AI & process intelligence vital for business leaders

Research conducted by Celonis reveals that 89% of business leaders assert the necessity for Artificial Intelligence (AI) to be integrated with Process Intelligence to achieve the anticipated outcomes.

The findings from the Celonis 2025 Process Optimisation Report highlight the importance of AI understanding the context of business operations in order to enhance operational efficiency and elicit meaningful results. A significant portion of leaders, 58%, express concerns that inefficiencies in their processes might impede the effectiveness of AI.

The report, which collated insights from 1,620 global business leaders, reveals that a substantial number of leaders, 79%, feel an urgent need to better comprehend their processes to fully leverage forthcoming opportunities. Furthermore, 92% reckon there is still untapped potential within these processes.

The participants in the study represented businesses with revenues exceeding USD $500 million, predominately within the USD $2 billion to USD $10 billion range.

The survey results emphasise the pivotal role of Process Intelligence in ensuring AI furnishes actionable insights and makes impactful recommendations. A mere 1% of the surveyed business leaders report not deploying AI, underscoring the widespread adoption across enterprises.

"AI agents need to be process aware - just like a GPS needs a map," said Alex Rinke, co-founder and co-CEO of Celonis. "The survey results clearly demonstrate that business leaders recognise that there's no effective AI without Process Intelligence. Our platform, powered by the Process Intelligence Graph, provides enterprise AI the data and context it needs to be truly game-changing."

The report indicates high expectations for AI, with 81% of companies planning to utilise AI for business process improvements in the forthcoming year. Anticipation for increased AI investment is evident, with 74% of respondents indicating a rise in their AI budgets.

Expectations regarding AI delivering a significant return on investment (ROI) are prevalent, with 64% of leaders believing AI will deliver considerable ROI over the next 12 months. Furthermore, 73% anticipate that established use cases will exist in their departments along with appropriate policies and usage guidelines.

The report stresses that 89% of business leaders advocate for AI understanding the intricacies of business operations, including KPI calculations, policies, procedures, and organisational structures to deploy effectively.

Process mining is being utilised by 39% of businesses, with an additional 52% planning to adopt it within a year, showing a marked increase in awareness and investment in process mining practices.

In the Supply Chain sector, 81% of leaders are optimising areas such as inventory management and logistics automation with AI, yet report challenges with system integration. Finance/Shared Services are seeing a surge in process mining adoption, with 41% already employing these techniques and 50% planning further integration.

In IT departments, there is a strong inclination towards AI investment growth, with 75% expecting increases in the next year. The need for AI to have process context is stressed by 90%, while 75% express concerns about not fully maximising tech investments.

For Operations and Process Improvement, productivity improvements are prioritised, with 81% of leaders acknowledging AI's role in process enhancement over the next 12 months.