SAP Appoints EMEA President as it Focuses on Cloud, AI

Enterprise application software leader SAP has announced it has appointed a new President for a newly-created EMEA region ranging from France, Benelux and the United Kingdom to the entirety of the Middle East and Africa.

Combining its former EMEA North and EMEA South regions, SAP says the EMEA region – which comprises Benelux, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Nordics, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, United Kingdom and the whole of the Middle East and Africa – is significant to its business, with cloud technology and AI providing what it describes as a “unique opportunity to drive customer transformation and value”.

As part of this move, SAP has also announced it has appointed Emmanuel (Manos) Raptopoulos as the President for the newly created EMEA region. In this capacity, SAP says Raptopoulos will be responsible for overseeing 14,000 employees across 53 offices, servicing customers in 90 countries.

Prior to this appointment, Raptopoulos was the Regional President for SAP EMEA South, now a subset of the larger EMEA region. He joined SAP in 1998 and has held several leadership roles in General Management, Sales, Operations and Consulting in both Europe and the Middle East.

New EMEA president to further champion the growth and innovation of SAP customers

“For more than 25 years, Manos Raptopoulos has successfully grown customer-facing businesses at SAP,” said Scott Russell, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE and Head of Customer Success. “I have confidence in his leadership and know that he will continue to champion the growth and innovation of our customers in this strategically important region for SAP.

“Manos is a staunch advocate for the voice of customers and partners and is an empathetic and inspirational leader of people. I am excited for Manos to lead our EMEA Region to new heights, together with our outstanding team."

“Our customers have high expectations. They rely on SAP to run their most critical business processes, to digitally transform, to boost their sustainability, and to future-proof their organisations,” says Raptopoulos. “EMEA’s next chapter will be fueled by accelerated cloud and AI innovation, underpinned by our purpose, our people and our partnerships. I feel honoured to lead this diverse and talented team of professionals. Together, we can make a significant impact, in this region and beyond.”

SAP has announced a number of cloud and AI innovations, including its enterprise generative AI assistant Joule, a natural-language, generative AI copilot.

The company also recently announced former Microsoft executive Walter Sun as its new Global Head of AI, as it looks to further implement AI into its solutions.

“AI has never been more important,” Sun said. “I believe at SAP, we have a unique opportunity to fundamentally change the way in which companies operate, using AI on a much larger scale in business practices than ever before.

“Our customers have high expectations. They rely on SAP to run their most critical business processes, to digitally transform, to boost their sustainability, and to future proof their organisations,” says Raptopoulos. “EMEA’s next chapter will be fueled by accelerated cloud and AI innovation, underpinned by our purpose, our people, and our partnerships. I feel honored to lead this diverse and talented team of professionals. Together, we can make a significant impact, in this region and beyond.”

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