News
Business Builders prepares future leaders | SAP Sapphire
Imagine entering a virtual classroom where students face dynamic, interactive challenges that reflect the complexities of the business world, powered by cutting-edge technology. The Business Builders game, the result of a long-standing partnership between SAP University Alliances and HEC Montréal, is where education meets real-world needs.
SAP Sapphire: Taking business to the next level in the AI era
The innovative gaming platform is designed to redefine educational experiences and equip students with the skills they need to launch a successful career.
To interact with the platform, users must be enrolled students or active teachers. By offering challenges designed to allow students to experiment, analyze and respond to business scenarios in a safe and controlled environment, the platform aims to improve their analytical, data storytelling and decision-making skills. The initiative reflects a shared vision for future-proof education, aligning with the World Economic Forum’s recognition of analytical thinking as an essential skill for the future workforce.
“Data visualization is one of the most sought-after skills in today’s job market, and our gaming platform gives students a competitive edge,” shared Karina Montilla Edmonds, global head of SAP Academies and University Alliances at SAP. “By merging learning with games, we are boosting student engagement while developing career-relevant skills. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.”
Gamifying the learning experience to shape future professionals
Business Builders gives students hands-on experience with SAP Analytics Cloud through immersive, data-driven business challenges that mimic real-world business scenarios. Welcomes students of all levels of familiarity with SAP, including those with no prior knowledge of data science and programming.
Students can participate in three distinct scenarios: sustainability, supply chain resilience and international business expansion. Each scenario is designed to challenge students in specific areas of business management, including data analysis in the sustainability scenario, logistical complexities in the supply chain resilience scenario, and market analysis and product development in the international business expansion scenario.
In the future, additional scenarios will be added to expand the scope of Business Builders. The goal is for students to learn and apply advanced data visualization and storytelling techniques to gain insights from business data and successfully solve business challenges.
“All business school students, regardless of their specialization, benefit immensely from learning advanced visualization techniques,” said Pierre-Majorique Léger, IT professor at HEC Montréal. “These skills enable them to manage and interpret large amounts of data, gain meaningful business insights, and make informed decisions effectively.”
The hands-on experience gained through business games helps students understand the complex interdependencies of business processes, increasing the overall educational impact. Additionally, the interactive nature and competitive elements of the platform, such as classrooms and global leaderboards, infuse learning with excitement and a tangible sense of accomplishment.
The platform offers educators an opportunity to revitalize their curriculum, going beyond the limits of traditional teaching methods to make learning more practical, enjoyable and relevant. They can integrate current and pressing business issues and trends into their classes, making education more interesting and directly linked to what students will face in their future jobs.
And by joining a global network of educators using the platform, they can expand the reach and impact of their teaching, further enhancing the educational experience with a wide range of perspectives and knowledge from around the world.
Free access for more inclusive education
One of the pillars of this initiative is its commitment to inclusion. By offering the platform free of charge to students, educators and academic institutions around the world, SAP University Alliances and HEC Montréal aim to ensure that aspiring leaders — regardless of geographic or socioeconomic barriers — have access to cutting-edge resources.
This democratization of educational tools is critical to preparing diverse groups of students for what’s to come, ensuring they are ready to start working in the digital economy and data-centric world.
To learn more about the gaming platform, read about it in the SAP Sapphire News Guide or visit business builders.games.
Get the latest news and coverage for SAP Sapphire in 2024