We're all on a learning curve when it comes to AI, says SAP CEO Christian Klein - and, yes, that includes SAP

Earlier this month the Financial Times ran an op ed piece authored by SAP CEO Christian Klein in which he addressed - and dismantled - the dreaded ‘SaaSpocalypse’ narrative so beloved of Wall Street and other armageddon pedlars.

In the piece, Klein wrote:

Every major platform shift follows the same pattern. Early on, value accrues to the lowest layers of the stack: the compute, the models, the infrastructure. The shovels in the gold rush. Over time, value migrates upward to the application layer, where technology translates into business outcomes.

It’s a journey, in other words, a cliché perhaps, but one that is a cliché because of the underlying truth that bears repetition. As SAP release its Q1 numbers, and with the annual Sapphire conference looming next month, Klein returned to some of his thesis in a post-results announcement conference call with analysts.

The emphasis was very much about how early in ...