Today, tens of thousands of companies rely on SAP to provide the stable systems that run their mission-critical processes. At the same time, they expect these systems to keep up with the speed of business innovation - and indeed, in many cases, be the primary driver of innovation. In this keynote, Hasso Plattner discusses the role of design in his strategic vision for driving innovation in areas such as ecosystem, community, operations, and technology.

Hasso Plattner is a cofounder of software giant SAP AG. He was chairman of the board until 2003 and is currently the chairman of the supervisory board. Since his retirement from SAP Plattner has been particularly active as a benefactor in the fields of technological research and education. In 1998 Plattner founded the Hasso Plattner Institute for software systems engineering based at the University of Potsdam, and in 2005, with a donation of $35 million, Plattner founded the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University.

The IIT Institute of Design Strategy Conference is an international executive forum addressing how businesses can use design to explore emerging opportunities, solve complex problems, and achieve lasting strategic advantage.

Global businesses increasingly appreciate how design and design thinking can provide them with high-level, strategic value and competitive advantage. In an intensely competitive market, with ever more diverse and demanding customers, executives are often left unsure of exactly what products, communications and services to create for what segments of the market. Design, with its ability to understand users, redefine problems and create systemic, human-centered solutions, can help companies better understand their customer's daily lives, and lead directly to valuable (and valued) offerings that are effectively tailored to their market.