The Software Industry's New New Man

(TIME) -- How does a guy become chief technology developer of the world's largest business-software company by age 34? Answer: by getting an early start. Shai Agassi, the diminutive Israeli wunderkind of German powerhouse SAP, programmed his first computer at age 7. "Other kids collected baseball cards," says Agassi with a grin. "I collected punch cards."

Most baseball-mad kids don't end up playing in the major leagues, but Agassi's prodigious talent wouldn't quit. He started four companies in his 20s and sold one, Top Tier, to SAP for $400 million. He ran a subsidiary, SAP Portals, and developed XApps -- new software designed to work with existing systems. In February SAP made Agassi the first non-German member of its board, and he replaced SAP founder Hasso Plattner in the top technologist role.

It's an auspicious time for Plattner's prodigy to step up to the plate. The $40 billion business-software industry is heading for a shakeout, and SAP has to protect its dominant 35 percent market share. Agassi's vision? "Training people on computer systems is stupid," he says. "We need to train the systems to work with people." If he can turn that idea into a profitable reality, the punch-card kid might find himself captaining the team.

-- By Chris Taylor/San Francisco