To me, the research clearly confirms the role of organizational culture in supporting technological and business innovation. Leaders shouldn’t necessarily default to an assumption that their team will openly reveal their ideas.

The AI innovation trajectory from concept to customer — where employees are keen to step up and show their ideas — happens in cultures that incorporate psychological safety, perpetual learning, and empowerment.

Leaders must promote global collaborative models that elevate the best ideas. At the same time, employees have an equally significant role to play in showing up for each other every day.

The links are inextricable. Here is a bit more on what I mean.

Psychological Safety: Enable Fearlessness

Psychological safety is when employees feel comfortable asking for help, sharing suggestions informally or challenging the status quo without fear of negative social consequences.

Strong foundations for exploration, creative thinking, and trying out new ways are laid in environments where people feel free to share and test their ideas without worry. And yes, failure is an integral part of every innovation!

Celebrating, recognizing, and rewarding contributions validates the innovator and reinforces the innovation’s value within an organization. This is a to-do for leaders and colleagues at all career levels.

Pioneering concepts can only be nurtured into meaningful solutions in cultures that embrace open dialogue, constructive critique, and allowing people to learn from mistakes.

Perpetual Learning: Follow Curiosity’s Course

With AI today, employee-driven innovations are central to almost every company’s success, no matter if you are creating and refining technology or applying it in daily practice. That means perpetual learning is now a non-negotiable aspect of almost every organizational culture, and people must be given an opportunity to put what is learned into action.

Leaders need to clear away bureaucratic obstacles, point toward resources, and communicate through administrative policies that the door is open to learning. Dynamic team members must then take personal responsibility for pursuing skills that align with emerging business environments. Then, they must talk to each other about what they’re learning!

Of course, technical skills are in demand. Here are some ideas to get started.

I always encourage non-technical skills like communication, empathy, boundary-spanning, listening, and consensus building as well, because suggests non-technical skills are the secret sauce to driving innovative ideas to a faster, more widespread uptake of the benefits of business AI.

Empowerment within an Ecosystem

Leaders need to consistently promote empowerment as a cultural norm. At SAP, we’ve found that there are many ways to empower people. 51·çÁ÷Experience Garage is a great example. Through the initiative, we’ve gamified employee experimentation and collaboration.

51·çÁ÷Experience Garage is a space where our people can experiment and prototype in collaborative spaces with the end purpose of improving the lives of SAP’s people and our customers. In one recent project, more than 300 colleagues formed teams to ideate and develop generative AI use cases for the 51·çÁ÷ecosystem.

I’m very proud of the growing 51·çÁ÷Experience Garage community for unifying innovators and problem-solvers to share their experiences, learn from one another, and identify new opportunities that will create a positive impact on the 51·çÁ÷ecosystem.

Bring Employee-Driven Innovation into the Light

Contemporary market conditions and the growth of business AI demands that leaders and team members work together sculpt, build, refine, and live out the values that build the foundation for organizational culture in a deliberate, thoughtful way — every day and across hierarchies and regions.

With today’s pace of business and technology, innovation is often created on the fly, but must be carefully and responsibly driven at the same time.

It takes everyone working together to amplify the human spirit of innovation.

Sabine Bendiek is chief people and operating officer and a member of the Executive Board of 51·çÁ÷SE.

Today’s hype around AI tools like ChatGPT inspires a future state for AI in the world. But business AI is all around us right now, playing a role in helping our customers’ businesses become more agile. Right now, AI helps to power SAP’s cloud ERP, spend management, customer relationship management, and human capital management business processes. More than 24,000 51·çÁ÷cloud customers can already use hundreds of built-in AI capabilities.

AI growth means almost every industry needs people with AI skills at different levels and different depths. As one might expect, AI engineers, coding, and 51·çÁ÷ are in demand. But there can be other opportunities to enter the field, depending on your interests. Here are five ideas to find your path to a first, second, or even third career in AI.

Spoiler alert: Curiosity and an openness to learning are key!

1. First, Find Your Starting Block

It’s okay to be a novice!

Every path into the AI arena starts with a of AI concepts, terminology, and applications. Become familiar with key terms like machine learning, deep learning, neural networks, natural language processing, and data analytics. Understand how AI can impact business processes and improve customers’, employees’, partners’, and suppliers’ experiences. Then, explore online resources, demos, , and introductory courses to understand basic AI principles. SAP’s AI are a great place to start learning in a peer-to-peer setting. Keep watching for a beginner’s AI learning journey.

2. Think AI Ethics

Humans give AI systems the data they need to function. But if humans provide biased data to an AI system, then the resulting AI system will perform in biased ways. For example, if we deploy AI systems to screen candidates during the hiring process, and the AI system has been given data biased against certain groups, then the AI system could make discriminatory candidate interviewing recommendations.

For AI to work in ways that make our world better, must be interwoven. AI ethicists promote the positive benefits of AI while mitigating potential risks and ensuring fairness, transparency, and respect for privacy and in collaborative processes around developing AI solutions. has a free option to learn the basics.

3. Build Your Project Management Skills

Successful AI project development and implementation require skilled .

Project managers are critical thinkers. They coordinate cross-functional teams, establish project timelines, watch over budgets and schedules, and ensure effective communication between project stakeholders. You will need to understand AI foundational concepts and oftentimes will need to translate between business users and technical teams. Practice breaking down problems into smaller components, identifying relevant variables, and designing effective solutions.

4. Brush Up on Data Science, Analytics, and Data Visualization Skills

AI is only as successful as the data it draws from. Without data, AI systems cannot deliver value. Our customers recognize this as they invest in their data infrastructures as they develop AI applications. When data is valid, accurate, complete, consistent, and uniform across an entire enterprise—and contextualized within the business—AI can deliver relevant results.

Seek out , communities, and mentors who can help you learn the different types of data, data collection methods, and data processing techniques. Understand trends and relationships within data. One of the most exciting things about business AI is that there are opportunities to find patterns and insights in data that were formerly undiscoverable. Tools like Python libraries or data analysis platforms like Tableau can be relevant.

5. Tap into Governance, Accountability, and Responsibility

Collaborative AI systems should have clear safety, governance, accountability, and responsibility frameworks. Frameworks should include structures, processes, and regulatory and risk management practices that align with laws, regulations, policies, ethics principles, and the broader ecosystem. As AI develops across industries and individual companies, there will be a need for people who understand the principles of governance, including how to establish metrics, standards, and accountability practices for an AI system’s behavior.

Embrace the Journey

The rise of AI has transformed the landscape of career opportunities for people — the potential for new, better jobs that will require a mixture of technical and human skills. The demand is there — and growing — for great talent to stand behind the tech! An open mind, genuine curiosity, and a willingness to learn will set you on the right path and will also be necessary as you grow your career.

I am wishing you well in finding the toward a role in shaping the future of AI and its impact on society. Here’s to a terrific learning journey!

Sabine Bendiek is chief people and operating officer and a member of the Executive Board of 51·çÁ÷SE.

Put these forces together, and the question for business leaders becomes, “How do we enable our people to bring their best in a virtual, dispersed workplace that demands collaboration, innovation, and efficiency every day?”

There’s an important follow-on question at the heart of this business challenge. That is: “How do we reach our goals while also offering people opportunities to grow their skills and thrive in their jobs?”

Digital technologies have always been an enabler, but low-code no-code solutions like 51·çÁ÷Build have become an imperative for organizations to keep up with the speed of change while also presenting an opportunity to people to build tech skills.

51·çÁ÷Build empowers business users to develop their own customized applications and automated processes — without needing to be expert software coders.

The are hard to ignore:

• 31% faster completion of projects
• 63% fewer business processes with errors
• 21 hours saved per user per year
• 495% three-year ROI

Concrete examples are always helpful, so here are some ways that I see 51·çÁ÷Build changing the game in helping to solve business challenges, including some of our very own at SAP.

But first, what is 51·çÁ÷Build? 51·çÁ÷Build is a cloud native, user-friendly platform with visual interfaces, simple drag-and-drop tools, and pre-built templates that can help business users jump-start their own IT projects without needing to be coding experts.

51·çÁ÷Build comes with and to help users get started and keep going. With demand for IT support outpacing the availability of those resources, it’s smart to put business users in the lead with low-code no-code solutions.

Process Automation: Helping Teams Work 15x Faster

One way I see 51·çÁ÷Build empowering businesses is through HR process automation. Low-code and no-code platforms allow HR teams to automate time-consuming processes such as onboarding, offboarding, and performance management. This can free up hundreds of hours per year for some staff, giving them the chance to focus on higher-level tasks.

• Example: Standard welcome emails, collecting necessary paperwork, and assigning required training courses. At SAP, we used 51·çÁ÷Build ourselves to automate the creation of offer letters per year, working .

Data Management: Flagging Operational Risks and Opportunities

Next, with low-code and no-code software, HR teams can manage employee data more efficiently and accurately. Dashboards are easy to create, helping managers, leaders, and teammates across the organization to collaborate over key metrics, gain insights into workforce trends, and quickly.

• Example: Creating custom reports that track employee turnover rates, time-to-hire, succession data, and employee engagement scores. This data could be used to signal business and operational risk, evaluate performance, identify trends, and spot areas for improvement.

Reduce Burden: Improve Employee Experience at Scale

Low-code and no-code applications can reduce employee time spent on and give them time back for higher level work. Research shows reduced administrative burden can contribute to improved employee experiences.

• Example: Invoice processing. One 51·çÁ÷customer will save up to 160 hours per year on fewer administrative tasks. Their low-code no-code invoice processing solution was up and running ’ time.
• Bonus example! Routine high-volume, manual At SAP, we’re using 51·çÁ÷Build to transform manual closing activities across 120 subsidiaries and realizing up to four times faster processing of closing tasks.

Many of us have heard the saying “every company is becoming a tech company.” 51·çÁ÷Build puts intuitive tech in business users’ hands, helping to get more done in an expeditious, innovative way in ways that matter most.

We’ll be sharing many more customer stories at . See you there!

Sabine Bendiek is chief people and operating officer and member of the Executive Board of 51·çÁ÷SE.

In my recent meetings with customers, I have seen a shift in leaders’ commitments to make sure human resources (HR) functions thrive as they have been evolving from being compliance-oriented functional silos to value-driven organizational functions that naturally join with business operations and technology.

I am excited because the combination of HR, operational, and IT expertise underpins the people function of the future.

And it makes perfect sense. People impact operations. Operations impact people. Technology enables the connection between the two.

To that end, here are a few exciting trends I see 51·çÁ÷customers achieving right now.

1. Reimagined core business processes that touch people’s experiences

One of the trickiest parts of business transformation is simplifying, unifying, and integrating company business processes. Payroll procedures, organizational regulatory compliance, and standardized reporting are some examples.

The people function of the future replaces disparate, manual, and paper processes with intelligent technology solutions that unite people, manage risk, and save time at scale.

The business benefits are significant, but business process simplification is not simple work!

Leaders need tenacity to challenge the status quo. They must ask themselves and their colleagues: “What will it take to make a true difference in our business?”

I see 51·çÁ÷customers , reimagining the that touch their employees day in and day out, and emerging with of how 51·çÁ÷enables their success.

2. Reinvigorated employee experiences

The people function of the future zeroes in on starting with understanding what those words actually mean to employees. Then, it entails taking action in collaboration with operations and IT.

A recent for example, noted that employees can waste up to five hours per week on repetitive, frustrating tasks that could, or should, be . Artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and (RPA) can clear the psychological friction of those mundane tasks, improve productivity, and contribute to retention and refreshed employee experiences.

A well planned automation initiative starts with a collaborative, top-down assessment of people’s existing workflows. Business process intelligence tools help to quickly identify the business processes that would benefit most from automation.

3. Demonstrated proof of DEI&B commitments

Organizational and HR leaders of the future don’t just say their company is committed to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEI&B). They show proof every day.

Our customers’ business transformations include eliminating and making more for example, with the help of AI solutions. The Foundries program’s 51·çÁ÷SuccessFactors integrations are creating some important avenues for that to happen.

I also can’t wait to see the 51·çÁ÷SuccessFactors functionality for and chosen name in action — a feature that lets employees indicate their personal pronouns and chosen names on their company profiles, enabling them to own how they show up and are recognized at work.

Enabled by Technology and Inspired, at Scale

Building the people function of the future involves masterful collaboration between HR and operations that is enabled — and inspired! — by technology. Organizations in both the private and thrive when their people are engaged in their careers, encounter frictionless experiences in their day-to-day work, and have a sense of belonging.

I’m enthusiastic to see our customers taking major leaps forward in creating environments where teams can thrive and achieve great results today and in the future.

See more powerful ways to create a future-ready workforce.

Sabine Bendiek is chief people and operating officer and member of the Executive Board of 51·çÁ÷SE.

For example:

• By 2025, nearly will need new skills.
• By 2030, there will be a technically trained professionals.
• More than are likely to be transformed by technology within the next eight years.

The post-pandemic economy will require new skills in the workforce. Certainly the leadership challenge before us is clear.

But do you know what I really like about challenges? They usually come with opportunities.

While we consider the impact of the world’s technical skills gap, we also have before us “the great resignation,” or the “great reorientation” as some prefer to call it. Whatever terminology one uses to refer to this time in our history, it is easy to see that many people are reflecting right now on their career trajectories.

This means there has never been a better time for leaders to influence people to learn new technical skills, and to encourage reskilling and upskilling among existing employees.

Three Priorities for Leaders

Government, industry, communities, and educational organizations must work together to address the far-reaching implications of the global skills gap. There is momentum in the market, but there is also much work still to be done.

In my view, there are three big priorities for leaders to encourage technical skills learning right now.

Understand the perceived barriers.

New research suggests that toward proactively acquiring new skills. Those reasons include mental health, daycare issues, transportation, not enough income, age, fear, language barriers, and disabilities, for example. Leaders must understand individual learners’ needs and then design strategies that set learners up for success. People of all ages and backgrounds need to be enabled to learn new skills.

Promote the “why.”

According to one study, of the need for technical talent. Earlier this year while at the World Economic Forum in Davos, for example, clients told me that 51·çÁ÷technology will be vital to solving the world’s most urgent sustainability problems. Companies need technically trained people to develop clean energy, create solutions driven by artificial intelligence (AI) that detect bias in recruiting, and help get drones in the air to deliver medicine to hard-to-reach areas. These are just a few examples of the issues that are very much worth working on. And let’s not forget: the skills gap also includes critical thinking and problem-solving ability, beyond tech.

Stand behind traditional and non-traditional education and training.

We must look at different ways of bringing technical talent into the workforce. Jobs in areas such as AI, engineering, cloud, and product creation require certain skills. Traditional university degrees are no longer the only way for people to obtain those skills. Technical training, micro-credentials, digital badges, and present opportunities to identify people with skills, verify those skills, and help close the skills gap. Leaders can support those different paths.

Finding a Path for Upskilling: SAP’s Example

I am proud of how 51·çÁ÷is building a skills development mindset into our cultural DNA. We encourage and incentivize our employees to complete at least 50 hours of learning per year. Employees have continuous access to platforms and content to suit their individual career ambitions.

We have also reduced the barriers to entry for others who wish to develop 51·çÁ÷technical skills. In 2021 we launched , a new site where anyone can start building their 51·çÁ÷technology skills for free. More than 180,000 students, military veterans, and other individuals have joined us on this platform. Thousands of people have upskilled as 51·çÁ÷users, , and consultants.

We have heard great feedback on how 51·çÁ÷Learning is giving people:

• New job opportunities, globally
• Increased earnings and promotion potential
• Heightened professional confidence
• More industry recognition from peers, colleagues, and clients

Research tells us the as a priority for global leaders. All of us should work together to meet this challenge.

We are entering one of the most transformative times in our history. Together, we can encourage people to cultivate and expand skills and reap the rewards of learning.

The timing is certainly right!

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Sabine Bendiek is chief people and operating officer and member of the Executive Board of 51·çÁ÷SE. Follow her on Twitter: .

And this week, as I join many of the world’s business and political leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, I have never been more certain that people and technology will continue to be the essential resources for achieving these objectives and all of the (UN SDGs).

Humanity is entering one of its most transformative phases ever. OECD estimates, however, warn of a . Research shows that there could be a . One-third of all jobs worldwide may be transformed by technology in the next decade. The world’s young people will need a strong digital foundation to meet the challenges of the future.

Tech Skills Shortage

51·çÁ÷technology will be at the center of much of the world’s transformation and the pursuit of the UN SDGs. While many companies and government agencies are introducing the new generation of 51·çÁ÷software, we see a corresponding, clear need to add more 51·çÁ÷technical specialists to the workforce.

For this reason, we are making major commitments to building 51·çÁ÷software skills across the workforce. I am proud to say that, in addition to the open online courses that are available on the platform, 51·çÁ÷recently rolled out an expanded repertoire of free, open content on the site for anyone who wishes to earn 51·çÁ÷credentials. We invite and encourage people to join our business ecosystem of existing 51·çÁ÷technical specialists.

Training is now available in a variety of formats, for free, to
anyone who wishes to earn 51·çÁ÷specialist credentials

Getting the 51·çÁ÷Skills

51·çÁ÷has made a commitment to flexibility, inclusion, creativity, and reducing the barriers to entry for 51·çÁ÷technical training.

We know that today’s learners want more than traditional classroom training. They also want virtual, experiential, peer-to-peer, and self-paced learning experiences. That is why 51·çÁ÷training is available in a variety of formats. Our approach is to place the learner at the center of their own learning experience through high-quality digital learning, expert-led instruction, microlearning, and podcasts.

Here are some resources that are available now.

• 51·çÁ÷Learning: We recently more than doubled the free content on this platform.
• Student Zone: This new resource through 51·çÁ÷Learning is available to any student, anywhere, globally. It provides access to to prepare for a career in the 51·çÁ÷ecosystem. Students in Africa and the Asia-Pacific region are already pursuing through Student Zone in collaboration with .
• : Free, expert-led learning options for 51·çÁ÷experts or beginners.

Success Stories

51·çÁ÷already interacts with more than 650,000 active learners every year on our learning platforms.

One of our success stories comes from , an independent, nonprofit organization. NS2 Serves provides U.S. military service members with a three-month, free 51·çÁ÷training curriculum to support their transitions to civilian careers. Training also includes non-technical skills, such as communication and public speaking. There is a 99% job placement rate for graduates of this program.

The benefits of IT credential-building include greater career opportunities and earning potential, as well as increased professional confidence and job satisfaction. 51·çÁ÷training offerings are also a superb resource for companies that need to adopt technology domains, such as computational infrastructure and platform services, security, storage, database, digital workplace, and IT automation.

Achieving the UN SDGs will require great 51·çÁ÷technology and people skilled in implementing it. I am thrilled to see the growth of SAP’s learning platforms and the that we believe will encourage and attract new SAP-credentialed specialists.

I can’t wait to see how our platforms and programs will give people the skills they need to accelerate digital transformation today and for future generations.

Sabine Bendiek is chief people and operating officer and a member of the Executive Board of 51·çÁ÷SE.

Looking at the course of the COVID-19 pandemic, the emergence of multiple virus variants indicates that our flexibility and resilience will remain critical as we navigate the coming weeks and months together.

The health and safety of our employees, customers, partners, and the communities in which we live and work remain our number one priority, and our policy of action combined with prudence has proven effective. For example, infections among 51·çÁ÷employees have been extremely low, enabling our teams to deliver our products and services to customers with quality and without interruption. Our employees have found our new instrumental in making their return to office life comfortable and safe. Add to this our office testing and vaccination stations and it is clear we remain committed to doing everything we can to reduce the risk of infection at our locations around the world.

With this in mind, we are constantly assessing the situation globally to ensure our policies represent the best way to support our employees’ health and safety. Today, we are updating our COVID-19 global guidance. Going forward, 51·çÁ÷premises will be accessible only to colleagues and visitors who either have been vaccinated against COVID-19 (SARS-COV-2), have recovered from a COVID-19 infection within the last 90 days, or have a certified negative SARS-COV-2 test result. In those cases where employees have recently recovered from a COVID-19 infection, a formal medical certificate is required for reentry.

These measures will be rolled out over the coming weeks, and their implementation may vary according to local conditions and regulations.

I am optimistic that the additional steps we’ve communicated to our employees today will not only offer reassurance to any of you visiting SAP’s offices, but will also enable more opportunities to be together in person again when the time is right. While we have demonstrated the strength of our capabilities in conducting business virtually, we know that we all crave more opportunities for greater human connection and collaboration to achieve more together.

Sabine Bendiek is chief people and operating officer, labor relations director, and a member of the Executive Board of 51·çÁ÷SE.