Interview: Sian Senior, SAP

What is the major potential pain point that will face all organisations, large and small, in 2023?

It’s no surprise that the pain points of the last few years will persist. Cybersecurity, skilled labour shortages and supply chain issues are all top of mind for SAP, as we help our customers thrive in times of global disruption and environmental challenges.

Personally, a significant pain point for 2023 is sustainability. I hope to see greater adoption of technologies such as SAP Sustainability Control Tower, which enables customers to establish robust and auditable ESG reporting. Having dependable sustainability data could allow government agencies to monitor progress against sustainability targets, to forecast outcomes and analyse various scenarios.

Which new technologies will reach critical mass and become dominant in 2023?

Whilst not a new technology, in 2023 there is likely to be increased adoption of artificial intelligence and machine learning. SAP’s AI strategy is built on 3 pillars:

Transformative Intelligence: Leverage AI-powered insights, recommendations and automation built into SAP applications, like SAP S/4HANA and SAP SuccessFactors.

Adaptable Innovation: Scale and extend the capabilities of applications by deploying custom or pre-trained AI models available on SAP Business Technology Platform. There is also the functionality to leverage built-in AI capabilities in other SAP BTP solutions like SAP Process Automation.

Trusted AI: Run AI built on leading ethics and data privacy standards while maintaining full governance and lifecycle management across an entire organisation.

No one pillar is more important than another and each is necessary. AI will speed up and automate processes, freeing up time for skilled workers to focus on higher order tasks.

Will I.T. continue to drive organisational efficiency in a hybrid work world and who should lead the charge (CEOs, CIOs, CTOs, etc)?

Efficiency in a hybrid work world is incredibly important — and a delicate balance. In my opinion, no one individual will lead the charge, collaboration will be key. However, technology will put the power of business transformation into the hands of all.

At our recent TechEd Conference, we shared our belief that the next wave of ‘business transformation’ will be driven by users whose expertise has so far been untapped, especially in identifying opportunity for business process automation.

To support this, we launched SAP Build, a low-code offering that puts our technology in the hands of business users of all skill levels. It allows them to create and augment enterprise applications, automate processes and design business sites with drag-and-drop simplicity. Regardless of technology skill level, users are empowered to drive innovation, and quickly.

How can the technology sector build resilience into supply chain management during times of global uncertainty?

Reacting and rebounding in a crisis requires resilience. Tapping into diverse partner and alliance networks in a rich ecosystem provides agility and the opportunity to experiment with new collaboration models, source new suppliers, discover new resources and ultimately build more resilient supply chains.

Good supply chain management means responding quickly to operational disruption and having a flexible contingency plan in place. But to be truly resilient, a supply chain must forecast and anticipate disruptions, or potentially avoid them altogether. Technology is leading the charge on this by giving teams access to reliable insights in real time to empower better decision-making for immediate and future situations.

Sian Senior joined SAP as Senior Legal Counsel in 2012. She has held multiple customer-focused roles in her tenure, including being part of the SAP Global Initiatives team for over four years. She is passionate about driving and fostering trusted customer relationships and dedicated to creating a strong team culture.