TLDR: SAP’s Chief Financial Officer, Dominik Asam, has emphasized that artificial intelligence is a key driver of increased productivity within the company, enabling the development of more software with a more agile workforce. This strategic shift involves leveraging AI tools to enhance efficiency in engineering and back-office functions, accelerating development cycles, and reinforcing SAP’s competitive position in the enterprise software market. Despite a recent restructuring, SAP plans to hire several thousand new employees, focusing on roles in data and Business AI, while also reskilling existing staff.
Walldorf, Germany – In a recent candid interview, SAP Chief Financial Officer Dominik Asam underscored the transformative impact of artificial intelligence on the company’s operational efficiency and workforce strategy. Asam stated that AI is significantly boosting productivity, allowing SAP to produce more software with a leaner employee base. This strategic integration of AI tools is enhancing efficiency across critical areas, including engineering and back-office functions, thereby accelerating development cycles and strengthening SAP’s competitive edge in the dynamic enterprise software market.
This comes as SAP navigates a period of evolving workforce dynamics. Following a mass restructuring earlier this year, where approximately 10,000 roles were eliminated, only about 3,000 employees reportedly left the company, indicating a significant internal reskilling and reallocation effort. Asam clarified that the scale of the 2024 restructure was a ‘one-off,’ suggesting a more stable hiring outlook moving forward.
Looking ahead, SAP has ambitious plans to recruit ‘several thousand’ new employees by the end of 2025. These new hires will primarily focus on ‘job profiles that define the future of our company, such as data and Business AI,’ according to SAP CEO Christian Klein. Klein also highlighted the critical need for ‘very dedicated people on the consulting side who can help us drive change management with the customers and implement all of these [AI] agents at the businesses of our customers.’ This indicates a strong emphasis on not only developing AI solutions but also ensuring their effective implementation and adoption by clients.
SAP’s commitment to AI is further evidenced by its ongoing initiatives, particularly with its AI copilot, Joule. Joule is slated for a ‘massive transformation,’ with plans for it to be available across all SAP and non-SAP systems starting in Q3, thanks to an integration with WalkMe. Furthermore, by Q4, Joule is expected to provide ‘answers to everything,’ powered by a partnership with Perplexity, which will combine internal business data with real-world insights for more intelligent responses. The company has already released 14 AI agents this year, with notable applications within its CX Toolkit.
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Financially, SAP reported robust performance in its Q2 2025 earnings, with total revenue growth reaching 12 percent year-over-year (YoY). Cloud revenue saw a significant spike of 28 percent YoY, driven largely by the SAP Cloud ERP Suite, which experienced a 34 percent rise. These figures, coupled with an ‘excellent pipeline’ for the latter half of the year, underscore SAP’s strong market position and the positive impact of its AI-driven strategies.
