Contact Us

SAP SuccessFactors 2H 2026
Top 10 Highlights from AKT Global Experts

AKT GLOBAL EXPERT INSIGHTS · 23 October 2026

SAP SuccessFactors 2H 2026: Top 10 Highlights from AKT Global Experts

The SAP SuccessFactors 2H 2026 release brings a wide range of enhancements and new capabilities. AKT Global’s experts have selected ten highlights worth your attention.

For each highlight, our experts explain why it matters to your business and how complex it could be to implement. The nine-box provides a quick view of our assessment, helping you identify which changes may be worth prioritizing for your organization.

To make this practical, we use a familiar business situation: expanding into a new market and getting the organization, people and HR processes ready to support it.

A note on availability. Alongside documented 2H release features, we’ve included monthly SmartRecruiters updates and agents documented in SAP Early Adopter Care. EAC access is restricted, and some agents were announced earlier. Each highlight identifies its availability.

Reading the nine-box. These are our experts’ initial ratings, not SAP ratings or measured ROI. Complexity means the additional effort to adopt a capability once the relevant products, entitlements, connections and EAC access are in place. Your starting point can change the rating.

1. Design the organization before making the change

2H 2026 · Release entry lists general availability from 13 November · Configuration required

If the business is entering a new market, the first question is what organization will make it work. Organizational Modeling lets HR explore proposed changes to organizational units and positions before publishing approved changes. The opportunity here is the opportunity to discuss an actual scenario before changing the live structure. Our high-complexity rating reflects the organizational data, configuration and business decisions needed—not just learning a new screen.

Organizational Modeling showing a simulated organizational hierarchy
Organizational Modeling: exploring a proposed structure in a simulation.

2. Give HR a profile it can work through

Documented in the 2H 2026 guide · Optional profile mode · Permission required

Details View is one of the smaller changes our experts would put near the top. It brings permitted fields, including empty ones, effective dates and pending changes into the main content area. Before transferring someone into the new operation, HR needs to review the record efficiently. This is a layout change worth evaluating with HR experts. It preserves data permissions, and some cards still use a summary view.

People Profile Personal Data category with Details View enabled, effective date and pending approvals visible
Details View: fields, effective dates and pending changes in the main working area.

3. Make employee documents easier to find

Documented in the 2H 2026 guide · Supported categories, metadata and permissions apply

Documents deserves a separate place from Details View. One helps HR review the record; the other helps locate the files behind it. The Documents category shows file category, uploader and upload date. For a growing operation, easier access to a relevant employee letter can remove a very practical frustration. We rate complexity as medium because usefulness depends on supported document categories, correct metadata and the permissions of the owning module.

Documents category in People Profile displaying employee documents
Documents: a dedicated view of supported employee files.

4. Resolve access questions with the RBP Agent

SAP Early Adopter Care · Restricted availability

“Why can this person not see what they need?” is exactly the kind of question an administration agent should help answer. The Role-Based Permissions Agent analyzes access, identifies missing permissions and recommends or applies permission changes. We would start with a narrowly defined support scenario. Our initial view is high value and low incremental complexity in a prepared environment. A broader permissions redesign would be a different project.

Joule HR System Access demonstration
Role-based access investigation through Joule. Early adoption demonstration.

5. Understand what happened with the HCM Audit Agent

SAP Early Adopter Care · Restricted availability

As more work moves through agents, we need a clear way to investigate what happened. The HCM Audit Agent reads and correlates change, read and general audit information to support investigations. That makes it relevant to HR operations, privacy and security teams. We would assess it against a real investigation question and check whether the explanation is traceable to the underlying records. The value depends on having the appropriate audit information and access in place.

6. Help people understand pay and payroll teams investigate issues

SAP Early Adopter Care · Restricted availability · Scenario-specific prerequisites

The Payroll Explanation Agent helps explain earnings, deductions, hours and payment amounts. For payroll teams, the Payroll Validation Rule and Payroll Alert Resolution agents support rule maintenance and investigation of Payroll Control Center alerts. These address two important needs: understanding pay and resolving exceptions. We would pilot a specific scenario with experienced payroll reviewers. Complexity is high because payroll configuration, supported scenarios and validation deserve more attention than the conversational interface alone.

Payroll Explanation Agent comparing payslips and overtime in Joule
Payroll Explanation Agent: comparing payslips and overtime. Earlier SAP demonstration; current documented scope is restricted early adoption.

7. Connect a skills gap to a learning action

SAP Early Adopter Care · Restricted availability

In our new-market example, assigning more training is not the objective. Building the capabilities the operation needs is. The Learning Skills Agent helps managers identify gaps, find learning and assign it to direct reports. The Learning Assignment Agent supports assignment profiles, while the Learning Compliance Management Agent helps identify learners at risk of missing required training. We would judge this by the relevance of the learning and the action it helps a manager take.

Learning Compliance Agent showing team training status, reminders and pending approvals
Learning compliance: team status and follow-up actions. Earlier SAP demonstration; current documented scope is restricted early adoption.

8. Build the talent pipeline behind the growth plan

SAP Early Adopter Care · Restricted availability

The Career Development Agent supports skills-gap identification, development plans and opportunity recommendations. The Development Goal Creation Agent helps shape development goals. The Succession Planning Agent assesses succession health across positions and prioritizes gaps. If a leader moves into the new market, we would ask who can take over the role they leave. These agents support that discussion; useful recommendations still depend on credible role, skills and talent information.

Succession Planning Agent demonstrating position gaps, recommendations and nomination steps
Succession Planning Agent: moving from gaps to proposed actions. Earlier SAP demonstration; current documented scope is restricted early adoption.

9. Keep performance goals connected to the business

SAP Early Adopter Care · Restricted availability

The Goal Creation Agent supports business-aligned goals and manager cascading. The Goal Progress Agent helps identify team risks and next actions. The Calibration Equity Agent flags potential rating inconsistencies for review. For the new operation, our experts would want goals to reflect what a successful launch requires. Our initial rating is medium value: useful support, but the benefit depends heavily on goal quality and how managers use the recommendations. A calibration flag is a prompt for judgment.

Goal Progress Agent showing risk assessment and recommended actions for team goals
Goal Progress Agent: team risks and proposed next actions. Earlier SAP demonstration; current documented scope is restricted early adoption.

10. Bring stalled hiring to the recruiter’s attention

SmartRecruiters October 2026 monthly release · GA entry valid from 12 October · Setup requirements apply

The October SmartRecruiters release adds contextual conversations and proactive priority cards to Winston Companion. For a market launch, an overlooked hiring delay can become a business dependency. Our experts value the focus on what needs attention and a suggested next action. We would start by assessing whether those priorities are relevant to the recruiting team. The low-complexity rating assumes the relevant SmartRecruiters environment and access are already in place.

Winston Companion Top Priorities home page with suggested recruiter actions
Winston Companion Top Priorities: suggested follow-ups in the October release.

Build the foundation for what comes next

Skills connect many of these changes. Understanding what roles require and what people can do helps the business decide where to hire, develop or redeploy. SAP’s Joule Work direction and its announced agreement to acquire TechWolf reinforce that focus. The planned acquisition is a strategic development, rather than a delivered TechWolf integration in the H2 release.

Make the release work for your organization

Want to understand which of these capabilities could make the biggest difference for your organization? Talk to us.

We can help you review what is available, assess your readiness and prioritize the changes that are worth adopting—so you can make the most of the latest SuccessFactors capabilities with a clear implementation plan.