'I see India as a clear winner in the next phase of globalisation'

SAP CEO Christian Klein, in an exclusive interview with Business Today, explains why businesses globally are looking towards India, and how the country can help address the talent challenge

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Christian Klein is bullish about India. The reason, he explains, is because in the current geopolitical circumstances, what companies are looking for is a market that has great talent and an environment to invest. And India has both, says the 43-year-old CEO and member of the Executive Board of SAP, the German enterprise technology and cloud solutions provider that had revenues of €30.87 billion in FY22, and whose solutions are used by over 400,000 businesses globally. In an exclusive interview with Business Today's Nidhi Singal, Klein opens up about the integration of Generative Al, India's skilled workforce and the next big thing in technology. Edited excerpts:

Q: We live in a VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) world. How do you see this impacting the global demand for and spending on technology solutions?

A: During my recent visit to India with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to meet Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi and the government, and to talk to companies [in India], what did we learn? They need technology to transform their businesses.

So, a big trend in India is the move to clean energy. Indian energy providers say they are interested in using technology to move to clean energy. Or take the very successful car manufacturers in India; they want to move into more mobility services... they want to change the way people buy and consume all the services inside and outside the car. They need technology for that.

Then consider the huge mid-market-the 60 million [small and medium enterprises, or SMEs] in India-they want to grow their business, and they need technology to help them to get their products and services from India to everyone in the world. And this is where technology can help.