In ‘brutal’ interview, SAP CFO says AI means the company can produce more software with fewer people
Summary
SAP’s CFO, Dominik Asam, told Business Insider that AI is already changing how the company builds and operates software. He says SAP is using AI tools across the business — from research and presentations to automating back‑office tasks and accelerating coding work. Asam argues that AI will let SAP and its customers produce more software with fewer people, and that the company’s five‑year plan already factors in higher productivity driven by automation. He warned the transformation can be “great or catastrophe” depending on how quickly organisations implement AI.
Key Points
- Dominik Asam is a heavy user of AI tools for research, presentations and insight‑gathering.
- SAP uses AI to streamline back‑office operations and make thousands of staff more productive.
- AI coding tools are being adopted across SAP’s developer base — the company hopes to scale this across 30,000+ engineers.
- Asam says the same volume of software output may require fewer people because some tasks become automated.
- SAP’s five‑year plan incorporates AI-driven productivity gains to improve margins; the CFO describes the approach as “brutal” but necessary.
- There is strategic competition between incumbent software vendors and in‑house teams at customers — the advantage will go to whoever implements AI faster and more systematically.
Content Summary
The interview covers how Asam personally uses AI (for data and presentations) and how SAP is rolling AI into core operations. He highlights macro trends — tech firms dominate market caps — to underline urgency. Internally, SAP deploys AI to automate repetitive tasks in large back‑office functions and to augment software engineering through AI coding tools. The CFO is explicit: automation means you can achieve the same output with fewer staff in some areas, and SAP is planning accordingly to raise productivity and margins. He frames AI as a catalyst that can lift companies that act quickly, or cause trouble for those that fall behind.
Context and Relevance
This interview is important because it comes from the finance chief of Europe’s largest software company, signalling that AI is no longer just an R&D curiosity — it’s a strategic lever for cost and productivity in major enterprise vendors. If SAP executes, customers and competitors will feel pressure: vendors may consolidate roles and shift skills expectations, while corporate IT teams must decide whether to build in‑house or lean on platform providers. The comments also reflect wider industry debates about automation, labour displacement and competitive advantage in the AI era.
Author style
Punchy: the CFO’s language is direct and candid — he uses numbers and blunt phrasing to force a sense of urgency. If you care about enterprise software, corporate strategy or workforce planning, dig in; this isn’t just colour — it’s a signal about where large vendors are placing their bets.
Why should I read this?
Short and honest: if you work in enterprise IT, vendor management, HR or finance, this interview saves you time. It tells you straight from SAP’s finance boss that AI will change how software is made and resourced — so either adapt fast or get left behind. Read it to know what big suppliers are planning and to spot how that shifts hiring, outsourcing and product roadmaps.
Source
Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/sap-cfo-ai-make-more-software-fewer-people-2025-9