The software giant announced several SAP executive appointments, including the promotion of SAP Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) CFO Gina McNamara to Regional CFO of SAP Asia Pacific.
During these times of disruptions, SAP has been an undeniable force, driving innovation and accelerating digital transformation through intelligent technologies and services across various industries worldwide. The German enterprise has received several recognitions for its remarkable contributions in the industry, which includes achieving the Leader position in both of Gartner Inc.’s Magic Quadrant for Data Quality Solutions and Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Integration Platform-as-a-Service reports. In the third quarter of 2021, SAP was given a total of 22 employer awards globally– eight for equality, seven for early career talent, four for work-life-balance, and three for the best workplace– validating the company’s commitment to supporting the success of its employees, customers, and partners.
Riding on the momentum of SAP’s consecutive wins in the tech industry and within the organisation, the company has recently announced several executive promotions in the areas of Finance, Diversity and Inclusion, Product Management, and Intrapreneurship to further reinforce its management team.
SAP Executive Appointments
Diversity and Inclusion
Supriya Jha, former Nasdaq Global Head of Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging, has been appointed Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer at SAP, effective 1st of November 2021. Jha expressed optimism and appreciation for her new role in SAP. She said:
“There is ample evidence that diverse and inclusive companies are more likely to make better, bolder decisions — a critical capability in a highly volatile world.”
Sabine Bendiek, Chief People and Operating Officer, Labor Relations Director, and member of the Executive Board, welcomed Jha and emphasised her critical role in the organisation. She commented:
“We are a global organisation and our employees come from more than 150 countries. We need all of them to contribute to our company’s success, and we know our people are at their best when they can bring their authentic selves to work. Supriya’s role is critical to creating inclusivity that reflects the diversity of our society.”
Regional Finance Posts
SAP ANZ CFO Gina McNamara has been promoted to Regional CFO, SAP Asia Pacific. She brings to the APAC team extensive experience as the CFO of the local operation since 2014, where she led an extended team of approximately 40 staff across core finance, legal and contracts, facilities, purchasing, and information technology. Since joining SAP in 2007, McNamara had held several executive positions in the company such as Financial Planning & Analysis Manager, APJ- Customer Assurance, Sales Controller, GFO Controller, Revenue Recognition Manager, and Commercial Finance Director.
Replacing McNamara in ANZ is Xuehui (XH) Chiu, who has led the APJ and Greater China Revenue Recognition Team since 2018. Since 2011, XH had held leadership roles in SAP, which includes Commercial Business Director for Australia and New Zealand and Senior Regional Revenue Recognition Specialist. Currently based in Singapore, she is a mentor in “The Advisory Mentorship Program” for students aged 16-28 in the city-state.
“It’s an incredibly proud moment when you see one of your leadership team being promoted into a regional role. Thank you for all you’ve done for the ANZ business Gina McNamara – look forward to watching your progression, as Regional CFO. I’m also thrilled to be welcoming Xuehui (XH) Chiu back to the ANZ business again, as ANZ CFO,” Damien Bueno, President and Managing Director, SAP ANZ, wrote on LinkedIn.
SAP ANZ has over 1800 staff and has achieved remarkable revenues of $1.15 billion, including cloud revenues of $286 million, last year. XH’s CFO role in ANZ has officially begun on the 1st of October while McNamara’s role in APAC started in August.
Catch McNamara and other SAP CFO’s Joel Bernstein, Customer Success & Head of Global Finance, and Roger Daoud, SAP Canada, for the SAP Track round table session of Blackline’s BeyondTheBlack 2021, a three-day virtual event (16-18 November) dedicated to advancing accounting and finance.
SAP S/4HANA Product Management
Arpan Shah, former General Manager and seasoned executive of Microsoft, has been appointed a new position at SAP as Senior Vice President of Product Management for SAP S/4 HANA Cloud, effective this month. SAP S/4 HANA Cloud is the company’s flagship cloud ERP application suite.
“I’ve had an opportunity to meet several SAP leaders over recent weeks. Their vision of what this transformation for customers can be is very inspiring. I’m excited to join the team and help shape how SAP’s innovations drive customer success. Like Microsoft, I think SAP has best-in-class products, a belief in a cloud mindset, and great people,” Shah wrote on LinkedIn. “I look forward to working with my new colleagues and engaging with SAP’s vibrant customer and partner community!
Shah brings to the table his broad experience in Azure infrastructure product marketing, Office 365 core product marketing as well as Microsoft Project and SharePoint product management.
SAP.iO Foundries and Intraprenuership Program
In May, former SVP and Head of SAP.iO Foundries Europe Alex Gorman took on the joint responsibility of being the Global Head of SAP.iO Foundries and SAP’s Intrapreneurship Program, which has currently just started its acceleration program with over 25 internal teams for different parts of SAP. An SAP veteran, she had held various SAP executive roles, including Global VP of SAP.iO Fund & Foundry, Head of SMB Ecosystem Europe, and VP Corporate Strategy.
“These two units are two sides of the same coin,” Gorman said, “as they both work closely with entrepreneurs and the scaling of ideas or solutions – SAP.iO Foundries with external startups, the intrapreneurship team with startup ideas that originated here with SAP employees. There are actually many synergies between the two teams that we are now in the process of building out and leveraging.”
