OREANDA-NEWS. May 04, 2016. SAP SE (NYSE: SAP) today announced that Christian Klein has been appointed chief operating officer (COO) effective April 1.  The company also named Thomas Saueressig as chief information officer (CIO) effective May 1.

Klein is tasked with ensuring the optimization of SAP’s end-to-end business processes, supported by a highly automated and integrated IT landscape. In his role as SAP chief controlling officer he is also responsible for SAP’s Group Controlling and oversees the company’s 2015–2020 growth and profitability strategy. Klein, 35, joined SAP as a student in 1999 and has a degree in international business administration from the University of Cooperative Education in Mannheim, Germany.

Saueressig, who at age 31 is the youngest CIO at a German DAX company, will lead SAP’s IT organization and report to the COO. Saueressig joined SAP in 2004 and was previously global head of IT service. He holds a diploma in business information technology from the University of Cooperative Education in Mannheim, Germany, as well as a joint executive MBA from ESSEC (France) and Mannheim Business School (Germany).