Germany's SAP has begun a reorganization that distributes oversight of its product and engineering functions to the CEO and COO. It is the company's second top-level reshuffle this year, aimed at staying ahead in the AI race.
June 2026 · SAP
SAP Splits Product & Engineering at the Top to Race on AI
In its second major reshuffle of 2026, SAP will distribute Chief Product Officer Muhammad Alam's duties — naming no successor when he departs in March 2027 — handing most of his team to the CEO and industrial AI to the COO.
2nd
major reorganization in 2026
~8,000
positions redeployed to AI areas (Jan 2024)
0
successors named for the departing CPO role
Where the CPO's duties go
CPO · departing Mar 2027
Muhammad Alam
Product & engineering oversight
→
CEO
Christian Klein
Takes over most of Alam's team
COO
Sebastian Steinhäuser
Oversees industrial AI
SAP's AI push — a timeline
Jan 2024
Redeployed ~8,000 positions to AI-focused areas
Mar 2026
New AI unit established; shift to consumption-based pricing
May 2026
"Autonomous Enterprise" unveiled at SAP Sapphire
Jun 2026
Joule Studio 2.0 rollout begins (GA planned H2 2026)
Jul 2026
Forward deployed engineering team begins operating
Joule copilot — what works
Time savings via SAP-specific answers
Less likely than standard LLMs to mix in outdated ECC info
Aids problem reports, requirement models, supply chain & HR tasks
What still falls short
Lower accuracy in rarely used functional areas
Weaker in mixed on-premise / public cloud setups
No silver bullet — data cleansing & process work come first
SAP touts deep integration with existing ERP data as its edge — but faces mounting pressure to strengthen product and engineering against AI-native rivals.
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