Clas Neumann named President, SAP Labs India
Kush Desai Named Managing Director, SAP Labs India
V. R. Ferose Named Managing Director, SAP Labs India
Georg Kniese assumes the role of Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Research & Breakthrough Innovation, at SAP AG
Bangalore — SAP Labs India has announced major changes in their management here in India with immediate effect. Clas Neumann has been appointed President of SAP Labs India in addition to his responsibility as Senior Vice President for SAP's latest product, SAP Business ByDesign. By vesting development line responsibility and that of local representation in one individual, SAP hopes to achieve a tighter alignment with all the projects and decisions made in its labs around the globe and get them to create a greater impact in its global R&D network. In addition, SAP Labs India will now have two Managing Directors reporting to Clas. Acting as the head of the legal entity for SAP Labs India and responsible for running the nearly 4000 employee strong main hub in Bangalore will be Kush Desai, the former Chief Financial Officer of the company. The additional MD responsible for the North hub in Gurgaon, which currently has about 500 engineers and is slated as the future growth center for SAP Labs India will be V.R. Ferose, who has recently relocated from the German HQ of SAP AG to take over this new responsibility.
The appointment of Kush Desai and V.R. Ferose as Managing Directors is a significant milestone in SAP Labs' operations in India. Their promotion highlights SAP's strong confidence in the key Indian talent that has played a pivotal role in the successful decade of research and product development for the company in India so far.
"Kush and Ferose have made significant contributions in the growth of SAP – they are the right managers at the right time to enhance SAP's footprint in India," said Georg Kniese, Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Research & Breakthrough Innovation, who served as MD for Labs India for the last three years and is now getting promoted to his new role at SAP's HQ.
"It is an incredibly important time for SAP Labs India. We see ourselves leading all technology majors in town when it comes to innovation, R&D and product development. While we may not grow through headcount as strongly as in the past, we intend to grow even more aggressively in the knowledge space. That is how we justify our title as an innovation hub for SAP." said Clas Neumann, President, SAP Labs India.
Kush Desai, the new Managing Director, SAP Labs India said, "Moving into this role and leading an organization of such strategic importance highlights the limitless opportunities that are open for any deserving employee at SAP. We are very keen to make a difference to further the powerful work already being done at SAP Labs India."
Added V.R. Ferose, also Managing Director, SAP Labs India, "I am sure that our prior experience working within SAP, and the familiarity with the SAP culture would help us drive more key initiatives to strengthen Labs India's stature as a knowledge hub."
SAP Labs India represents about 25% of SAP's global R&D and Support & Service organization, and is the largest Lab for SAP outside of its HQ in Germany.
