On September 24, the SAP AppHaus Palo Alto team celebrated the reopening of its creative co-innovation space, welcoming customers, partners, scholars, alumni, and executives. In the two days following the reopening, almost all members of the SAP AppHaus Network came together for a global meet-up, joining from Asia, Latin America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
The SAP AppHaus Network consists of SAP and partner locations spread around the globe. Together, all 24 locations work with a human-centered approach to innovation built with SAP Business Technology Platform (SAP BTP). They are united in their conviction that sustainable innovation is based on five key enablers: people, process, place, leadership, and technology.
The Newly Designed SAP AppHaus Palo Alto
SAP AppHaus Palo Alto adds a distinct opportunity for innovation in Silicon Valley. According to Andreas Hauser, senior vice president and head of SAP AppHaus Network, “For many companies, innovation centers are like a gallery where they display their software. But SAP AppHaus is different. We collaborate with customers to understand how the latest and greatest technology can help their businesses run better and drive impact. And we keep that engagement going to make sure they succeed.”
The new creative space on the SAP campus in Palo Alto includes a dedicated design thinking area for customer innovation workshops, a garage breakout space that can be used to expand the workshop space, two meeting rooms, a maker space, a pop-up library, and a coffee lounge for connecting and relaxing. The space is designed to work with customers in a creative space, be it in person, virtually, or in a hybrid setup.
Grand Reopening Celebration
Presented and moderated by Hauser, Uwe Palm, head of SAP AppHaus Palo Alto, and Sally Lawler Kennedy, senior director of Innovation & Customer Experience at SAP AppHaus Palo Alto, the evening program offered a diverse mix of innovation and design topics from customer and local ecosystem perspectives:
- Robert Strong, comedian, magician, and author, captivated the audience with his magic act, creating a memorable event opening.
- Kulmeet Bawa, chief revenue officer for SAP Business Technology Platform, hosted a fireside chat on accelerating innovation with SAP BTP with Omar Mitchell, vice president of Sustainable Infrastructure and Growth Initiatives, NHL.
- There was a panel discussion called “Driving Human-Centered Design and Innovation, Accelerated Through AI” with Sam Yen, chief innovation officer, JPMorgan Chase & Co; Alissa Sylvestre, VP UX and Design, ConvergentIS, SAP AppHaus Calgary; Gavin Quinn, founder and CEO, Mindset Consulting, SAP AppHaus Minneapolis; and Luke Nixon, chief operating officer, SAP Labs US.
- The “Designing Better Tomorrows” keynote was done by Lisa Kay Solomon, author and designer, Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University.
Almost all SAP AppHaus Network members from around the world came to celebrate and commemorate the occasion together with customers, partners, and SAP attendees. The evening event provided networking prior to the two-day meet-up.
The Partner Meet-Up
On the first day of the global SAP AppHaus Network meet-up, Bawa and Thorsten Leiduck, global head of SAP BTP Ecosystem, welcomed SAP AppHaus Network members. These 21 members, representing more than 20,000 employees globally, share the passion for human-centered innovation powered by SAP BTP. Both executives underlined the importance of the partner ecosystem for SAP. In a lively dialogue, partners asked questions about SAP’s strategy, discussed their role in SAP’s future, and shared ideas and joint opportunities.
Looking back, Leiduck recaps: “During the SAP AppHaus Network partner meet-up, my open exchanges with many SAP partners from around the globe were invaluable. The conversations underscored the energy and excitement of our ecosystem and our partners’ commitment to deliver value to customers. It was inspiring to hear how network members – who are all experts in customer co-innovation – create business impact by building upon SAP BTP. I’m looking forward to the next global SAP AppHaus Network meet-up in 2025!”
From AI Workshops to Learning Sessions and Speed Dating
The two-day partner event allowed for an open and broad exchange on the latest innovation formats, tools, and methodologies all made available in the innovation toolkit.
Democratizing Innovation Methods
The innovation toolkit offers free resources to help organizations practice innovation on a daily basis. Whether companies are just starting an innovation project or want to install a culture of innovation, the methods and learning material can guide them through their innovation journey. Latest innovation formats, tools, and methodologies are made available as learning material, templates, and other guidance in the innovation toolkit.
The latest SAP Business AI Explore and Discover & Design workshops took center stage. Recurring themes throughout the event were how partners can support customers to take full advantage of SAP BTP and SAP’s clean core strategy. They also shared best practices to increase demand generation. In the end, all this knowledge sharing will lead to enhanced opportunities for SAP customers to benefit from this global network of co-innovation experts, regardless of where they are geographically or in their digital transformation journeys.
Following the SAP AppHaus motto “work hard, play hard,” there was time scheduled to get to know members from other geographies because nothing can replace personal exchange. To round out the program, the community gathered for evening excursions in the Silicon Valley. One of the highlights was the evening visit to d.school at Stanford University, which included some surprising encounters when meeting the d.school founders at work.
Imke Vierjahn is communications lead of SAP AppHaus, T&I Integrated Communications.