SAP SE is divvying up responsibilities for its product and engineering functions in its second top-level reorganization this year, people familiar with the matter said, as Europe’s largest software company grapples with staying ahead of rising artificial intelligence competition.
SAP has decided to split the responsibilities of Chief Product Officer Muhammad Alam among existing executives as Alam prepares to leave the company in March, rather than name a new CPO with those duties, the people said, asking to not be identified as the plan hasn’t yet been shared internally. Chief Executive Officer Christian Klein will take over most of Alam’s teams, while Chief Operating Officer Sebastian Steinhäuser will handle industrial AI, the people said.
A spokesman for SAP declined to comment.
Growing enterprise interest in AI tools from OpenAI and Anthropic PBC has put SAP and other traditional software firms under pressure to adapt. Klein is reorganizing the company to focus more resources on AI development, something he sees as key to the German enterprise software company’s survival.
It’s come alongside several executive board departures in the last few years, which have shifted reporting lines and responsibilities. In March, Klein gave another board member his sales responsibilities and took on greater oversight of AI strategy. He said in an email to employees at the time that “we once again need to transform SAP end to end, going all in on AI.”
SAP’s shares have declined about 35% this year.
Read more: SAP CEO Says AI Transition Will Require Short-Term Pain
The company is fending off criticism from some partners and customers that its early AI tools aren’t worth the expense, and others who say that they may look outside of SAP’s ecosystem for AI capabilities. In March, Klein pushed to expand access to AI tools to customers who hadn’t yet migrated their all of their legacy systems to the cloud, prioritizing the newer technology.
SAP will continue to search outside of the company for a new executive product lead, two of the people added. The company will target candidates in the US, its largest market, where Alam is the only executive board member, they said. Alam, who took the role leading SAP’s global product and engineering organization in 2024, also oversaw SAP’s software applications including product strategy and development. It’s unclear how the role will be structured under the new CPO.