Appointment
SAP taps Israeli executive to lead global AI push
Orna Kleinmann steps into senior role as the company deepens its cloud and AI strategy.
German software giant SAP has appointed Orna Kleinmann, head of the company’s development center in Israel, as global senior vice president responsible for AI activities on its cloud platform.
Following the appointment, Kleinmann will step down from her role leading the local development center, and the company is expected to announce her replacement in the near future. She will become the most senior Israeli executive at SAP.
In her new role, Kleinmann will oversee teams in Israel and globally, leading the development of critical infrastructure at the core of SAP’s artificial intelligence systems. SAP’s cloud platform, known as SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP), integrates automation capabilities, business application development, and enterprise processes, increasingly powered by AI agents designed to transform how organizations operate. Against this backdrop, Kleinmann’s appointment is seen as a key step in strengthening the leadership driving SAP’s AI transformation.
Kleinmann served for 12 years as Managing Director of SAP Labs Israel, doubling the location size, building and transforming SAP in Israel from a regional development center into a global AI innovation hub through 11 acquisitions and a shift toward AI-native engineering.
SAP reported revenues of €37.8 billion in 2025. The company serves more than 400,000 organizations worldwide, whose operations account for approximately 84% of global trade. In the cloud segment, SAP’s platforms have more than 300 million subscribers, reinforcing its position as a global leader.
“I am honoured and excited to take on this new global responsibility and look forward to leading teams worldwide, redefine and shape how businesses will run in the age of AI,” said Kleinmann. “Technology is my forte and I am passionate about rewiring how large, distributed organizations think about technology — not just what they build, but how they build it, skills they hire, and where they look for what comes next.”
The appointment comes as SAP’s Israeli operations face a labor dispute. Management recently canceled the employees’ collective bargaining agreement, and three weeks of intensive negotiations with the union have failed to produce a resolution. The union announced sanctions on Tuesday, under which employees will stop handling system failures.
