SAP Experts

Guests:

1. Jason Duarte
2. Shaquille Charles
3. Christine Aboud

Host:

Akshi Mohla – Senior Business Development Specialist, SAP S/4HANA Solution Management and GTM

Remembrance Day, also known as Veterans Day here in the US, is on November 11. And we at SAP Experts Podcast are celebrating by highlighting the journeys of two veterans who have transitioned from a military career to an SAP career. We also talk about the SAP veterans to work initiatives, and the how they help ease this transition.

My first guest, Jason Duarte is currently a Senior Sales Strategy and Operations Analyst at SAP Concur and has been with SAP for over 6 years, having previously worked as the Business Network Value Analyst at SAP Ariba.

He is passionate about helping veterans transition, and enabling employers to recognize the value they offer, having himself served 5 ½ years in the US marines.

My next guest Shaquille Charles has been a Combat Medic for the Army across various locations and leadership roles for the last 8 ½ years. He is now set to begin employment at SAP by the end of the month, as a customer relations associate.

Last, but definitely not the least, my guest, Christine Aboud, is the co-owner and CEO of of St. Michael’s Learning Academy (SMLA), which provides military-focused educational programs, that have, over 8 years, helped hundreds of veterans reintegrate into the civilian workforce by providing training in high demand skills like project management and SAP ERP systems.

As always, my name Akshi Mohla, and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast.

Veterans@SAP Remembrance Day Event:

• Internal registration- https://fiorilaunchpad.sap.com/sites#my-events&/event=11080790
• External link- https://broadcast.sap.com/go/vet

SAP Veterans to Work Program with SMLA:

• Website: https://www.mysmla.com/who-we-train/government/veterans-to-work/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/school/st-michaels-learning-academy/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smla.houston

Follow Jason: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jasonduarteusmc/
Follow Shaquille: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaquille-charles-082758122/
Follow Christine:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/christineaboud/

Follow Akshi:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshimohla/
Polywork: https://www.polywork.com/akshi

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Guests:

1. Rick Isom, Customer Solutions Director, West
2. Nick Goffi, Customer Solutions Director, Southeast Team Lead
   Host: Akshi Mohla – Senior Business Development Specialist, SAP S/4HANA Solution Management and GTM

At SAP, we provide the foundation for companies to become intelligent enterprises, enabling them to run better by growing more resilient, more profitable, and more sustainable. This requires visionary leaders who can ideate with customers on new and innovative solutions, to solve our customer’s most complex business problems. These leaders see the big picture and align the right people to right opportunities.

The customer solutions director or CSD at SAP, does all that and more. Which is why, today, I am joined by the CSD Dynamic Duo: Rick Isom and Nick Goffi!
Rick Isom is currently a Customer Solutions Director at SAP, where he has been since 2009. In this capacity, he acts as a trusted advisor providing consultations of digital and data solutions which enable companies to transform their business. Rick has spent over 20 years in consulting, sales and presales, selling and implementing Data Intelligence and Digital Business solutions. He lives in the San Francisco Bay Area occasionally working out of the Palo Alto and San Ramon offices.
Nick Goffi is a passionate change agent and advocate for harnessing the use of technology to drive business transformation and value-based outcomes for all companies (early-stage startup to established Fortune 500). He currently leads SAP’s presales efforts in the Southeast region where he helps customers adopt a digital first strategy to address the challenges of conducting a modern-day global business.
Prior to joining SAP, Nick was a presales leader for the world’s largest tax technology vendor and a consultant at Deloitte. He is an active California CPA and holds a Masters in Accounting and Taxation from the University of Southern California. He currently resides in Atlanta, GA with his wife and daughter.
As always, my name Akshi Mohla, and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast.

Open CSD positions in North America:

1. South: https://jobs.sap.com/job/Atlanta-Customer-Solutions-Director-GA-30326/705905301/
2. Mid-market, South: https://jobs.sap.com/job/Newtown-Square-Customer-Solutions-Director-Mid-Market%2C-South-PA-19073/708970901/
3. Mid-market, Midwest: https://jobs.sap.com/job/Newtown-Square-Customer-Solutions-Director-Mid-Market%2C-Midwest-PA-19073/708970701/
4. Calgary: https://jobs.sap.com/job/Calgary-Customer-Solutions-Director-AB-T2P-5E9/715222201/
5. Financial Services, Toronto: https://jobs.sap.com/job/Toronto-Customer-Solutions-Director%2C-Financial-Services-ON-M5K-1B7/715242301/

For other roles: https://jobs.sap.com/

Follow Rick:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rick-isom-86331a1/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/rickisom?lang=en

Follow Nick:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicholasgoffi/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ngoffi?lang=en

Follow Akshi:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshimohla/

Polywork: https://www.polywork.com/akshi

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Give us feedback or provide us your questions at [email protected].

Guests:

1. Saurabh Choudhuri – Sr. Global Director, SAP S/4 HANA Solution Management & GTM
2. William “Bill” Bowers – Global Vice President, SAP S/4 HANA Solution Management & GTM
3. Nabeel Siddiqui – Director, SAP S/4 HANA Solution Management & GTM

Host:

Akshi Mohla – Senior Business Development Specialist, SAP S/4HANA Solution Management and GTM

This episode of SAP Experts Podcast is a full-circle moment for me. That’s because the very first episode I ever hosted, by myself, for SAP Experts Podcast was about gamified approaches being a game changer in business consulting and learning. In that episode, I discussed how SAP uses gamification to collaborate with our customers, while enabling Business Value Identification.

And in today’s episode, we revisit that topic, but this time we take the leap from theoretical to practical. Today we will talk about how the SAP S/4HANA Virtual Board Game simplifies the solution discovery, as well as the business value identification for our current customers and prospective customers. And not just that, but this gamified approach also provides useful, tangible outcomes to the players. 

Which is why, today, I am joined by the brains behind this gamified approach, Saurabh Choudhuri.

Saurabh has over 13 years of Sales, Presales, Consulting & Agile Coaching experience in the IT industry, across various global firms.  Saurabh joined SAP in 2011 as a “Management Intern” and during his tenure, has worked on many key customer facing projects like SAP ByDesign product launch, Ariba Sales and today, Saurabh is part of the SAP S/4HANA Go-To-Market & Solution Management, as the Sr. Global Director leading the Gamified SAP Value Discovery Experience track.

Saurabh also has an entrepreneurial spirit and has cofounded 2 .COM companies. He has an MBA from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and executive management diploma in Leadership & Strategy from Harvard Business School. On a personal note, Saurabh enjoys spending time with his 2 little girls & wife and trying local cuisines while travelling.

We are also joined by two returning guests Bill Bowers and Nabeel Siddiqui. Because a radical, innovative approaches like this one require leadership and teamwork to become a reality, which is what Bill, Nabeel and yours truly, provided.

As always, my name Akshi Mohla, and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast.

SAP Virtual Board Game Links:
Introduction Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UAuxPHipr0

Blog: https://blogs.sap.com/2018/05/11/sap-s4hana-cloud-scope-reviewdiscovery-cards-game-approach-for-customers/   

Register for a free gamified SAP S/4HANA Discovery workshop: https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/b09978baa41c477bbfca0a949a362012

Follow Akshi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshimohla/
Follow Saurabh: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saurabh-choudhuri-715078a/
Follow Bill: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-bill-bowers-504ab61/
Follow Nabeel: http://nabeelsiddiqui.me/    

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Give us feedback or provide us your questions at [email protected].

Guest:
Elena Kvochko – Chief Trust Officer, SAP

Host:
Akshi Mohla – Senior Business Development Specialist, SAP S/4HANA Solution Management and GTM

October is the Cybersecurity month here at SAP, which is why, Chief Trust Officer, Elena Kvochko, is joining me today to share the importance of staying ahead in the security curve and how companies can build a culture of trust their customers.

The Chief Trust Office team spans four continents enabling secure digital transformation of clients across global cloud products. Prior to this, Elena served as Senior Vice-President and Technology Executive at Bank of America. Previously, she worked as a divisional Chief Information Officer at Barclays Bank. Her focus was on delivering the highest degree of privacy and security of customers and employees globally.

Elena also served as an affiliate fellow at Harvard Law School and worked at the World Bank headquarters in Washington DC. Her published work appeared in Forbes, Harvard Business Review, featured in the Wall Street Journal, the White House cybersecurity report, The New York Times, and multiple industry media.

She has invented patent-pending technologies in cybersecurity, privacy, and secure financial technologies, and with 30+ pending patents named a top inventor at Bank of America.

Throughout her career, she has been a strong advocate in national cybersecurity and technology diversity programs, and a lecturer and speaker at national and international Universities.

Elena is a member of the Board of Directors of Refugees International and a Patron of Carnegie Hall in New York.

And I am your host Akshi Mohla, and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast.

• SAP Trust Center: https://www.sap.com/about/trust-center.html  
• Follow Elena: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elenakvochko/
• Follow Akshi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshimohla/

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Give us feedback or provide us your questions at [email protected].

Guests:
Nabeel Siddiqui – Director, SAP S/4 HANA Solution Management & GTM
William “Bill” Bowers – Global Vice President, SAP S/4 HANA Solution Management & GTM

Host:
Akshi Mohla – Senior Business Development Specialist, SAP S/4HANA Solution Management and GTM

Here at SAP Experts Podcast, we continue celebrating the 1-year anniversary of the Value Starter. And while the first part, that is episode 82, was all about the vision and strategy behind the value starter, as well as the value it brings to SAP customers, this episode is all about digitization of that vision – the value starter digital platform.

Which is why, today, I am joined with Bill Bowers and Nabeel Siddiqui, two individuals who are instrumental in simplifying the SAP S/4HANA Move, with the power of digitization.

As always, my name Akshi Mohla, and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast.

My first guest, Bill Bowers, needs no introduction as this is his fourth time on the SAP Experts Podcast. He brings over 25 years of global industry and IT experience in sales, marketing, manufacturing, product management, business development and consulting, and is currently a part of the SAP S/4HANA go-to-market and solution management organization, where he leads the customer value & success team.

My next guest, Nabeel Siddiqui has six years of experience in the international software industry. He is the Director at SAP America, and he specializes in Strategy and Product Management. Nabeel’s experience has spanned across Product Development, Strategy, Product Management, and Marketing. He is a Duke Alum and has a master’s in engineering management.

An avid researcher of Enterprise Gamification, Internet of Things, NoSQL, he has authored many books, research journals, as well as patents, and has been awarded honors such as “Top Innovative Minds” and “Excellence at Innovation” for his work.

All of that on this episode of the SAP Experts Podcast.

• Value Starter Program links:
  • Introduction Video: https://sapvideoa35699dc5.hana.ondemand.com/?entry_id=1_d00ykyrk
  • Learn more: https://webinars.sap.com/s4-hana-value-starter-reg-platform/en/home

• Follow Akshi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshimohla/
• Follow Bill: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-bill-bowers-504ab61/
• Follow Nabeel: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mdnabeelsiddiqui/  

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Guest:

Tim McKnight – EVP and Chief Security Officer at SAP

Host:

Steven Spears – Product Marketing Manager at SAP CX

My name Steven Spears, great to back with you for another episode together. Today’s episode I have the opportunity to talk to Tim McKnight, EVP and Chief Security Officer here at SAP. Tim’s closing in on a 30 year career as a security professional both in government service and in industry, doing everything from cloning phones to penetration testing.

On this episode, we dive into Tim’s early career experience at the FBI, learn his key principles for a great cybersecurity strategy, talk both fishing and phishing, and much more.

All of that on this episode of the SAP Experts Podcast.

• Follow Steven: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-spears-57895388/
• Follow Tim: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothysmcknight/

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Guests:
Jan Gutknecht, Co-Founder SAP Hypergrowth Engagement

Host:
Timo Deiner, Office of the CTO SAP Germany

What are you thinking about when you hear SAP and startups? David vs Goliath? Nokia vs Apple – and who has the role of Nokia in this comparison? Or is it a perfect match? Startups have great -mostly purpose driven- ideas to make the world better and SAP’s mission is to help the world run better. Does an early-stage startup need SAP S/4HANA or any other SAP solution to reach its next level? We think yes. And we have a dedicated team at SAP which helps startups, so called hypergrowth startups, to boost their company together with SAP. My today’s guest is Jan Gutknecht, he is Co-Founder of the SAP Hypergrowth Engagement and we are talking about four pillars on startup engagements: language, speed, challenges and cultures.

All of that on this episode of the SAP Experts Podcast.

• Follow Jan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/janbgutknecht/
• Follow Timo: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timo-deiner/

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Guests:
1. Dr. Marcus-Alexander Funke – Chief Product Owner, SAP S/4HANA Value Starter
2. William “Bill” Bowers – Global Vice President, S/4 HANA Solution Management & GTM

Host:
Akshi Mohla – Senior Business Development Specialist, SAP S/4HANA Solution Management and GTM

Digital transformation can be overwhelming, as you juggle various options, decisions, and questions. SAP Value Starter is here to help your transition, by working with you to create your benefits case. It offers customers a tailored business value focused Point of view through an outside-in perspective and helps fosters understanding of the incremental value and capabilities to customers. Which is why, today, I am joined with Bill Bowers and Markus Funke, two of strategic forces behind this program.

As always, my name Akshi Mohla, and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast.

My first guest, Bill Bowers, has over 25 years of global industry and IT experience in sales, marketing, manufacturing, product management, business development and consulting working within both large & small companies such as: IBM, Trilogy, i2 Technologies and SAP. Bill’s professional focus has been to reduce time-to-market and time-to-value of highly differentiated businesses.  
He is currently a part of the SAP S/4HANA go-to-market and solution management organization, where he leads a customer value & success team.
On a personal note, Bill is originally from the USA and enjoys travelling, scuba diving, cooking and gardening but now calls Germany home with his wife and three dogs.

My next guest, Marcus Funke, is a part of the SAP oneMOVEMENT and the Chief Product Owner for the SAP S/4HANA Value Starter.
With this initiative he helps customers to understand why to make the move to SAP S/4HANA now highlighting the benefits and ROI enjoyed by other customers who have already made the MOVE.
Marcus joined SAP in 2001 and held a succession of customer facing and regional leadership roles in Europe, the Middle East and South Africa. His focus is productizing, scaling and rolling out services at large scale. 

All of that on this episode of the SAP Experts Podcast.

• Value Starter Program links:
  • Introduction Video: https://sapvideoa35699dc5.hana.ondemand.com/?entry_id=1_d00ykyrk
  • Learn more: https://webinars.sap.com/s4-hana-value-starter-reg-platform/en/home

• Follow Akshi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshimohla/
• Follow Bill: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-bill-bowers-504ab61/
• Follow Marcus: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcus-alexander-funke/

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Guests:
Ice Chan – Solution Advisor for Finance
Nazli Savasci – Solution Advisor for Finance
Eric Lavoie – Solution Advisor for Intelligent Spend Management
Akshi Mohla – Business Development Expert, SAP S/4HANA Solution Management & GTM

Host:
Victor Hoeck – Solution Advisory Specialist, Digital Supply Chain

My name is Victor Höck and today’s episode is very special to me, as it takes me right back to the first days of my career at SAP – the SAP Academy for Presales. I’m joined today by Nazli, Ice, Eric and Akshi, who are all graduates from the Academy like myself, and we’ll talk about what the Academy is, how this experience has helped shape our careers and how we still draw on the skills that we have acquired there. It’s a fun episode for everyone interested in presales, or how learning and early talent development works here at SAP.

All of that on this episode of the SAP Experts Podcast.

• SAP Academy for Presales: https://www.sap.com/about/careers/students-graduates/graduates/academy/presales-academy.html
• SAP Academy for Presales on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesapacademy/
• Follow Akshi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshimohla/  
• Follow Ice: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ice-chan/
• Follow Nazli: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nazl%C4%B1-sava%C5%9Fc%C4%B1-b5613093/
• Follow Eric: https://www.linkedin.com/in/e-lavoie/
• Follow Victor: https://www.linkedin.com/in/victorhoeck/

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Guests:
Steve Filus – Solution Advisor, SAP Business Technology Platform
Mark Filus – Business Architecture & Strategy Director, SAP North America

Host:
Akshi Mohla – Senior Business Development Specialist, SAP S/4HANA Solution Management and GTM

In a relay race, passing the baton properly from one player to the other, is just as important as the speed of the individual runners. Make an improper pass, and you get disqualified.

Similarly, our customer’s transformational journey, is enabled by specialists, both internal and partners, and relies on effective communication, comprehensive handover and seamless collaboration. Between SAP, partners and the customers, every step of the way. To illustrate this very point, I have not one, but 2 very special guests that represent 2 distinct point in the customer’s transformation journey – the Filus brothers – Steve and Mark Filus.  

As always, my name Akshi Mohla, and I am a Senior Business Development Specialist at SAP S/4HANA Solution Management and Go-to-market; and you’re listening to SAP Experts Podcast.

My first guest Steve Filus has a passion for people and technology hence, he has spent his entire professional career at SAP as a solution advisor supporting customers in their Digital transformation journey by leveraging the Business Technology Platform.​

Steve is a loving husband and proud father of 2 and holds a bachelor’s degree in IT from the University of South Florida.​

His brother, Mark Filus, is thought leader on streamlining business processes and simplification​, with over 8 years of Management Consulting experience. He is currently a Business Architecture and Strategy Director at SAP, and has over 16 large scale SAP implementations and upgrades across the globe​ under his belt.

I look forward to learning more about both of their unique perspectives and how their respective role collaborate to insure, seamless end-to-end innovation.

All of that on this episode of the SAP Experts Podcast.

• Follow Akshi: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akshimohla/
• Follow Steve: https://www.linkedin.com/in/stevefilus/
• Follow Mark: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mafilus/
• If you would like to support Mark in raising awareness and funding for The National MS Society: https://mssociety.donordrive.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=57031

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Give us feedback or provide us your questions at [email protected].