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SAP TechEd Conference Activities
SAP Executive Keynote Speakers
Mandalay Bay Ballroom, Level 2, Mandalay Bay Convention Center
Tuesday, October 2 · 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.
Peter Zencke, Member of the SAP Executive Board
Peter Zencke has been a member of the Executive Board of SAP AG since 1993. He is currently responsible for the development organization of SAP's new application platform and architecture. His responsibilities also include the coordination of SAP's global research activities.
Zencke joined SAP in 1984, where he was responsible for systems analysis, consulting, and training. From 1988 to 1992, he was project manager for application development of SAP R/3 enterprise. Later, as head of development, Zencke was responsible for the area of logistics and the development of industry-specific solutions for oil and gas, consumer products, retail, and automotive sectors. He also oversaw SAP's activities in the Asia-Pacific region. Prior to his current role, Zencke was responsible for SAP Customer Relationship Management, achieving a leadership position for SAP's CRM application in the market.
Zencke began his career in academic research and teaching. He studied mathematics and economics at the University of Bonn, Germany, from 1971 to 1977. From 1977 to 1980, he continued as research assistant at the University of Bonn, Germany, and received a doctorate in 1980 for his work in mathematical modeling and numerical optimization. In 1982, Zencke was appointed assistant professor for mathematics and economics at the University of Trier, Germany, where he developed a new curriculum in business mathematics.
Zencke is a member of the governing board at the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad. He is also a member of the research council of the Institute of Media and Communication Management at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, and serves on the board of the WHU Otto Beisheim School of Management Foundation in Germany. In addition, he is chairman of the board of trustees at SAP Business School in Vienna. Zencke is also a member of the supervisory board of SupplyOn AG in Halbergermoos, Germany.
Vishal Sikka, Chief Technology Officer
Vishal Sikka is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of SAP.
Reporting directly to Henning Kagermann, Sikka is responsible for driving the company's technology and architecture strategy across its product portfolio. Sikka is ensuring a clear and harmonized roadmap for SAP products to deliver new innovations and increasing value to customers. As CTO, Sikka also leads the company's forward-thinking efforts around emerging technologies and is responsible for mapping SAP's next-generation architecture.
Prior to his role as CTO, Sikka was the senior vice president of architecture and Chief Software Architect at SAP, responsible for the roadmap and direction of the architecture of SAP's products and infrastructure. Prior to this role, Sikka was the head of the advanced technology group with responsibility for strategic innovative projects.
Before joining SAP, Sikka served as area vice president for platform technologies at Peregrine Systems (Remedy) responsible for application development and integration technologies and architecture. He joined Peregrine following the acquisition of Bodha, Inc., where he served as founder and chairman/CEO. Bodha developed technology for non-invasive, service-based integration of enterprise applications and for semantic information integration.
Sikka holds a Ph.D. degree in computer science from Stanford University and his experience includes research in automatic programming, information and application integration, and artificial intelligence at Stanford, Xerox Palo Alto Labs and two startups.
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