SAP Limits Travel and Hiring as AI Costs Soar
German software giant SAP is restricting travel and new hiring to redirect budget toward AI, whose usage costs have risen sharply
SAP, the German enterprise software giant, has announced measures to restrict internal travel and new hiring, effective July 1, 2026, in order to reallocate the savings toward the company's artificial intelligence (AI) projects.
The reason is a significant increase in AI-related costs, particularly expenses from Token usage (the unit measuring the processing volume of AI models), which has surged alongside the expansion of AI tool usage across the organization. The company stated through internal channels that it needs to "be disciplined in how we spend" to support long-term AI investment.
However, the measures are not a blanket freeze. SAP is exempting hiring for positions directly related to AI, as well as customer-related travel and the execution of the company's key AI projects — a clear sign that the company is investing selectively.
The news was first revealed by 404 Media, which obtained internal company emails, and was later confirmed by Bloomberg. An SAP spokesperson explained that the company is reprioritizing resources toward AI investment.
The SAP case is a signal worth watching, because even a technology company championing AI as its spearhead is facing real usage costs so high that it must restructure spending in other areas.
This story shows that real-world AI usage costs (especially token fees) have reached a level where even major corporations must cut other budgets to fund them. It's a warning for Thai organizations planning to adopt AI: carefully calculate actual usage costs rather than just looking at tool subscription prices.