He had to start the country’s first ever business cloud operations center. Software company SAP bets big on cloud, it is already one of the biggest cloud player in the world. Now, millions of users are being supported from Budapest, and the US citizen is in charge of the center. A personal interview with Anthony Sanchez, Vice President at SAP SuccessFactors.

1. When did you arrive in Hungary and what brought you here?
I first arrived in Hungary in August of 2014, with much commute between Hungary and the United States. My goal was to design, build and launch an EU based Operations center for SAP’s Public Cloud service.

2. Have you ever been an expatriate elsewhere?
I’ve travelled quite a bit for the job, spending significant time in other countries; however, this is the first time I have moved my entire life to another country.

3. What surprised you most about Hungary?
For me, Hungary has such a unique blend of old and new when it comes to architecture and culture that you can literally see generations of historical influence coexisting all around you.

4. Friends are in Budapest for a weekend - what must they absolutely see and do?
It really depends on the person, but, if you only have two days you must try some Hungarian wine, see the castles, Heroes Square and the Parliament! Additionally, the Danube is a beautiful sight which must be seen; both, day and night.

5. What is your favourite Hungarian food?
Mangalica pork is fantastic in all of its forms and lángos is a nice ‘sometimes’ treat.

6. What is never missing from your refrigerator?
Water, mustard, cheese and salami.

7. What is your favourite Hungarian word?
This is easy: Szia. It is the first word I learned and can be used in the same context as “See ya” is used in the United States.

8. What do you miss most from home?
Steak. A nice rib eye, bone in and medium rare would be great right about now!

9. What career other than yours would you love to pursue?
When I was young, I originally wanted to go into foreign relations and politics as a form of service. I thought it would be a great way to experience other cultures and travel the world while positively impacting society!
That said; I love what I am doing. I love working in the cloud and I love evolving technologies. I couldn’t really see myself doing anything else. I was hooked on internet based technology from the first day I discovered the internet in all its black and orange terminal glory!

10. What's a job you would definitely never want?
Over the course of my life, I have done a lot of different kinds of jobs to pay for my education and my bills. This is a hard question to answer.
I guess I wouldn’t want any job that didn’t challenge me in some way to be better and have a future vision I could invest myself in. When you have a job that you love and see a future in, it stops being a job and becomes a career.
I would never want to be a fashion model because I like food too much.

11. Where did you spend your last vacation?
I haven’t taken a real vacation in a long time, but I was fortunate enough to find a few days to spend in the Dominican Republic.

12. Where do you hope to spend your next holiday?
I honestly do not know. I do look forward to visiting some of the Christmas markets this December and I would like to take some time to visit Spain or Italy and Sicily.

13. Apart of temptation what can't you resist?
Cookies. This is my kryptonite.

14. What was your favourite band, film, or hobby as a teen?
I really enjoyed reading, writing and playing sports like baseball and basketball.

15. Red wine or white?
Red.

16. Book or movie?
It depends. I do a lot of reading as part of my professional life so sometimes a movie allows me to slow down a bit; however, I also have a bad habit of getting involved with serial novels.

17. Morning person or night person?
I don’t operate on much sleep… both.

18. Which social issue do you feel most strongly about?
Equality and justice, in all of its forms.
Without getting overly political, I believe we let our personal beliefs, opinions and moral outlooks get in the way of allowing us to live side by side with people who hold different personal views from ourselves. It is unfortunate, in my opinion, to see that there are people who cannot harbor their own beliefs without insisting that others abide by those same personal beliefs as well. You see a lot of this in the world today which has resulted in open conflict in some cases. Our lives should be our own to live as long as we are not causing harm to ourselves and our communities. I believe that law should apply evenly to everyone. I do not have to agree with someone to accept that they have their own beliefs which have no influence or bearing on mine and to see them for their character.

19. Buda or Pest side?
Pest! I really like the pace of life, accessibility and wide scale variety of things to do. I enjoy going out and randomly encountering the events of city life.

20. What would you say is your personal motto?
Be the best person you can be for yourself and the world around you. Challenge yourself, what you know, and your beliefs. Be open to the possibility learning something new or different.