While Klein later walked back the comments, the clash struck at the heart of SAP’s struggle to elevate and retain women in some of its senior-most positions, including the former co-CEO and a one-time president of SAP’s operations in Asia. — AP
Christian Klein was in his second year as chief executive of SAP SE in January 2021 when he addressed a staff meeting to field questions about the imminent launch of a new push into cloud computing.
A staffer took Klein, 42, to task over female representation. “If gender equality and women in leadership is important to SAP, why are there no female speakers?” one employee asked through a moderator, concerning the event planned for the announcement later that month. Klein’s response took the audience aback.
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