Principal AI Architect (Office of the CTO)

We help the world run better At SAP, we keep it simple: you bring your best to us, and we'll bring out the best in you. We're builders touching over 20 industries and 80% of global commerce, and we need your unique talents to help shape what's next. The work is challenging – but it matters. You'll find a place where you can be yourself, prioritize your wellbeing, and truly belong. What's in it for you? Constant learning, skill growth, great benefits, and a team that wants you to grow and succeed.

Job Title :  Principal  AI  Architect  (Office of the CTO)

We are part of the Office of the CTO ( OCTO ), and therefore we work on topics that directly support the  SAP  CTO’s mandate. We investigate front-runner technologies  t hrough research, experiments and proof-points that inform technical decisions.  Our work includes technology strategy initiatives such as  SAP’s AI-native   North Star Architecture ,  along with technical investigations, coding  experiments  and the creation of  R eference  A rchitectures .

As a member of our team, you will drive key strategic initiatives and create reference architectures, using prototypes and experiments where needed to  validate  ideas. You will evaluate internal and external products,  concepts  and architectures, and contribute to concept and strategy papers. A strong combination of architectural thinking, abstraction skills and hands-on coding experience is needed for this role. You will work with product development and product management teams to accelerate the creation and customer adoption of reference architectures.

Creating and publishing reference architectures for Data, AI, Platform and Agents on th e   SAP Architecture Center

Evolving SAP’s AI-native North Star Architecture as technology, market  trends  and customer needs change.

Exploring emerging AI technologies and open standards, including neuro-symbolic AI, knowledge graphs, Model Context Protocol (MCP), agent orchestration, Agent2Agent (A2A), RAG and other AI-native patterns.

Building proof-points and providing architecture recommendations that inform company-wide build, buy and partner decision s,  and   influenc ing  company-wide strateg y .

Contributing to SAP’s work with the Agentic AI Foundation and the development of open standards for agentic AI.

Contributing to AI initiatives through  InnerSource  and working with teams across SAP.

Working on  non-functional aspects such as  Security, HA/DR, Performance, and Reliability

Contributing  to  architecture standards, decision records, concept notes, technical  investigations  and strategy documents.

What you bring

15+ years of work experience in software architecture design and development.

Recognized  expertise  and thought leadership in one or more areas: AI, Data and Analytics, Cloud-native frameworks.

Strong hands-on experience using AI coding tools and coding agents to rapidly build, test and review software.

Expertise  in programming language and environments such as Java,  JavaScript ,  Python  and other related technology topics.

Experience  with   ML , model evaluation, observability and  MLOps .

Experience with modern enterprise data architectures, including SAP HANA, SAP Business Data Cloud,  lakehouse  patterns and platforms such as Databricks or Snowflake, is a plus.

Experience  in cloud platforms  ( AWS ,  Azure  or GCP) is preferred.

Ability to lead and work with multiple teams.

Strong analytical thinking,  problem-solving  and decision-making abilities. You should be able to drive key initiatives across board areas and provide clear technical direction.

Strong presentation, articulation, and storytelling abilities

Meet your team

You will join the  Office of the CTO (OCTO ) ,   the  team that works on technology topics relevant to the entire  company and product units  and, in many cases, on ideas  before they become