SAP CEO knew its cloud transformation would temporarily devastate its stock. Now shares are at a record high: ‘What you need for that is courage’

Good morning from Geneva.

For everything to stay the same, everything must change, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, author of The Leopard, wrote in 1956. Almost 70 years later, Christian Klein, the CEO of Europe’s only tech giant, SAP, has a similar view on the recipe needed to revive the European economy.

European companies must change to remain competitive. National governments such as Germany’s must change to maintain their prosperity. And the European Union itself must change and fully integrate for the bloc to keep its independence vis a vis the U.S. and China.

I spoke with Klein, who at 39 was the youngest CEO of a DAX company when he was appointed in 2019, during last week’s World Economic Forum. Here are a few of his insights:

On why and how companies must adopt AI:

“You can buy AI from Microsoft, Google, or Amazon, but it will not lead to the outcomes you expect if you treat it as a piece of technology. You have to do change management and invest in your employees...At SAP, 20,000 people are part of an AI development rollout in 2024.”

“AI will impact all kinds of functions: coding can be done by generative AI...AI can put together good [sales] content, tell you which content works best for which client...AI can make a preselection for HR in hiring...and in accounting, generative AI can help to check contracts. It is real. It is happening.” 

On the role of European integration for European businesses: 

“We lack pragmatism and empowerment at the European Union level...We need in Europe a true digital union. We now build separate products for France, Germany, and any other market. But startups cannot do that. So we need to give more empowerment to Europe...and complete the union.” 

On the need for reforms in Germany, Europe’s largest economy:

“In Germany, there is a digital minister, but he doesn’t have a lot to say. You have several different states making their own decision and choosing often the conservative side...We need to fundamentally rethink our constitution, give up certain responsibilities, and put this power [with] a digital ministry.”

“There is an awareness that Germany has to do much better...Our economy is not working anymore. Companies from outside of Europe are disrupting us...So it is now time to change...With your back to the wall, you need to realize, it doesn’t help me to stick with the status quo.”  

On the interplay of democracy and capitalism:

“I still hope that...the overwhelming majority of the people still also appreciate the way we live: in a democracy, but also that we sustain it with economic success. So we need to bundle power and come together. If not, then we are in deep trouble.” 

Klein is an expert on change management, by the way. When he took over SAP, he realized the company had to be fully cloud-based, which it wasn’t yet. But he also knew that would come with short-term pains, including a multibillion euro drop in revenue and the shedding of jobs.

“What you need for that is courage,” he said. “During our own transformation, our share price collapsed by 30%. But I needed to accept that in order to move forward. I saw the need to take a hit to focus on the mid- and long-term. It is similar to what many other companies are facing today.”

The result? SAP’s share price today is at an all-time high, and SAP remains Europe’s largest tech company.

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Peter Vanham
peter.vanham@fortune.com
@petervanham

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com