ASUG Talks

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This week on ASUG Talks, SAP CEO Christian Klein joins Geoff Scott, ASUG CEO and Chief Community Champion, for a discussion about the ever-evolving place AI has in the SAP ecosystem, Christian's thoughts on current global business disruptions impacting SAP customers, and the future of SAP careers. 

Key Insights

• The disconnect between the perception of AI and practical, real-world execution using these solutions
• The importance data sovereignty plays for enterprises as they contend with volatile business conditions
•  How current SAP innovations are reshaping the way SAP professionals approach their work

Related Insights 

• Read ASUG editorial's piece about how the recent integration of SmartRecruiters  with SAP SuccessFactors HCM Suite "establishes the foundation for a fully connected talent architecture, where hiring decisions, skills intelligence, and workforce planning can operate as one system." Read more here. 
• Join ASUG on March 19 for a Utilities Community Conversation where BC Hydro will walk attendees through how it's using SAP solutions to turn strategy into action. Register here. 

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• Subscribe the weekly First Five newsletter
• Find your local ASUG Chapter 
• Register for ASUG Tech Connect

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This week on ASUG Talks, we air the first in a three-part series focused on change management. ASUG VP of Content, Patty Brown, is joined by two seasoned change management professionals who off their perspectives on how enterprises should jumpstart their OCM strategies to set a foundation for success further in the technology adoption process. 

Key Insights

• The importance of kicking off OCM strategies early 
• How to obtain early buy-in from end users and organizational leadership
• Common early hurdles in OCM operations--and how to overcome them 

Related Insights 

• Read about how the ASUG Campus Connect program brings together ASUG’s expansive community of businesses running SAP with the academic network of SAP University Alliances
• Register to join ASUG on March 12 for an interactive ASUG Cloud ERP Community Conversation that will provide a clear, practical overview of the AI capabilities already embedded in SAP S/4HANA

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• Subscribe the weekly First Five newsletter
• Find your local ASUG Chapter 
• Register for ASUG Tech Connect

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This week on ASUG Talks, we learn how HP leveraged RISE with SAP to implement a single global SAP S/4HANA instance. Ramesh Gopinath, Senior Director of ERP and Workflow Platforms, joins the podcast to walk listeners throughout how the organization prioritized cross-organizational collaboration and managed critical systems downtime for maintenance during this digital transformation. 

Key Insights 

• HP's experience using RISE with SAP
• How the company approached testing
• Communicating with end users

Related Insights 

• Read how Heartland Dental used SAP Build Work Zone to enable 6,000 business assistants supporting patients and doctors
• Join ASUG on March 5 for a community conversation focused on beginning to use SAP AI

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• Subscribe the weekly First Five newsletter
• Find your local ASUG Chapter 
• Register for ASUG Tech Connect

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This week on ASUG Talks, we talk with PepsiCo, as the organization is set to begin leveraging SAP Business Data Cloud. Prasad Suram and Venkat Nalabothu, two of the organization's IT leaders who are involved with the implementation, join the podcast to discuss their learnings, advice, and insights. 

Key Insights

• The importance of SAP BDC to PepsiCo's IT goals 
• How the organization is working to leverage the solution alongside its large SAP HANA database instance 
• Advice for enterprises about to begin leveraging SAP BDC

Related Insights

• Read ASUG's conversation with Hagen Heubach, CMO of Supply Chain at SAP, about how SAP solutions can help enterprises overcome disruptions like tariffs
• Register for an ASUG Community Conversation on Feb. 24 featuring customer perspectives on ERP transformation

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• Find your local ASUG Chapter 
• Register for ASUG Tech Connect

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This week on ASUG Talks, Geoff Scott, ASUG CEO & Chief Community Champion, sits down with the new SAP North America President, David Robinson. During their conversation, the two dive into David's background, responsibilities, and thoughts about IT innovation within the North American customer base. 

Key Highlights

• How David is working to help customer obtain--and maintain--a "persistent innovation state" 
• The ways AI is reshaping ERP software
• How software evaluation and purchasing are moving beyond RFP-driven processes

From the ASUG Community

• Read ASUG editorial's FAQ on compatibility packs and the upcoming May expiration date
• Dive into new ASUG research focused on SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) adoption

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• Find your local ASUG Chapter 
• Register for ASUG Tech Connect

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The ASUG Research team joins the podcast to break down its recent research project focused on change management. We dive into how members of the ASUG community are approaching change management, and the hurdles they are reporting when rolling these strategies out along side large scale digital transformation projects. 

Key Insights

• The large volume of change management projects in the ASUG community
• The importance of executive buy-in and organizational communication to change management success
• Overcoming resistance to change

Related Insights

• Read our conversation with Weyerhaeuser CIO Rebecca Straka about the organizations transition from SAP ECC to SAP S/4HANA
• Join the ASUG BTP Community on Feb. 17 for a community conversation focused on the SAP Build portfolio

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SAP announced its Q4 and full year 2025 financial results last week. Analysts Joshua Greenbaum and Jon Reed, along with ASUG Senior Editor Isaac Feldberg, join ASUG Talks to discuss their key takeaways and highlights from the financial results call. 

Key Insights

• Why these reports matter to SAP customers
• More about the stock price drop triggered by missed cloud growth goals 
• How SAP's business AI play factored into the financial results 

Related Insights

• Read ASUG's full breakdown of the financial results
• Gain insights from Yaad Oren, Managing Director of SAP Labs U.S. and Global Head of Research and Innovation at SAP SE, about disruptions in the ERP market

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In the second part of our "Setting the Stage for AI" series, Anurag Barua and Paul Modderman join the podcast to follow up their advice from the previous episode for enterprises seeking to establish a solid, sound foundation for leveraging AI solutions. 

Key Insights

• The importance of change management in enterprises' AI journeys
• Steps to overcome AI trust issues
• How to adopt a "human-centric" approach to AI adoption. 

Related Insights

• Read about how SAP is striving to make Joule the "process-native" copilot for organizations in the utilities industry
• Register for the SAP BTP and AI Community Kick Off webcast on Jan. 28

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This week on ASUG Talks, we kick of the first in a two-part series focused on what critical steps organizations should take as they begin their AI journeys. 

Anurag Barua and Paul Modderman return to the podcast after their episodes focused on agentic and generative AI to offer their insights on this critical first steps. 

Key Insights

• How to approach budgeting 
• The importance of AI centers of excellence 
• How to develop and enable AI "sherpas" in your organization

Related Insights 

• Read about the recent SAP S/4HANA compatibility pack extension 
• Read ASUG CEO & Chief Community Champion Geoff Scott's thoughts on how enterprises should approach de-customization as the SAP ECC end-of-maintenance deadline approaches

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• Find your local ASUG Chapter 
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In a follow-up to the live episode of ASUG Talks recorded at ASUG Tech Connect last November featuring questions submitted by the conference's attendees, ASUG CEO & Chief Community Champion, Geoff Scott is joined once again by analysts Joshua Greenbaum and Jon Reed. They dive in to those submitted questions left unanswered. 

Key Insights:

• The part ERP systems play in an IT environment 
• How enterprises can facilitate SAP S/4HANA user readiness
• The best SAP Cloud ALM features

Related Insights

• Listen to the trio's first episode addressing ASUG Tech Connect attendee questions
• Dive into ASUG's recent interview with Jan Gilg
• Register to join the first ASUG SAP BTP and AI Community meeting of the year on Jan. 28

More from ASUG 

• Subscribe the weekly First Five newsletter
• Find your local ASUG Chapter 
• Register for ASUG Tech Connect