Lead Applied Research Scientist (f/m/d) - Generative AI and Knowledge Graphs

We help the world run better

Our company culture is focused on helping our employees enable innovation by building breakthroughs together. How? We focus every day on building the foundation for tomorrow and creating a workplace that embraces differences, values flexibility, and is aligned to our purpose-driven and future-focused work. We offer a highly collaborative, caring team environment with a strong focus on learning and development, recognition for your individual contributions, and a variety of benefit options for you to choose from. Apply now!

What you`ll do
At SAP, we are bringing together state-of-the-art AI technology with our extensive industry-specific data and deep process knowledge to create innovative AI capabilities across SAP products & services . Large Language Models (LLMs) hold immense potential to change the way we work and develop products. They are reshaping the landscape of Machine Learning across various domains. However, their limited ability to leverage structured / tabular data leaves a considerable share of enterprise data untapped. It is SAP's mission to overcome this challenge within the realm of Business AI. Our goal is to adapt Foundation Models with SAP data, enabling our customers  to run their business processes more efficiently. Strong research collaborations with academic and commercial partners are instrumental to achieve that goal.  

The Role:
•    Establish and manage research collaborations with academic and commercial partners.
•    Contribute pioneering technical advances to the development of our Foundation Models, including hands-on contributions to model code
•    Enable academic research by providing Business AI relevant problem statements, frameworks and data sets
•    Keep the pulse with the research, providing insights into the latest research findings and making them comparable with internal work
•    Translate project innovations into research publications and contribute to thought leadership in Foundation Models and Generative AI.

 
What you bring
•    PhD or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, or other relevant disciplines
•    Extensive experience with Foundation Models as well as Machine Learning with Knowledge Graphs (e.g., GNNs)
•    Deep understanding of opportunities and challenges of collaboration between industrial and academic research
•    Proficiency in Python, and experience with ML frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, or similar

•    Proven history of exemplary leadership and strategic mindset, complemented by superior organizational abilities.
•    Substantial publication record related to LLMs, Foundation Models, or Knowledge Graphs
•    Ideally, professional experience with Machine Learning on structured data such as in the ERP or CRM domain
•    Optionally, hands-on experience with Neo4j, TypeDB, PyG or similar 

 
Meet your team 
SAP's AI organization is dedicated to seamlessly infusing AI into all enterprise applications, enabling customers, partners, and developers to enhance business processes and generate remarkable business value. Join our international AI team where innovation thrives, opportunities for personal development abound, and exceptional colleagues collaborate globally.

#SAPBusinessAICareers
 
 

We build breakthroughs together

SAP innovations help more than 400,000 customers worldwide work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively. Originally known for leadership in enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, SAP has evolved to become a market leader in end-to-end business application software and related services for database, analytics, intelligent technologies, and experience management. As a cloud company with 200 million users and more than 100,000 employees worldwide, we are purpose-driven and future-focused, with a highly collaborative team ethic and commitment to personal development. Whether connecting global industries, people, or platforms, we help ensure every challenge gets the solution it deserves. At SAP, we build breakthroughs, together.
 

We win with inclusion

SAP’s culture of inclusion, focus on health and well-being, and flexible working models help ensure that everyone – regardless of background – feels included and can run at their best. At SAP, we believe we are made stronger by the unique capabilities and qualities that each person brings to our company, and we invest in our employees to inspire confidence and help everyone realize their full potential. We ultimately believe in unleashing all talent and creating a better and more equitable world.
SAP is proud to be an equal opportunity workplace and is an affirmative action employer. We are committed to the values of Equal Employment Opportunity and provide accessibility accommodations to applicants with physical and/or mental disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment with SAP and are in need of accommodation or special assistance to navigate our website or to complete your application, please send an e-mail with your request to Recruiting Operations Team: Careers@sap.com.
For SAP employees: Only permanent roles are eligible for the SAP Employee Referral Program, according to the eligibility rules set in the SAP Referral Policy. Specific conditions may apply for roles in Vocational Training.

Requisition ID: 390552  | Work Area: Software-Research  | Expected Travel: 0 - 10%  | Career Status: Professional  | Employment Type: Regular Full Time   | #LI-Hybrid