Im Porträt

Julia Ackermann is a product manager for SAP S/4HANA finance and risk at SAP SE, where she is responsible for SAP Green Ledger. In her position, she is working on the definition of the roadmap and new features of SAP’s carbon accounting offering. Before joining SAP, as part of her studies, Julia focused her academic research on startup founders and the evolving landscape of sustainability accounting directives, which has equipped her with a deep knowledge and understanding both of the accounting standards as well as the challenges faced by the companies bound to implement the latter. Julia holds a master’s degree in management and technology with a specialization in finance and accounting from the Technical University of Munich.

Bastian Distler is the chief product owner for SAP Green Ledger in SAP S/4HANA finance and risk product management. His career at SAP started in 2003 as a developer, before becoming a product manager later on. He has mostly been engaged in topics where different applications and processes involved along value chains of companies integrate with finance. Now he is keen on building a carbon accounting solution that applies principles of financial accounting and helps customers achieve their climate and finance goals.

Dr. Christoph Ernst is a seasoned executive with extensive experience in finance solutions. As the head of SAP Global Product Management for finance and risk, he led strategic innovation for five years, enabling cloud-, analytics- and AI-based transformation at customers. Since joining SAP in 1999 as an education consultant, he successfully led the presales organization before shaping SAP’s global solution strategy. He later founded SAP’s CFO product management, spearheading major innovations, including the SAP Green Ledger—a finance-grade, double-entry bookkeeping solution that enables businesses to track carbon quantities, comply with emerging regulations, and navigate the path to net-zero. As of 2025, April 1, he joined the Mannheim Institute for Sustainable Energy Studies (MISES) as a Research Fellow at University Mannheim, chair of Prof. Dr. Stefan Reichelstein. Christoph holds a PhD in history from Universität Trier, where his research focused on the evolution of sustainable forest management in 18th-century Germany.

Dominik Schwarz is a product manager of SAP S/4HANA finance and risk in the area of carbon accounting, specifically for SAP Green Ledger. He has more than 10 years of experience with SAP solutions, especially with risk and control management for finance and sustainability. Before joining product management, Dominik worked in SAP services as a consultant and project manager. He holds a master’s degree in economics. He is a logistician by trade, with a focus on customs, which has now become very useful background knowledge due to the introduction of tariffs and adjustment measures for carbon emissions. 

Dr. Christopher Sessar is the chief accounting officer, senior vice president, and head of global accounting, reporting, and tax at SAP. He has more than 15 years of experience in various finance, accounting, and external reporting functions at SAP. Christopher was a member of SAP's Integrated Reporting Steering Committee and project council, having defined and executed SAP's award-winning integrated reporting strategy in 2016 and 2017. In 2018, he was appointed CFO and member of the management board of SAP Germany, and in 2020 he was appointed SAP's chief accounting officer and head of corporate financial reporting. He is a member of SAP's global finance leadership team. Christopher is a member of the Administrative Board of the Deutsches Rechnungslegungs Standards Committee (DRSC), AKEU, and Working Group Digital Reporting. Additionally, he served as instructor and visiting professor at various universities. He holds a PhD, an executive MBA, and a master’s degree in business administration. 

Mike Szabo is a seasoned expert in financial reporting and sustainability accounting, bringing nearly two decades of experience in guiding IFRS-compliant financial statements across global organizations. As the chief expert for IFRS accounting and IFRS sustainability at SAP, Mike has led key initiatives including the development of the innovative SAP Green Ledger, which enables connected financial and carbon accounting. Recently, Mike coauthored "Incorporating Carbon Emissions into Decision-Making – the Case of Transactional Connectivity," presented at the 2024 IASB Research Forum in Sydney. Collaborating extensively with leading academic and standards-setting bodies, Mike offers a globally informed and nuanced perspective on the intersection of financial accounting standards and carbon accounting. 

Nico Wottke is a product expert within the SAP Sustainability organization, where he defines the strategy, features, and roadmaps of SAP’s sustainability offerings. He focuses on supporting customers on their carbon management and decarbonization journey. He's also a conference speaker and active blogger, emphasizing SAP’s sustainability innovations. He has held various roles in business consulting and enterprise cloud services since joining SAP in 2014. 

Dr. Julia Zicke is the head of external reporting and accounting technology at SAP SE. In addition to the external financial reporting of the SAP Group, her area of responsibility also includes sustainability reporting and digitalization and automation projects in the accounting and reporting environment. After graduating with a master’s degree from the University of Frankfurt am Main, Dr. Zicke completed her doctorate in accounting at Goethe University in Frankfurt. She has worked at SAP SE in the global accounting, reporting, and tax department since 2016, where she has been responsible for numerous tasks in the area of accounting and external reporting.