Cristina Palmaka, born in Brazil, is the former President of SAP for Latin America and the Caribbean. After taking the role in 2020, in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic, and after leading the company’s Brazil regional division for more than seven years, she is now a board member and participates in the governance of other organizations.
Her departure from SAP took place at the beginning of 2025. She was replaced by another executive in April, after the first quarter ended. SAP is a German software company that provides technology and cloud solutions, along with tools tied to industry operations. It offers integrated management and planning systems designed to make corporate work more efficient.
Palmaka lives in São Paulo and remains active in the IT (information technology) sector. Before joining SAP, she worked at several globally recognized IT companies and built an academic profile across different disciplines. In a conversation with Forbes, she stated that “the best solutions do not always come from large projects, but from small projects that solve a specific problem,” linking the impact of artificial intelligence to client-specific needs and to the way the tool can address them without being a “fashion” technology.
Cristina Palmaka’s challenge: leading SAP during the pandemic
After running SAP’s Brazil regional division, she took on a new challenge in 2020 when she assumed the presidency of the company for Latin America and the Caribbean. “It has been an interesting time and also one of much learning to create this balance between domestic life and my new challenge at the company—staying close to my teams so they lack nothing in these complex days and, above all, running the business,” the former executive acknowledged.
In an interview, Palmaka recalled habits she adopted during the Covid-19 lockdown and said she improved her household “logistics,” while also using the period to read books across varied genres. Outside her executive life, she values the “equilibrium and balance” she maintains through running and meditation, activities she has incorporated into her routine for some time.
Along the same lines, she said she “tries to live accordingly, always seeking balance between my work, the company, and my personal life.” The pandemic not only changed people’s lifestyles; in Palmaka’s case, it also became an opportunity to reconsider her future and the balance she wants between professional demands and personal life.
The leadership role she accepted during the pandemic was not random, but rather the continuation of the work she had delivered in the Brazilian region. She had taken the company to a high point there and was widely recognized for her professional influence in her country.
IT companies and academic background
IT companies stand out for delivering services focused on developing and supporting information systems and software, as well as managing and optimizing technological data and information. Before joining SAP, Palmaka worked at Microsoft, HP, and Philips. During that period, Forbes—focused on finance and business—recognized her as one of Brazil’s leading chief executives, and multiple sources highlighted her impact in the country.
Regarding her education, she completed an MBA at Fundação Getúlio Vargas and complemented it with a master’s degree in International Business and Marketing at the University of Texas. She also holds a degree in Accounting from Fundação Álvares Penteado in Brazil.
After leaving SAP’s top leadership, Palmaka has focused on board and organizational roles. One of them is Junior Achievement, a program that promotes entrepreneurial attitudes among young people. It operates in more than 100 countries, brings together more than 500,000 volunteers, and offers programs designed to inspire and support youth.
She also sits on the board of Melhoramentos, a Brazilian paper manufacturer. These activities are part of her current routine after stepping away from SAP, the German software company where she spent more than a decade.
Palmaka remains closely linked to the IT industry and to companies operating in that ecosystem. She has held prominent roles across several organizations, worked through demanding contexts such as the Covid-19 pandemic, and continues to structure her life around a balance between work, family, and personal activities, consolidating her standing as a reference figure in Brazil.
