Alexander Finger
Chief Technology Officer, SAP Switzerland · Master of Law · Ph.D. candidate in Law
Alexander Finger has spent three decades at the points where companies change direction. In 1995 he founded LueneCom, one of the first internet service providers in Germany. In 1999 he took the technical lead for ePost.DE, Deutsche Post's first go at embracing the internet. He built the IT organisation of Swisscom Hospitality Services from scratch and led the technical post-merger integration of several small acquisitions. At Swisscom Group he was business lead for post-merger integrations and established an SME-focused IT service offering and online sales and care for the SME segment. As CIO and board member at Billag AG he led the migration to a new legal collection system and kept the company's IT compliant with the regulator. As CTO and board member at cc energie he led a leadership turnaround, prepared the SAP S/4HANA migration with the first project scoping and cost estimates, and set up a new sourcing strategy for all IT services.
Today, as Chief Technology Officer at SAP Switzerland, he advocates SAP's technical vision to customers, partners and the market unit, embeds AI in customer engagements and grows SAP solutions through partnerships with startups and universities.
Alex holds a Master of Law with summa cum laude honors and is writing his doctoral thesis in law. He is fluent in German, English and French.
Current focus
- Physical AI and robotics in the enterprise. Bringing AI into the physical world of the enterprise: robots that act on ERP data and processes. In 2026 he and his team showed physical AI at SAP TechEd in Berlin, the SAP Partner Summit in Amsterdam and SAP NOW in Zurich.
- Startups and SAP partners. Working with startups and universities that build on SAP, and running the SAP Switzerland Business Meets AI hackathon.
- AI as a board topic. With two board mandates behind him and a legal background, he looks at AI the way a board has to: who is responsible for it, and who controls it. He argues publicly that an "AI strategy" is the wrong starting point for a company.
This is a personal site. Views expressed here and on LinkedIn are his own, not SAP's.
Board and governance experience
Alexander has served on two boards of directors: at cc energie (2017–2020) as CTO and member of the board, and at Billag AG (2009–2011) as CIO and member of the board. Both roles included the regulatory compliance of IT systems; at Billag he was the liaison with the regulators. At SAP Switzerland he was recognised as an innovation and compliance ambassador.
He holds a Master of Law (summa cum laude) from Universitäre Fernstudien Schweiz and is writing his doctoral thesis at the University of Fribourg on the legal classification of autonomous systems under Swiss law: whether automated systems can be legal subjects, and how their acts are attributed (Rechtssubjektivität und Zurechnung von Automaten).
Speaking, keynotes and moderation
Alexander is happy to hold keynotes, in German, English or French, on:
- Physical AI: bringing ERP into the physical world
- AI as a board matter: who is responsible, who is in control
- Why an "AI strategy" is the wrong starting point
- Startups, universities and SAP partners
- Energy, utilities and the data the energy transition needs
- AI and the law
He also moderates events, from single panels to multi-day programmes.
Speaking and moderation enquiries: via LinkedIn.
On AI and the law
Alexander takes a deliberately contrarian position in the AI regulation debate: existing law is in general sufficient to govern artificial intelligence; AI-specific legislation is a corner case. Liability, data protection, product safety, non-discrimination and contract law already apply to AI systems; in his reading, the major gap is enforcement and interpretation, not new statutes.
For a board that means the duties of care and oversight already cover AI. There is no reason to wait for new legislation before taking responsibility for it.
Contact
LinkedIn is the best way to reach Alexander. He reads and answers messages there personally: linkedin.com/in/alexanderfinger
Frequently asked questions
Has Alexander Finger served on boards of directors?
Yes. He was CTO and member of the Board of Directors at cc energie (2017–2020), where he led a leadership turnaround and the first project scoping and cost estimates for the SAP S/4HANA migration, and CIO and member of the Board of Directors at Billag AG (2009–2011), where he was responsible for the regulatory compliance of IT systems and the liaison with regulators.
What does Alexander Finger work on today?
As CTO at SAP Switzerland he works on physical AI and robotics in the enterprise, on startups and universities that build on SAP, and on AI as a board topic: who is responsible for it and who controls it.
Which industries does Alexander Finger know?
Energy and utilities (CTO and board member at cc energie; industry advisor for utility customers at SAP), telecommunications (Swisscom Group, 2004–2017), enterprise software (SAP), regulated fee collection (CIO and board member at Billag AG), and internet services (founder of LueneCom in 1995; technical lead of ePost.DE at Deutsche Post AG).
In which languages does Alexander Finger work?
German, English and French, all fluent.
How can I contact Alexander Finger?
LinkedIn is the best and fastest way to reach Alexander. He reads and answers messages there personally: linkedin.com/in/alexanderfinger