The Opportunity
SAP’s software supports core business functions, including finance, procurement, human resources, and supply chain management. At Sapphire 2026, the company set out to demonstrate how its AI copilot, Joule, could centralize and transform these departments through its vision for the Autonomous Enterprise: an organization in which AI coordinates and carries out business processes, while people set direction and retain oversight.
The challenge was to make that vision tangible for customers considering their next technology investment. To help business leaders and IT professionals understand how SAP’s products could fit into their own organizations, the conference had to connect the company’s broader ambitions with practical applications that customers could evaluate firsthand. By building confidence in the technology and its relevance to their businesses, SAP sought to deepen customer relationships, advance sales conversations, and encourage adoption.
The Solution
Sparks worked with SAP to bring its AI vision into the conference experience, developing environments where customers could explore the technology and consider its relevance to their businesses. The team’s contribution extended across creative strategy, environmental design, custom fabrication, and sponsorship, delivered alongside specialist production partners.
Sparks developed custom-built environments for demonstrations, expert discussions, and group learning across the show floor. These settings gave SAP different ways to present its technology, from introducing a capability to a larger audience to discussing a customer’s specific questions.
Within the product areas, experience hubs brought related content together around subjects such as business applications and industry-specific solutions. Customers could focus on the subjects most relevant to their organizations while discovering other parts of SAP’s portfolio along the way.
To support SAP’s sustainability goals, Sparks made deliberate material choices for the build, such as replacing printed vinyl with digital signage where appropriate and using honeycomb panels in place of PVC.
The entrance introduced “The Beginning of Better,” the event’s theme, with Joule featured prominently in welcoming messages, conversation starters, and business challenges. These messages connected directly to customer stories and learning opportunities throughout the conference, introducing the Joule-centered story that attendees could explore in greater depth on the show floor.
Sparks designed the environment around 20-foot-tall LED installations that extended overhead as digital canopies and continued down to ground level. The lighting changed in sync with the images and messages on the LED screens, while music played throughout the entrance. The layout also helped attendees find their way into the conference, connecting the arrival area with the keynote theater and spaces for exploring SAP’s products.
Spaces for conversation were integrated throughout the conference. Lounges between theaters provided places to meet between sessions, while tiered seating accommodated both informal networking and keynote viewing. Small rooms for focused work and calls offered more private settings within the busy show floor.
The immersive entrance — a large-scale digital environment with gardens and lounge seating — became a regular gathering place for customers and their teams. Attendees used it throughout the conference, giving the arrival space an ongoing role in the conversations and connections surrounding the formal program.
Sparks’ sponsorship team also supported partner participation through prepared exhibit spaces, meeting facilities, and marketing opportunities. Dedicated sponsor meeting arrangements complemented the public-facing exhibits, providing settings for partners to continue customer discussions in greater depth.
The Impact
Sapphire 2026 brought a large audience together to examine the company’s AI innovations and discuss their business needs. The experience supported those conversations across the conference, from structured customer meetings to the informal gathering places attendees used throughout the event.
A strong increase in attendance and engagement
The Orlando conference welcomed more than 12,800 in-person attendees, a 15% increase over the previous year. Product demonstrations, hands-on learning, and dedicated customer meetings gave attendees opportunities to explore how SAP’s technology could address their organizations’ requirements.
SAP’s post-event reporting uncovered additional audience insights:
- 6,700 customer meetings scheduled across Orlando and Madrid, up 18% year over year
- 36,000 attendees across Orlando, Madrid, and the virtual program, up 12% year over year
- 91% of Orlando survey respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with the overall conference experience
- 74% of survey respondents across the Sapphire program reported a positive shift in their perception of SAP
Customers could evaluate the substance behind SAP’s AI strategy
Customer examples and firsthand product exploration connected SAP’s AI vision to the business operations its software supports. Attendees could examine the capabilities on display and question specialists about their application, giving them a clearer basis for deciding which technologies merited further consideration within their organizations.
SAP and its partners had dedicated time with prospective buyers
The conference brought customers evaluating SAP’s technology into direct conversation with the company and its partners. Dedicated meetings provided time to discuss individual requirements in greater depth, helping customers explore potential applications while giving SAP and its partners opportunities to understand the priorities shaping future investments.
Material recovery reflected a commitment to sustainability
The team’s sustainability efforts extended beyond material selection to the recovery of signage and flooring after the conference. Based on Sparks’ measurements, 170,000 square feet of fabric signage were sent to a recycler, and 50,000 square yards of carpet were sent to a recycling and repurposing partner.
Freeman’s Orlando team will also repurpose 270,000 square feet of carpet padding from Sapphire. The recovery effort extended from branded surfaces to the materials beneath them, demonstrating a systematic approach to building responsibly.
Client Quote
Awards
2026 SAP Supplier Awards Winner
Category: Collaboration and Agility, presented at SAP’s inaugural Procurement Waves 2026 event.
Sparks and The Freeman Company received SAP’s Collaboration and Agility award, part of the SAP Supplier Awards program recognizing partners for innovation, excellence and sustainability. In its award letter, SAP described the team as “an extension of our team,” citing the way Sparks and The Freeman Company adapt to shifting timelines and evolving priorities while staying aligned with SAP’s standards. The recognition reflects a long-standing partnership across SAP’s global event program, including SAP Sapphire.
A Note on Partners
SAP provided the business vision and product story. Sparks contributed creative strategy, experiential design, custom fabrication and installation, and sponsorship support across the wider program.
Fellow brands within The Freeman Company, Sparks’ parent organization, contributed specialist delivery expertise: Freeman handled event management, general contracting, fabrication, and installation, while Alford provided show-floor lighting and rigging, along with audiovisual and specialty LED installation for the entrance.
Kommune NoSlate created the entrance’s digital content, and event photography and video assets. Sarankco developed event branding and graphics.
Frequently Asked Questions
SAP Sapphire and the ASUG Annual Conference took place May 11–13, 2026, at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida. The event brought customers, prospects, partners, business leaders, IT professionals, media, and analysts together around SAP’s vision and technology, with a focus on Business AI, Joule, and the Autonomous Enterprise.
Sparks designed the entry experience and contributed creative strategy, custom fabrication and installation, and sponsorship support across the wider event. The entrance combined digital canopies, coordinated lighting, gardens, lounges, and photo settings, working with partner-created digital content and technical production to introduce SAP’s story and connect attendees with the program.
Experience design can connect arrival with the destinations attendees will use throughout the program. At SAP Sapphire, the South Entry Experience led toward the Entry Lounge, Experience Center, and SAP solution areas, with the Virtual Studio and keynote spaces nearby. The entrance introduced the conference while helping attendees orient themselves within it.
Yes. At SAP Sapphire 2026, Sparks contributed experience design and custom fabrication; Kommune Noslate created the entrance’s digital content; Sarankco developed event branding and graphics; and Freeman and Alford contributed event delivery and technical production. Clearly defined responsibilities allowed the different disciplines to contribute to one shared experience.
Organize the experience around the business problems the software addresses, with clear opportunities to explore individual capabilities. At SAP Sapphire 2026, dedicated product areas and experience hubs presented business applications, AI capabilities, and industry-specific solutions. Customer examples and hands-on learning connected these subjects to SAP’s broader vision, helping attendees understand both the individual offerings and their relationship to one another.
A technology conference can bring customer examples, product demonstrations, and specialist discussions into the same program. Each serves a different purpose: examples establish the business context, demonstrations show capabilities in use, and conversations address individual requirements. SAP Sapphire combined these formats to help customers examine the practical value of SAP’s AI innovations and consider their relevance to future technology investments.
Business leaders and technical professionals need different levels of detail when evaluating technology. A conference can accommodate both through a shared business narrative supported by more focused learning and discussion. At SAP Sapphire, keynote presentations established the company’s direction, while product demonstrations, breakout sessions, and customer meetings provided opportunities to examine particular subjects in greater depth.
A customer conference gives prospective buyers opportunities to explore products and discuss their requirements directly with the company and its partners. Dedicated meeting facilities allow those discussions to develop beyond a brief exchange on the show floor. At SAP Sapphire, customer and sponsor meeting spaces complemented the product-learning program, supporting conversations about the priorities behind potential technology investments.
An agency can support the practical delivery of sponsorship, including exhibit arrangements, meeting facilities, and marketing opportunities. For SAP Sapphire, Sparks’ sponsorship responsibilities included prepared exhibit spaces, meeting rooms, and a dedicated Sponsor Meeting Center. This support gave partners ways to participate in the public program and settings for more focused customer discussions.
Measurement should reflect the conference’s objectives. Attendance establishes reach; participation in demonstrations and learning activities shows engagement; customer meetings indicate opportunities for direct business discussions. Attendee feedback can assess whether the experience improved understanding of the technology or confidence in the company’s direction. Subsequent sales and adoption should be tracked separately, with a clear distinction between what happened at the event and what followed afterward.
