From Steward to Strategist: SAP’s CAO on Building an AI-Powered Finance Team

The role of a finance leader is no longer confined to traditional stewardship. In the first episode of our Sounds Accurate podcast, BlackLine CMO, Emily Campbell, spoke with Dr. Christopher Sessar, Chief Accounting Officer at SAP SE, a leader who is navigating this evolution firsthand. Their conversation offers a practical guide to applying AI, moving beyond theory to create tangible value.

Dr. Sessar's message was clear: leveraging artificial intelligence is now an operational necessity for the modern finance organization, not just a strategic choice.

Dr. Sessar explained that the CAO’s role is now more strategic and process-oriented. Beyond the foundational duty of stewardship—guarding compliance and financial accuracy—today’s leaders must also act as business partners.

This means providing timely and intelligent insights to help drive the business forward. They must be transformation agents, driving change across the organization with their expertise in process and governance, rather than just following along.

Fulfilling this expanded mandate requires a strategic pivot to technology. Legacy manual processes are a bottleneck in achieving this new mandate and a drain on the very talent organizations fight to retain.

For any finance leader, a "black box" AI is a non-starter. Dr. Sessar emphasized that adopting AI requires an unshakable foundation of trust and control.

This principle is core to BlackLine’s philosophy. Our ISO 42001 certification reflects the robust governance and "Control Layer for AI" we’ve built to ensure every AI-driven action is transparent and accountable.

On the topic of talent and AI, Dr. Sessar shared that accountants don’t need to become data scientists, but they do need the skills to use AI effectively and the judgment to know when to trust its outputs.

This ability is built on a deep understanding of accounting fundamentals. "It's almost like learning how to do arithmetic when you're a child," he analogized. "If you know how to do the basic math, then even if you use a calculator later… you know how it works."

Grounded in SAP's own journey, Dr. Sessar offered a model for getting started. He advised against large-scale projects, suggesting teams instead start with digestible, high-impact use cases to build momentum.

He also stressed the importance of empowering teams from the bottom up. SAP’s "Finathon" initiative, for instance, gave employees an AI playground and generated over 100 valuable ideas from a single department in just two weeks. Finally, he highlighted the need to "unlearn" old habits, like a deep reliance on Excel, and instead rethink how work gets done with new technology.

The conversation highlighted how the partnership between SAP and BlackLine exemplifies this transformation. Dr. Sessar spoke to the natural synergy between the solutions, particularly for organizations migrating to SAP S/4HANA.

BlackLine offers AI-powered solution extensions that complement and extend SAP software, allowing companies to accelerate their financial close, enhance audit readiness, and free up capacity for strategic work.

While the challenges facing the CFO's office are significant, Dr. Sessar's experience shows that the opportunity is far greater. The most forward-thinking finance teams are already using AI to move beyond routine tasks and embrace a more strategic role.

BlackLine provides the tools to make this transition, delivering the efficiency and control needed to turn your finance function into a source of tangible value.

See what’s possible with SAP and BlackLine. Book a demo today.