Sandeep Seeripat
General Manager for Business Transformation & Technology · TwiningsOvaltine
In 2019, when Sandeep Seeripat joined Twinings Ovaltine, IT was largely seen as a support function. The company operated seven separate ERP systems, and technology was not viewed as a driver of growth. During the interview process, Sandeep asked a simple question: did the business want change or business as usual? The answer was change. Today, Sandeep serves as Global Chief Business Transformation & Technology Officer, reporting to the CEO and leading transformation, technology, AI, cyber and digital strategy across nine business units serving more than 100 countries. Under his leadership, the Optimus programme transformed the company’s technology landscape, consolidating seven ERP systems onto SAP S/4HANA and earning the Business Network Innovator Award at the 2025 SAP UKI Customer Success Awards. A recognised voice in business transformation, Sandeep has shared insights at UKISUG Connect 2025 and SAP NOW AI UKI. His message is clear: transformation is ultimately about people, not technology. That philosophy is captured in his upcoming book, The Transformation Trap. And when he is not leading global transformation programmes, you are just as likely to find him waiting patiently behind a camera in the South African bush — sometimes for four hours — to capture a single wildlife photograph.
View speaker profile →About This Session
Most organisations arrive at SAP S/4HANA with the same inheritance: a fragmented ERP estate, years of accumulated customisation, and a business that has learned to work around its systems rather than through them. The temptation is to rebuild that complexity on a newer platform. This session is about what happens when you refuse to.
Drawing on a four-year global transformation that consolidated 10 ERP systems onto a single SAP RISE and SAP BTP platform, it examines how a disciplined clean core strategy works in practice: standardising processes and data across markets, establishing a design authority with the mandate to challenge customisation requests, and applying a value-first rule in which every enhancement has to earn its place. It covers what that discipline delivered — a full upgrade from S/4HANA 2021 to 2025 with zero P1 or P2 incidents, materially lower testing effort, and real upgrade agility — along with the outcome that rarely makes it into the original business case: a trusted, standardised data foundation on which an AI agenda can be built quickly.
The session is candid about where the approach was tested — the pressure points, the exceptions, and the moments discipline slipped — because those are the lessons that transfer to any organisation, whatever its size or sector. Attendees will leave with practical guidance on balancing standardisation with innovation, and a clear view of why clean core is now a prerequisite for enterprise AI, not just an upgrade strategy.
Date & Time
Wed, 18 Nov 2026 · 11:40 AM – 12:20 PM
Room
Columbine
Venue
Tivoli Hotel & Congress Center
Address
Arni Magnussons Gade 2, 1577 København, Denmark
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