SAP’s Evolving Human Rights Journey
Every Human Rights Day underscores a simple truth: lasting progress for people and their rights starts with each of us and thrives on intention, accountability, and collaboration.
At SAP, we act on our purpose to help the world run better and improve people’s lives through a responsible, people‑first approach to business.
As a global technology leader, SAP recognizes that its operations, business relationships—including those with suppliers, partners, and customers—and the solutions it delivers can impact people and their rights. This impact can be both positive and negative as well as direct and indirect.
SAP has embedded human rights into its corporate sustainability strategy and in company governance, processes, policies, and engagement across the entire value chain.
From strategic commitment to culture
To ensure that SAP’s due diligence remains effective, the Human Rights Office within the Corporate Sustainability organization collaborates with the Human Rights Steering Committee and relevant Board areas. Ultimate oversight rests with the Executive Board of SAP SE.
This governance model provides the foundation for making human rights a shared, cross-functional responsibility rather than a standalone initiative. It translates into collaboration across the business: the central human rights team working with People & Culture organization to ensure that all employees receive a living wage or to embed safeguards against child and forced labor in recruitment and people management processes.
Beyond formal structures, it is essential that all employees embrace respect for people and their rights as part of SAP’s culture and as a guiding principle in interactions with colleagues, business partners, and the communities in which SAP operates. Tailored capacity-building for critical roles for example in procurement, complemented by awareness sessions for all employees, helps us to get there by strengthening the understanding that day-to-day business activities influence human rights and that any adverse human rights impacts must be proactively identified and addressed.
“What began as policy commitments is becoming part of how we operate: step by step. It takes time and effort to shift from focusing solely on ‘risks to SAP’ to adding the consideration of ‘risks to people’ in our strategic and daily business decisions.”
Stephanie Raabe, Office of Human Rights and AI Ethics, SAP
Respecting human rights across the value chain
Turning commitment into practice requires structure across the business. SAP operates within a global ecosystem—tens of thousands of suppliers, hundreds of thousands of customers, and millions of users—where every connection carries both opportunity and responsibility.
To meet this responsibility, SAP runs a human rights due diligence program aligned with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, designed to identify, prevent, mitigate, and remedy potential impacts on people across its operations and relationships. The program’s core components include:
- Ongoing risk assessment to identify and prioritize potential impacts on people
- Preventive and remedial action embedded in policies, business processes, supplier and partner requirements, training, and targeted engagement
- Speak Out at SAP, an independent, multilingual reporting channel available 24/7 to employees and external stakeholders
- Transparent communication through the SAP Integrated Report and, its Modern Slavery Statements, and other channels
Across the value chain, SAP focuses on its:
- Supply chain, setting clear expectations and contractual requirements to uphold human rights and labor standards, applying responsible sourcing practices, and engaging with selected high-risk suppliers regarding living wages.
- Operations, focusing on ensuring non-discrimination, providing an inclusive, safe, and health-promoting workplace, maintaining fair recruitment and employment practices, and safeguarding confidential channels to raise concerns.
- Products and services, advancing ethical AI by applying the SAP Global AI Ethics policy, as well as requiring that every AI use case undergo an AI ethics assessment to help prevent discrimination and ensure alignment with its principles.
“AI unlocks great potential for businesses, governments, and society, but also creates economic, political, and societal challenges depending on how it is used. For that reason, the human rights-centered SAP Global AI Ethics policy sets clear ethical standards for developing and applying AI, ensuring we create human-centered solutions that respect people and augment human capabilities.”
Vikram Nagendra, Office of Human Rights and AI Ethics, SAP
Continuously striving for progress
Human rights due diligence is a journey of continual improvement. SAP regularly reviews the effectiveness of its human rights due diligence system to assess how well salient impacts are addressed.
While mitigation measures in SAP’s own operations have proven effective so far, these reviews have also highlighted the need to deepen our understanding of supply chain risks and to strengthen actions specifically aimed at addressing them. As a company, we also recognize the need to make our grievance channel more accessible to value chain workers, a challenge currently addressed through a pilot program.
To remain transparent and accountable, SAP has published a second LkSG human rights-focused supply chain due diligence report, alongside the latest Modern Slavery Reports and Human Rights chapter in the 2024 SAP Integrated Report.
Looking ahead: Human rights as a shared responsibility
In a rapidly evolving world, new regulations, emerging technologies, and rising societal expectations raise the bar for responsible business. Running an effective and efficient human rights due diligence system helps SAP stay ahead and mitigate legal, operational, and financial risks, while strengthening its reputation and leadership in ethical business practices. This approach builds trust with customers, partners, investors, and other stakeholders.
Most importantly, it empowers SAP to uphold and further human rights, a principle reaffirmed on this day.
“Human Rights Day 2025 is a moment to celebrate progress, but also to recognize that the journey goes on. With the ambition to foster a just and inclusive economy where people and technology thrive together, SAP will continue to engrain human rights into how we operate and innovate”
Matthias Medert, Global Head of Sustainability, SAP
Paola Eugenio is a member of the Corporate Sustainability team at SAP.
