Zia Yusuf currently leads SAP’s Global Ecosystem and Partner Group reporting to reporting to John Schwarz, member of the Executive Board of SAP AG. In his role Zia is chartered with continuing to build and enable an open ecosystem of software, service and technology partners together with our communities of innovation (e.g. SAP’s Developer Network, the Business Process Expert Community and the Enterprise Services Community). In addition, he co-manages the SAP NetWeaver Fund and is also responsible for leading SAP efforts towards open technology and vertical industry standards. Zia started in his current role in May, 2006.

Prior to his current role, Zia founded and led the Corporate Strategy Group of SAP in the Office of the CEO reporting to Henning Kagermann, CEO and Chairman of SAP AG. The CSG, founded in 2002, provides SAP’s CEO, Chairman and Executive Board a comprehensive set of capabilities to engage on a range of strategic, competitive, operational and organizational topics including global corporate strategy formulation and execution, strategic performance management, the annual strategy process and M&A strategy.

In addition, Zia founded and led the Design Services Team (DST), formed in 2004 under the guidance of Hasso Plattner, co-founder of SAP and Chairman of the SAP Supervisory Board. The DST is a software design group focused on accelerating SAP’s activities in user centered software design. He is also Consulting Associate Professor at Stanford University where he co-teaches a course titled “Software Design Experiences” with Hasso Plattner and Terry Winnograd.

Zia began at SAP, in 1999, focusing on the strategic direction of the company’s marketplace business. He then co-founded SAP Markets, Inc., the b2b marketplace company of SAP, and led it as VP and Chief Operating Officer. As SAP Markets expanded globally, Zia was appointed as Managing Director to lead SAPMarkets entry into Asia-Pacific.

Prior to joining SAP, Zia was in the Investment Banking Division at Goldman, Sachs & Co. where he worked on corporate finance and M&A transactions. Before that he was at the World Bank Group for several years working on health sector issues in Southern Africa and project and structured finance in Asia.

Zia holds an MBA from the Harvard Business School, an MS in International Affairs from the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University and a BA with Honors in Economics and International Affairs from Macalester College.