CSO BACK STORY - Weinreb Group

Peter Graf, SAP:Business Veteran, Sustainability AmbassadorPeter Graf, 44, loves teaching, publicspeaking and technology. His father,a science teacher by profession anda technophile at home, taught Graf toembrace change and to appreciate thevalue of resources. “We weren’t the mostwell-to-do but he really added depth ofthought to everything we consumed,” hesays.Graf went on to a master’s degreein computer science, a master’s inengineering and topped it off with a PhDin artificial intelligence.With this understanding of processesand systems, today Graf leads softwaremakerSAP’s sustainability team and isthe company’s first Chief SustainabilityOfficer. A company veteran, he startedworking at SAP in 1996, and mostrecently served as its EVP for Marketingbefore being named CSO.While he wasn’t an external hire for theCSO role, the title was, in fact, a newventure for SAP, a strategic decision inresponse to market forces, accordingto Graf. “It was clear from the startthat the sustainability topic is going tobe big,” he says. What followed was aone-hour meeting with SAP’s CEO in2008 and a six-month exploration of theopportunities around sustainability.“I met [the CEO] in July 8, 2008. My newrole was then publicly announced onMarch 2, 2009.”We asked Graf to describe theindicators that something is going tobe “big”. “Sustainability is similar inimpact and transformational power asprevious business megatrends such asglobalization or the introduction of theinternet in business. They are inevitable,irreversible and foundational. That’swhy building sustainability into SAPsolutions can really change the world,”he says. Also starting to become clearwas the intense competition brewing inthe software sector to push sustainableproducts out to the market. “As themarket leader in enterprise software,we are condemned to stay ahead of thecurve,” Graf acknowledges.“The real challengeis making your corporatestrategy a sustainableone rather than onlycreating a sustainabilitystrategy.”-Peter GrafGraf’s ability to observe externalforces and leverage them into internalopportunities isn’t the only quality thatmakes him an ideal CSO candidate.His tenure at the company was crucialin driving sustainability on the board’sagenda -- and today helps him getstakeholders on the table and programsinto implementation faster.“The ability of a CSO to influence anddrive sustainability is correlated to theirability to drive value for the company,”he says. To date, SAP has avoided aquarter of a billion dollars in costs dueto its internal sustainability efforts. Butit has also helped create the market forsustainability solutions for its customers.“SAP’s corporate mission of helpingthe world run better ties perfectlyinto sustainability. In fact, we seesustainability as our purpose,” he says.His advice for aspiring sustainabilitymanagers and directors: “The realchallenge is making your corporatestrategy a sustainable one rather thanonly creating a sustainability strategy.”CSO Back StoryWeinreb Group