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SAP's Klein says agents may reach 100% on some tasks
SAP chief executive Christian Klein told Alex Kantrowitz's Big Technology Podcast, published 30 September, that agents may reach 100% accuracy on some tasks and that SAP limits token spend.
Check our sources · 16 facts from 2 sources
Video: Alex Kantrowitz on YouTube
Key points
- Klein says some work needs full accuracy: "sometimes you need an accuracy of 100% 90% accuracy is not enough" (05:02).
- Klein said full accuracy is "absolutely possible" for "certain tasks" (06:02), and that supply chain optimization agents could get there "in 8 to 9 months" (06:07).
- Klein said SAP has set token limits for staff, and that a manager can approve more token spend for a month, task or project (49:53).
What happened
Christian Klein, chief executive of the European software company SAP, was interviewed by Alex Kantrowitz on the Big Technology Podcast, published on the programme's YouTube channel on 30 September 2026. Klein is named as chief executive officer on SAP's leadership page.
On accuracy, Klein said an AI agent that is 93 percent accurate is not enough for a financial close, because auditors need certified numbers.
Asked whether he expects 100 percent accuracy within months, he said it is absolutely possible for certain tasks and, speaking of the next agents for supply chain optimization, said SAP may be there in eight to nine months. He also said some uses, such as a customer briefing, are fine at 90 to 95 percent.
On jobs, Klein said SAP will hire data scientists and full-stack developers and will need fewer people in other jobs.
On cost, Klein said SAP has set token limits after token spend rose. He said the staff who work on model training were not limited, while developers, product managers, designers and people in finance and HR have limits, with a manager approval route for more. He also said that for tasks such as a headcount report some open-source models perform well enough to compare on cost with other models.
Klein also described his product managers' reply when he asked whether AI-written code could reproduce SAP's products: an ERP has millions of data fields to correlate.
What it means for you
Our viewThese are Klein's statements in a podcast interview, not SAP commitments. His eight to nine months is a hedged estimate for specific agents, and he limits full accuracy to certain tasks. He also separates work where 90% accuracy is enough from work where it is not, which is a useful test for any agent project.
He describes token limits at SAP for staff, with a manager approval route for more, which suggests usage budgets are becoming a management question. If you plan agent projects, list each task with the accuracy it needs, and ask your vendor how it measures accuracy on that task and what usage limits will apply to your staff.
This is our view of the facts above. It adds no new facts.
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Check our sources
We checked every sentence above against these 2 sources (16 facts in all).
1 SAP CEO: AI Won't Kill Software, But It Will Change Your Job — With Christian Klein
Open the source-
The video "SAP CEO: AI Won't Kill Software, But It Will Change Your Job — With Christian Klein" was published on 30 September 2026 on the YouTube channel of Alex Kantrowitz, whose show is the Big Technology Podcast.
SAP CEO: AI Won't Kill Software, But It Will Change Your Job — With Christian Klein; uploadDate 2026-09-30T09:30:07-07:00; ownerChannelName Alex Kantrowitz
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Kantrowitz introduced the guest as "the CEO of Europe's largest software company" (00:05).
Toned down to what the source says00:05 happening? Let's talk about it with the / 00:06 CEO of Europe's largest software company
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Klein said: "maybe it understands today 90 with a 93% accuracy but your auditors when you release financial results they say okay sorry this time my numbers were 7% you know too high" (04:25), speaking of SAP's financial closing agents.
04:25 understands business but you know maybe / 04:27 it understands today 90 with a 93% / 04:30 accuracy but your auditors when you / 04:33 release financial results they say okay / 04:35 sorry this time my numbers were 7% you / 04:38 know too high
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Klein said: "sometimes you need an accuracy of 100% 90% accuracy is not enough" (05:02).
05:02 sometimes you need an accuracy of 100% / 05:04 90% accuracy is not enough
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Kantrowitz asked: "You you anticipate 100% accuracy within months." (05:57), and Klein answered: "I would say that's absolutely possible. Yeah. So it's for certain tasks" (06:02).
05:57 90 something% accuracy. You you / 05:59 anticipate 100% accuracy within months. / 06:02 >> Uh I I I would say that's absolutely / 06:03 possible. Yeah. So it's for certain / 06:05 tasks
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Klein said, of the next agents: "For supply chain optimization and then you know here we are maybe there in 8 to 9 months" (06:07).
06:05 tasks and obviously we will then develop / 06:07 the next agents. Yeah. For supply chain / 06:10 optimization and then you know here we / 06:12 are maybe there in 8 to 9 months.
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Klein said: "when it's 90% accurate, it's totally fine" (06:34), about a customer brief from SAP's AI coworker (the automatic captions render its name as "Jul" and "Juel"), and "there a 95% accuracy is totally fine" (06:46).
06:34 coworker. And when it's 90% accurate, / 06:37 it's totally fine. ... 06:46 you know, and there a 95% accuracy is / 06:48 totally fine.
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Klein said: "we will hire people data scientists full stack developers etc but you know we will need less people in other jobs" (18:26).
18:26 other you know jobs will we we will hire / 18:28 people data scientists full stack / 18:30 developers etc but you know we will need / 18:33 less people in other jobs
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Klein said, of the product managers' answer when he asked whether SAP's products could be rebuilt with AI-written code: "you have 7 million data fields in in in such an ERP" (25:46), as the automatic captions give it.
25:46 know you have 7 million data fields in / 25:48 in in such an ERP
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Klein said: "some of the open source model performs so good" (42:08), after naming tasks such as "create me a headcount report for my manager or do me a financial report" (42:01).
Toned down to what the source says42:01 and for also for tasks like okay create me a / 42:04 headcount report for my manager or do me / 42:06 a financial report we actually see that / 42:08 some of the open source model performs / 42:10 so good that it and then compare it to / 42:12 the cost of those models.
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Klein said: "it took some time uh until we actually introduce certain token limits in SAP" (48:20).
48:20 going to?" And honestly, it took some / 48:22 time uh until we actually introduce / 48:25 certain token limits in SAP
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Klein said: "now the token spend is really coming to a point where we definitely need to set certain limits" (48:46).
48:46 now the token spend is really coming to / 48:48 a point where we definitely need to / 48:51 set certain limits.
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Klein said: "for the top 1%, I mean the ones who are doing the model training and so on, we didn't really set a limit" (48:53).
48:53 jobs. But you know, for the top 1%, I / 48:56 mean the ones who are doing the model / 48:57 training and so on, we didn't really set / 48:59 a limit
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Klein said: "all the developers the product managers the designers I mean there we also introduce limits also for people in finance and HR" (49:16).
49:16 you know for you know all the developers / 49:18 the product managers the designers I / 49:20 mean there we also introduce limits also / 49:22 for people in finance and HR
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Klein spoke of "tone spend", the automatic captions' rendering of token spend: "we have a approval process where a manager can also say okay for this month or for this task or for this project we give you more tone spend" (49:53).
49:53 And then we have a approval process / 49:55 where a manager can also say okay for / 49:57 this month or for this task or for this / 49:59 project we give you more tone spend.
2 Leadership - SAP Executive Board
Open the source-
SAP's leadership page lists Christian Klein as Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SAP.
Christian Klein Chief Executive Officer (CEO)
We link every source we used.
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