SAP, the software manufacturer, is undertaking a major organizational overhaul. According to the publication “Handelsblatt”, CEO Christian Klein will take over several central responsibilities related to product development, which involves thousands of employees. Effective July 1st, the area overseen by Klein will encompass the development of the “Business Suite” program package and the corporate suite’s core business applications. Furthermore, he will also be responsible for the platform that allows customers to conduct transactions like purchases and travel bookings. Manoj Swaminathan will operationally lead both of these divisions and will now report directly to the CEO.
Muhammad Alam, the current head of product development, is reportedly handing over these responsibilities to Klein. Post-transition, sources within the company indicate that his department will retain only the “Product Experience” division, which is expected to be staffed by fewer than 2,000 people. Alam himself is scheduled to leave SAP when his contract expires in March 2027, and the Supervisory Board has yet to announce a successor.
Klein has recently focused SAP’s strategy around the theme, “All in on AI,” meaning a significant commitment to Artificial Intelligence. He previously noted in an internal e-mail in March that his duty as CEO is to focus the product portfolio on this technology. SAP did not issue a comment regarding these strategic changes in response to the newspaper’s inquiry.
