SAP SE: CEO History

Christian Klein's era is defined by focus. He pushed SAP toward S/4HANA Cloud migration, Business Technology Platform, business AI, and a clearer portfolio after the acquisition-heavy period. He supported the Qualtrics separation, strengthened transformation-management assets through LeanIX and WalkMe, and positioned Joule as an AI layer for business workflows rather than a generic assistant. The measurable outcome is a higher cloud mix and FY2025 revenue of $39.7B, with SAP reporting a high share of more predictable revenue. His remaining test is whether migration can scale without exhausting customers.

As chairman, Hasso Plattner shaped the era in which SAP had to defend ERP against database rivals, cloud challengers, and changing customer expectations. His most important decision was backing HANA, an expensive in-memory computing bet that gave SAP control over a deeper layer of its architecture. That decision later enabled S/4HANA and gave SAP a technical answer to Oracle's database strength. Plattner also supported long-term R&D investment even when short-term investor pressure favored easier margin expansion. The measurable outcome was a rebuilt product foundation that still anchors SAP's cloud ERP strategy.