (UX), support previously unsupported tasks, and dramatically increase efficiency. In 2025, lighthouse apps increasingly feature embedded AI through Joule integration.
Key benefits include:
- Reduced Training Time: Intuitive interfaces minimize the learning curve
- Increased Productivity: Consolidated workflows and AI assistance save 16-26 steps per transaction
- Better Decision-Making: Embedded analytics and AI insights at the point of action
- Mobile Enablement: Responsive design works across devices
- Future-Ready Architecture: Built on SAP BTP and BDC for extensibility and AI readiness
Transform Your SAP Experience with Mindset’s AppHaus Approach
If you’re planning to implement S/4HANA 2025 or modernize your existing SAP landscape, Fiori should be a primary value driver in your decision-making—especially with 2025’s AI capabilities. At Mindset Consulting, we help enterprises unlock the full potential of AI-enabled Fiori apps through our proven SAP AppHaus Network methodology.
Our expertise includes:
- ✓ AppHaus-Driven UX Transformation: Design Thinking workshops to identify high-impact Fiori opportunities
- ✓ BTP/BDC Integration for AI Extensibility: Build intelligent, clean core-compliant extensions
- ✓ Joule Readiness Assessment: Evaluate your landscape for AI-assisted feature enablement
- ✓ Lighthouse App Implementation: Rapid activation of high-value Fiori scenarios
- ✓ Custom Fiori Development: SAP Build Code expertise for tailored solutions
Ready to Explore AI-Powered Fiori for Your Business?
Let’s discuss how S/4HANA 2025’s Fiori lighthouse apps and Joule AI can transform your user experience and drive measurable productivity gains.
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Additional Resources
For comprehensive information about all S/4HANA Fiori apps including the latest 2025 AI-enabled features, explore the SAP Fiori Apps Reference Library.
Related Mindset Content:
- SAP Business Data Cloud: Self-Service Analytics Roadmap
- Human-Centered AI for Enterprise Applications
- SAP Datasphere vs. HANA Cloud Best Practices
About the Author: This analysis comes from Mindset Consulting’s SAP AppHaus Network practice, where we combine 15+ years of SAP implementation experience with cutting-edge UX design methodology to help enterprises transition from legacy systems to AI-enabled intelligent enterprises.
