How we hire

Ethical Usage of GenAI in the Application & Recruiting Process

Preamble

At SAP, innovation and progress are at the heart of what we do – which is why we recognize the potential, and many advantages Generative AI (GenAI) can offer, but we take a human-centered approach to hiring. At every stage of our recruitment process, decisions are made by people to ensure we identify and welcome the best talent to SAP.

AI tools are opening up new opportunities for candidates to present themselves confidently and effectively. We believe these tools can play a valuable role in supporting inclusion and helping individuals feel more prepared for interviews. That said, we aim to strike a balance - leveraging the benefits of AI while still getting to know the person behind the application. To help you make responsible and effective use of GenAI when applying to SAP, we’ve put together some guidance below.

To ensure a fair and authentic hiring process, we reserve the right to remove candidates from the recruitment process if there is evidence of behavior that violates these guidelines such as the misuse of AI tools in a way that compromises the integrity of your application, interviews, or assessments.

1. Applicant & Candidate Use of AI

1.1 Application Stage

Appropriate Use of GenAI

• Structuring your documents

You can ask AI for guidance on how to format a CV or organize a cover letter, as long as the content is based on your real experience.

• Improving clarity and language

It's fine to use AI to review grammar, rephrase sentences, or make your writing more fluent and professional.

Inappropriate Use of GenAI

• Inventing qualifications or experiences

Do not use AI to create fictional achievements, roles, or skills. Your application must accurately reflect your real background.

• Copying AI-generated text without editing

Avoid pasting AI outputs directly into your application. These responses often sound vague or impersonal and may not truly represent you.

• Letting AI speak for you

If your application is entirely written by AI, it’s difficult for us to get a sense of your voice, motivation, and fit—which are critical in the hiring process.

1.2 Interviews & Assessment

Appropriate Use of GenAI

• Researching the company and industry

Use AI tools to gather insights about SAP, its products, values, and market trends.

• Practicing interview questions

Simulate common interview scenarios or behavioral questions with the help of AI to improve how you communicate your experience.

• Understanding assessment formats

Learn more about the structure of psychometric or technical assessments and the types of questions you may encounter.

• Clarifying technical concepts

If you're preparing for a role-specific evaluation, AI can help explain relevant technologies or methods in simple terms.

Inappropriate Use of GenAI

• Receiving real-time assistance during interviews

Using AI tools (e.g., live prompts or pre-written scripts) in video, phone, or recorded interviews is not allowed.

• Using AI to complete assessments or tests

Any form of AI support during online assessments—psychometric, technical, or coding-related is considered cheating.

• Replacing your own input with AI responses

Submitting answers generated by AI, instead of expressing your own thoughts and solutions, undermines the purpose of the process.

2. SAP’s use of AI

Our Commitment to Fair and Transparent AI Use

Any AI systems we implement in our recruitment process undergo thorough testing to identify and mitigate potential bias. This ensures fair and equal treatment for all candidates regardless of personal characteristics such as race, gender, age, or socioeconomic background. We also regularly audit these systems to evaluate their fairness, accuracy, and compliance with applicable laws and regulations. Transparency is essential to us. That’s why we will always inform candidates when AI tools are used during any stage of the selection process.

2.1 Application Stage

We use the AI-enabled Parsing and AI Matching functionality of SAP SuccessFactors to support our recruitment process by parsing CVs and identifying how candidates’ skills align with job requirements. This may not yet be applicable for all countries globally. While we use Phenom Interview Scheduling to set up interviews between candidates and hiring teams, the tool only frees up time for the interview teams to talk to you and does not take the decision who gets an interview or who moves forward in the process after an interview. All application decisions are and will always be made by qualified human recruiters and hiring teams. AI serves as a tool to assist, not replace, human judgment.

2.2 Assessments

At this time, we do not use any AI-powered tools to evaluate or assess candidates during the recruitment process. All assessments are designed and reviewed by our talent teams to ensure fairness, relevance, and alignment with the role. AI-Supported Evaluation AI may help us organize and store information gathered during assessments, allowing our recruiters and hiring managers to make well-informed, human-led decisions. We do not and will not use AI to make hiring decisions or to automatically reject candidates. As technology continues to evolve, so will our approach to using AI in recruitment. We remain committed to transparency and will keep this information up to date. For the latest details, please refer to our careers page.