Software AG - Executive of the Year - Computer Software

Company: Software AG
Entry Submitted By: PAN Communications
Company Description: Software AG is the software pioneer of a truly connected world. Since 1969, it has helped 10,000+ organizations use software to connect people, departments, systems and devices. Software AG empowers truly connected enterprises using integration & APIs, IoT & analytics and business & IT transformation.
Nomination Category: Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Executive of the Year - Computer Software

Nomination Title: Sanjay Brahmawar, CEO, Software AG

Sanjay Brahmawar joined Software AG as CEO in 2018 after an already illustrious career in enterprise tech with positions at IBM, PwC, Fedex, DSM and Honda. In 2019, after one year with the company, he ushered Software AG into its 50th year of operation, leading the company into a new era of digitalization at a time when disruption drives companies to deliver superior, connected customer experiences. To position Software AG as a leader in this new era, Sanjay announced the ambitious Helix Transformation, a multi-year journey to convert the company to a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) based model.

While this ongoing transformation has been undertaken by other companies before, perhaps none have faced the same challenge as the public Germany-based enterprise company. With over 4,700 employees in 41 countries and representing 77 nationalities, the Helix Transformation not only required a sales model shift, but a people and cultural transformation, changing processes and driving internal buy-in to the new model. Software AG marked the one-year anniversary of the transformation during the COVID-19 pandemic and recently celebrated year two.

As a result of Sanjay’s vision, strategy and leadership over the last three years, the company has seen annual recurring revenue (ARR) up 10 percent year-over-year, driven by sixth consecutive quarters of double-digit bookings growth within its Digital Business, which come from the new subscription model. In Q4 2020, bookings growth was up 19.2% indicating continued success with the transformation.

As a CEO, Sanjay passionately believes global collaboration and partnerships are key to the company’s growth and success. As such, he’s prioritized forging bonds of trust with industry partners across verticals - at organizations like Maccabi Health Services, Infineon, Cotham Technologies, Adobe, Deutsche Telekom and more - to deliver enhanced solutions to customers and tackle some of the largest societal challenges through integration and IoT technologies.

In 2021, Sanjay oversaw the launch of the Software AG partner program, PartnerConnect, empowering partners via self-service enablement so they can deliver the products, solutions and services their customers need. Through the program, more than 10,000 customers worldwide - including 70 percent of the Fortune 1,000 – and in more than 70 countries have access to Software AG’s expertise and experience.

Under his leadership, Sanjay signed the Open Data Initiative (ODI) initiative as a member of the Partner Advisory Council (PAC). Originally announced by Microsoft, Adobe and SAP last year, the ODI aims to help companies transform their customer experiences through real-time insights delivered from the cloud. Software AG joins a growing roster of enterprise software companies contributing to the initiative. Similarly, Sanjay signed The Open Industry 4.0 Alliance in 2019, which was started in an effort to accelerate the creation of value on the journey to digitalization.

In his 20 years’ experience as an executive, Sanjay’s learned the crucial role DEI plays in building an environment that stimulates creativity and innovation, and as such, is dedicated to improving diversity and inclusion. In 2019, he committed to nurturing an inclusive culture across the company’s employee base – with a diverse range of thoughts, experiences and skill sets – and as a result, helped increase the female population within Software AG, which now comprises 30% of their workforce.

Sanjay is a member of the Board of Trustees at Frankfurt School of Finance & Management in November 2020, which was recently named the best business school for Executive Education by Der Stern magazine. He has also a thought leader, sharing his vision on the value of the connected IoT ecosystem and his obsession for customer-centric innovations to deliver unprecedented organizational performance.

Summary:

-Introduced the Helix Transformation to transform the global company’s model to a subscription-based model
-Introduced a DEI initiative in late-2020 to encourage employees to share ideas, experiences and suggestions in a global workshop. Results were used to draft global and regional diversity concepts and activities.
-Increased representation of women in the company to 30% of the total global workforce.
-Joined The Valuable 500 initiative, an organization focused on inclusion for people with disabilities, and participated in the Initiative for Women into Leadership organization.
-In 2020, received an excellent rating as a “Great Place to Work in Women” and ranks in the top 50 employers for women in India.
-Oversaw the launch of the PartnerConnect partner program to empower the company’s 10,000 customers.
-Signed the Open Data Initiative (ODI) initiative as a member of the Partner Advisory Council (PAC).