SAP CEO Forecasts Keyboard Obsolescence Within 2-3 Years Through AI Voice Technology
SAP CEO Christian Klein has made a bold prediction that traditional keyboards will become obsolete within the next two to three years. This forecast stems from his conviction that advanced voice recognition technology, powered by large language models (LLMs), will fundamentally replace conventional data input methods across business environments.
The End of an Era: From Typewriter Patents to Voice-First Systems
The English engineer Henry Mill submitted the first-ever patent for a "machine transcribing letters" back in 1714. While that invention never reached production, it served as a precursor to typewriters and electronic keyboards. Now, 312 years later, Klein suggests we might be witnessing the conclusion of that entire technological era.
In an exclusive interview with Fortune, Klein elaborated on his vision: "The end of the keyboard is near. When you encounter voice recognition from many of these large language models, [it] is super strong. Now we have to do some work to translate voice into business language and business data. We are now giving our coworker tool more and more skills."
He continued: "The future will be, for sure, that you are not typing any data information into an SAP system. You can instead ask certain analytical questions with your voice. You can trigger operational task workflows. You can also make entries in the system with your voice—performance feedback, pipeline entries, et cetera. The technological capabilities are there, it really is now about the execution."
From Theory to Execution: The AI Implementation Challenge
The phrase "Now, about the execution" has become emblematic of AI discussions in 2026, as conversations have decisively shifted from theoretical potential to practical deployment. Software companies are currently generating billions in profitable revenue by delivering AI-driven services designed for real-world application.
Klein identifies two distinct categories of businesses regarding AI adoption:
- Companies that recognize "AI is really changing the way I run my business"
- Organizations that feel "I invested a ton of money, but I see rather low value in it"
The latter group often views AI as merely an efficiency tool for specific divisions, lacking cross-functional integration. Klein emphasizes that "the whole business needs to be at the table" for successful AI implementation. "AI is superpowerful, but it needs to be applied in the right way," he noted.
Real-World Applications: Transforming Business Processes
Klein provided a concrete example of SAP's collaboration with a major consumer goods company that's connecting customer demand planning with financial planning and inventory control—a traditionally laborious month-long process.
"They said, 'Okay, this agent really is predicting the demand much more intelligently than all the human beings I had in planning. But it still always takes months until I adjust the inventory—and the inventory is dependent on procurement and the manufacturing side.' We are now building, with agents, an end-to-end planning scenario that helps them optimise inventory by 20%. This is real money," Klein explained.
The key insight is applying AI horizontally across business functions rather than vertically within isolated divisions. When combined with appropriate employee training, this approach unlocks AI's transformative potential.
The Future of Work: AI-Powered Business Intelligence
Klein envisions a workplace where employees can simply ask AI systems to analyze millions of documents and provide actionable insights. "An employee can say, 'Hey, go into my PowerPoint presentations.' They can give an AI model a million financial analysis PowerPoints. We then need to make sure, with our AI, that the business data is understood and that we can conduct the analysis immediately," he described.
"The employee can then say, 'Tell me, from the millions of documents we created in the financial department, what would be the right measures to tackle some of the challenges we see in the financial performance of the company?'" Klein added.
He painted this picture of the future workplace: "That is the future of work. And then, hopefully, they get it beautifully packaged up, with some nice graphs and commentaries, some nice analysis and recommended actions, and then they can go to their managers, who say, 'Wow, this is a new way of steering this company. My God, what did you do? Which training did you attend?' And they say, 'No, there is no training.'"
Geopolitical Challenges in a Fragmented World
Klein also addressed the complexities of operating in an increasingly fragmented global landscape. "They [companies] are saying, 'Hey, Christian, it's great your software helps [in] over 100 countries. But how do we do this in a world which is becoming more fragmented?' There are lots of new sovereignty requirements," he noted.
These requirements include:
- Cloud servers located within specific countries
- Diverse data protection regulations across regions
- Network segmentation requirements in certain jurisdictions
"Business cannot just change the software. It's mission-critical. Now, with AI, it's even more mission-critical," Klein emphasized. "What we have to make sure is, when it comes to geo-lock, we are [relying] on infrastructure. We want US infrastructure with the hyperscalers; in China we want Chinese infrastructure. And we want infrastructure provided by local providers here in Germany or in France or wherever."
He stressed the importance of agility: "And we always need to make sure that, when something is happening in the world, such as geopolitical sanctions or export control—as we have seen in Iran or in Russia—we can port our platform over to another type of cloud infrastructure in days or weeks."
Europe's Position in the AI Era
While discussions about "kill switches" and geolocation autonomy have entered leadership risk assessments, Klein expressed concerns about Europe's preparedness. "We talk about Europe as a superpower. I would say Europe is a superpower in regulation, but not in unity, because there is no banking union, there is no trade union, there is no digital union, and in a world like this, you need economic power," he observed.
"With economic power, you can influence certain things. You are listened to. We are talking about digital taxes and so on. I would strongly advise both business and political leaders in Europe to spend more time on: How can we innovate? How can we use the strengths we have to build something, to increase economic power?" Klein questioned.
Geography and geopolitical considerations have become the new global reality in the era of applied AI. Businesses must maintain agility in their responses, as political challenges can emerge unpredictably. When Henry Mill patented the first typewriter concept, the United States of America didn't exist as a nation. Today, it represents a significant factor in every global leader's decision-making process.
