The AI Threat to Europe's Most Valuable Software Company (Repeat)
SAP has to pivot with cloud growth set to slow
SAP CEO Christian Klein
Photographer: Alex Kraus/Bloomberg(This story was originally published on Sept. 24. On Thursday, SAP shares fell the most since 2020 after its backlog for cloud services missed expectations.)
Christian Klein jogs onto the stage at SAP SE’s annual sales conference in a grey sweatsuit like he's taking a victory lap. And in some ways, he is.
The 45-year-old chief executive officer took the helm six years ago just as the company’s sales were starting to stagnate. SAP — which makes software that runs finance, sales and other corporate functions — missed the industry’s shift to the cloud and was playing catchup. In one of his first earnings reports as CEO, Klein gave a bleak outlook and the company’s shares plummeted more than 20%. “I needed a glass of wine or two or three,” he said in a Bloomberg TVinterview.