Principal AI Architect (Office of the CTO)

We help the world run better
At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

Job Title: Principal AI Architect (Office of the CTO)

What you will do

We are part of the Office of the CTO (OCTO), and therefore we work on topics that directly support the SAP CTO’s mandate. We investigate front-runner technologies through research, experiments and proof-points that inform technical decisions. Our work includes technology strategy initiatives such as SAP’s AI-native North Star Architecture, along with technical investigations, coding experiments and the creation of Reference Architectures.

As a member of our team, you will drive key strategic initiatives and create reference architectures, using prototypes and experiments where needed to validate ideas. You will evaluate internal and external products, concepts and architectures, and contribute to concept and strategy papers. A strong combination of architectural thinking, abstraction skills and hands-on coding experience is needed for this role. You will work with product development and product management teams to accelerate the creation and customer adoption of reference architectures.

Your work will involve:

• Creating and publishing reference architectures for Data, AI, Platform and Agents on the SAP Architecture Center

• Evolving SAP’s AI-native North Star Architecture as technology, market trends and customer needs change.

• Exploring emerging AI technologies and open standards, including neuro-symbolic AI, knowledge graphs, Model Context Protocol (MCP), agent orchestration, Agent2Agent (A2A), RAG and other AI-native patterns.

• Building proof-points and providing architecture recommendations that inform company-wide build, buy and partner decisions, and influencing company-wide strategy.

• Contributing to SAP’s work with the Agentic AI Foundation and the development of open standards for agentic AI.

• Contributing to AI initiatives through InnerSource and working with teams across SAP.

• Working on non-functional aspects such as Security, HA/DR, Performance, and Reliability

• Contributing to architecture standards, decision records, concept notes, technical investigations and strategy documents.

What you bring

• 15+ years of work experience in software architecture design and development.

• Recognized expertise and thought leadership in one or more areas: AI, Data and Analytics, Cloud-native frameworks.

• Strong hands-on experience using AI coding tools and coding agents to rapidly build, test and review software.

• Expertise in programming language and environments such as Java, JavaScript, Python and other related technology topics.

• Experience with ML, model evaluation, observability and MLOps.

• Experience with modern enterprise data architectures, including SAP HANA, SAP Business Data Cloud, lakehouse patterns and platforms such as Databricks or Snowflake, is a plus.

• Experience in cloud platforms ( AWS, Azure or GCP) is preferred.

• Ability to lead and work with multiple teams.

• Strong analytical thinking, problem-solving and decision-making abilities. You should be able to drive key initiatives across board areas and provide clear technical direction.

• Strong presentation, articulation, and storytelling abilities

Meet your team

You will join the Office of the CTO (OCTO), the team that works on technology topics relevant to the entire company and product units and, in many cases, on ideas before they become mainstream inside SAP. We explore front-runner technologies, run experiments, build proof-points, and support CTO and Executive Board level strategic projects. A core part of our work is shaping and publishing Reference Architectures that guide how SAP and its ecosystem build interoperable and future-ready enterprise solutions. These architectures are externally published via the SAP Architecture Center and are consumed by customers, partners, and engineering teams across SAP.

You will work in an internationally blended team based in India, collaborating closely with peers in Germany and the USA. Because our topics are high-impact, strategic, and evolve rapidly, continuous learning, fast skill acquisition, and comfort with ambiguity are essential.

Bring out your best
SAP innovations help more than four hundred thousand customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with two hundred million users and more than one hundred thousand employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development. Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, you can bring out your best.

We win with inclusion
SAP’s culture of inclusion, focus on health and well-being, and flexible working models help ensure that everyone – regardless of background – feels included and can run at their best. At SAP, we believe we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each person brings to our company, and we invest in our employees to inspire confidence and help everyone realize their full potential. We ultimately believe in unleashing all talent and creating a better world.

SAP is committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provides accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment with SAP and are in need of accommodation or special assistance to navigate our website or to complete your application, please send an e-mail with your request to Recruiting Operations Team: Careers@sap.com.

For SAP employees: Only permanent roles are eligible for the SAP Employee Referral Program, according to the eligibility rules set in the SAP Referral Policy. Specific conditions may apply for roles in Vocational Training.

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to their age, race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, gender (including pregnancy, childbirth, et al), sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, protected veteran status, or disability, in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local legal requirements.

Successful candidates might be required to undergo a background verification with an external vendor.

AI Usage in the Recruitment Process

For information on the responsible use of AI in our recruitment process, please refer to our Guidelines for Ethical Usage of AI in the Recruiting Process.

Please note that any violation of these guidelines may result in disqualification from the hiring process.

Requisition ID: 458246 | Work Area: Software-Design and Development | Expected Travel: 0 - 10% | Career Status: Professional | Employment Type: Regular Full Time | Additional Locations: #LI-Hybrid