This case study explores leadership transformation at SAP under CEO Christian Klein, examining how culture, leadership behaviour, and talent alignment are reshaping one of the world’s most established enterprise technology organisations. It highlights what SAP’s journey means for organisations navigating large-scale transformation without losing strategic stability.
Why SAP reached a cultural inflection point
For decades, SAP was synonymous with enterprise dominance. Deeply embedded systems, long-term customer relationships, and a global footprint defined its success. Yet over time, the very scale that made SAP powerful began to introduce friction. Complexity increased. Decision-making slowed. Innovation cycles stretched.
When Christian Klein became SAP’s sole CEO in 2020, he inherited more than a technology leader. He inherited an organisation at a cultural crossroads. The challenge was not whether SAP needed to transform, but how it could do so without losing the strengths that made it successful in the first place.
Klein recognised early that transformation would not be driven by technology alone. It required a reset in how people worked, how leaders led, and how accountability was distributed. Culture, not systems, would ultimately determine whether SAP could evolve at speed.
This dynamic is familiar to many organisations we work with at JOH Partners. Strategy can change quickly. Culture requires deliberate design, consistent leadership behaviour, and clear expectations.
From legacy thinking to customer-led agility
One of Klein’s earliest priorities was simplification. SAP’s operating model had grown layered and complex, often prioritising internal process over customer impact. This diluted ownership and slowed response times in a market that increasingly demanded speed.
Under Klein’s leadership, SAP began shifting toward clearer accountability and stronger customer orientation. Teams were encouraged to operate with greater autonomy while staying aligned to a shared strategic direction. The emphasis moved from internal optimisation to delivering measurable customer outcomes.
In interviews with Harvard Business Review and Handelsblatt, Klein consistently highlighted the importance of reducing bureaucracy and empowering decision-makers closer to the customer. Speed and clarity became competitive advantages.
However, structural change alone was not enough. Agile operating models only succeed when leaders have the mindset and capability to operate within them.
Reframing leadership expectations at scale
As SAP accelerated its shift toward cloud subscriptions and recurring revenue models, leadership expectations evolved. Traditional command-and-control styles were no longer effective in a complex, matrixed, and fast-moving environment.
Klein pushed for leaders who could build trust, encourage collaboration, and make decisions with incomplete information. Leadership success became defined not just by delivery, but by how leaders enabled teams to perform, learn, and adapt.
This is where many transformations falter. Organisations promote leaders based on past technical success without evaluating whether their behaviours align with future needs.
At JOH Partners, our Corporate Insights assessment suite was developed to address this exact challenge. By combining psychometric insight, leadership behaviour analysis, and cultural alignment indicators, it helps organisations identify leaders who can operate effectively in evolving environments.
Talent strategy as a transformation lever
SAP’s transformation was equally visible in its approach to talent. Hiring and development priorities shifted toward cloud-native skills, digital fluency, and learning agility. Internal mobility and reskilling became central to the strategy, reducing reliance on external hiring alone.
Klein described SAP as a learning organisation, one where adaptability and curiosity mattered as much as expertise. This emphasis helped create psychological safety, encouraging innovation even within a highly complex enterprise.
According to research by McKinsey, organisations that align talent strategy directly with transformation objectives are significantly more likely to sustain performance improvements over time.
The lesson is clear. Transformation succeeds when talent decisions are intentional, data-informed, and aligned with culture. Assessment frameworks that evaluate both capability and behaviour become critical enablers.
What SAP’s journey teaches other organisations
Most organisations are not SAP. Yet many face similar challenges. Legacy systems. Established leadership norms. Pressure to innovate while maintaining stability.
Christian Klein’s leadership approach offers several transferable lessons:
- Culture must evolve alongside strategy, not after it
- Leadership capability should be assessed against future requirements, not past success
- Agility improves when accountability is clear and decision-making is decentralised
- Talent development is as critical as talent acquisition
Across our work with organisations in the GCC and Europe, we consistently see transformation efforts struggle when behavioural alignment is overlooked. Structured assessment and culture diagnostics help close that gap.
Closing reflection: leadership as the anchor of change
SAP’s ongoing transformation under Christian Klein illustrates that leadership is not about abandoning legacy, but about reinterpreting it for the future. Scale and history can be assets when culture, leadership, and talent strategy evolve together.
For organisations navigating growth, digital transformation, or market disruption, the question is not whether change is required. It is whether leaders and teams are equipped to deliver it.
At JOH Partners, we believe sustainable performance is built at the intersection of leadership clarity, cultural alignment, and data-driven talent decisions. Our Corporate Insights assessment suite supports organisations in understanding not just who their people are, but how they lead, collaborate, and perform when it matters most.
Interested in exploring how culture-led assessment can support your transformation journey? Speak with our team or download an overview of our Corporate Insights assessment suite.
