SAP acquires SmartRecruiters, what it means for talent acquisition

Sep 15, 2025

SAP’s recent announcement to acquire SmartRecruiters, a next-generation Talent Acquisition suite, marks a significant step in strengthening its end-to-end Human Experience Management portfolio. At Delaware, we see this as a timely and visionary investment that aligns closely with the needs of modern enterprises navigating the future of work. 

SmartRecruiters is widely recognised as a modern intuitive platform that combines speed with simplicity. Its key features include: 

  • AI candidate matching and ranking for faster shortlists. 

  • Talent Candidate Relationship Management to build pipelines and run nurture campaigns. 

  • Modern career sites with consumer-grade candidate experiences. 

  • Job posting to thousands of boards and social platforms. 

  • Collaboration tools for recruiters and hiring managers. 

  • Analytics dashboards for sourcing, Recruitment Pipeline analytics and DEI (Diversity, Equity and inclusion Reporting). 

SAP Recruiting Management (RCM) and Recruiting Marketing (RMK) are powerful but often complex. SmartRecruiters adds: 

  • A simpler recruiter UI that drives adoption. 

  • Faster implementation compared to traditional setups. 

  • Stronger candidate engagement tools without third-party add-ons. 

  • Marketplace integrations for assessments, video interviewing, and screening. 

This helps SAP close gaps that have historically pushed customers to external vendors or required customers to build their own Dashboards. With SmartRecruiters, SAP can deliver these capabilities natively. 

How does it fit into SAP’s overall roadmap and Talent vision? 

The acquisition strengthens SAP’s AI-first, modular HR strategy providing: 

  • Native integration with Employee Central and Onboarding. 

  • Seamless candidate-to-employee data flows. 

  • Recruiting insights feeding into SAP People Analytics and Talent Intelligence Hub. 

  • Strategic positioning as the strategic successor to RCM/RMK.

What happens to different types of customers? 

  • Customers using SmartRecruiters only – Can keep SmartRecruiters standalone, with the option to connect into SuccessFactors in future. 

  • Customers with SmartRecruiters and SuccessFactors (excluding Recruiting) – Expect seamless, out-of-the-box integrations, creating a unified HR and recruiting platform. 

  • Current SAP RCM/RMK customers – Will benefit from new integration options, with the flexibility to leverage SmartRecruiters innovations over time. 

  • Customers without SmartRecruiters or SAP SuccessFactors: Now have a strong reason to adopt to SAP SuccessFactors combined with SmartRecruiters as a modern end-to-end HR Solution

How we’re helping SAP customers with this transformation

SmartRecruiters and SuccessFactors together create a strong talent platform but turning that into real business value often requires expert guidance. Delaware helps by: 

  • Integrating SmartRecruiters with the wider SAP HXM suite (Employee Central, Onboarding, People Analytics) so data flows seamlessly. 

  • Advising customers on when to continue with RCM/RMK and when SmartRecruiters could bring added value. 

  • Embedding recruiting insights into workforce planning and leadership dashboards. 

  • Supporting change management, making sure recruiters and managers adopt the new tools with confidence. 

  • Accelerating projects with proven SAP methodologies and integration expertise 

Recruiters, managers, and candidates deserve tools that feel effortless. With SAP and SmartRecruiters together, the hiring experience can finally match the expectations of today’s workforce. 

Turn recruiting into a strategic advantage

SAP and SmartRecruiters are reshaping the future of hiring, and Delaware is already partnering with leading organisations to turn this shift into strategic advantage.

Speak with our experts today to align your talent strategy with your business goals and stay ahead of the competition.

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