SAP SE announced that Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group—the global leader in live entertainment—has implemented an AI-enabled invoice assistant to streamline its accounts-payable operations.
The Challenge
With 38 shows spread across major cities worldwide, and a workforce of nearly 4,000 artists and staff hailing from 80 countries, Cirque du Soleil’s operational footprint is highly dynamic. Already tasked with processing more than 70,000 supplier invoices each year—particularly for vendors supporting their touring residencies—the company’s accounts-payable team faced growing pressure. Around 40 % of vendor enquiries were related to invoice status updates, and these were often delayed due to limited invoice visibility and manual workflows.
The Solution
Leveraging SAP’s Business AI, built on the SAP Business Technology Platform, Cirque du Soleil deployed an AI-driven invoice assistant that automates the triage and response process for invoice-related emails. The system supports multiple languages, analyzes incoming messages, classifies request types, extracts invoice data, determines invoice status, and even assesses the sentiment of the communication to prioritise urgent cases. In practice, the average response time has fallen dramatically—from 30 minutes to about 2 minutes per enquiry—and bilingual (English and French) responses are now standard. 
The Technology
The invoice assistant relies on SAP HANA Cloud to store and process structured data from emails, along with the assistant’s analysis and response outcomes. Underlying smart automation is enabled by SAP AI Core, which supports detection of urgency, sentiment and root causes of delays.
The Impact
- Efficiency: Staff time is freed and response times accelerated.
- Accuracy: Automation reduces human error and helps ensure payments align with contracts.
- Multilingual support: The assistant addresses Cirque’s global supplier base in both English and French.
- Scalability: The system can handle high volumes of requests without extra headcount.
- Supplier experience: More consistent and timely replies bolster supplier relationships.
Looking Ahead
With this innovation, Cirque du Soleil is not only leading in live-performance creativity but also operational excellence. SAP remains a trusted partner, helping the company scale globally while staying agile and responsive.
Dr. Philipp Herzig, Chief Technology Officer and Chief AI Officer at SAP SE, reflected:
“As we partner with Cirque du Soleil on this transformative journey, it’s inspiring to see how technology is streamlining operations and focusing organisations even more on what they do best—delivering unforgettable experiences.”
Philippe Lalumière, Vice President of IT at Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, added:
“The time-consuming research required to identify the payment status of an invoice and its reason was overwhelming. We were looking for a more efficient way to handle this, and SAP Business AI provided us with a simply stunning answer.”
