Driving workforce impact with the SAP SuccessFactors 2H 2025 release

HR transformation is accelerating, and technology is at the centre of how organisations unlock productivity, performance, and workforce potential. The SAP SuccessFactors 2H 2025 release delivers innovations that give HR the intelligence, agility, and experience layer needed to drive real business impact. With advancements across AI, analytics, talent, and usability, this release helps HR teams operate with greater clarity and confidence.

SAP SuccessFactors 2H 2025 release schedule

This release is part of a biannual schedule that provides organisations early access to new features in a preview environment, allowing time for testing, validation, and user preparation before the production rollout.

SAP updates all customer instances simultaneously during the production window, ensuring consistency across the platform. To make the most of new features with every upcoming release, it is essential to review updates, conduct testing, and plan for any necessary adjustments. Engaging in release management helps minimise disruption and supports smooth adoption of new capabilities, aligning technology with business goals.

Decoding the latest SAP SuccessFactors release

As organisations shape their 2026 HR roadmaps, the question is less about what technology can do and more about where it can create measurable value. The latest enhancements and new features place people experience, ethical automation, and outcome-focused insights at the heart of every workflow. This comprehensive eBook highlights the key updates that matter most to help you drive your workforce's unique performance goals.

Image: SAP SuccessFactors 2H 2025 release trends

From HR operations to HR intelligence

HR’s role continues to evolve — moving beyond process execution to become a source of business intelligence.

The latest release empowers HR leaders to connect insights, talent, and technology across the organisation, helping them make faster, data-driven people decisions.

Contextual AI, not standalone tools

AI is no longer experimental. With the expansion of Joule Agents across Career, Talent, HR Service, and Payroll, intelligence is now embedded directly into everyday workflows.

These agents automate tasks, provide recommendations, and deliver real-time guidance — boosting productivity and creating more personalised experiences for employees and managers.

Impact areas:

• Faster HR cycles and reduced manual workload
• Improved decision support for leaders
• Enhanced employee experience through guided self-service

Employee experience and usability

This release reinforces SAP’s focus on usability.

With cleaner interfaces, intuitive self-service, and guided workflows, organisations can reduce administrative effort while improving adoption and satisfaction across HR functions.

Workforce scheduling & compliance

A major update for global organisations, new functionality simplifies leave compliance and enables smarter shift planning within Employee Central.

This supports flexible workforce models while maintaining consistency and control across countries.

Next-gen recruiting

SAP’s integration with Smart Recruiters takes recruiting to the next level — driving automation, scalability, and tighter alignment with the broader SuccessFactors suite.

For HR teams, it means streamlined processes, stronger candidate experiences, and faster time-to-hire. 

HR as the orchestrator of business value

The role of HR is expanding.

Beyond delivering operational excellence, HR leaders are now connecting insights, talent, and technology to influence enterprise strategy and outcomes.

SuccessFactors’ new analytics and process integration capabilities make this shift tangible - enabling HR to act as a strategic orchestrator of value.

Governance, trust & ethical AI

As AI becomes pervasive, ensuring fairness, transparency, and accountability is critical.

This release brings stronger data governance capabilities to support ethical AI deployment - a key step in maintaining employee trust and regulatory compliance.

Module overview: What's new in the SAP SuccessFactors suite?

While the 2H 2025 release strengthens intelligence and experience across the SAP SuccessFactors solution platform, each module introduces practical updates that improve efficiency, compliance, and usability in specific areas of the employee lifecycle. Below is a high-level overview of where customers will see the most impact.

Core HR (Employee Central)

An improved and consistent People Profile editing UI, including the new editing UI and history UI, enhances user experience and data accuracy. Stronger validation during hire and rehire processes, along with controlled visibility to inactive employment records, ensures cleaner data and greater self-service transparency. The latest People Profile replaces legacy People Profile components, providing a more intuitive and streamlined interface accessible via Admin Center and quick actions.

Image: New Editing UI of Full Profile

Employee Central: Payroll & Compensation and Variable Pay

Enhancements to the Payroll Control Center, improved replication processes, and new AI guidance for pay statements increase accuracy, reduce manual checks, and support compliant payroll delivery. These updates align with the need for security and reliability in payroll operations.

Image: Payroll Control Centre (PCC) Enhancements

Time Management

Flexible workforce planning is now easier with better shift scheduling, simplified leave processes, and clearer access to time account details across global teams. Features such as geofencing for clock time entries and automatic recalculation for holiday calendar changes improve compliance and automation, helping HR leaders manage time management tasks more efficiently.

Image: New Compensation Methods for Time Account Payouts

Recruiting

More connected talent pipelines through deeper LinkedIn integration, improved candidate profile access, and enhanced skill visibility help accelerate hiring decisions. The new recruiting home page and dynamic application forms boost engagement, while integration with partners like Smart Recruiters further strengthens the SAP SuccessFactors recruiting solution.

Image: LinkedIn Recruiter System Connect (RSC) Integration

Onboarding and Offboarding

Automation of repetitive tasks streamlined dashboards, and early validation of personal information create a smoother start for new joiners and reduce bottlenecks for HR teams. The transition from Onboarding 1.0 to Onboarding 2.0 is underway, with plans for end of maintenance and deletion, encouraging organisations to plan their implementation accordingly.

Image: Automate Manager Completion of New Hire Tasks

Performance and Goals & Succession and Development

AI-assisted writing in performance and succession management, dynamic workflow rules, and personalised development recommendations enhance continuous performance practices and career progression. These features support HR leaders in managing performance goals and succession planning more effectively.

Image: Enhanced AI-Assisted Writing in Performance Management

Learning

A fully updated learning home experience, improved manager controls, and better visibility into training schedules support stronger adoption and engagement. These enhancements contribute to a more consistent and user-friendly learning environment within the SAP SuccessFactors suite.

Opportunity Marketplace

Smarter role matching and more configurable governance ensure marketplace opportunities remain aligned to employee skills and organisational needs. This supports talent mobility and internal career development initiatives.

Image: Requesting Feedback from Assignment Stakeholders

People Analytics

Expanded reporting guardrails, wider data access, and stronger story creation features provide trusted insight for decision-making. These analytics improvements empower HR leaders to explore data with confidence and make informed decisions that drive business outcomes.

Image: New Guardrails in Story Reports

Joule and AI

AI assistance is now practical and embedded in day-to-day tasks. Employees and managers can resolve queries faster, while HR can focus more on problem-solving than process handling. This reflects SAP’s commitment to embedding contextual AI within the SAP SuccessFactors solution to enhance usability and productivity.

Image: AI Enhancements for Explain My Pay

Looking ahead

The 2025 2H release makes one thing clear: HR technology is no longer about transactions - it’s about transformation.

By embedding intelligence, simplifying experience, and strengthening governance, SAP SuccessFactors continues to empower HR to deliver measurable business impact.

Download the Zalaris 2025 SAP SuccessFactors 2H technical release notes eBook, or watch the webinar hosted by our consultants.

At Zalaris, we help customers turn these updates into outcomes - aligning strategy, technology, and process to create meaningful workforce change. Contact our team to kick-start your release management process today!