---
id: "concept-digital-hubs"
type: "concept"
source_timestamps: ["§ Map Business Processes", "§ Measure and Quantify the Impact", "§ Change Management"]
tags: ["organizational-design", "virtual-sales"]
related: ["concept-digital-modalities", "concept-federated-ai-deployment", "concept-ai-driven-tam-expansion", "claim-ai-reduces-sales-cycle", "quote-virtual-buying-journey", "question-the-last-ten-percent"]
definition: "AI-powered virtual sales centers that handle the vast majority of the customer buying journey remotely."
sources: ["commercial"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-commercial"
originDay: 5
articleStem: "hbr-foci-64-ai-broaden-customer-base"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2025/03/how-one-company-used-ai-to-broaden-its-customer-base"
sourceTitle: "How One Company Used AI to Broaden Its Customer Base"
---
# Digital Hubs

**Digital Hubs** are virtual sales centers, powered by [[concept-digital-modalities|Digital Modalities]], that conduct **90% of the customer buying journey remotely**. At [[org-sap|SAP]], these hubs are responsible for a large boost in sales productivity and are the engine of [[concept-ai-driven-tam-expansion|AI-Driven TAM Expansion]] and of [[claim-ai-reduces-sales-cycle]]. A signed contract is often the **first time an SME meets an account manager in person** — see the open question [[question-the-last-ten-percent]] about the remaining 10% of the journey.

**Organizational structure:** the hubs use a *federated model* (see [[concept-federated-ai-deployment]]). They report to **regional business leaders** but maintain a **dotted-line reporting structure to the global digital organization**. This dual structure helps mitigate internal resistance from established, autonomous business units. The core claim is captured verbatim in [[quote-virtual-buying-journey]].

> **Enrichment check:** The idea of AI-powered virtual sales centers integrated with regional units is consistent with SAP's CX and AI Agent Hub strategy (centralized governance + distributed execution). The precise **"Digital Hubs" label, the 90% figure, and the exact reporting structure** appear specific to the HBR case and are not widely documented elsewhere. Analysts (Gartner/Forrester) describe near-identical patterns under labels like "augmented selling" and "digital sales hubs."


## Related across articles
- [[concept-llm-based-interviewers]]
- [[framework-sprint]]