News
In Brief
- Acquisition agreement announced — SAP will acquire SmartRecruiters to expand HCM capabilities.
- Enhanced HR offerings — Integration brings AI-driven recruiting and analytics to SAP customers.
- Enterprise customer impact — HR leaders gain unified, data-driven tools to attract and retain talent.
SAP announced on August 1 that it had entered an agreement to acquire SmartRecruiters, a talent acquisition software provider. The company stated the buy is intended to enhance its SuccessFactors human capital management suite with additional recruiting tools. The transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2025, pending regulatory approval.
The acquisition will add SmartRecruiters’ expertise in high-volume recruiting, automation and AI-enabled candidate experience to SAP's portfolio, according to SAP officials. The move comes as employers face persistent skills shortages, increased use of contingent labor and growing pressure to improve hiring outcomes while meeting new regulations on the use of AI in recruitment.
Who Is Affected by SAP-SmartRecruiters Deal?
- HR leaders and talent acquisition teams at mid-size to large enterprises
- IT decision-makers overseeing HR technology stacks
- Existing SAP SuccessFactors and SmartRecruiters customers
AI, Skills Gaps, and the Changing Shape of Hiring
AI is rapidly transforming talent acquisition as organizations struggle with skills shortages and changing workforce dynamics.
SAP, known for its SuccessFactors HCM suite, has been gradually expanding its AI capabilities in HR. At its 2024 SuccessConnect conference, SAP officials acknowledged that while AI offers significant potential, organizations face challenges with user adoption and demonstrating tangible value.
AI-driven applicant tracking systems and chatbots promise to make the candidate process faster and more candidate-friendly. However, AI in recruitment faces significant hurdles. According to industry reports, 73% of workers express anxiety about AI, and many candidates specifically want human involvement in hiring decisions. Recent research indicates 76% of job seekers expect humans to recognize their potential, up from 64% in 2023.
Regulatory scrutiny has also intensified, with New York City implementing Local Law 144 requiring bias audits for AI-driven hiring decisions, while similar legislation advances in other states amid ongoing litigation over alleged discrimination in automated recruitment tools.
Hiring the right people is not just an HR priority – it's a business priority. With this planned acquisition, we will help our customers attract and hire the best talent so they can advance their talent acquisition agendas with speed and agility, while lowering their total cost of ownership.
— Muhammad Alam, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE, SAP Product & Engineering
Planned Features of the SAP-SmartRecruiters Integration
| Capability | Description |
| End-to-end candidate lifecycle | According to SAP, customers will manage sourcing through onboarding in a single system. |
| AI-enabled recruiting | The integration aims to make applicant tracking and candidate screening more efficient. |
| Data-driven hiring | Recruitment analytics will flow into existing HCM tools for unified reporting. |
| User experience | SmartRecruiters interfaces will complement SAP's HR tools for improved workflows. |
| Standalone availability | SmartRecruiters portfolio will remain available independently for the foreseeable future. |
About SmartRecruiters
SmartRecruiters is an AI-powered talent acquisition and recruiting software platform that helps organizations streamline their hiring processes with an easy-to-use interface and powerful workflows. The company's platform features Winston, an AI intelligence layer that anticipates hiring needs, reduces administrative work and supports faster, more efficient recruiting for everything from corporate hiring to high-volume recruitment.
About SAP
SAP was founded on April 1, 1972, by five former IBM employees: Dietmar Hopp, Hasso Plattner, Claus Wellenreuther, Klaus Tschira and Hans-Werner Hector. SAP has grown from these origins into a multinational enterprise headquartered in Walldorf, Germany, with more than 105,000 employees worldwide.
SAP SuccessFactors is a cloud-based human capital management (HCM) suite, offering tools for core HR, payroll, talent management, learning and more, designed to help organizations optimize their workforce management through advanced analytics and AI-driven insights. The SuccessFactors Human Experience Management Suite is meant to help manage the entire employee lifecycle, including recruiting, onboarding, payroll and performance management and help optimize the employee experience with comprehensive modules covering everything from talent intelligence and succession planning to absence management and learning development.
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