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The deal would bring TechWolf’s models and research team into SAP. The companies have not disclosed financial terms, and regulatory approval is still required.
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SAP plans to add TechWolf’s continuously updated skills-and-work data to SuccessFactors, using operational systems alongside HR records to map what employees do and can do. The agreement includes TechWolf’s context graph, AI models and applied research team; financial terms are undisclosed, and closing is expected in Q4 2026, subject to regulatory approval and customary conditions. SAP says TechWolf will remain independent. CEO Andreas De Neve cites U.S. ARR growth from $1 million to $15 million in 18 months—and demand the startup could not meet alone—as reasons to join SAP.
TechWolf says its customers include HSBC, GSK, Ericsson, PayPal and Booking.com, and its open-source models have been downloaded more than two million times.
De Neve says the models support millions of people across dozens of large companies.
TechWolf plans to keep its brand, leadership and Ghent headquarters, serve customers regardless of their HR system, and open an office in San Francisco.
SAP has agreed to acquire TechWolf, the Ghent-based AI company that helps businesses understand employees’ work and skills. The October 6 agreement would bring that technology into SAP’s workforce software. Financial terms were not disclosed, and closing is expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, subject to regulatory approval and customary conditions.
TechWolf builds a continuously updated picture of employees’ work and capabilities from the HR and business systems customers connect. Its data model, called a context graph for work, links the work people do, the skills they apply, outside labor-market information and the customer’s business strategy. The acquisition includes that model, its AI models and its applied AI research team.
TechWolf’s clients include HSBC, GSK, Ericsson, PayPal and Booking.com. Its open-source models have been downloaded more than two million times. De Neve says the company’s AI models support millions of people across dozens of large companies.
SAP expects TechWolf to become a core part of its SuccessFactors portfolio, supporting skills mapping, workforce planning and organizational redesign. Manoj Swaminathan, president and chief product officer for SAP Autonomous Suite, also said the technology would improve skills-based hiring and role redesign, make token usage more efficient and lower the cost of deploying workforce agents.
TechWolf CEO Andreas De Neve’s rationale centers on access to operational data, not just personnel records. In his announcement letter, he said many of the world’s largest companies run their operations on SAP. Joining the company, he argued, would give TechWolf a bigger platform and more access to the systems where work happens.
Most evidence of how work gets done today sits in operational systems complementing the data in HR systems.
Andreas De Neve, TechWolf CEO and co-founder, in his October 6 announcement letter
De Neve said TechWolf’s U.S. annual recurring revenue—the annualized value of its recurring business—grew from $1 million to $15 million in the preceding 18 months. Even with that growth, he said, the company could not keep up with demand. He presented the sale as a way to increase its scale.
SAP plans to retain TechWolf as an independent entity, subject to closing and required consultation. De Neve’s letter sets out several commitments for the business:
That customer commitment extends beyond companies running SAP’s personnel software. De Neve said some TechWolf customers use other human-resources systems, while many use TechWolf in agents such as ChatGPT, Claude and Copilot. Those connections form part of the customer base he pledged to keep serving.
The leadership plans also include a change among the founders. Chief technology officer Jeroen van Hautte will relocate to open the San Francisco office. Third co-founder Mikaël Wornoo has decided to pursue a new chapter outside TechWolf, De Neve said.
TechWolf was founded in 2018 by Ghent University students De Neve, Jeroen van Hautte and Mikaël Wornoo. It raised €10 million in 2022 and €40 million in 2024, with SAP participating in the latter round. The agreement therefore turns an existing investor into the company’s prospective owner.
De Neve described the transaction as Belgium’s largest acquisition of a venture-backed software company and its largest employee liquidity event—the opportunity for employees to turn their equity into cash. Both descriptions are the CEO’s claims.
The sale also carries a charitable commitment. De Neve said TechWolf’s founders, team and investors will contribute 3% of the sale’s equity value to the newly founded TechWolf Foundation. The charity will support causes aligned with the company’s mission. With the transaction’s value undisclosed, the contribution has no public cash figure.
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