SAP’s Chris Salis — Life, Career & Time at SAP

3 min readJul 2, 2024

Chris Salis emerges as a prominent person in technology. He is famous, he’s famous, and he’s popular as an SAP expert. His journey began in the late 1990s when he graduated from Purdue University with a finance degree. After getting graduated, he started off with a few jobs. He worked at Adecco Employment, he worked at eBay, and as he took his career forward, he went on to enter organizations such as Business Objects and SAP shaping his skills.

Chris joined SAP, a worldwide company that specializes in corporate software, in January 2010 and quickly rose through the ranks, eventually becoming Head of Global Sales. Chris oversaw the growth of SAP’s market reach, with a focus on small and medium-sized organizations. His inventive attitude showed brightly, promoting the use of technology in corporate growth through efficiency and innovation-focused initiatives. He led SAP’s Line of Business Solutions for Procurement and effectively reversed a three-year trend of falling revenue. His efforts paid off, with SAP experiencing tremendous development in this market.

Chris Salis, VP and Head of Global Sales at SAP was elevated to Global Vice President and General Manager of SAP’s Procurement Solutions. His latest position at SAP was Global VP and Head of Portfolio for Go-to-Market. In this job, he had considerable success. He commercialized SAP’s digital segment and launched a new SaaS model. He reduced the average time to revenue from twelve months to ninety days. He also moved items from $0 sales to $41 million.

Chris’s time at SAP was highlighted by success. His team achieved great achievements, focusing on customer happiness and product refinement. His customer-centric strategy involves identifying client needs, which aided in efficiently personalizing solutions.

Chris left SAP in October 2015 to start his own consulting company, advising emerging entrepreneurs. His consultancy focuses on strategic growth, assisting businesses in using technology. His knowledge is sought all around the world, and his thoughts are highly valued in the IT community.

Beyond his work domain, Chris is a family man who values time with his loved ones and enjoys travel and reading. When it comes to his life after SAP, he participates in community service and supports a variety of charity projects, with contributions that go beyond the business world.

He currently runs the Secure Our Schools Foundation. Chris Salis is the co-founder of the Secure Our Schools Foundation, a non-profit organization founded in 2022. The charity aims to improve school safety through technology. It focuses on giving schools the resources they need to respond to emergencies effectively, at no expense to the schools or districts. The foundation’s activities include active shooter prevention, medical emergency response, and complete incident management solutions, with the goal of making classrooms safer for kids and assisting educators in efficiently addressing critical circumstances.

Further Reading: https://www.apsense.com/article/christopher-salis-his-secure-our-schools-foundation.html

Chris’ story is remarkable, emphasizing commitment and inventiveness. His career exemplifies the power of technology, pushing for constant learning and adapting to change while reflecting the importance of strategic thinking.

Further Reading: https://irobinmilton.medium.com/the-story-of-christopher-salis-and-sap-43720bd88698

Chris Salis has made major contributions. His work at SAP and beyond is admirable, and he continues to have an impact on the technology sector via his legacy of growth and innovation.

A Detailed Look Back at Chris Salis’s Time at SAP

Chris Salis joined SAP in January 2010. Before this, he worked at Business Objects, later acquired by SAP. Initially, he was VP and Head of Global Sales. Chris exceeded expectations, driving global sales and revenue growth.

His impact was notable in reversing SAP’s three-year revenue decline. He quadrupled the company’s SaaS growth. In 2010–11, he was SAP’s top sales performer. Due to his success, he became Global VP and GM for Go-to-Market and Business Solutions.

He left SAP in October 2015. Chris then founded Pakks.com, co-founded HeyHQ, and Secure Our Schools Foundation. His SAP tenure was extraordinary.

Further Reading: https://vocal.media/journal/chris-salis-time-at-sap