The Missing Link Between Business Processes and AI at Scale

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Celonis argues that without process intelligence, generative AI will fall short in real-world enterprise settings.

Celonis, a leading firm in process mining, is doubling down on its India operations as it scales up ambitions in process intelligence and AI-enabled transformation. With an enlarged Bengaluru office and the launch of Celonis Garage, a dedicated innovation hub, India is now central to the company’s roadmap for growth, talent, and technology.

While Celonis has operated in India for several years, it is now significantly ramping up its presence. The decision is shaped by multiple strategic factors: a large existing enterprise user base, a growing domestic market, and the emergence of India as a global nucleus for digital operations and artificial intelligence.

In a conversation with MIT SMR India, Alex Rinke, Co-Founder and Co-CEO of Celonis, said, “We’re really doubling down. One reason is that our largest user base is already in India through the global capability centers of our customers. Another is the huge opportunity in the domestic market, which we’re going after in a big way.”

A significant share of Celonis users is based in India, largely through the country’s robust ecosystem of Global Capability Centers (GCCs). With more than 2,000 GCCs, or about 60% of the global total, India is uniquely positioned at the intersection of digital transformation and enterprise innovation.

To tap into this ecosystem, Celonis is expanding its partnerships with top consulting and IT services firms headquartered or heavily present in India. These include Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Deloitte, and KPMG. According to Rinke, these partnerships are moving “from time-and-material contracts to co-innovation models where we’re creating IP together and going very deep. It fits like peanut butter and sugar.”

Building the Future Talent Pool

Celonis has partnered with over 300 Indian universities to train more than 140,000 students in process mining and process intelligence before they enter the workforce.

“We want to invest in the future of the talent pool,” said Malhar Kamdar, Chief Customer Officer and India Head at Celonis.. “These students will be the future experts who support not only our customers but the entire ecosystem.”

India now hosts the largest number of Celonis-certified practitioners globally, creating a strong talent pipeline not just for the company but for its entire partner network. “We actually have the largest number of active learners of Celonis globally here in India,” Kamdar said.

The company’s investment in talent development is tied to the launch of Celonis Garage, an innovation incubator based in Bengaluru that will serve global R&D needs. Though located in India, it is intended to serve global product and engineering needs.“This is not just about capability, it’s really an engine for innovation,” Rinke said. 

Ecosystem-Led Growth

Celonis is leveraging India’s vast ecosystem of technology services providers, digital consultants, and system integrators to scale adoption and create tailored solutions for enterprise transformation. These partners are building apps and industry-specific IP on the Celonis platform, integrating it into their supply chain, ERP modernization, and audit transformation practices.

“This is changing the way our partners deliver solutions. They’re embedding their deep domain expertise into platform apps, extending our technology in new ways,” Kamdar said. 

Carsten Thoma, President of Celonis, emphasized how rapidly the ecosystem has scaled: “In my nearly 30 years in enterprise tech, I’ve never seen such momentum. We’ve built meaningful partnerships with nearly all of the top 20 global players, small and large. Everyone plays an equally important role.”

Process Intelligence + Gen AI

As organizations move beyond early experiments with generative AI, they’re realizing that successful AI deployment requires a deep understanding of their business processes. This is where process intelligence becomes critical.

“There’s no Gen AI without process intelligence,” Kamdar said.“You can’t automate or improve what you don’t understand. Our platform helps abstract fragmented systems and provides the transparency Gen AI needs to work at scale.”

Celonis is positioning itself as the essential foundation for AI-driven enterprise automation. By mapping how business processes actually function across ERP, CRM, HR, and other systems, Celonis provides the real-time, contextual layer AI agents need to operate effectively.

“This process intelligence graph is really the key for autonomous operations,” Rinke said. “It gives AI agents the precise, real-time context they need—because these models weren’t trained on your company’s unique process map, they were trained on the internet.”

A Strategic Bet on India

Celonis’ aggressive expansion in India reflects its confidence in the country’s talent, innovation capability, and role in global digital transformation. With a large user base, an expanding partner network, and a growing number of process intelligence practitioners, India is becoming central to how Celonis builds and scales its global business.

“India is not just part of our growth story,” Rinke said.“ It’s core to our innovation strategy.”