SAP’s CTO steps down over inappropriate behaviour

Enterprise application company SAP SE’s chief technology officer (CTO) has stepped down because of unprofessional conduct. Juergen Mueller who has been with the company for over a decade now, said in an internal email on Tuesday that he takes full responsibility for “inappropriate” behaviour at a past company event. “I regret being inconsiderate and sincerely apologize to everyone affected,” Mueller wrote.

"We thank Jürgen Müller for his significant accomplishments and wish him well in his future endeavors," said Pekka Ala-Pietilä, chairman of SAP's supervisory board.

Neither the company nor Mueller has offered further comments on the nature of the incident and the behaviour that led to the CTO’s departure from the company. Chief executive officer (CEO) Christian Klein will take over the responsibility of board’s technology and innovation activities. Thomas Saueressig, a member of the executive board will handle Mueller’s team in global security and cloud compliance.

Mueller joined the company as the head of Innovation Center Network in 2013. As per company’s statement, Mueller played a key role in establishing SAP Business Technology Platform (BTP) that helps customers build cloud-based applications and integrate services across SAP. Notably, SAP renewed Mueller’s contract in April, extending his tenure as the CTO till the end of 2027. “We thank Juergen Mueller for his successful work to date and are convinced that he will continue to ensure SAP’s innovation capabilities in the future,” said Hasso Plattner, chairman of SAP at the time of the announcement.