An interview with Karina Edmonds, Senior Vice President of Academic and Research Partnerships
Research partnerships with universities and research institutes are more than collaborations: they are a catalyst for innovation, says Karina Edmonds, Senior Vice President of Academic and Research Partnerships.
“Academic research partnerships give SAP access to university expertise and talent – and ensure faster product development,” she explains. The partnerships connect SAP with leaders in science and open doors to breakthroughs that shape the future of AI in enterprise technology.
A world in which generative AI no longer overwhelms developers. Where quantum computing as a service is a reality. In which intelligent agents make complex migrations to SAP S/4HANA routine. All of this is no longer a distant vision, says Edmonds. The SAP Research Services team is already helping development teams turn these ideas into concrete solutions.
The SAP Research Services team is an important part of SAP’s innovation strategy. The team coordinates partnerships with universities and research institutes, builds connections with leading institutions, and manages SAP’s participation in publicly funded projects, academic collaborations and doctoral research. The result: visionary ideas become practical solutions that bring companies great benefit. Whether it’s topics like AI-native architectures, quantum computing, highly personalized user experiences, or other leading questions, partnerships help keep SAP at the forefront of enterprise AI innovation.
Incorporate academic research into products and processes
At SAP, academic research is not just theory. It brings real benefits to companies. “Finding out who the top researchers are for certain strategic topics is a central part of my work,” explains Edmonds. “There is a lot of movement in this area. And the pace of change continues to increase. AI is the leading topic in our research agenda.”
SAP has a long tradition of incorporating academic research into product innovations. At the base, doctoral students bring academic know-how into products and fill the talent pipeline. Strategic partnerships ensure that SAP remains at the forefront of innovation. And initiatives like that Hasso Plattner Endowed Chair in AI at the University of California, Irvinecreate knowledge even outside of SAP.
Academic research enables SAP to “use decades of know-how from universities to offer customers better products and services,” explains Edmonds. This research could lead to fundamental improvements in SAP’s products, services and internal processes.
An important internal process, for example, is the developer experience (DevEx). Developers are increasingly using generative AI tools. This makes it even more important to avoid cognitive overload in order to maximize your productivity. But how much interaction is too much? SAP and the Hasso Plattner Institute have taken the initiative to clarify this Developer Experience at SAP with the study Wearables to Measure Developer Experience at Work brought into being.
Academic research at SAP takes many forms. There are doctoral students who are integrated into SAP teams and work on topics such as synthetic data, predicting the unpredictable and increasing performance while using fewer resources. At the same time, SAP works with leading universities on strategic projects. A recent example is a partnership with the University of California, Irvine. It explores how AI can be used to accelerate migration to SAP S/4HANA.
Outlook: Innovation for everyone
The SAP Research Services team also provides administrative support for SAP’s participation in publicly funded projects (PFP). These are predominantly financed by the German federal government or the European Commission.
SAP’s active participation in PFPs, for example the use of Quantum computing platforms in Germany, shows that SAP is keen to address some of the most complex challenges currently facing the world.
Under Edmonds’ leadership, research and academic collaborations are not just theory, but a powerful tool for innovation accessible to every team and employee at SAP.
“Innovation is for everyone. And as long as I have this role, all teams should have the opportunity to have access to academic research to improve products and processes,” she says.
