Melissa Di Donato, technology industry veteran and chief revenue officer for global business solutions leader SAP’s S/4HANA cloud business, has more than 20 years of experience in senior enterprise roles and is dedicated to delivering innovative and transformative cloud solutions. She spearheads the creation of digital strategies that align sales, partners, products and channels to deliver deeper customer relationships. This includes building high-performing sales engines, ensuring diversity across the business and developing go-to-market strategies. Di Donato has proven herself in fast-paced environments where digital strategy affects growth and revenue. Prior to joining SAP, she was vice president of analytics for Salesforce.
A recognized industry expert in the enterprise technology space, Di Donato earned ComputerWeekly’s 2015 Personality of the Year for Cloud Computing. She is a board member for iDEA (The Duke of York’s Charitable Program for digital skills for UK youth) and the Data Science Institute at Imperial College in London, and a trustee for Founders4Schools.
Di Donato is a dedicated philanthropist and a champion of workplace diversity who works to elevate the role of women and girls in STEM and mentor women in business. As the technology group chair of the 30% Club, which advocates for greater women representation on th FTSE 100, she aims to affect positive change in the workplace and ensure that more women sit at the top of leading technology companies.
Regarding workplace diversity, Di Donato says, “You have a better chance of being a profitable, high-growth business if diversity is reflected in everything you do. It’s also important to note that although an environment may be diverse, what’s really important is an inclusive environment where everyone feels welcome and that their ideas matter.”
“As a senior female executive,” explains Di Donato, “you have a platform from which to communicate, mentor, volunteer and be a role model – things that can have a tangible impact on future generations.” She offers this simple, but powerful, advice to women on their way up, “Don’t. Give. Up.”
