In a move that wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card, SAP has announced that chief marketing and solutions officer, Julia White, and chief revenue officer, Scott Russell, will be leaving the company’s executive board effective August 31st. This reshuffle comes off the back of what seemed like a highly successful event season and follows a strong quarterly performance for SAP – raising questions about the sudden exit of two prominent leaders and what this means for the company’s future.
Julia White, who joined SAP in 2021 from Microsoft as CMO for Azure, was the first to bring marketing onto SAP’s executive board, unifying product and global marketing to advance a cloud-first strategy. Scott Russell, with SAP since 2010, held key roles including president of SAP Asia Pacific Japan before joining the board in 2021 as the customer success leader, following major ERP leaders, including Bill McDermott.
The timing of this announcement is particularly striking. Last month, ERP Today attended SAP’s flagship Sapphire events, where the atmosphere showed no signs of an incoming divorce from White and Russell, who have become pseudo-celebrities in the SAP world. In fact, unity was on full display, with White and Russell playing central roles in various keynotes and discussions.
The official word from SAP stated that the departures were mutually agreed upon with the SAP Supervisory Board, but specifics about the reasons remain unclear.
Adding to the intrigue, SAP hasn’t mentioned looking for a replacement for White. Instead, it seems like they’re planning to dissolve the marketing and solutions board area altogether. In Q4, product marketing will be integrated with product engineering, and global marketing will report directly to the CEO’s office in the interim. This restructuring marks a seeming return to SAP’s previous organizational model, where marketing functions were embedded within product development teams.
In the meantime, CEO Christian Klein will oversee the sales organization while a search for Russell’s successor is conducted. Klein and the newly elected chairman of the supervisory board of SAP, Pekka Ale-Pietilä commented on the changes.
“In the context of SAP’s ongoing successful cloud transformation, the SAP Supervisory Board believes now is the moment to embark on the next era of growth,” said Ala-Pietilä. “We thank Scott Russell and Julia White for their significant accomplishments and wish them all the best in their future endeavors.”
“Scott and Julia have contributed significantly to SAP’s successful business transition in the cloud and our leadership in Business AI,” said SAP CEO Christian Klein. “I’m pleased to take this opportunity to thank them for their unwavering dedication to our clients and partners, and to join the Supervisory Board in wishing them all the best for the future.”
What could the future hold post-reshuffle?
Users have recently voiced frustrations over the company’s lack of transparency. This sudden and elusive decision could further erode user confidence, leaving many to question what might have precipitated these changes, especially in the context of the company’s strong financial performance and what seemed like a stable executive team.
As SAP navigates this transition, the company is pushing its commitment to its cloud-first strategy as Business AI remains a focal point of its new war cry – “Suite-first and AI-first.” But perhaps the promise of a new SAP era marks another notable shift; after pushing cloud-first for a number of years, private cloud now seems to be taking the backseat as the company peddles its public cloud-first solutions. With it comes a growing emphasis on partner-led go-to-market modular public offerings and scalable digital touch, while leveraging SAP’s advancements in Business AI.
The departure of White and Russell marks a significant shift in SAP’s leadership landscape and an apparent interest to return to the days of old for SAP. ERP Today will be closely watching how these changes impact the company’s future strategies and operations – and ultimately how it will affect its users, short and long-term.
In November 2024, White joined Amazon Web Services (AWS) as its Chief Marketing Officer, while Russell will join NICE as its Chief Executive Officer in January 2025.
