SAP Appoints Nazia Pillay as Managing Director for Southern Africa

SAP has announced the appointment of Nazia Pillay as its new Managing Director for Southern Africa, as businesses across the region accelerate their adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and cloud technologies.

Sergio Maccotta, Senior Vice President at SAP Middle East and Africa South, said, “Our purpose as a business is to help the world run better and improve people’s lives, reflected in our ongoing commitment to transformation and corporate responsibility throughout the continent. Nazia will bring vital expertise and leadership skills to one of SAP’s most important regions as we continue to empower youth, drive innovation within our customers and partners, and build a more inclusive, sustainable future. With companies across Southern Africa gearing up for an era of AI- and cloud-led innovation, we are especially excited to see how Nazia’s leadership will guide how organisations adopt technology as a strategic lever for national development and growth.”

In her new role, Pillay will prioritise three key focus areas: deepening customer partnerships, cultivating new relationships, and preparing organisations for a digital-first, cloud-first future.

“Teaming up with our valued customer and partner ecosystem across the region is mission-critical for our business, especially as we showcase SAP’s latest capabilities as an AI-first, suite first technology partner. As a people-focused leader, I have also made it my longer-term ambition to make our local office the best place to work in South Africa,” she explained.

Her appointment comes at a pivotal time. A recent study revealed that AI could add up to $2.9 trillion to Africa’s economy by 2030, underscoring the urgent need for technology-driven transformation.

Research by SAP highlights the growing demand for AI expertise. According to its Africa’s AI Skills Readiness Revealed report, six in ten organisations across East, West and Southern Africa view AI skills as “extremely important” to business success. However, nine in ten companies admit that a lack of AI talent is already hampering innovation, delaying projects, and limiting capacity for new opportunities.

Pillay, who began her career as a graduate at SAP more than two decades ago, has held roles in consulting, support, quality management, customer success and most recently led the company’s regional partner ecosystem. She strongly believes SAP has a crucial role in enabling Africa’s digital future.

“Large cloud vendors such as SAP can help offset local skills shortages by providing access to advanced tools managed by global experts. Companies across the region benefit from global insights and best practices while bolstering their internal capacity to achieve higher levels of efficiency, innovation and growth.”

As organisations face mounting pressure to build digital capabilities, upskilling is becoming a top priority. Nearly half (48%) of African businesses surveyed by SAP cite workforce development as their most pressing skills challenge.

“Our research found that nearly half of African organisations consider upskilling their employees a top skills-related challenge this year. As the pressure to build greater skills depth mounts on companies, vendors such as SAP can be invaluable partners, providing insight, expertise and technical capabilities that help drive successful innovation and transformation,” Pillay said.