Former SAP EVP Max Wessel joins Degreed as President

Industry veteran joins Degreed to further its mission of making skills, not 4-year credentials, the currency of work.

Degreed, the learning platform that makes skills-first learning easy for hundreds of companies globally, announces Max Wessel is joining as President. With a distinguished background in technology, education, and business transformation, Max brings a wealth of expertise to guide Degreed into its next phase of growth and innovation.

Max Wessel joins Degreed from SAP, where he served as Executive Vice President and led the end-to-end SaaS transformation of SAP’s Learning business. Over 12 years at SAP, Max held various leadership roles spanning sales operations, strategy, product development, and finance. His tenure at SAP underscored his commitment to driving impactful change and leveraging technology to enhance learning experiences.

Max Wessel, President at Degreed said,

“I am a deep believer in skill building as a path to a more equitable society, particularly now as more than 8-in-10 organizations face skills shortages. When I look at the opportunities and challenges facing organizations in the future due to technological, economic, and societal changes, Degreed offers one of the most compelling solutions in the market.

“Degreed has built an engine to change the workforce for the better and measure where each learner is throughout their journey. That’s a remarkable foundation for our customers’ transformations in today’s dynamic world. Now is the moment to take that foundation and do even bigger things as we push deeper into skills, the learning platform, and across the extended workforce. I couldn’t be more excited to work with the executive team to take Degreed even further.”

David Blake, CEO of Degreed said,

“It is an exciting time to be adding to the executive team here at Degreed with someone as deeply skilled and passionate as Max. His dedication to empowering individuals through learning aligns seamlessly with Degreed’s goal to become the de facto way that all learning and skills are measured. Max’s experiences at SAP, plus his advisory and executive positions at ActivTrak, Masterclass, and as a Venture Partner at NextGen Venture Partners will serve Degreed well in a critical time for its global impact.”

Alongside Wessel’s appointment, Degreed has recently expanded its global presence with a new office in Bangalore, India. It was additionally ranked as one of the 2024 GSV 150 — GSV’s annual list of the most transformational growth companies in digital learning. The company also won Silver in the Learning Platform of the Year category at the Learning Awards 2024 in London. 

Degreed has recently been positioned as a Strategic Leader in the 2024 Fosway 9-Grid™ for Learning Systems, recognizing its broad scope of features, strong market presence, and customer advocacy. 

David Wilson, CEO and founder of Fosway said,

“Degreed’s position in the Strategic Leader category once again recognizes its consistent performance in meeting the needs of its enterprise customers and its ongoing commitment to innovation that aligns with customer aspirations.”

You can learn more about Degreed’s vision and customer success stories at LENS, March 5-6. Watch sessions online at LENS Live.