SAP Experts Podcast

Procurement is a strategic lever for many key aspects of a business: sustainability, sourcing, legal, IT and cost containment to name a few.  Furthermore, leading procurement organizations are able to drive a competitive advantage in revenue growth, regulatory compliance, operational agility and more.

In an increasingly fast-paced world driven by financial and productivity metrics, how realistic is it to create a psychologically safe work environment for everyone while remaining focused on maintaining high standards and accountability? Could empathetic leadership be the answer for improved team dynamics and loyalty while simultaneously sustainably driving performance? To help us maneuver the delicate balance between empathy and accountability, we have with us John Massey – the Head of Leadership & Professional Development at SAP Digital. With 30 years of sales and sales management experience, he believes in the power of connection, competition, and self-improvement. John is an avid learner with a Master’s in Transformation and ICF Coaching qualifications. He values giving back to the community, having raised over €100K for charities and leading various diversity initiatives at SAP. Together, we'll explore the role emotional intelligence plays in leadership and how it impacts team morale and productivity. John will share fascinating stories from his career, illustrating how empathetic leadership can solve complex problems. It's going to be a thought-provoking conversation! So, let’s jump in, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe. I am your host Akshi Mohla, and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast

Guest: Chandralika Hazarika – MD & Co-Founder, Bigthinx Host: Akshi Mohla – Global Head, Branding and Communications, SAP Digital, Customer Success When I speak of avatars, what comes to your mind? Perhaps your social media cartoon mini-me or something you use in gaming? Or maybe even a popular animated series or one of the highest-grossing movie franchises of all time! But what if I were to tell you that with Artificial Intelligence, avatars can be leveraged to make fashion more sustainable, personalized, and inclusive, while simultaneously providing a compelling customer experience, thus, boosting profitability and brand engagement? Bigthinx makes this a reality with a digital shopping experience, complete with mobile body scanning, immersive showrooms, and virtual try-ons. And to tell us all about this SAP.io startup, joining us today is Chandralika Hazarika, the MD, and Co-Founder of Bigthinx. A seasoned branding and marketing professional with over 15 years of experience, she redirected her focus toward digital entrepreneurship, aiming to establish digitally empowered brands. At Bigthinx, she's revolutionizing consumer engagement in the metaverse, creating intuitive high-tech products for various sectors such as fashion, retail, gaming, and wellness. Additionally, she expresses her passion for fashion through her label, Velvet Piano. An advocate for women in tech, Chandralika earned the Accenture "Women in Tech" 2021 award. So, let’s jump in, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe. I am your host Akshi Mohla, and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast. Follow SAP Digital: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sap-digital-customer-success/ Learn more about Bigthinx: https://bigthinx.com/ Follow Chandralika: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chandralika-hazarika/ Follow Akshi: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshimohla/ Polywork: https://www.polywork.com/akshi Please like, share, and subscribe! Send feedback and questions to akshi.mohla@sap.com.

Guest: Kunal Waghmare – Practice Director, Emerging Supply Chain Solutions, Bristlecone Host: Akshi Mohla – Global Head, Branding and Communications, SAP Digital, Customer Success Welcome to SAP Experts Podcast! I am your host Akshi Mohla, and we’re back – back again to dive deep into the world of Digital Innovations and best practices that make the world run better. Together we will explore the latest trends, insights, and success stories with industry experts and thought leaders. Joining us today is Kunal Waghmare, the Practice Director at Bristlecone – an SAP partner headquartered in San Jose, California, and a part of the Mahindra group. He focuses on solving end-to-end supply chain challenges for customers via emerging SAP solutions. With extensive experience across various industry verticals, Kunal has been at the forefront of business and technology programs, enabling companies to achieve their digital transformation goals. In this episode, we'll discuss the three-legged stool companies, partners, and SAP form in a digital transformation journey. We also delve into the critical importance of an early and holistic understanding of current challenges and desired business process improvements in achieving successful outcomes. Finally, we also explore the SAP Digital Value Discovery Platform and its role in enabling an immersive and comprehensive discovery while providing tangible, value-centric, customer-specific outputs at scale and unmatched velocity. So, let’s jump in, and don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe. You’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast. Learn more about Digital Value Discovery and book your introductory session: https://sapvideoa35699dc5.hana.ondemand.com/?entry_id=1_zd5hkm2r Learn more about Bristlecone: https://www.bristlecone.com Follow Kunal: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kunalwaghmare/ Follow Akshi: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshimohla/ Polywork: https://www.polywork.com/akshi Please like, share, and subscribe! Send feedback and questions to akshi.mohla@sap.com.

Retail is changing – always. New consumer habits and priorities are making supply-chain traceability, inventory optimization, and waste reduction a top priority for retailers. In conversation with Sobouh Rahimi, Julie Vargas shares her vision for incorporating RFID technologies in everyday life, and how Avery Dennison and SAP are already incorporating such innovations with retailers like Macy’s. You’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast!

Welcome to SAP Experts Podcast and a very Happy New Year 2023 to everyone! I am your host Akshi Mohla, and I am so excited to back from my maternity leave. As a new mom, I can not overstate the importance of mixing instinct, innovative new practices with the tried and tested expert wisdom. Similarly, within Software as a Service, the technology is ever evolving and so are the needs of our customers. And this is where the discerning wisdom of analysts comes in. Having deep understanding of both tech and customer industries – analysts combine the two to guide both our customers and the direction of our solutions. Which is why, we are kicking 2023 off by discussing the strategic importance of Analyst relations with none other than the dynamic and inspiring, Clare Henry. Clare is the Global Vice President of Analyst Relations at SAP. The core mission of this team is to engage with and assimilate industry analyst perspectives into SAP’s business strategy AND ensure analysts around the globe have accurate and timely education on SAP. Prior to this role, Clare was head of Analyst Relations at Microsoft and spent her prior years in product marketing, where her team was responsible for driving the technical cloud scenarios. Clare loves spending time with her family. She is also deeply committed to the St. Paul community in Petit Trou, Haiti and affordable housing causes in Seattle. You’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast!

Guest: Daniela Sellmann: Global VP & Head of Industry Business Unit Utilities at SAP Host: Jonathan Fogarty – Industry Advisor – Utilities - ANZ Hello and welcome to the SAP Experts Podcast, my name is Jonathan Fogarty and I am absolutely delighted to be hosting another episode! The world of energy generation and consumption is changing drastically. Utilities are faced with incredible challenges in providing sustainable, reliable, and affordable energy for their customers – across all market roles. Today we are going to talk about the challenges utilities face due to disruption in global supply chains, the increasing demand from customers to be able to generate and store their own power, and the need to provide green, reliable alternatives to the long-established fossil fuels of the past, and how SAP is supporting them in this transition now and in the future. Joining me to help make sense of it all is Daniela Sellmann: Global Vice President Industry Business Unit – Utilities, for SAP. You’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast. Follow Daniela: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielasellmann/ Follow Jonathan: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonathanfogarty/ Please like, share and subscribe! Give us feedback or provide us your questions at akshi.mohla@sap.com. Link to subscribe to the SAP Utilities Newsletter: https://www.sap.com/cmp/nl/sap-for-utilities-headline-news/index.html

COVID-19 was a sobering experience for companies, globally. It exposed the need for rapid digitization; however, with digitization also comes an increased risk in cybersecurity. Times like these establish that a company’s success depends on its ability to balance the pace of its digitization with a precise focus on cybersecurity initiatives. Himanshu Sewalkar joins us to shed a light on how this balance can be achieved. Himanshu is a Senior Director at SAP’s Global Industry & Value Advisory. His professional mission is to help enterprises achieve more using SAP's technology. He does that by focusing on SAP’s portfolio of source-to-pay solution capabilities. Himanshu has a track record of delivering on large scale enterprise technology transformation programs across the globe combined with 18+ years of experience from software engineering & architecture, product management, digital business services and value advisory. Himanshu is passionate about helping people becoming more efficient and successful in their jobs and particularly be prudent with their personal finance. Outside of work, he likes to spend a lot of time reading books. He is a disciple of Warren Buffet & Charlie Munger. Value investing is his passion and he practices that in his personal portfolio. As always, my name is Akshi Mohla and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast. Please be sure to like, share and subscribe!

Halloween is still a ways away, yet over the past few months, across the globe, we have been haunted by the nightmare of inflation. Prices are increasing, and not just for raw materials but also for consumer goods, thus raising concerns for businesses and private households alike. Dr. Martin Kotula joins us today to share how we can combat global inflation with technology. Dr. Martin Kotula is a Global VP for Value Content & Thought Leadership as well as the Head of Value Advisory for Spend Management at SAP. He helps customers drive digital transformation across source-to-pay and supply-chain processes. Passionate about digitalization, customer success, new innovations, and technologies, Martin is a known author, publishing several academic and business articles. He has significant experience overseeing cost and efficiency improvement programs, category optimization, organizational restructuring, and operations management. Martin holds a doctorate degree from Aston University, where his thesis focused on risk management in strategic sourcing, and an MBA from Tias Nimbas University. Before he joined SAP, he worked as a management consultant and as a category manager within strategic sourcing. As always, my name is Akshi Mohla and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast. Please be sure to like, share and subscribe!

Human Resource organizations are experiencing the first impacts of what is shaping up to be a paradigm shift as the world transitions towards a digital economy. To add to the mix, in a world that is just about recovering from a Global Pandemic, while simultaneously facing uncertainties caused by inflation, how can HR leaders pivot their organizations to become true strategic business partners? To shed a light on this topic, I am joined by Shilpa Rani. She is a part of the Global Industry and Value Advisory team and working as a Director for Hire to Retire process in Value Content and Thought leadership. Prior to her existing role, she worked in HCM functional consulting and core HR areas. Throughout her 11+ years career at SAP and Infosys, she has challenged herself to take on multiple opportunities across HR consulting, value management, people management and organizational development. Her passion for HR is what keeps her going. She loves helping customers realize the full value potential of employee experience. Shilpa holds a Masters in Human Resources, and a Bachelors in Computer Science Engineering. She lives in Sydney, Australia with her husband and 5-year-old son. As always, my name is Akshi Mohla and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast. Please be sure to like, share and subscribe!

Hello and welcome to yet another episode of SAP Experts Podcast! My name is Akshi Mohla, and I could not be more excited about today’s episode. It is not every day that you deep dive into the world of enterprise architecture and emerging technologies, and that too with someone from a pioneer in healthcare like Roche. With its purpose of “doing now what patients need next” and their 125-year history, Roche remains committed to driving innovations that transform the lives of patients, globally. Today, I am joined by Vikram Rawal, an ERP Enterprise Architect at Roche, with a key focus on ERP, Emerging Technologies, User Experience and Architecture in SAFe. He has 15+ years of IT experience in various domains, including architecture, team leadership, project management, innovation management and application development. He holds a master’s in information technology, as well as certifications in TOGAF 9.2, SAFe Architect, SAFe Product Manager/Product Owner, Professional Scrum Master 1, SAP NetWeaver ABAP and Java Programmer. You’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast. Please be sure to like, share and subscribe!

In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins emphasized the importance of “who” over “what” – by stating that “those who build great organizations make sure they have the right people on the bus and the right people in the key seats before they figure out where to drive the bus”. But in today’s rapidly evolving corporate culture, underscored by gig economy, great resignation, hybrid workplaces, how do organizations go about navigating the selective talent pool, in order to bring the right people to the right seats? To shed a light on this very topic, I am joined by Frank Sofia. He is the Head of Executive Talent Attraction for the Americas, across all markets and lines of business. Prior to his current role, Frank served as the VP of Strategic Workforce Planning for North America Sales. Throughout his 16-year career at SAP Frank has challenged himself to take on new opportunities across HR functions to gain deep expertise in HR Strategy, Workforce planning, Recruiting, Change management and Organizational development. He is incredibly passionate about HR transformation and enabling others to achieve their goals. Frank holds a Masters in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from West Chester University and a BA in Psychology from Temple University. As always, my name is Akshi Mohla and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast. Please be sure to like, share and subscribe!

Hello and welcome to the SAP Experts Podcast, my name is Jonathan Fogarty and it is an absolute privilege to be hosting another episode of SAP Experts. My guest today is Dr. Martin Kotula: Global Vice President of Value Content & Thought Leadership for the Global Industry and Value Advisory team @ SAP Martin is going to take us through some of the bigger trends in technology and how enterprises will be impacted in the near, medium and long term by these trends. It’s a complex and rapidly changing world at the moment and for the CIO they have never been challenged with the velocity and size of change that is facing them today. You’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast.

Hello and welcome to the SAP Experts Podcast, my name is Jonathan Fogarty and I am absolutely delighted to be hosting another episode! Today we are going to talk about the pressure on Utilities companies to respond to an incredible list of challenges that are being thrown at them. From de-carbonisation and the increased demand for green energy, to how they maintain and modernise their massive infrastructure networks all with the backdrop of increasing turbulence in Europe, and maybe just as importantly, how SAP is developing their strategy to support this Industry. Joining me to help make sense of it all is Markus Bechmann: Global VP -Innovation and New Business Models for the Utilities industry at SAP. You’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast.

While pursuing your digital transformation, strategizing, and prioritizing your next steps in order to cross the innovation chasm is a daunting task. However, you are not alone on your transformation journey… SAP user groups and communities are here to enable SAP and SAP users, as well as partners to form strategic partnerships, exchange best practices and share experiences, while providing technical and functional feedback to SAP. Which is why, today’s podcast features a panel of three distinguished leaders of SAP user communities. We have Achim Voermanek, the Global Vice President of SAP Intelligent Spend Community Strategy; Dawn Tiura, the CEO and President of Sourcing Industry Group (SIG) and Geoff Scott, the CEO and Chief Community Champion at Americas’ SAP Users’ Group (ASUG). We will talk about the role of communities, the value they bring to their members, how they ensure engagement in a hybrid world, and so much more! As always, my name Akshi Mohla, and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast. And since, today’s episode is all about community, don’t forget to subscribe and be a part of the SAP Experts Podcast community.

Guest: Alexander Greb – Vice President – Digital Transformation Consulting, Westernacher Consulting Host: Akshi Mohla – Business Development Director, SAP Global Industry & Value Advisory On August 21, 2019, Alexander Greb launched the very first episode of SAP Experts Podcast. And today marks the episode 111 of the podcast. We had to bring the original founder back for this special number episode! Today, Alexander will share what it was like to launch a technology podcast, with a relatable, coffee-chat format back when it was still something niche in the SaaS world. We also discuss the three-legged-stool that SAP, our partners and our customers form while crossing the transformation chasm. As Customer Advisory Lead and renowned Tech Evangelist, Alexander has collected vast experience in customer centric strategy implementation, processes, and technology at SAP and several leading business consulting companies for the past two decades. Having implemented digital transformation programs with strategic customers from the shop floor up to C-Level has helped him to gain in-depth knowledge of Best Practices that help customers gain “the unfair competitive advantage”. Being the author of several publications in Digitalist Magazine and Forbes as well as keynote speaker at global conferences and events such as SAPPHIRE, have made him a sought after Thought Leader and Trusted Advisor for many of SAP’s customers. At Westernacher Consulting he is responsible for sharpening Westernacher’s profile as value-driven “To-Go SAP-Consulting and Implementation Partner” for customers that are not satisfied by approaching their Digitalization Initiative as a Lean Migration but want to put the horsepower of Digitalization and SAPs next-gen ERP fully to the street to become Digital Champions. As always, my name Akshi Mohla, and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast. Follow Alexander: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandergreb/ Follow Akshi: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshimohla/ Polywork: https://www.polywork.com/akshi Please like, share and subscribe! Give us feedback or provide us your questions at akshi.mohla@sap.com

In a constantly changing world – which is simultaneously afflicted by a global pandemic and geopolitical uncertainties – supply chain resiliency becomes indispensable. The urgency for a diversified supplier base and increased automation is further underscored by exponentially shifting consumer demands. How can a one-stop-shop, integrated business network help alleviate these challenges, while also digitizing procurement workflows and connecting all your trading partners and suppliers, in a flexible and scalable manner? Which is why, today, I am joined by Tony Harris, the Senior Vice President and & Head of Marketing & Solutions at SAP Business Network. With over 25 years of experience across both Finance and IT, Tony has spent the last 15 years focused on the Procurement solutions sector and is currently Head of Market Strategy for SAP Business Network. In this role, he leads solution management and marketing teams that form a bridge between SAP solutions and its customers. The team captures market trends, customer challenges, and insights from the field teams to create an outside-in view of the market that helps to drive innovation within SAP Business Network. As always, my name Akshi Mohla, and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast.

What does the future of customer engagements look like? Customers today, more than ever, expect sales ready experiences. They form a perception of your brand, before even interacting in person. So, in a such a world, how do brands differentiate themselves and tell their story? How do they create an interactive digital and virtual experience, that is simultaneously relatable to their customers? To answer these questions, I am joined by the dynamic Ana-Maria Manda. Ana-Maria is SAP’s Global Business Technology Platform Digital Experience Hub Lead. Originally from Romania, she is now based in Switzerland and joined the SAP family in 2020. With an educational background in Law, she has a broad expertise in sales and digital transformation. In her role as a Digital Hub Lead, she is responsible for global and regional initiatives focused on creation and consumption of new digital assets for more engaging and impactful customer interactions. In addition to her Digital Hub Lead role Ana-Maria is a founder and a start-up mentor. As always, my name Akshi Mohla, and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast.

Internacional de Inversiones SA de CV (IDEI) is an innovative real-estate developer known for creating some of the most iconic buildings in Mexico. This includes the the Torre KOI skyscraper which is one of Mexico’s largest buildings. To continue to offer best-in-class solutions and enable efficient vendor processes, they chose SAP S/4HANA as their digital transformation solution. How did IDEI digitize their operations to aid business continuity and agile decision making with SAP? Furthermore, how did they unlock 60% reduction in paper use, while simultaneously achieving revenue growth via dynamic pricing models. And why did the choose to partner with SAP? My guest today, Jorge Martinez, the Vice President of Operations at IDEI, is joining us to answer the above and so much more! As always, my name Akshi Mohla, and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast.

“SAP S/4HANA is the biggest transformation project in our 110 years company history” – a quote that describes the significance of the change in the company of my today’s guest. Michael Hilzinger joined me and gave insights on his approach to transform to SAP S/4 HANA. Michael is CIO at the German manufacturer Knorr-Bremse. 110 years ago, they drastically improved the safety of trains by providing brakes and removing the so called “brake vans”, a manually operated braking system. We spoke about the analogy from back then with a modern SAP S/4HANA system, the role and factors of change management in such a huge transformation and why it’s helpful to improve incrementally instead of a big bang move. So, if you are interested in firsthand customer insights and perspectives, this episode is made for you. Grab your coffee and tune in. My name is Timo Deiner, welcome to the SAP Experts Podcast.