SAP Connect 2026 Recap: Autonomous Spend Takes a Whole Ecosystem

Autonomous spend sounds like a technology story. At SAP Connect 2026 in Las Vegas, it sounded more like a people story. Over three days (October 5–7, 2026), Basware sat down with SAP product, marketing, and sales teams, plus SAP partners and customers, to work out how autonomous enterprise spend and finance becomes real. Day one also brought news: Basware completed its acquisition of Trustpair. Here's what we heard, what we saw, and what comes next.

Key takeaways

• SAP is taking autonomous enterprise spend and finance to market, and Basware has a clear role in that story.
• SAP partners want an easier path to the public cloud for their customers. Basware complements that approach.
• Payment fraud keeps getting more sophisticated. Basware completed its acquisition of Trustpair on day one of SAP Connect, and SAP is excited about the Trustpair use cases.
• One year after landing on the SAP Store, Basware has made real progress, and there's more to do.

SAP Connect 2026 had a simple promise: help customers get more from their SAP solutions across every line of business. The Las Vegas edition ran October 5–7, 2026 and brought together Customer Experience Connect, Finance Connect, Spend Connect, Success Connect, and Supply Chain Connect. Attendees got live demos, real-world case studies, and SAP leadership on how SAP Business Suite delivers results. They also got something no demo can fake: peers, partners, and SAP experts in the same place at the same time.

SAP's autonomous spend story, and where Basware fits

Kevin Farrell, VP, Business Development and Alliances at Basware, came to Connect with a question. Where is SAP taking autonomous enterprise spend and finance, and where do we fit?

"The biggest highlight is learning what SAP is going to market with on the autonomous enterprise spend and finance side, and how we fit into that and help our mutual customers create joint success," Kevin said.

He also saw AI connecting the different functions of the business. That's where Basware plays a role. One session earned a shout-out from both Kevin and John Lewis, SVP Sales at Basware: the Jason Sudeikis session. Kevin's takeaway landed close to home. Believe in the story, and believe in what you're building together.

SAP partners want a faster path to the public cloud

For John Lewis, the biggest highlight was simple: time with SAP partners. Their questions came back to the same theme. Partners want help getting customers to the public cloud, with easier migration, and they want to reach SAP's autonomous enterprise vision along the way. Basware complements that approach. Customers want the same thing.

John's message to the SAP ecosystem was just as direct. Basware offers a range of solutions that help partners serve their customers, make their own solutions stickier, and move other customer initiatives forward.

Payment fraud took a seat at the table. Trustpair was ready.

Autonomy brings opportunity. It also brings risk. "Payment fraud is obviously a huge problem right now, and only becoming more and more sophisticated," John said. "This recent acquisition of Trustpair puts us in a nice position to help." Finance leaders who hand more decisions to AI want proof that every payment is legitimate.

The timing could not have been better. Basware completed its acquisition of Trustpair, a payment fraud prevention platform, on October 5, the first day of SAP Connect.

SAP is excited about the Trustpair use cases. The reason is easy to see. An invoice can be authentic, accurate, and properly approved, and the supplier bank account behind it can still be fraudulent. Trustpair closes that gap. It checks that the supplier is genuine, that the bank account belongs to that supplier, and that the payment goes where it should.

Jason Kurtz says customers have called the combination “the missing piece they have been waiting for.”

Trustpair CEO Baptiste Collot sees the same shift: finance leaders now treat invoice and payment assurance as one problem, not two.

Autonomy needs rules

That brings us back to the autonomous enterprise. Autonomy without guardrails is a risk, not a strategy. It's why Basware builds Invoice Lifecycle Management (ILM) around four pillars. Two of them speak directly to what Connect put on the table. Governed Autonomy means autonomy you can defend: you set the limits, and every AI action stays explainable, auditable, and accountable by design. Financial Integrity means integrity you can prove: every invoice is verified for accuracy, completeness, and authenticity before payment and throughout its lifecycle.

With Trustpair, Financial Integrity now reaches past the invoice to the payment itself. Fraud increasingly targets supplier identities and bank details, not the invoice, so trust has to start when a supplier enters the business, hold as their data changes, and get checked again before money moves. Smart automation moves fast. Governed automation moves fast and holds up in an audit.

The best part was the people

Jason Kurtz, CEO of Basware, called out the setting first. Customers, prospects, and partners gathered in one small space.

"This helps ensure we're 100% aligned with our SAP partners and the folks we work with daily," Jason said.

For him, the personal highlight came from sitting down with SAP. Product management, product marketing, and sales teams all at the table, aligning on the partnership. "The people, that's been the best part of it for me," he said.

And then there was the moment that made the trip. "I looked outside my window of the hotel and I saw the big Basware ad on the Resorts World video board. Then I turned to my left and I saw it on the Westgate side too. That was an awesome moment."

One year on, and still early

Progress is the thread that ran through every conversation. John pointed out that Basware has done a lot in the year since first appearing on the SAP Store. There's even more to do, and he's excited to see what next year looks like.

Jason sees the same arc. "There's been such progression from 2025 to 2026. We've come so far in terms of our presence." His goal for next year: Basware everywhere, with everyone knowing who we are, what we do, and the value we deliver. His math for what SAP, SI partners, and Basware can do together: 1 + 1 + 1 = 10.

Kevin put it plainly. Basware will be back, because we bring real value to SAP's customers and partners, and we have a lot in common with SAP. We're excited to be a partner.

Autonomous spend won't build itself. It takes SAP, partners, and Basware in the same room, pulling in the same direction. Connect 2026 proved that room exists. With Trustpair, it now has payment assurance too. Next year, we plan to bring more people into it.

Want to learn more?

Missed Las Vegas? SAP also hosts SAP Connect Virtual, a free event with curated highlights from the keynotes and general sessions, plus on-demand breakouts. Check for the latest.

Helpful resources

• See how Basware and SAP work together.
• Watch this recent webinar: Beyond the Clean Core: De-Risking S/4HANA Migrations through Intelligent Offloading.
• Watch the webinar: From Trusted Suppliers to Trusted Payments.
• Read the Fraud in the Cyber Era: 2026 Fraud Trends & Insights.
• Talk to us.