THE END OF THE QWERTY ERA?
SAP CEO Christian Klein Predicts Obsolescence of the Keyboard in Business Software
Tech News, Davos, February 2, 2026: Christian Klein, chief executive of SAP, declared “the end of the keyboard is near” at the World Economic Forum in Davos, predicting that typing as a method of data entry will be replaced by voice-activated artificial intelligence at the German software giant within two to three years.
Speaking on the rapid integration of “Agentic AI” into enterprise systems, Klein predicted that within the next two to three years, traditional typing will be replaced by natural language and voice-driven interfaces.
Klein argued that the keyboard, a tool with roots in the 18th-century typewriter, is an inefficient bottleneck for modern business. With the arrival of sophisticated Large Language Models (LLMs) that understand intent rather than just keywords, the manual entry of data—once a cornerstone of office work—is becoming a legacy task.
“The future will be, for sure, that you are not typing any data information into an SAP system,” Klein stated. “You will trigger operational workflows and ask complex analytical questions using your voice.”
The Challenges Ahead
Despite the bold timeline, Klein acknowledged that moving a global workforce away from keyboards requires solving two critical “Roadblocks”:
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Business Translation: General AI (like ChatGPT) is great at chatting but struggles with precise “Business Language.” SAP is fine-tuning models to ensure voice commands translate into perfect financial and legal data.
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Privacy & Noise: The practical shift will require new “Intelligent Hardware” to handle voice inputs in crowded office environments without compromising corporate security.
Why it Matters Now
The shift isn’t just about convenience—it’s about survival. SAP’s internal data shows that companies using their AI assistant, Joule, are seeing a 30% to 40% productivity boost. For professionals in creative fields like yours (design and video editing), this means a future where your hands stay on the creative canvas while your voice handles the administrative “paperwork.”
QWERTY refers to the standard layout of keys on most English-language computer keyboards and typewriters. The name comes from the first six letters located in the top-left row of the alphabetic keys.
