She Builds: Four SAP Concur leaders on careers, leadership, and AI

There’s no single path to building a career in technology. The opportunities we take, the relationships we build, the lessons we learn, and the ways we adapt along the way can all shape where we go next.

Those experiences will be at the heart of the Women in Tech “She Builds” program at Community Summit North America this October. SAP Concur is proud to be a platinum sponsor of the summit and to support “She Builds,” which brings women across the technology community together to talk about leadership, career growth, relationships, and the changing world of work.

As part of the program, Julie Edmonds (Sr. Director, SMB Marketing) will join the panel discussion, “Four Leaders, Four Lessons: What We Wish We Knew Earlier,” sharing experiences and lessons alongside other women leaders in technology.

It’s a conversation that also resonates across SAP, particularly within the SAP Business Women’s Network, a community of more than 17,000 members worldwide focused on helping women and their allies connect, grow, and create opportunities for one another.

With that community in mind, we asked Julie, Barb Fraker (VP, Head of M&A Success, Corporate Processes & IT), Heather Hays (Director, Partner Ecosystem Success), and Melissa Michelon (Chief of Staff to the SAP Concur CMO) to share their own perspectives on some of the same questions at the heart of “She Builds.”

Here’s what they had to say.

Looking back, what’s one career lesson you wish you’d known earlier?

Julie Edmonds

“Earlier in my career, I didn’t always believe in myself, my knowledge, or my opinions when I walked into a room. I’d have a question in my mind and think, ‘I really want to know this, and I think it’s a good question, but maybe it’s going to make me look like an idiot.’ Then, two minutes later, somebody else would ask it and everyone would say, ‘Oh, great question.’ I wish I could go back and tell my younger self to believe in herself, ask the questions, and take the risks, because you do know what you’re talking about.”

Barb Fraker

“Facts and data always win. People can get very emotional about things, and often the loudest voice in the room is the one everybody responds to, when in reality, that may be the person who’s least informed. If you want to calm down the emotion, anchor the conversation in facts and data that everyone can align around. That gives you a baseline for making decisions faster and taking some of the emotion out of the discussion.”

Heather Hays

“You don’t have to say yes to everything to prove yourself. Especially when you step into a new role, there can be a tendency to say yes to everything because you want to prove yourself. But you need to understand what’s actually important and what the strategic priorities are. 

I wish I had learned the importance of understanding your role and the value you bring to an organization and advocating your value. Being willing to help is important, but so is recognizing when a request falls outside your responsibilities or prevents you from focusing on higher-impact work. You don’t have to say yes to everything to demonstrate your value; sometimes, the most effective choice is knowing what to prioritize and when to say no.” 

Melissa Michelon

“One of the biggest things I’ve learned is that nobody has it all figured out. Earlier in my career, I assumed senior people had all the answers, so if something didn’t make sense, I thought it was a ‘me’ problem and sometimes held back from asking questions. Over time, I realized someone else usually has the same question, and there’s often a good reason something doesn’t make sense. Not being afraid to ask the question is often the fastest way to show you’re thinking critically.”

What have you learned about building a successful career and helping create opportunities for other women?

Julie Edmonds

“I was helped by a very strong female leader who believed in me and gave me honest feedback. That made a real difference for me, and it’s something I try to do for the women on my team and the people I work with. I want to be there to provide guidance, honest feedback, and support. One of my mentors told me, ‘Clear is kind.’ Sometimes the feedback you have to give is hard, but being clear with someone is actually the kindest thing you can do because then they have the opportunity to work on it.”

Barb Fraker

“Do the thing that scares you. And if it doesn’t scare you a little bit, it’s probably the wrong thing.”

Heather Hays

“For me, the answer is community. You need a community, and you need a network. At SAP Concur, where we’re a business within a much larger organization, building a network beyond your day-to-day work and finding people who believe in you and advocate for you is so important. That community has really helped me build my career here at SAP and has created opportunities I wouldn’t have had without it.”

Melissa Michelon

“Finding people I admired was key for me. They became a professional north star, and many of those same women also became the people I could lean on for guidance and who had my back. Now I try to use the visibility that comes with my role to shine a light on the work other women are doing, especially more junior colleagues, and connect them with development, speaking, and stretch opportunities. Other people opened doors for me, so I want to do the same.”

What advice would you give a woman thinking about what she wants to build next in her career?

Julie Edmonds

“One of SAP Concur’s cultural elements is to be curious, and I think that’s incredibly important. If there’s something you don’t know much about, ask the questions. That’s how you educate yourself, build your knowledge, and build credibility within an organization. And build relationships. Get to know the people you’re working with. Those relationships help you as a person, they help your career, and they make the work itself more meaningful.”

Barb Fraker

“Know your priorities. Know what’s important to you because that should drive your next decision, including whether a particular job is right for you at that point in your life. For me, one of the most important things has always been being there to watch my kids do the things they’re doing. Work needs to fit into your life because your life is much bigger than your job. You’re not going to look back and regret being there for your kids or spending time with your parents as they get older. You won’t get that time back. Another job or another opportunity will always come along.”

Heather Hays

“Your career is a long journey, and there are different periods when you can be fully in and others when you may not be. An opportunity might come along at a time when you’re caring for a parent, you’ve just had a baby, or something else in your life needs more of you. It’s okay to say no or reevaluate the next step. That doesn’t mean you’re setting yourself back. Just because you don’t pursue something today doesn’t mean you won’t be able to pursue it five years from now, or that another opportunity won’t come along.”

Melissa Michelon

“I’m a chronic overthinker, so I’ve spent a lot of time debating the pros and cons of career moves. Looking back, my instinct was usually right. My advice is to trust it. You can analyze a decision endlessly, but if something is telling you to take an opportunity, or not to, pay attention.”

As AI changes how we work, what opportunities do you see for women to help shape what comes next?

Julie Edmonds

“For me, AI is a tool to help support us. I don’t see it as something that’s going to take over. You need AI, and you need human validation. I think we’re going to be able to use AI to make tasks easier, better, and more efficient so we can spend more time on the things that really matter. It can give you a starting point, and then you can review it, customize it, and bring your own perspective to it. That allows you to think bigger and more strategically instead of spending so much of your time on the task itself.”

Barb Fraker

“I look at the opportunity as using AI to find time. There are a lot of scary stories about what AI might mean for jobs, but there’s still a lot to be proven. We also know AI can be wrong, so you still need to use judgment. But particularly for many women who are managing work, life, family, and everything else, AI can be a really helpful productivity tool. If I can use it to save time on the tactical things I have to do every day, that gives me more time for the things that are really important to me, professionally or personally.”

Heather Hays

“Women have an opportunity right now to influence the development of AI. We know AI can have biases, which makes it even more important for women and other underrepresented communities to be part of building these solutions and the decisions around them. How do we get women onto those committees and into the decision-making process before something ships? Where do we see biases in AI today, and how can we bring different viewpoints to the table? We need to make sure all voices are heard as this technology is being built.”

Melissa Michelon

“The place of women in technology has changed tremendously over the past 15 to 20 years, with many more women now in technical and leadership roles, but disparities still exist. I see AI as another opportunity to broaden access. As these tools become easier to use, women without traditional technical backgrounds can build, create, and solve problems in ways that once required specialized skills. That has the potential to open new doors.”

As AI takes on more tasks, what human qualities will become even more important?

Julie Edmonds

“I don’t think those qualities are going to change very much. We still need to be human, and we still need to be kind. There are times as leaders when we’re going to be put into situations that are tough or uncomfortable, but I think we need to remember who we are and how we lead. I never want to change who I am as a leader. It’s about supporting your team in a way that’s genuine and true to yourself.”

Barb Fraker

“Curiosity. Being willing to ask why and continuing to question where information came from or why AI arrived at a particular decision are going to become increasingly important.” 

Heather Hays

“AI can make us more efficient and save us time, but efficiency doesn’t replace connection and belonging. We could have put these interview questions and our profiles into AI and generated something that looked like an interview, but would that have been the right thing to do? You see the same question in business when companies use AI in hiring. Can it really select the best candidate if there hasn’t been that human-to-human connection? I think there will always be a need for community, mentorship, and human connection alongside the efficiencies AI gives us.”

Melissa Michelon

“Critical thinking is going to be more important than ever. As we all get better at prompting AI, the real differentiator will be how critically we evaluate its output and decide where it should be used in the first place. We need to use AI to make us smarter, not to think on our behalf. Emotional intelligence will matter just as much because our ability to understand, connect with, and care for other people will continue to set us apart.”

How would you complete the statement: “She builds _____.”

Julie Edmonds

“She builds the people around her.”

Barb Fraker

“She builds leaders.”

Heather Hays

“She builds community.”

Melissa Michelon
“She builds her dream life.”

Attending the 2026 Community Summit?

If you’re attending this year’s Community Summit North America in Nashville, join Julie Edmonds for “Four Leaders, Four Lessons: What We Wish We Knew Earlier” during the Women in Tech “She Builds” program on October 12^th. And be sure to visit the SAP Concur team at Booth #151 to continue the conversation.