After gaining his Diplom in physics and working at IBM, Tschira co-founded the German software giant SAP AG in 1972 in Mannheim, Germany together with Hans-Werner Hector, Dietmar Hopp, Hasso Plattner and Claus Wellenreuther. From 1998 to 2007, he was a board member at SAP. He was married to Gerda Tschira and had two sons, Harald and Udo.