Published December 18, 2015 by Digitalist Magazine

Around the Christmas holiday and New Year are some of the busiest times of the year to travel (and most expensive). [Digitalist Magazine] had the chance to chat with Jonathan Becher, Chief Digital Officer of SAP, about his thoughts on business travel and his top travel productivity tips. As former chief marketing officer (CMO) of SAP and a frequent speaker at industry events, Jonathan is certainly no stranger to international and national travel. In 2015, which Jonathan considers a down year, he spent about a 100 nights in a hotel and took 40 flights. In 2014, he spent 150 nights in a hotel and took 50 flights. To give you a sense, that’s about 240 hours in the sky, which means 10 full days!

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“Obviously, I don’t mind travel because I do a lot of it. There are two things I really like about travel. The first is personal connections you make travelling. I’m a digitally native person (not by age, but by attitude), so I enjoy communicating through social and digital technology. But, what I love about travel is the in-person interactions, which help me to be a much better communicator digitally afterwards.

“The second thing I like is the opportunity for continuous learning. I learn from other cultures and learn from other points of view.  I’m a big believer in the notion that diversity of opinion brings stronger results.  I know what I know, and I want to find people who don’t have the same set of beliefs as I do. You are more likely to recognize the importance of diversity when you travel, even though I live in one of the best melting pots in the world – Silicon Valley. The more I go to other places, the more I see things differently, which makes me a stronger leader.”

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Published December 10, 2015 by C-Suite Network

The C-Suite Network, the world’s most trusted network of C-Suite leaders, announces the winners of the C-Suite Social Media Legends Awards. The awards acknowledge business leaders who show outstanding success in social media engagement and thought leadership.

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“Social media has a massive impact on business and using it effectively has the power to exponentially grow your bottom line,” said Jeffrey Hayzlett, C-Suite Network Co-founder and Chairman. “These winners know first hand the importance of using social media in an innovated and engaging way. They are truly their brand’s greatest ambassadors.”

The top-10 winners — one of which was Jonathan Becher, Head of SAP Digital — were announced on November 2 at the C-Suite Conference in San Francisco.

Click here to read the full article.

Published December 1, 2015 by Digital Age Magazine 

Digital Age Magazine interviewed SAP CDO Jonathan Becher during the 19th SAP Forum İstanbul.

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According to Becher, companies have confidence in their ongoing success and think that they will keep their position against change. But a CDO should think ahead of the other executives, reimagine their business and figure out how they can start a new era before their competitors. A CDO should understand the three main steps of digital transformation which are new customer experience, new business model and new value creation.  Becher stated that they observe that companies that manage digital transformation wisely focus on two key things: they expand to untouched markets or they find new revenue sources. Becher added that a CDO and CTO should work together for successful digital transformation.

Click here to read the full article (original in Turkish)

Published November 22, 2015 by Bloomberg BusinessWeek Turkiye Magazine

As consumer behavior and business models are deeply transforming through digitalization, attendees at SAP Forum Istanbul looked for answers to the questions: ‘What is digitalization?’ ‘How will accelerated pace in digitalization affect business models and customers?’

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Bloomberg Businessweek Türkiye interviewed General Manager of SAP Turkey Zeynep Keskin and SAP Chief Digital Officer Jonathan Becher during the SAP Forum Istanbul event focusing on digital transformation. Becher and Keskin stated that change is a challenging concept which may result in resistance due to cultural conditions. However, Turkey follows global developments very closely; from an industrial and corporate perspective, Turkish companies have a broader vision now. Even SMEs can benefit from services of a cloud company for their small teams, and create added value through technology. According to Becher, cloud capabilities and SAP HANA’s contribution to ‘discovering simple’ for businesses are two of the strongest factors that differentiate SAP.  

Click here to read the full article (original in Turkish).

Published November 1, 2015 by Al Hayat Online

According to SAP executives Saudi organizations need to “redefine” their boardrooms to succeed in the new Digital Economy. Demonstrating the opportunity for digital transformation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, digital initiatives can boost annual growth rates and cost efficiencies of up to ten percent by 2020, according to McKinsey. Additionally, business complexity presents a major problem, with 200 of the world’s largest companies losing ten percent of their annual profit due to complexity, according to a report by AIM Research.

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“Over the next five years, business leaders in boardrooms across the Middle East will face a tough challenge in the digital economy, requiring them to disrupt themselves or lag behind,” said Jonathan Becher, Chief Digital Officer and Head of SAP Digital. “Chief digital officers must embrace the region’s tech-savvy and youthful population to take on leadership roles in enhancing organizational readiness and developing projects that will drive digital business success,” added Becher. “The SAP Digital Boardroom solution provides the real-time dashboards and data visualizations that enable those in the boardroom to monitor, simulate and drive rapid change in a digital economy.”

All Hatat no longer available on line. (Original in Arabic)

Published October 21, 2015 by Computer News Middle East (CNME)

One of a growing breed, SAP Digital’s Chief Digital Officer Jonathan Becher told 60 Minutes how the rise of the CDO is set to begin in the Middle East, and that there is still room for improvement in the field of Big Data and analytics.

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“We’ve all heard about the typical high-profile examples of businesses who have been digital disruptors; the likes of Uber and Airbnb,” said [Becher]. “But the example and potential of self-driving cars really illustrates the point. When that time comes, will there be a need for car parks and garages? Things are set to change.”

Becher went on to describe how he believed the ‘as-a-service’ model associated with cloud could become applicable to any industry. “Concepts of usage payment are changing,” he said. “There could soon be a time where you can purchase food-as-a-service, where they deliver specific diet requirements and plans to your doorstep.”

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Published October 21, 2015 by Computer News Middle East (CNME)

Global CIOs urged Middle East enterprises to recruit higher level strategists to drive digital transformations, during GITEX Technology Week 2015’s conferences programme.

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“Over the next five years, business leaders in boardrooms across the Middle East will face a tough challenge in the digital economy, requiring them to disrupt themselves or lag behind,” Jonathan Becher, Chief Digital Officer and Head of SAP Digital. “They need to simplify operations through real-time analysis of data from different divisions, such as HR, logistics and marketing.”

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Published October 21, 2015 by Emirates247.com (Dubai)

Things have picked up substantial pace with new announcements and developments being rolled out by local as well international firms at the ongoing Gitex Technology Week in Dubai. Day 3 gave us a glimpse into what the future holds for us in terms of innovation and lifestyle devices, and the world of tech seems to have come together under one roof at the Dubai World Trade Centre.

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“Over the next five years, business leaders in boardrooms across the Middle East will face a tough challenge in the digital economy, requiring them to disrupt themselves or lag behind. They need to simplify operations through real-time analysis of data from different divisions, such as HR, logistics and marketing,” said Jonathan Becher, chief digital officer and head of SAP Digital.

Click here to read the full article.

Interview October 21, 2015 by CNBC Arabiya

The Digital Economy has been enjoying a significant increase in the Middle East and North Africa. In an interview with CNBC Arabia TV, Jonathan Becher, SAP Chief Digital Officer, discussed the latest digital trends and how digital transformation is no longer only an option to businesses of all sizes and from all industries which need to survive in a competitive market.

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“Over the next five years, business leaders in boardrooms across the Middle East will face a tough challenge in the digital economy, requiring them to disrupt themselves or get disrupted. Chief digital officers must embrace the region’s tech-savvy and youthful population to take on leadership roles in enhancing organizational readiness and developing projects that will drive digital business success.”

Click here to view the interview. (Original in Arabic)

Published October 20, 2015 by Khaleej Times online (UAE)

Middle East boardrooms are urged to adopt real-time data solutions to compete in the region’s digital economy, set to double to USD 30 billion by 2018, business experts announced on Monday at Gitex Technology Week. With the growth in digital Islamic services, such as mobile apps, websites, and e-commerce platforms for Islamic finance and fashion, and halal food and travel, the Middle East’s Digital Economy is set double from USD 15 billion in 2015 to USD 30 billion in 2018, according to a report by Deloitte. The rapid uptake in mobile and Web usage, along with spending on e-commerce and digital advertising, are fueling the global digital economy, which is set to grow from USD 1.9 trillion in 2014 to USD 4.3 trillion by 2020, according to a recent report by Thomson Reuters.

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“To compete and grow in the digital economy, executives in the boardrooms of the Middle East need real-time, contextualized data to make decisions for today, setting the stage for transformation and future growth,” said Jonathan Becher, Chief Digital Officer and Head of SAP Digital. “Middle East business leaders driving digital transformations cannot rely on static slideshows and outdated data,” added Becher. “They need to simplify operations through real-time analysis of data from different divisions, such as HR, logistics and marketing.

Click here to read the full article.