The company has made two new senior hires to its Wellington-based Public Sector team: Nick Olney as senior industry advisor and Tim Ellis as senior account executive.

Olney joins SAP following a 30-year career with the New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) and brings his strategic leadership experience and unparalleled knowledge of NZDF and the wider public sector.

Ellis will be focused on customers in the defence and security sector. He brings extensive knowledge of the technology sector, experience in leadership roles and a solid understanding of the New Zealand public sector.

Previously he was program director at AI-enabled data-to-knowledge company Babel Street, where he collaborated with defence, intelligence, law enforcement, and elite sport organisations.

"As Aotearoa's public sector seeks to run smarter, faster and more sustainably, we are thrilled to have these high-calibre hires join our team to help accelerate the digitisation of government agencies across the country," SAP New Zealand public sector director Nick Quin says.

"Both Nick and Tim bring a wealth of leadership and management experience across high performing teams, technical expertise, as well as deep relationships across the public sector. We're confident our public sector customers will reap the benefits, with our broadened team and aligned approach helping them become truly intelligent enterprises and build for a better future," he adds.

"We have bold ambitions for the year ahead, coming off a highly successful 2021," SAP New Zealand managing director Adrian Griffin says.

"Nick Quin and the Public Sector team are driving a fantastic programme with both local and central government, and it is exciting to bring two new highly experienced resources into market to assist our customers."