*** Hasso & me. About a short conversation with Hasso Plattner ***
At today's SAP Annual General Meeting of Shareholders, co-founder Hasso Plattner stepped down as chairman and retired from an active role in the company after over five decades. This marks a monumental shift in SAP's history, with Plattner's influence on the company's growth and success being comparable to that of Larry Ellison at Oracle and Steve Jobs at Apple.
During my 12 years at SAP, primarily in Consulting and Customer Advisory, my personal interactions with Hasso Plattner were naturally very limited compared to those of colleagues in development. Nonetheless, my brief encounters with him left a lasting impact on my professional life and approach to work:
Over a decade ago, I was the program manager for one of the first large enterprise implementations of the then infant-HANA, a project with a high-profile DAX client as pilot customer. Given the project's importance, I had to report the status occasionally directly to then-SAP board member Bernd Leukert.
The project had a bumpy start, with technical issues and teething problems typical of such revolutionary new technology. One day, while driving on the autobahn (at unreasonable speed), I received a call from an unknown Walldorf number. To my astonishment, it was one of Hasso Plattner's assistants, who informed me that Hasso was on the line and wanted to speak with me.
Striving to maintain control of the car from the surprise and safely move to the right lane at a reduced speed, I took the call.
Hasso greeted me friendly and asked for a brief status update on the implementation of "his HANA". I provided an impromptu report, outlining the current status, issues, and the measures we were taking to resolve them.
He listened intently, asked precise and insightful questions, and never made me feel inferior or pressured despite every word spoken oozing natural authority and his larger than life personality. His technical brilliance, hands-on approach, and genuine interest in the project's details and the individual customer experience were evident and beyond impressive.
He approved the measures, thanked me and left the call.
For me, this very brief but impactful interaction demonstrated Hasso Plattner's intellectual rigor, technical vision, and his dedication to SAP's success.
This particular conversation left a lasting impression on me. It offered a glimpse into the personality of a man instrumental in developing enterprise applications that drive global business and shaping SAP into a €32 billion revenue company.
Because he cared. For the details.
Hasso Plattner's retirement marks the end of an era, but his legacy and personality will continue to guide SAP into the future.
P.S: The implementation was (of course) a success 😉 😎 and turned my personal career towards HANA and SAP S/4HANA.
#sap
Product Expert | SAP SE | We 🖤 ABAP Cloud | Speaker
1moThanks Niyousha Mansourgarakani for your visit 🤩and the time we spent together this week. We will definitely continue our #SAPBuild + #ABAPCloud collaboration 🙌 and we plan to visit you and the team in Berlin soon 😎.