Can a company use AI without cutting jobs? SAP says it's trying

A large German software company called SAP is trying something unusual. Instead of laying off workers because of artificial intelligence, it wants employees to learn new skills and take on new kinds of jobs. SAP is one of the biggest software companies in Europe, and its leaders say AI does not have to mean fewer workers — just very different ones.

One SAP employee, Fabrizio Primerano, is a software engineer whose job has changed a lot since AI tools arrived. The AI now helps brainstorm ideas, research competitors, and even write and test computer code. But Primerano still works at SAP and says the change has been good for him. 'It's freeing me up to do more of this creative work,' he said.

SAP's leaders admit that AI has taken over many tasks that human workers used to do. About two years ago, SAP cut nearly 10,000 jobs, and the company said some of those cuts were because of AI. However, SAP says it has also added more than 3,500 new jobs since 2023, some with brand-new titles like 'forward-deployed engineers.'

SAP's top boss, Christian Klein, says the future of his company will look very different. He said he isn't sure if anyone at SAP will still write software code in two or three years. But he does not expect to have fewer workers overall — just workers doing very different kinds of things.

Some economists think SAP's approach could help solve a big problem for Europe. Europe has an aging population, meaning many older workers are retiring and there aren't enough younger people to replace them. AI could help fill that gap by making workers more productive and handling tasks that no one is available to do.

Germany faces an especially serious worker shortage over the next ten years. The country could lose nearly seven million workers — about 13 percent of all working-age people. AI tools that store knowledge from experienced workers, even after those workers retire, could help businesses keep running smoothly.

SAP has built special showrooms to show what AI can do in real workplaces. One looks like a factory floor and demonstrates how AI can help make tools or brew beer more efficiently. An executive named Matthias Deindl said the AI can even remember how skilled workers fixed machines — knowledge that might otherwise be lost when those workers retire.

Not everyone is convinced SAP's plan will succeed, though. The company depends heavily on AI tools made by American companies, which some experts say is risky. In June, the U.S. government briefly blocked some foreign users from those tools, alarming SAP and its customers before the ban was lifted.

SAP's stock price has dropped by nearly 50 percent over the past year, even though the company is still earning money. Some investors worry that AI could one day make SAP's products unnecessary. Other tech companies are moving in the opposite direction, replacing workers with AI to save money instead of retraining them.

SAP continues to push forward with its plan to keep workers employed alongside AI. Employees now use AI to apply for patents, answer customer questions, and build new software features faster than before. The company hopes to show the rest of Europe a way to use AI without leaving workers behind.