Eulogy: Burkhard Juhl Sabine, family and friends My name is Liam Ryan and I am the Managing Director of SAP Labs Ireland. On behalf of everyone in Ireland I would like to express our sincere condolences to you Sabine, Burkhard’s wider family and friends. The news of Burkhard’s very sudden and untimely passing has shocked so many people. I would like to use this opportunity to share some stories on someone who has left such a lasting impression on so many people. I first met Burkhard in Walldorf in January 1999 when he interviewed me (along with Michael Zirkel and Winnie Berger) for my role at SAP. Even though I had no knowledge of SAP systems I must have been OK as he recommended I get the job. What I didn’t know at the time is how much personal effort Burkhard had already invested in Ireland. He had been coaching and mentoring Irish Colleagues since 1997. One of my first tasks was to treble the size of the Remote Service Delivery Team in Ireland. Burkhard and myself started the recruitment process. A lot of it was based around interviewing. I remember our first interview. It was for a colleague Justin Farrell. Justin is still with SAP in Dublin. Usually in an interview the candidate has to sell themselves. They talk and we listen. But Burkhard was so passionate about SAP, our customers, our services that he spent most of the time talking. After the interview spoke to Burkhard and told him that we needed to hear from the candidate more. So he said ok. The next interview. I remember well. Ivan Wild. Also still with SAP. The interview starts. Burkhard … Yak….yak…yak. So I just made sure we had more time for the interviews. Burkhard was an amazing teacher. Maybe to tell you some stories of Burkhard’s teaching style. Sarah Tallon told me the story where she did not like one of the new tools she was supposed to use. (Service Assistant). So she logged in the old way and hoped no-one would notice. After about 6 hours analysing, the service almost complete, Burkhard turned up at Sarah’s desk – he looked at the screen and asked ‘What is this?’. As Sarah was trying to give her answer, he promptly unplugged the computer and she lost all her work. Only so that I would have to start again and learn the right way. And I did. Another example of Burkhard’s teaching style came from Justin Farrell. Justin and a number of other Irish Colleagues were in the Back-office in Rot. It was a Friday morning and Burkhard called them all in for a short meeting to get a status update on all the open incidents. However, Burkhard’s first request was not a status update - but to kindly hand over our passports to him and once we completed the incidents without forwarding it to the development queue or changing the component he would return the passports so we could get back to Dublin. Then came that Burkhard smile, knowing he was only kidding about Juhl Passport Control But we learned his passion and dedication towards the customer and the value of delivering a quality service, they worked hard that Friday and they all delivered for Burkhard. Burkhard instilled a passion for delivering a quality service all of the time, and they all made it back to Dublin that weekend. Burkhard would regularly have “arguments” with colleagues. Quite loud “arguments”. We had an open floor desk arrangement, so everyone would witness these “arguments”. But this was all part of Burkhard’s learning process. Through such arguments - people learned to stand up for themselves. To believe in their opinions. He would constantly ask questions. Why, what does the customer do, why, why, digging deeper. Forcing you to come up with the answer. He would prove that you already knew the answer – you just had to dig a little deeper. This is classic “coaching”. You don’t tell people the answer. You get them to come up with the solution. This coaching mindset is alive and well in Ireland and Burkhard was ahead of his time. To this day at the coffee stations in the Dublin office - when we remember the early days the name Burkhard Juhl always comes up in the conversation. He lay the foundations of SAP Labs Ireland – and he ensured the foundation was strong That initial group of 30 Watchers - who were moulded and guided by Burkhard has grown and prospered and today SAP Labs Ireland has over 2,300 employees…. Burkhard was an absolute gentleman, an amazing coach and mentor -had a great sense of humour - and he had a special gift at teaching. He will always be remembered fondly in Dublin. On behalf of all Colleagues in Ireland I would like to pass on our deepest sympathies to Burkhard’s wife Sabine, his family and friends. We will always remember our dear friend Burkhard who to this day continues to inspire so many employees through his legacy. Ar dheis Dé go raibh a anam dílis (Irish: “may god rest his soul”)