Sindhu Gangadharan

Managing Director, SAP Labs India

Photo — SAP Labs India

Sindhu Gangadharan is the MD of SAP Labs India and Head of Customer Innovation Services at SAP, where she shapes SAP’s global business AI agenda and helps enterprises transform through AI-driven innovation.

A SAP veteran of over 27 years, she is the first woman to lead SAP Labs India, the company’s largest R&D centre outside its headquarters, after beginning her career there as a software developer.

Under Gangadharan’s leadership, SAP Labs India has become a strategic AI powerhouse within SAP’s ecosystem. The teams in India lead critical work across AI cybersecurity, AI governance, customer data innovation, and serve as the company’s largest development centre for Joule, SAP’s generative AI copilot, driving everything from core engineering and architecture to commercialisation and product delivery.

Gangadharan has been instrumental in strengthening India’s position and has also expanded its long-term innovation footprint with the inauguration of its second Bengaluru campus, a 41-acre, €194 million investment last year that reflects SAP’s continued confidence in India’s talent and innovation ecosystem.

Recognising that successful AI transformation begins with people, Gangadharan has championed AI skilling journeys for colleagues. Through initiatives such as Learning Fest, AI Ignite, and AI for Managers, nearly 70% of the workforce has been AI-enabled.

She has also strengthened collaborations with leading academic institutions, including IISc, IIM Bangalore, and IIIT Bangalore, helping bridge academia and industry to develop future-ready AI talent. Among the innovations developed under her leadership is SAP Document AI, recipient of the prestigious Hasso Plattner Founders’ Award for Scaling Innovation.

Supporting more than 30 SAP business scenarios and over 100 languages, the solution is transforming document-intensive enterprise processes at scale.

Gangadharan’s leadership continues to accelerate the adoption of responsible AI, foster customer-centric innovation, and position India at the forefront of SAP’s global AI journey.