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An Audience with Bill McDermott, Global CEO of SAP
An Audience with Bill McDermott, Global CEO of SAP

An Audience with Bill McDermott, Global CEO of SAP

It was a privilege to welcome Bill McDermott to Dublin City University on Monday as part of the Distinguished Speakers Lecture Series organised by the DCU Leadership and Talent Institute in partnership with Irish Times Executive Jobs.

Professor Brian MacCraith, President of DCU, greeted Bill and presented him with an award in recognition of SAP’s decade of support. This welcome and gratitude was echoed by co-directors of the DCU Leadership and Talent Institute, Patrick Flood and David Collings.

Bill McDermott is chief executive officer and an executive board member of SAP, the world’s leading enterprise application software company with approximately 340,000 customers in more than 180 countries. Bill has more than three decades of experience in business technology. He joined SAP in 2002 to lead the business in North America and has steadily risen to his current role as chief executive officer.

During the fireside chat with Ciarán Hancock, Business Editor of the Irish Times, Bill shared some insights into his life growing up in working-class Long Island, New York, where at the age of 16 he traded three hourly wage jobs to buy a small deli. After paying for and graduating college, Bill talked his way into a job selling copiers door-to-door for Xerox – “I focussed on what I do well, and that’s talking to people.” He went on to rank number one in every sales position he held and eventually became the company’s youngest-ever corporate officer. He left Xerox and in 2002 became the unlikely president of SAP’s flailing American business unit. There, he injected enthusiasm and accountability into the demoralised culture by scaling his deli, sales, and management strategies.

At his talk, Bill shared details of how these early life lessons have helped guide the company and SAP’s customers, in an ever-changing and evolving global market. He reminded guests that “great things happen when average people have the compassion and courage to change the world.”

Bill’s visit to Ireland formed part of an announcement that SAP are to create an additional 150 jobs in Ireland over the next 18 months to enhance its service offering and to strengthen its customer centre of experience organisation. “Ireland is a very beautiful country but also it’s a very business-friendly country.”

Bill also authored a best-selling book Winners Dream which chronicles how relentless optimism, hard work, and disciplined execution embolden people and equip organisations to achieve audacious goals. Over 120 guests were treated to a personally signed copy of his book at the event.