Why Celonis Believes the Next AI Revolution Starts with Process Intelligence

For years, enterprises have spent millions on digital systems hoping they would fix broken processes. But the truth is, new software deployment doesn’t automatically mean better outcomes. Then what is the missing link that makes outcomes difficult? It's time to look at your processes.

Here is where companies like Celonis come in — not as another IT solution provider, but giving a new lens on how business actually runs. At the heart of this transformation is a deceptively simple idea: if you can see your processes clearly, you can improve them meaningfully.

It cuts across supply chains to shared services. Celonis is helping global companies like PepsiCo, GE Healthcare, and Deutsche Telekom unlock massive value, not by adding more tools, but by making sense of what’s already there. Powered by a living, breathing model called the ‘Process Intelligence Graph’ and together with an AI toolkit, Celonis is reimagining how work flows, decisions are made, and impact is measured. And it is also leveraging India as a key innovation hub.

From mitigating inefficiencies in supply chains to enabling autonomous enterprise agents, Celonis is empowering digital transformation. Alexander Rinke, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Celonis and Malhar Kamdar, Chief Customer Officer and President Celonis India explain to CiOL in a recent conversation the importance of Process Intelligence (PI) and why there's no AI without PI.

Why Process Intelligence: The Missing Layer

At the heart of Celonis’ offering is what Rinke describes as a horizontal process intelligence platform — a layer that sits above existing systems and connects fragmented work across departments, systems, and even off-system activity like supplier interactions.

“Our key innovation is the Process Intelligence Graph, a unified model and language for how a business really works,” he explains. “It doesn’t just show how processes behave today, but how they’re supposed to work. It integrates context, data, and intent into a strategic asset that empowers decision-making, collaboration, and intelligent automation.”

This is especially crucial as organisations move from experimentation to AI-led execution. “You can’t just automate chaos,” he says. “You need structured insight and visibility. That’s what enables AI agents to take action with real-time context.”

The Enterprise Wake-Up Call: The $50 Million Lesson and Why Visibility Matters

“People think that putting in a new system will fix broken processes,” says Alexander Rinke. “But if you don't change the underlying process, you just get the same inefficiencies in shinier software.”

This sobering truth is something Rinke has seen play out across industries. One anecdote he says stands out. Rinke recounts a real-world example that drives the point home. “A wholesale customer invested $50 million in a new warehouse to enable faster shipping. But when we ran the order-to-cash process mining, we saw the warehouse itself only took eight hours to process orders. The real delay? Four days before the order even entered the warehouse.”

The decision was based on incomplete data. “If they had known earlier, they might have reconsidered the investment. That’s the danger of not seeing the full picture,” he warns.

In Rinke’s world, the difference between blind investment and breakthrough impact lies in a deceptively simple question: Do you actually know how your business runs?

The Process Intelligence Graph: A New Business GPS

What Celonis offers is not another system. It’s what Rinke and his team call the Process Intelligence Graph. It’s a kind of “digital twin” of how processes flow across the organisation, and a live mind map of what’s working, what’s broken, and what’s hiding value.

Think of it as the GPS of enterprise operations. Just as Google Maps shows you where traffic is slowing you down, the PI Graph reveals where process inefficiencies are costing millions and helps you take the fastest route to resolution.

Malhar Kamdar pitches in and puts it succinctly: “Celonis gives enterprise AI the same context navigation that data gives a GPS. It connects all systems, understands how each business uniquely runs, and enables AI to automate with confidence.”

The New Lingo: No AI Without PI

Celonis started with process mining. But today, the company is clear about its bigger mission: enabling AI that works in the real world.

“There is no AI without Process Intelligence,” Kamdar asserts. “That’s because AI doesn’t just need data, it needs context. It needs to understand what’s happening, why it’s happening, and what’s supposed to happen next.”

That’s where Celonis’ latest innovation, AgentC, comes in. These AI-powered agents use the Process Intelligence Graph to reason, act, and even simulate decisions across functions like supply chain, finance, and customer operations. “The next frontier in enterprise AI is not just insights. It’s intelligent agents that can do the work. These aren’t marginal wins,” says Kamdar. “They are fundamental shifts in how businesses operate.”

Results That Resonate

Celonis is not short on proof points. The numbers speak for themselves: PepsiCo unlocked millions in accounts receivable, reduced rejected sales orders by 86%, and saved over 1,000 hours annually in accounts payable. GE Healthcare increased its free cash flow by $1.3 billion within a year. Deutsche Telekom saved €66 million by tackling duplicate payments and optimising cash discount execution. Meanwhile, Cosentino in Spain leveraged Celonis to build an AI agent that boosted order processing speed by five times, delivering a significant impact on bottom-line efficiency.

Decoding the Celonis Garage

Much of Celonis’ AI innovation is being incubated in India.

Tucked into Bengaluru’s bustling tech ecosystem, the Celonis Garage is a co-innovation lab working with global consulting partners, startups, and GCCs. “We operate with the speed of a startup,” Kamdar explains. “We’re solving real problems — from unstructured data challenges to hyperautomation — and scaling those solutions for global customers.”

With academic tie-ups and an agile build-test-deploy model, India is emerging not just as a delivery base, but as a braintrust for next-gen enterprise solutions.

From System Thinking to Process Thinking

So where is enterprise IT really headed?

Rinke believes we’re shifting from “system thinking” to “process thinking.” It’s no longer enough to install software and hope for the best. The winners will be those who understand — and continually optimise — how work actually gets done.

“In the past, if a customer asked for something new, you’d say: see you in eight months. With process intelligence and composable AI, the answer can be: see you in eight minutes. That’s the real shift.”

Also Read:

Celonis Hosts First Process Intelligence Day in Bengaluru