SAP plans to double investments in India over 5 years, says CEO Christian Klein

SAP SE CEO Christian Klein said the Indian market makes the most sense as SAP (Image: SAP SE)

German software giant SAP SE plans to double its investments in India over the next five years, CEO Christian Klein said. SAP will develop end-to-end core products in India and Klein said he expects the country to become an innovation hub for SAP, The Economic Times reported.

He added that SAP is also helping MNCs move parts of their business to India as they look to de-risk and de-concentrate their supply chains. Klein is of the opinion that Asia and particularly India is a winner in the global scenarios due to a strong economy and talent base and its insulation to geopolitical tensions.

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Klein noted that large multinationals want to de-risk their logistics and supply chains from concentration in any one region and SAP is helping them move to “safer, stable environments” such as India. He noted while China still had an edge three-four years back, the “perception and political environment” has changed to favour India.

He said the Indian market makes the most sense as SAP is “out of Russia”, maintains small presence in Ukraine, finds a lack of talent in Germany and Europe, and is facing lockdown disruptions in China and facing issues with concentrated talent in Silicon Valley in North America.

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“We believe India is one of the countries that will benefit from this shift as there is access to a market and customers who are willing to innovate and invest in technology like generative AI and blockchain among others. It's clear on where we need to put our money,” he told the paper.

Klein also acknowledged that ChatGPT, AI and metaverse “will be disruptive in certain parts of the business”, but said he believes they will have “strong use cases” instead of causing disruption. He added that the tech will mature over the next two to three years and SAP must start embedding this solution to keep customers ahead of the competition.