SAP is buying TechWolf, a Ghent-based startup that uses AI to map the skills and work of a company’s employees. The German software group announced the TechWolf acquisition on 6 October 2026 and did not disclose the price.
TechWolf says the deal is the largest acquisition of a venture-backed software company in Belgian history. SAP expects the transaction to close in the fourth quarter of 2026. Once it does, TechWolf’s technology will become part of SAP’s talent and workforce strategy.
What TechWolf does
TechWolf was founded in 2018 and now employs more than 120 people. Its software builds what the company calls a context graph for skills and work. In practice, it pulls data on what employees do and what they know, then structures it so HR teams and software can query it.
The company has offices in London and New York, and a San Francisco office is due to open soon. Its headquarters remain in Ghent.
Investors behind the TechWolf acquisition
TechWolf has raised more than $50 million in total. Its backers include Felix Capital, Notion Capital and Harry Stebbings‘ venture firm 20VC. AI leaders from DeepMind and Meta also invested.
Three enterprise software companies sat on the cap table as well. SAP, ServiceNow and Workday all invested in TechWolf before this deal. SAP and Workday compete directly in HR software, so the purchase also takes a startup partly funded by a rival off the market.
How SAP plans to use it
SAP wants TechWolf’s data layer to feed Joule, its AI assistant. Manoj Swaminathan, president and chief product officer for SAP Autonomous Suite, explained the reasoning in the announcement.
“TechWolf’s proprietary context graph for skills and work provides an excellent grounding layer for agent queries regarding work and skills planning and talent management,” he said. “This grounding layer perfectly matches our strategy.”
According to Swaminathan, the graph makes token usage more efficient and lowers the cost of deploying workforce agents. He added that it “will make Joule more intelligent in AI-driven HR scenarios such as skills-based hiring, workforce planning and role redesign.”
Put simply, AI agents answer HR questions more accurately when they can check against structured data about real employees. TechWolf already builds that data. As a result, SAP gets a ready-made layer instead of building one in-house.
Why the deal matters for Belgium
TechWolf describes the sale as a Belgian record for a venture-backed software company. The TechWolf acquisition gives Ghent a headline exit, and its early investors sell to a buyer that already knew the company as a shareholder.
SAP tied the deal to the way AI is changing how companies hire, plan and restructure roles. Meanwhile, its customers want clearer data on the skills their staff already have. Through the TechWolf acquisition, SAP gains direct access to that data across its customer base once the deal closes later this year.