SAP’s global CEO Christian Klein and chief operating officer Sebastian Steinhaeuser are in Australia this week, meeting customers and partners after attending the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.
L-R: Paul Graham (Post), Christian Klein (SAP), Michael McNamara (Post), Angela Colantuono (SAP), Melissa Heng (SAP), Dan Griggs, Raju Bolledla (SAP)
The vendor is a sponsor of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team, which uses software including S/4HANA and Business AI.
Steinhaeuser confirmed the executives “experienced” the race in a LinkedIn post late last night, and also that they had met with customers and staff.
“Exchanged with many customers and partners on key topics such as how to make the most of their data to power reliable Business AI,” he wrote.
“Great conversations around SAP business data cloud, our own journey as customer zero and how it addresses the challenges businesses in the region face.”
Klein had been pictured in SAP’s Melbourne offices a day earlier.
He also visited some SAP customers directly, including Linfox and Australia Post, which iTnews’ sub-brand Digital Nation reported last week is in the early stages of a core SAP modernisation.
Klein visited Australia Post’s new Burnley office in Melbourne, meeting with CEO Paul Graham and executive general manager of enterprise services Michael McNamara.
It’s understood they spoke about Australia Post’s transformation – which comes under a strategy called Post26 – as well as the impending SAP modernisation.
An Australia Post spokesperson said it had “recently started to announce new partnerships (including Microsoft) and a new tech panel to support industry leading digital experiences for customers and team members.”
“Working with global leaders like SAP helps Post to harness their deep expertise and capabilities and drive innovation and operational excellence,” the spokesperson said.
An SAP ANZ spokesperson also confirmed Klein and Steinhaeuser’s visit.
“SAP CEO Christian Klein and COO Sebastian Steinhaeuser visited Australia this week, meeting with customers and the SAP Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) leadership team,” SAP’s spokesperson said.
“ANZ is a key market for SAP with SAP customers representing 91 percent of the ASX 200.”
