Episode 4: From the invention of SAP HANA to Clean Core in 42 minutes - Emma Qian and Prof. Alexander Zeier

04/07/25 • 92 min

Transformation Every Day

Guests:

Prof. Alexander Zeier - "The inventor of SAP HANA" formerly reporting to Hasso Plattner, CTO Accenture and Professor at MIT, now Chief Scientist and co-founder Novasoftware.AI
Emma Qian - Formerly Google DeepMind and Meta AI, now CEO Novasoftware.AI

Host:

Alexander Greb - Consulting Director - cbs corporate business solutions

In this episode, join Alexander Greb in an exceptional conversation with two outstanding tech visionaries: Professor Alexander Zeier, inventor of SAP HANA, and Emma Qian, co-founder of Nova AI and alumna of Google DeepMind and Meta AI.

In this episode, Alexander Zeier shares the gripping story behind SAP's most transformative innovation—SAP HANA—from its inception as Hasso Plattner’s visionary idea to becoming the backbone of modern SAP technology. Discover fascinating insights from the pioneering days, unexpected challenges, and groundbreaking decisions that shaped enterprise technology as we know it today.
Prof. Zeier has 30+ years of experience in SAP, is the co-inventor of SAP HANA, the „New Architecture“ powering S/4HANA, and served as Global CTO for SAP at Accenture over a decade to deliver many of the most complex S/4HANA Transformations, before he joined as a Co-Founder Nova AI.

Emma Qian then introduces us to Nova AI's revolutionary Agentic AI, designed to accelerate SAP optimization dramatically. Experience firsthand the astonishing power of this innovation, capable of condensing tasks that typically require years of consulting into mere minutes.

Explore how AI is fundamentally reshaping the role of SAP consultants and learn about the tremendous opportunities—and responsibilities—this brings for professionals and businesses alike.

All this and more, exclusively here on Transformation Every Day.

Follow Alexander Zeier: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azeier/
Follow Emma Qian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eqian99/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/nova-ai-software?trk=blended-typeahead

Follow Alexander: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexandergreb/
Follow Johannes: https://www.linkedin.com/in/johanneslangguth/
Thanks to Steven Spears for lending his voice for our podcast intro.
Theme music by Luis Álvarez a.k.a. Fourth Dogma

Guests:

Prof. Alexander Zeier - "The inventor of SAP HANA" formerly reporting to Hasso Plattner, CTO Accenture and Professor at MIT, now Chief Scientist and co-founder Novasoftware.AI
Emma Qian - Formerly Google DeepMind and Meta AI, now CEO Novasoftware.AI

Host:

Alexander Greb - Consulting Director - cbs corporate business solutions

Explore how AI is fundamentally reshaping the role of SAP consultants and learn about the tremendous opportunities—and responsibilities—this brings for professionals and businesses alike.

All this and more, exclusively here on Transformation Every Day.

Follow Alexander Zeier: https://www.linkedin.com/in/azeier/
Follow Emma Qian: https://www.linkedin.com/in/eqian99/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/nova-ai-software?trk=blended-typeahead

Previous Episode

Episode 1: Your New Podcast Journey Through the SAP Universe with Alexander Greb & Johannes Langguth

Welcome to the inaugural episode of the Transformation Every Day podcast! We are Alexander Greb (Consulting Director @ cbs – Corporate Business Solutions) and Johannes Langguth (Head of Business Transformation & Architecture @ SAP). In this first episode, we share our personal journeys and outline the vision for our podcast. We emphasize the importance of authentic, insightful conversations around digital transformation, reflecting on our own extensive experiences in the industry. Together, we explore the rapidly evolving technology landscape, the strategic value of enterprise architecture, and the essential roles that SAP and ecosystem collaboration play in successful transformations. Throughout the discussion, we highlight the crucial intersection between theory and practice, encouraging organizations to embrace technology as a powerful driver of transformation, not merely efficiency. We also touch on the growing impacts of AI, mobile technologies, and the increasingly strategic relationship between business and IT.

Chapters

00:00
Introduction to Transformation Every Day Podcast

02:46
The Need for Real Talk on Transformation

06:05
Understanding the Ecosystem of Transformation

08:51
Personal Journeys in Transformation

12:09
The Role of Technology in Transformation

15:03
Empowering Users Through Technology

18:08
The Academic Perspective on Transformation

23:01
Navigating Academic and Professional Paths

24:10
Experiences in University Life

26:23
The Disconnect Between Theory and Practice

27:32
The Evolution of Academic Approaches

29:27
The Role of Architecture in Business Strategy

30:34
Demystifying Architecture as a Strategic Domain

31:55
The Importance of Business-Driven Technology

34:11
The Impact of AI on Future Technologies

36:57
The Role of Mobile Technology in Daily Life

39:11
AI: Efficiency vs. Transformation

41:17
Behavioral Science in Business and IT Interaction

43:09
The Emancipation of Business from IT

44:47
Recommended Reading: Pivot to the Future

Next Episode

Episode 5: Executive AI Briefing - Andreas Welsch

Guests:

Andreas Welsch - SAP Alumni, Top 10 AI Advisor, Author of the bestselling "AI Leadership Handbook"

Host:

Alexander Greb - Consulting Director - cbs corporate business solutions

n this episode, join Alexander Greb in an exceptional conversation with Andreas Welsch. They talk about:
- Why real AI leadership is about culture, not just technology
- How agentic AI is reshaping the business landscape
- Why it's not about "adding AI" — it's about rethinking everything
-The biggest mistakes companies make when adopting AI
and The future skills everyone should start building today
Whether you're in tech, consulting, or leadership — this Executive AI Briefing will change how you think about innovation, strategy, and what’s next. On this episode of Transformation Every Day.
All this and more, exclusively here on Transformation Every Day.

Follow Andreas: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andreasmwelsch/
His website: https://join.intelligence-briefing.com/

Transformation Every Day - Episode 4: From the invention of SAP HANA to Clean Core in 42 minutes - Emma Qian and Prof. Alexander Zeier

Transcript

Alexander Greb (00:01.952)
Okay, how would you summarize your two days here until now in one word? Exhausting?
Yeah, was gonna say busy or exhausting. sounds good.
Alexander, what about you?
very busy days but also very positive days because there was a lot of client feedback interesting and also after our keynote yesterday, directly approached several people so it is an exciting day.
until you're getting traction.
Prof Alexander Zeier (00:36.322)
And also lot of interest,