Christian Klein, the Davos Man

Unlocking growth by embracing the paradoxes of the intelligent age

Klein tries his hand at being a philosopher and mathematical logician. He claims to have discovered a paradox in the world of AI and believes that solving it will allow SAP's customers to grow unhindered. Readers of Klein's text on the World Economic Forums' website see parallels with the presumptuous claims made by former U.S. President Donald Trump.

In his text, SAP CEO Christian Klein addresses the atomization of society, yet he fails to mention the originator of this phenomenon. For reference: According to Wikipedia, Georg Simmel (1858–1918) was a German philosopher and sociologist. He contributed to the philosophy of culture and founded "formal sociology," urban sociology, and the sociology of conflict. Simmel was influenced by the philosophy of life and neo-Kantianism. In one of his major works, The Philosophy of Money (1900), Simmel assumes that money is exerting an increasing influence on society, politics, and the individual.

Christian Klein writes, “We’re more connected yet more isolated; flooded with information but uncertain of truth.” SAP CEO Klein describes this apparent paradox as follows: “As companies and governments face challenges around sovereignty, security and competitiveness, they need to embrace approaches that initially appear contradictory: investing boldly despite limited resources, sharing data while protecting it and competing while collaborating. These are not contradictions—this is the new operating model.”

However, in his text, Klein confuses "paradox" with "contradiction," which may be valid colloquially but is a veritable blunder philosophically and mathematically. A paradox is a function that is initially derived logically but ultimately contradicts the real world.

Achilles and the tortoise in the S/4 Hana release change

One of the best-known paradoxes is the race between Achilles, the fastest runner in ancient Greece, and the tortoise. Because Achilles is confident of his victory, he gives the tortoise a head start. When the starting shot is fired, Achilles quickly moves to where the tortoise started. Of course, the tortoise moves too. Achilles then covers the distance between himself and the tortoise. During this time, however, the tortoise also moves forward, and this continues indefinitely. The result is simple and logical: the distance between Achilles and the tortoise gets smaller and smaller (mathematically, an infinite series), but Achilles never catches up to the tortoise.

This image of Achilles and the tortoise, where it seems impossible for Achilles to reach the goal, is similar to the eternal quest of SAP customers for the final release upgrade. There is still a release change, an Abap modification, and an update!

Cloud, AI, and share price

After SAP's absence from CES, the world's most powerful tech event, at the beginning of the year, the SAP community was hoping for clear explanations from SAP Executive Board members Christian Klein and Thomas Saueressig on topics such as cloud computing, AI, and the disastrous share price at the World Economic Forum in Davos. However, in the Swiss mountains, US President Donald Trump eliminated the "Davos Man." See the 2022 book “Davos Man: How the Billionaires Devoured the World” by Peter Goodman for more information.

Of course, Klein, Saueressig, and the other captains of industry could not compete with Trump's loud cries. Therefore, staying away from Las Vegas proved to be a mistake. SAP made a strategic mistake by not using CES as an AI marketplace. Not only were all US IT and AI companies represented, but also leading German industrial companies, such as Siemens, Bosch, and Mercedes. All of these companies discussed the future of AI with Nvidia—except SAP. Does this ignorance explain SAP's disastrous share price, or does SAP simply not have an AI strategy?

SAP CEO Christian Klein increased the company's stock price with cloud computing. However, in the current age of AI, SAP is plummeting on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Does SAP need a new AI strategy, or does it need a new CEO? SAP has many AI solutions, but lacks a consistent strategy. Klein is approaching AI the same way many other IT companies are, but that seems insufficient for financial analysts and many SAP customers.