Ala-Pietila is currently chairman of the board of packaging company Huhtamaki, learning company Sanoma Corporation and the HERE Technology supervisory board, according to his LinkedIn page. Renjen, a former CEO of Deloitte, was leaving the board over a "difference in perspective on the role of SAP Supervisory Board chair, which Punit Renjen was designated to assume", SAP's statement said, without elaborating.

Renjen, whose resignation will take effect at SAP's next annual general meeting on May 15, was named as the designated chairman in February last year to succeed the company's co-founder Hasso Plattner after his two-decade term expires in May 2024.

(Reporting by Utkarsh Shetti in Bengaluru, Victoria Waldersee in Berlin, Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)