[Hiring] Senior Director, Analyst - SAP AI and Technical Architecture @Gartner

Role Description

Gartner Analysts are industry thought leaders who create must-have insights, market predictions and best practices for a broad range of world-leading organizations. A Senior Director serves as a leader within Gartner’s Business and Technology Insights (BTI) group, establishing oneself as a credible voice within their designated market at local, regional and global levels. Utilizing exceptional research and analytical skills, a Senior Director plays a significant role in producing pragmatic and provocative insights which Gartner clients consume and apply to propel their business toward key objectives. They are a trusted source of advice for clients, reinforcing Gartner’s value every day by engaging them via in-person meetings, virtual meetings, sales support visits and Gartner conferences to discuss complex client challenges and offer appropriate recommendations.

We are looking for an experienced SAP technical architect, solution architect, integration architect, BTP architect, or senior technical consultant who can turn implementation experience into objective research and practical advice for technical and enterprise architects.

The analyst will research how embedded AI, generative AI, and AI agents affect SAP ERP architecture, development, integration, data, security, controls, and operating models. They will help technical professionals determine which AI capabilities to adopt, how to implement them safely, and when SAP-native, custom, or third-party approaches are most appropriate.

• Create innovative, thought provoking, and highly leveraged “must-have insights” content
• Develop new insights and ideas through thought leadership and offer compelling, actionable approaches to client's needs and requests that accelerate the client's ability to act
• Develop in-depth analysis to identify the root cause of a client’s barriers or overall needs and reframe thinking to drive strategy forward
• Demonstrate thought leadership in establishing Insights positions across a team of analysts
• Bring provocative, independent insights to Gartner leaders that can evolve the course of a research agenda
• Research, analyze and predict market trends and shifts to provide clients and vendors with actionable insights
• Provide clients and prospects with actionable advice aligned to their designated content area via virtual or face-to-face interactions
• Create and deliver high value presentation materials on and off stage for Gartner events, industry and professional association conferences, and client briefings
• Support BTI and Sales: Provide sales support serving as voice of the market to help Insights teams create content and to drive engagement with clients to make progress against their critical priorities to grow their business
• Provide high quality and timely content peer review
• Build credibility as an industry expert to represent Gartner insights, methodology and strategy
• Actively participate in innovation, ideation, and research discussions and collaborate effectively with peers in the Insights community
• Identify research process improvements or develop new processes that help the team and BTI provide excellent service delivery
• Be a mentor and a coach by supporting more junior team members
• Be client-centric while actively seeking to help clients engage regularly and often with Gartner insights and interactions

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or equivalent experience; Graduate degree preferred
• 12+ years of relevant field or industry experience
• Familiarity with the architectural, security, data, and governance implications of integrating AI and autonomous agents with SAP transactions and processes
• Significant experience designing, implementing, modernizing, or governing complex SAP ERP environments, preferably in an SAP technical architect, SAP solution architect, SAP enterprise architect, SAP integration architect, SAP BTP architect, or senior SAP engineering role
• Understanding of SAP extensibility and clean-core principles, including the appropriate use of embedded capabilities, on-stack extensions, side-by-side extensions, SAP BTP, and external services
• Experience integrating SAP with cloud platforms, data platforms, AI services, SaaS applications, and non-SAP enterprise systems through APIs, events, messaging, integration middleware, and batch interfaces
• Ability to evaluate SAP AI capabilities objectively against hyperscaler, open ecosystem, and specialist third-party alternatives
• Strong understanding of identity, security, privacy, access control, segregation of duties, auditability, and governance in SAP environments
• Understanding of enterprise AI architecture, including large language models, generative AI, retrieval-augmented generation, grounding, prompt management, model orchestration, AI agents, and model lifecycle management
• Demonstrate executive presence; can immediately establish credibility with executives and additional stakeholders
• Strong organizational skills; ability to work under tight deadlines and produce high quality deliverables
• Demonstrate excellence in research and writing ability
• Strong written and verbal proficiency, analytical and presentation skills; ability to engage clients and respond effectively to questions
• Proficient in analyzing and synthesizing data; can effectively apply patterns and frameworks while drawing and defending conclusions to client challenges
• Strong communication skills - able to explain complex concepts concisely and simply
• Subject matter expertise; comfortable presenting at large and small-scale speaking engagements
• Strong business and financial acumen
• Deep knowledge of the global and competitive landscape within subject area as well as the interplay in that market
• Ability to work independently, while also being intrinsically motivated to collaborate across teams and support the workflow of others, in a multicultural global team
• Learning agile and adept with navigating highly matrixed environments
• Ability to represent Gartner's research methodology and strategies effectively at all levels
• Willingness and ability to travel up to 25% (where applicable)

Benefits

• World-class benefits
• Highly competitive compensation
• Disproportionate rewards for top performers
• Flexibility and support in a hybrid work environment