In today’s special Cloud Wars Live podcast, Bob Evans sits down with Cloud Wars CEO of the Year Christian Klein to talk about his journey with SAP, including its success in becoming cloud-first, the importance of big tech partners, and his relationship with chairman Hasso Plattner.
SAP’s Evolution with Klein
The Big Themes
- Leading the Way to Cloud First: Klein discusses how SAP has become a cloud-first company. The RISE with SAP program, coupled with strategic acquisitions like Signavio, plays an important role in SAP’s transformation, offering more than just a technical shift to the cloud but focusing on customer needs and business model transformation.
- AI Insights: SAP’s business AI initiatives, including generative AI, will transform the way end-users interact with software, with tools like Joule and automated code generation to make every developer an AI developer. Embedding generative AI into business is a priority for customers, and SAP’s position at the nexus of business and technology puts it in a unique position to serve this need.
- Strategic Partnerships: Recognizing the significance of partnerships, SAP collaborates with industry giants including Google, Microsoft, and AWS to enhance its offerings, demonstrating a shift towards a more collaborative approach for mutual benefits. Partners are an integral part of SAP’s portfolio, and they are enhancing their end value by a significant amount because no one can develop everything on their own.
The Big Quote: “I can still remember 23 years back, some people I met at Morton Street in New York, right at our office. They are still colleagues, some are even friends. They are helping me still today, you know, from New York. Even as a CEO, the network is so important. You need people, to have the people on your side. Because even as a CEO, you cannot run the company alone.”
Interested in learning more about Christian Klein and SAP?
Check out its website or follow Christian Klein on LinkedIn.