Will SAP always remain independent? Will SAP always exist? There is no company in Germany that faces more competition than SAP. I feel a bit alone in this. Mr. Steinger, we don't see an efficiency revolution. How does that fit with the promises of AI?
The Pioneer Morning Briefing, today's interview with Christian Klein. The CEO of SAP leads Europe's most valuable software corporation on the stock market and tackles the question of whether Germany can still keep up in the global technology competition.
Will we still be developing software in two years? I have my doubts. We need to look forward. I believe we can change this picture if we deliver on the AI side now.
We talked about his slightly declining stock price, about artificial intelligence, about productivity gains he hopes for, and indeed for the entire German economy.
They won't become more competitive through our high energy prices, through higher labor costs. But what they need is applied AI.
SAP is the youngest major corporation in the DAX, yet already over 50 years old. Meaning, not much has come after it. How do you manage a company where nothing is certain except the uncertainty of its environment? In Germany a giant, but internationally a dwarf.
I see that a bit differently.
While American technology companies dominate and China builds its own platforms, Europe must strive to gain its digital sovereignty. AI needs regulation, but it doesn't need overregulation. Then I can't move anymore. How much pace can a traditional corporation like SAP handle, and what does it take to turn ideas into the world market leader? Where would you say are we in this marathon?
The big CEO interview, live produced on the media ship The Pioneer 2. Christian Klein, a warm welcome aboard. If you want to see and hear more from The Pioneer, then subscribe to our YouTube channel. The full version of this conversation is available on our website. You'll find the link in the show notes below. And now, let's get started with the interview.
A very good day. We warmly welcome SAP CEO Christian Klein.
Yes, thank you very much.
Let's take a quick look at the right end of this chart in recent weeks. What is that actually?
Yes, that's us somewhere in what is now an English term often used by the press. We are a bit in the penalty box, in punishment. Unlike 5 years ago, we are not alone. We are in good company. Everyone who develops cloud software currently has this curve. We are not alone. Still, I don't like it, because the big question now is, oh, there are new AI providers, LLMs, OpenAI, can they perhaps also do software, and is SAP still needed in the future? And you can see that in this curve.
But the question is how the curve continues, right? If that was it, then it was it. You recently said, I'll read the sentence, we must implement our strategy independently of the capital market. And I ask myself, is that actually possible? You are an employee of this company. Can you do that independently of your owners, independently of the capital market? A bold statement.
Yes, 5 years ago it was like this. I hope the trust is there. We need a bit of time, then the curve will also go in the other direction again. I have to explain this. Yes, we have, and the premise, software SAP, 50 years very successfully. It's not so easy to transform such a huge tanker, because of course many employees have also done certain things their whole life, their professional life. And it's sometimes not so easy to take everyone along and say, now we're going into a completely new world. And with AI, what we need to turn this curve around is simply that we have AI agents in finance, in human resources, in supply chains, in the front office, in sales, marketing, that these are such intelligent agents that you can eventually close your books as a DAX company and say: Hey, in the end maybe my Chief Accountant is still there who has to say yes, and the agents do the rest. And I have high transparency where I stand in the current quarter. I can completely automate the topic or supply chains. Even more important, with geopolitics, with crises in the Middle East, many supply chains are wobbling. With SAP software in the future, you can not only operate your supply chain, but you have AI agents that can predict very precisely how your demand will develop, but also predict in transport, in logistics, don't send your ship there, but send your ship there. And how can I still produce in factory Y, and our customers have thousands of factories, if one supplier maybe can't deliver right now. And if AI agents do that in the future, then we have won. Then this curve goes up again. But developing these AI agents is not so easy.
