Check out the thought-provoking answers from 10+ BPM experts.

As always, you can either read everything or use the navigation below. Enjoy!
BJ Biernatowski
Marlon Dumas
Renata Gabryelczyk
Paul Harmon and Vahid Javidroozi
Thomas Hildebrandt
Michael Hill
Martin Holling
Sandeep Johal
Emiel Kelly
Guillermo Lopez
Matúš Mala
Morten Marquard

Which BPM skills will be hot in 2026

Now, let’s dive into the answers.

BJ Biernatowski

BJ Biernatowski is a digital transformation leader specializing in AI-driven process optimization, intelligent automation, and global operations. He has spearheaded large-scale initiatives at Microsoft, Amazon, UnitedHealth Group, and Nordstrom, consistently delivering measurable impact. His expertise spans process modeling, AI-assisted decision-making, and integrating emerging technologies across complex ecosystems.

Passionate about blending strategy with innovation, BJ designs scalable systems that accelerate agility and long-term competitiveness.

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bjbiernatowski@hotmail.com

How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

AI is accelerating demand for automation, but it’s also exposing gaps in how organizations design and manage their processes. Many teams are dropping AI into the middle of operations without the process architecture, governance, or delivery discipline needed to make it successful. The result is predictable: user pushbacks, inconsistent outcomes, and solutions that don’t scale.

At the same time, the top-down push for “more AI everywhere” often outpaces the operating model needed to guide workers on how to apply these tools responsibly and effectively. Without clear workflows, roles, and guardrails, AI becomes fragmented and difficult to integrate into day-to-day work.

Interestingly, the most successful AI adoption is happening bottom up. Individual practitioners are figuring out how to use AI to extend themselves, close skill gaps, and take on more responsibility. Their success highlights the opportunity and the need for organizations to build the process foundations that allow these wins to scale across the enterprise.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

AI gives experienced BPM practitioners a huge amount of leverage: faster analysis, better pattern recognition, and the ability to step into work that used to require years of experience. But it doesn’t magically give people the skills needed to adopt and scale these technologies. If anything, it makes the gaps more visible. The organizations creating real value in 2026 are the ones pairing AI with strong process fundamentals. Companies trying to “go faster” without redesigning workflows or strengthening their operating models are running into predictable issues: hallucination-driven errors, unclear system behavior, heavier workloads, and the wear and tear that comes from accelerating work without improving it.

For practitioners, the opportunity is massive. AI flattens access to knowledge-intensive parts of BPM and digital transformation, letting people move into areas they haven’t touched before. But the differentiators are still human: process literacy, critical judgment, the ability to design and govern AI-enabled workflows, and the discipline to apply these tools responsibly. Those are the skills that turn AI from a cool tool into a real operational advantage.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

The best resources depend on the AI Copilot or automation platform your organization uses. We’re back in a world where vendor ecosystems matter. Microsoft, AWS, UiPath, and others all offer structured academies, hands-on labs, and certifications that map directly to the tools practitioners use every day.

University programs and executive courses can be useful, but they’re expensive and often too theoretical for practitioners who need to design, build, and run AI-enabled workflows. The work itself, infusing AI into workflow automation engines like Microsoft’s Copilot ecosystem, or UiPath’s automation fabric, is technical and requires direct access to the technology. Real learning happens inside the platforms themselves.

For most practitioners, the optimal path is vendor academies backed by certifications and hands-on experimentation. That combination builds practical, platform-specific skills that translate directly into value for the organization.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Portions of this answer were developed with the help of AI:

“AI strategy” without operational grounding
High-level AI strategy frameworks that don’t connect to actual systems, data, or workflows sound impressive but rarely lead to implementation. Organizations need practitioners who can execute inside the platforms, not just talk about AI at a conceptual level.

Fully autonomous AI agents replacing human oversight
There’s significant hype around “hands-off” AI agents that can independently design, build, and deploy workflows. In practice, no enterprise platform allows this without strict governance, human review, and guardrails. The idea is interesting, but it’s not something organizations can safely operate today.

“No-skills-needed” AI development
The narrative that AI eliminates the need for technical, architectural, or process skills is misleading. AI accelerates work, but it doesn’t replace the need for process modeling, data quality, governance, workflow design, or integration fundamentals. The belief that AI can compensate for weak foundations is hype that sets teams up for failure.

Prompting and generic AI literacy as career differentiators
Prompting is becoming table stakes, not a specialty. Platforms are rapidly abstracting it behind copilots, templates, and automation patterns. Similarly, standalone “AI fundamentals” courses disconnected from actual platforms have limited practical value – they don’t teach practitioners how to build or deploy anything. The durable skills remain workflow design, data modeling, integration, change management, and governance. Those are the fundamentals that let practitioners execute, not just discuss.

If you want to deliver value to organizations in 2026

Agentic AI is moving into a broader adoption phase in 2026. Definitions vary by platform, but the pattern is consistent: most agents still operate inside a single vendor ecosystem, with early signs of cross-agent integration emerging. That power comes with tradeoffs, especially vendor lock-in, but the capabilities go far beyond what traditional RPA can deliver. Many RPA use cases will be absorbed by agentic AI because agents can reason, adapt, and operate across workflows instead of following rigid scripts.

This shift aligns directly with the three phases of AI-enabled processes we outlined in Practical Business Process Modeling and Analysis (Misiak, Sinur, Biernatowski, 2025):

Phase 1: Smarter resources. Humans, systems, data, and machines are augmented with AI — pattern recognition, generative assistance, and supervised learning. AI accelerates work, improves decision-making, and frees higher-skilled resources by pushing more tasks to augmented workers and systems.

Phase 2: Smarter execution. AI begins to displace time-constrained or high-precision human work with always-on bots and snippets. Humans remain essential where judgment, empathy, and oversight are required. This is a semi-supervised world where processes and people validate AI outputs and maintain control.

Phase 3: Smarter orchestration. AI becomes the decider and controller for processes. Goals and guardrails replace step-by-step instructions. AI dynamically creates process paths, allocates work, and manages bots in real time. Process models shift to an after-the-fact role for transparency, auditability, and explainability.

Agentic AI is essentially the early expression of Phase 3. Vendors have already repositioned their portfolios around this trend, and organizations that want value in 2026 need to prepare for it. That means building living process architectures (Digital Twins), strengthening operating models, and ensuring clear guardrails so agents can operate safely and effectively.

Process models, decision models, and audit trails will remain critical, not as design artifacts alone, but as the transparency layer that explains AI decisions, supports compliance, and helps organizations manage bias, privacy, and emerging legal requirements.

The bottom line: delivering value in 2026 requires understanding where agentic AI replaces legacy automation, how it collaborates with processes and humans, and what governance is needed to keep it aligned with business goals. And as AI investments scale, the ability to demonstrate and measure business value will continue to be one of the most important skills practitioners can bring to the table.

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Prof. Marlon Dumas

Marlon Dumas is Professor of Information Systems at University of Tartu and Chief Product Officer at Apromore – a company dedicated to developing process mining and AI-driven process optimization software. While continuing to grow the Apromore product, he conducts a research backed by the European Research Council with the mission of developing AI-based techniques for automated discovery of business process improvement opportunities. He is a widely published researcher, having co-authored over 350 scientific articles, 10 patents, and a textbook (Fundamentals of Business Process Management) used in more than 400 universities worldwide.

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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

Automation is going to be again on the spotlight, driven by developments in the field of generative and/or agentic AI. There is going to be a lot of initiatives to automate at two levels. First of all, we will see a lot of automation at the level of tasks, like filling in details for a purchase order or for an invoice. Second, we will start seeing automation happening at the level of end-to-end process orchestration, like triggering API calls to automate the steps in an account opening process in a bank, or automating the orchestration of an invoice handling process.

The difference with respect to previous automation waves is that this time, automation will go beyond the level of inputting structured data. If you think about robotic process automation, it was mostly about entering data into fields in a form or in Excel sheets, by copying data from other fields of spreadsheet cells. This time, automation will also involve unstructured data, such as an AI agent reading from unstructured document and producing structured or unstructured data out of it. We are also going to see automation of certain types of repetitive decisions. These are all capabilities within the purview of agentic process automation.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

On the skills side, the most important class of skills will be and will remain critical thinking skills. The world of AI will be fertile for critical minds, who put into question ideas and thoughts that look right on the surface, but turn out to be misleading or inaccurate once you put a magnifying glass on them.

Tool-relevant specialized skills will also become very important. We are going to see a lot of new types of tools for agentic automation and orchestration coming out. Be ready to analyze their capabilities critically, and to conduct assessments and proof-of-concepts to determine if these tools really address the use-cases you need to implement.

Expertise in specific industry verticals will become highly valuable, such as deep domain expertise in financial processes, field services processes, or logistics processes.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

I recommend looking at the references and pointers provided in the manifesto on AI-augmented BPM systems and more recent papers on agentic automation:

• AI-Augmented Business Process Management Systems: A Research Manifesto: https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3576047
• Agentic Business Process Management Systems: https://arxiv.org/abs/2601.18833

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Skills in rule-based and script-based automation, such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA), have now become commodity. Skills on GenAI-based or agentic automation, are gaining a lot of traction.

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Prof. Renata Gabryelczyk

PhD, DSc, an Associate Professor at the University of Warsaw. She is Head of the Department of Management and Information Technology at the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Warsaw. Her academic experience includes involvement in research projects, research fellowships at several universities in Germany and Austria, and numerous publications in national and international publishers. Her research interests include business process management, performance management, facility management, and IT applications. She is a member of the program board of the Polish Certificate of BPMN at the Polish Academy of Sciences, a member of Polish Scientific Society of Economic Informatics, a member of the Technical Committee for Facility Management of the Polish Committee for Standardization, and a member of Polish Chapter of AIS (PLAIS). She serves as Managing Editor in the Central European Economic Journal and as Senior Editor in the Information Systems Management journal.

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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

I agree with the increasingly repeated thesis that the real impact of AI on BPM is currently often overestimated. While technologies such as hyperautomation and agentic AI undoubtedly expand the potential of BPM, many organizations still have not addressed fundamental issues such as a coherent process architecture, the quality of process data, and alignment between BPM objectives and the organization’s strategic goals. In many organizations, advanced technologies are adopted faster than core management capabilities mature. As a result, AI initiatives often reinforce existing weaknesses rather than resolve them. The expected return on investment in AI fails to materialize due to the lack of solid organizational foundations, structured data, and effective governance. Perhaps we should return to the basics and avoid automating chaos.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

Effective BPM will increasingly require the integration of three approaches: process thinking, data-driven thinking, and strategic thinking. Proficiency in working with data, as well as in applying the methods and tools of the full intelligent BPM cycle, is of course essential. For a successful integration of the process perspective with data analytics, communication between data specialists and process experts is key. Such collaboration remains rare in many organizations, limiting the ability to translate BPM competencies into real organizational value.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

The most effective learning comes primarily through the practical application of theory. Hands-on experience with real-world processes, data analysis, and the implementation of improvements allows students to understand limitations, trade-offs, organizational culture, and the specific of the business environment. However, access to high-quality educational resources remains limited. It is difficult to design academic courses that prepare students for the realities of organizational complexity and chaos. Moreover, there is a lack of materials tailored to specific industries. BPM in local government, manufacturing, or small businesses requires different approaches and practices. As an academic teacher, I still believe that universities should provide a solid, ideally interdisciplinary foundation. Enabling students to work on projects in real-life conditions offers an excellent springboard for employment. Yet, achieving this continues to rely on close collaboration between academia and business.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Highly detailed models that are detached from decision-making or strategic intent tend to become documentation artifacts rather than management instruments. The capabilities of AI are also often overestimated. AI does not understand strategy and cannot take responsibility for decisions. That is why it is essential to take a critical approach to technology and focus on real business and process needs.

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Paul Harmon

Paul Harmon is a Co-Founder, Executive Editor, and Senior Market Analyst of the Business Process Trends website – www.bptrends.info – an internationally popular website that provides a variety of free articles, columns and book reviews on trends, directions and best practices in business process management.

In 2003 Paul authored Business Process Change: A Guide for Business Managers and BPM and Six Sigma Professionals (Published by Morgan Kaufman, who issued the fourth edition in 2019).

Paul is also a Co-Founder and a Principal Consultant of BPTrends Associates (BPTA), a professional services company providing executive education, training, and consulting services for organizations that are interested in understanding and implementing business process management.

Paul ’s involvement in business process change dates back to the late 60’s when he worked with Geary Rummler, at Praxis Corp., and was responsible for managing the overall development and delivery of the performance improvement projects undertaken by that company. During the 70s and 80s he ran his own company, Harmon Associates, and undertook major process improvement programs at Bank of America, Security Pacific, Wells Fargo, Prudential, and Citibank, to name a few.

During the same period he was a Senior Consultant at Cutter Consortium and edited their Expert System Strategies, Object-Oriented Strategies, and Business Process Reengineering Strategies newsletters. His book, Expert Systems: AI for Business, coauthored with David King, was a worldwide best seller during the 80-90s. and he consulted with many companies as they explored the uses of Artificial Intelligence during that period.

Paul Harmon is an acknowledged thought leader who is concerned with applying new technologies and methodologies to real-world business problems. He is a speaker and has developed and delivered executive seminars, workshops, briefings and keynote addresses on all aspects of AI and BPM to conferences and at major organizations throughout the world. He is very excited to be following the latest developments in Neural Network-based AI and BPM as they are now being integrated.

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Dr Vahid Javidroozi

Vahid Javidroozi is an Associate Professor in Smart City Systems and Digital Transformation at Birmingham City University (UK), where he is based in the College of Computing, Engineering and the Built Environment. His work focuses on business process management, enterprise systems, digital transformation, and the application of artificial intelligence in complex socio-technical systems.

Vahid’s research spans BPM, ERP systems (including SAP), AI-enabled workflows, large language models, digital twins, and systems thinking, with a strong emphasis on practical impact across sectors such as smart and sustainable cities, supply chains, transport infrastructure, and healthcare. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and conferences, and his work is widely cited in the areas of BPM, smart cities, and AI-enabled digital transformation.

He is the founder and lead of the Smart, Sustainable and Green (SSG) Research Alliance, an interdisciplinary initiative that brings together academia, industry, and public-sector organizations to address urban challenges through systems-oriented, process-driven, and technology-enabled approaches. Through this work, he has led and contributed to numerous UKRI, Innovate UK, Horizon Europe, and international research and enterprise projects, including large-scale collaborations with government bodies, infrastructure operators, and technology partners.

Vahid is an invited member of the BridgeAI Standards Working Group, contributing to national discussions on AI standards, governance, and responsible adoption. He is also a certified Responsible and Ethical AI expert and has been actively involved in translating AI capabilities into organisational processes that are transparent, accountable, and value-driven.

Alongside his research, Vahid has extensive experience in executive education and professional training. He teaches and leads enterprise-focused modules on BPM, ERP, and digital transformation, and works closely with industry partners to support organizational change initiatives. He has supervised and mentored doctoral researchers, early-career academics, and practitioners, with a strong focus on systems thinking, design science research, and real-world impact.

Vahid’s work is driven by a long-standing interest in how processes, people, data, and technology interact within complex systems. He is particularly interested in the evolution of BPM from process improvement within individual organizations toward large-scale, cross-organizational coordination enabled by AI and digital platforms.

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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

We wrote in the 4th edition of Business Process Change and have written several times on the Business Process Trends website that AI is the most profound change that organizations will need to address over the course of the coming decades.

That said, it’s important to note that AI is not a single technique — it’s a large collection of new techniques that can be used in different ways and in various combinations to solve problems. AI systems include human reasoning applications, intelligent robotics, intelligent vision systems, intelligent voice systems, and much more. Like all computer software applications, AI will be integrated with existing business processes to make those processes more efficient and effective.

Think of just one possible application: automated trucks that can move materials from one warehouse to another without a human driver. Such an application would involve specific applications of robotics to load the truck in an efficient manner, an application to see the road and the environment around the truck and to provide information on what’s happening in real time, applications to define the location of the truck (GPS) and to plan its course forward toward some goal, an application to define and enforce laws of the road, an application to quickly define changes in the environment that require changes in plans (an emergency stop, for example), robotic devices to control the steering and movement of the truck and management systems to direct them. It would also require an overall management system to coordinate everything, and perhaps talk with people having questions. Complex visual, robotic and reasoning systems will need to be created and integrated to generate a safe, reliable automated truck that a business will feel confident to use.

In reality, of course, the company managing the use of the warehouse and the trucks will have nothing to do with developing or integrating AI into the driverless truck. They will buy the truck from a vendor and it will come with AI enhancements, just as it comes with a motor or a radio. The warehouse company will need to worry about dealing with transitioning from its existing trucks and drivers to driverless trucks: how to schedule them, maintain them and deal with problems associated with their use. In other words their main concern will be with redesigning the trucking/warehousing process.

In passing, while interested in how AI and process improvement work together, we have also become fascinated in the broader BPM transition between what we term (1) first generation process work — process change that focuses on specific process improvement with a specific business environment (improving or automating an auto production line, for example) and what we increasingly refer to as (2) second generation process work — processes that integrate multiple business processes within or across companies to allow more complex coordination. A worldwide supply chain involving several companies that change in response to real time events provides an example of such a second generation process. While logically independent, we are convinced that AI techniques will increasingly become the key to the design of second generation business processes. Teaching the skills and analytic techniques to facilitate the design and implementation of such second generation processes will be a key challenge to the next generation of process practitioners. And many will require a knowledge of AI techniques to make it possible.

From our perspective, this shift also brings BPM into closer contact with socio-technical complexity. AI does not simply automate tasks; it reshapes decision rights, accountability, and coordination across people, processes, data, and technology. The real BPM challenge is not “adding AI” to existing processes, but redesigning processes so that humans and intelligent systems can collaborate effectively, transparently, and responsibly in increasingly uncertain environments.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

The techniques involved in the development of specific AI applications of all kinds are of little concern to business process practitioners. As far as process professionals are concerned, AI is just a collection of new software and IT techniques that allow them to improve (automate) business processes — just as relational databases, in their time, simply provided a better way to access data and relationships between data. The challenge for process practitioners is to identify opportunities to use AI techniques for process improvement, and then to work with IT to create and implement new systems that incorporate those new improvements.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

This is a new area, and there is a lot of nonsense being offered as wisdom. Keep in mind what we have said. Process work is process work. Automating processes using computer applications is something we already know how to do. AI just provides a lot of new automation options. The key is to learn what can be done, today, with the AI techniques currently available. Reading articles and attending conferences — studying case studies — is the best way forward right now.

In particular, practitioners should seek out examples that include both successes and failures, as many AI initiatives fail due to poor process design, unclear ownership, or unrealistic expectations rather than technical limitations.

• Book: Harmon, Paul. Business Process Change (4th ed.). General introduction to process work with a chapter that focuses on using AI in BPM projects.
• The 5th edition, currently in preparation, will expand this, especially in relation to AI-enabled processes and large-scale coordination.
• Javidroozi, V., Tawil, A.-R., Azad, R. M. A., Bishop, B., & Elmitwally, N. S. (2025). AI-Enabled Customised Workflows for Smarter Supply Chain Optimisation: A Feasibility Study. Applied Sciences, 15(17), 9402. https://doi.org/10.3390/app15179402

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

It isn’t a matter of identifying process techniques that are no longer relevant — since all techniques are useful in the context for which they were designed. It’s more a matter of looking at what a given organization is emphasizing today. If you are still working on measuring specific small-scale processes (e.g. processing an order by hand or operating an auto production line with human workers), Lean or Six Sigma may be very relevant.

Most organizations, however, have completed their basic process analysis work — by themselves or by buying applications from companies like SAP. Their emphasis today is on integrating and managing large scale processes — like whole value chains — that stretch across whole organizations, or even multiple organizations to integrate their responses in more-or-less real time. This is an area in which AI techniques are going to prove incredibly valuable.

There are a few organizations that have the people and the knowledge to explore these challenges today. Most do not and to urge them to do so would be to urge them to attempt efforts that would probably end in failure.

For most organizations, this is a time for exploration. Hire new people with some AI experience. Launch small-scale projects that involve AI applications. Grab the low hanging fruit. Attend conferences and listen to what the leading companies are doing. And plan.

Much of the current hype assumes that technical capability automatically implies organizational readiness. In practice, fully autonomous, end-to-end AI-managed processes remain aspirational for most organisations. The near-term value lies in augmentation, learning, and resilience rather than wholesale replacement of human judgement.

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Prof. Thomas Hildebrandt

Thomas Hildebrandt has since 2018 been full professor at the Department of Computer Science, Copenhagen University and founder of the research section for Software, Data, People and Society. Thomas has been working as PI and co-PI on inter-disciplinary research and development projects jointly with industry partners in the area of technology and methods for business and workflow management systems for more than 20 years and has and has been a senior PC member of the BPM Conference for several years. Thomas initiated the research on DCR Graphs in 2008 and has since then led the research in collaboration with his research groups and Morten Marquard, the CEO at DCR Solutions. Thomas is also an active speaker on AI and digitalization for industry and public sector organisations and is member of the Danish Standards group for AI, who is part of the European (CEN/CENELEC) and Global (ISO) standardization bodies.

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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

The introduction of widely available LLMs and chatbots based on such has resulted in high expectations from both citizens and directors towards enabling conversational interfaces to the business processes of organizations and companies both internally and externally. While RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) solutions dominated the scene last year and still are being tested in many places, the new buzz is agentic AI, where the use of LLMs is no longer limited to question answering but promoted to carry out processes. However, while the introduction of a chatbot is celebrated in the news, many, if not most, are subsequently silently removed because they go off the track.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

A fundamental attitude towards AI for BPM that can help BPM practitioners to create value for their organizations in 2026 is to cut through the hype an realize the fact, that LLMs by design are unrealible and therefore should not be trusted to control any process nor to answer questions that cannot be verified by other means. This does not mean that language models are useless: LMs can be used to generate drafts of business processes from natural language descriptions and also to develop natural language user interfaces to knowledge based, symbolic AI models, rule and process engines, if one ensures a human in the loop to validate respectively the generated process drafts and the translated user inputs. The former is an example of AI for the engineering of business processes, which is most efficient if the target modelling language is close to natural language and has a formal semantics or execution and validation engines (making it possible to automate the validation of the generated processes), such as the declarative DCR Graphs language. The latter is an example of neuro-symbolic AI, or using a less hyped term: Hybrid-AI.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

The Hybrid-AI approach is described in https://research.nvidia.com/labs/lpr/slm-agents/. The failures of LLMs for reasoning (and thus trustworthy execution of processes) is described in https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.06176. Information about the DCR graphs technologies can be found here: dcrsolutions.net. The use of DCR graphs for legal reasoning is described in a chapter of the recent book: https://www.routledge.com/Artificial-Intelligence-Humans-and-the-Law/PalmerOlsen-LivingstonSlosser-AddoRavn-Eddebo-HultinRosenberg/p/book/9781032934556 along with other chapters on the use of AI for Law. The use of LLMs for translation of law into symbolic DCR Graph models and then using LLMs to develop a natural language user interface is the goal of the XHAILe research project initiated in 2025: https://di.ku.dk/english/research/research-projects/xhaile/

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

A skill that has never really been relevant for professional use is that of prompt “engineering”, which is a misnomer from the outset, since you cannot engineer something that is not grounded in scientifically validated laws or rules.

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Michael Hill

Michael Hill is an experienced editor and journalist. He is the former editor of PEX Network overseeing a range of content including news, features, interviews, blogs, and industry reports.

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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

Organizations are being pushed to rethink processes from the ground up, not just automate steps, but redesign how work gets done, who does it, and how decisions are made. Whether its new technology like AI, changing customer expectations, or emerging regulatory requirements, modern businesses are under increasing pressure to be data-driven and resilient while remaining agile and human-centric – and that’s a fine balance!

Before, organizations designed processes upfront, documented them, and enforced compliance. Now, AI enables processes that learn and adapt in real time. Humans move from ‘doers’ to ‘orchestrators’ as AI changes roles, not just workflows. Employees supervise, validate, and fine-tune AI outputs Managers focus on outcomes, not micromanaging steps Process owners manage human–AI collaboration, not just SOPs.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

You simply can’t ignore AI and data literacy and understanding – it’s impacting pretty much all roles and industries. However, there is so much more to successful AI use and implementation than just technology. That’s where change management becomes essential.

In 2026, BPM practitioners create value less by drawing perfect process diagrams and more by shaping how work actually adapts, learns, and delivers outcomes. The role sits at the intersection of business, data, technology, and people. Great BPM practitioners are business translators and system designers who use data, AI, and human insight to continuously steer how work delivers value, rather than just documenting how it flows.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

PEX Network, of course! Joking aside, we pride ourselves on regularly publishing timely, high-quality content that not only keeps our audience up-to-date with the latest shifts in the industry but also supports learning and development. Of course, process excellence has long been associated with training and certifications, and this hasn’t changed even in the burgeoning AI/automation era. Methodologies like Lean Six Sigma and Agile still have value, but it’s about applying the core (and timeless) qualities of these approaches in a modern context.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Great question! This is where BPM maturity really shows in 2026. The biggest risk for BPM practitioners right now isn’t missing new skills, it’s over-investing in skills that no longer create value or that are still mostly hype.

Today, BPM practitioners lose value when they over-invest in heavyweight process documentation, rigid lifecycle models, centralized ‘process police’ governance, and tool-centric modeling skills, as these can’t keep up with fast-changing, data-driven work.

At the same time, much of the hype such as fully autonomous processes, AI-generated models as ground truth, digital twins of entire organizations, and perfect predictive BP remains impractical beyond narrow use cases due to data, trust, and regulatory limits.

The real risk is clinging to control, certainty, and ‘one best way’ thinking, rather than embracing adaptive, insight-driven, human-AI-orchestrated process management focused on outcomes and continuous learning.

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Martin Holling

Industrial Engineer with 25+ years of experience in Business Process Management from operational implementation and improvement over QM, strategic development, process design and consultancy mainly in global corporations from small to more than 400.000 employees, focusing on Culture, people and continual improvement. Making use of broad experience in QHSE auditing, process documentation and project management implementation.

For further information about me and my ideas on BPM, you can have a look at both my LinkedIn profile and my website: https://living-processes.de/home-en/

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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

As organizations figure out that AI on its own does not result in a success, they will get more attention to their processes on how they are implemented and run in their business before they can successfully implement an AI initiative/solution. My hope is that there will be more focus on continual improvement and culture change in the processes to prepare for successful AI implementation.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

Soft skills, specifically in Change Management, People Integration and Moderating groups will separate the successful BPM practitioners from the ones that focus only on technical/technological skills and knowledge. These achieve much better process and implementation quality in the business that gives a fruitful basis for successful AI initiatives and even more efficient and effective processes that are much easier to automate.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

For sure there are courses and books out there on soft skills, but I think it is best to adapt your behavior by getting in touch with as many colleagues out there as possible. Go, get together with fellow BPM practitioners in active communities and learn from each other, might it be online or even better in personal meeting. Books can help to verify behavior and get initial ideas on what to change but meeting the people will get you to learn.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

It is not that these skills are getting irrelevant, but process modelling and documentation will be more and more a thing that AI can do for you. You need to be able to understand it in depth and fine tune and correct the AI created process models and documents, but for example “translating” a process model from one notation to another one, might become an automated thing pretty soon.

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Sandeep Johal

Sandeep is a Managing Director & Principal Consultant at Nano Business Technology with over 15 years of Business Process Management and Digital Transformation experience, specifically in enterprise wide system implementation process design, process improvement, strategic sourcing, capability uplift, strategy alignment, thought leadership in energy, utilities & resources; finance; and government bodies across Australia, New Zealand, Middle East, and North America

Sandeep’s consulting takes him to both national and international destinations including the Americas, Middle East, New Zealand and the UK. He is often invited to speak at national and international conferences and is regarded as a contributor to the Business Process Management body of knowledge. He holds a Masters in Information Technology (BPM), an honours in Business Management and a diploma in Mechanical Engineering.

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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

Organisations are feeling fatigued by the astonishing rate of AI progress and the pressure to keep up. Some have chosen to ‘watch this space’ before taking bold steps. Fortunately, solution vendors are aware of the AI race and are taking proactive steps to introduce the technology progressively.

2026 is often described as the year of the AI Agent. Trends point towards AI‑augmented process execution, where an AI Agent is constantly listening and contributing when required. Some predict that processes will eventually be AI Agent‑led and human‑augmented. Personally, given the rate of organisational adoption and the security implications, organisations are more likely to embrace a human‑led approach that is augmented by AI Agents.

Human‑led process execution will continue to involve automation. Humans will remain in charge of efficiency. AI Agents will continue to be integral to automation and efficiency, with the added capability of proactively addressing process improvements. Learning from these improvements will enable self‑correcting processes. Achieving this milestone will mark a true step towards intelligence in process management. Achieving this milestone will mark true intelligence in process management.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

AI literacy is no longer optional. Equipping BPM practitioners with AI basics and an understanding of the ever‑changing landscape of capabilities is essential. This allows practitioners to speak the language and understand what AI technology can and cannot do.

Foundational skills in process workshopping, problem definition, and modelling or visualisation are still relevant. In fact, the interest of major solution vendors such as Salesforce and SAP in acquiring process‑mining tools indicates that process visualisation and modelling remain highly relevant in 2026. Organisations still lack effective ways to bring together processes from disparate systems. BPM practitioners should view this as an opportunity to develop unifying mechanisms such as Process Architecture.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

One of the most interesting resources I’ve come across is the design of AI Agents in a visual studio that resembles traditional process‑modelling tools. AI Agent design platforms such as Zapier and Microsoft Copilot Studio employ drag‑and‑drop functionality to create agents, with options to connect to popular web services such as Gmail. There are heaps of video tutorials on YouTube about these platforms—well worth exploring.

For those interested in deep technical process design (for example, value stream mapping), a useful resource is the book Operational Excellence in Your Office: A Guide to Achieving Autonomous Value Stream Flow with Lean Techniques by Kevin J. Duggan and Tim Healey.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Unlike in previous years, I’m not aware of any BPM practitioner skill that is no longer relevant. Most skills remain essential, although some are applied differently. For example, creating the As‑Is of a process is often seen as wasteful. However, repositioning the As‑Is as a baseline validation for future improvement means that focused As‑Is detail is still required—just not exhaustive detail.

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Emiel Kelly

I have been working “in BPM” for more than 25 years. Most of his time as a consultant and trainer at a BPM software and consulting organization. I helped all kind of companies in their BPM journey. From companies with 5 employees till companies with thousands of employees. From city councils, till investment companies and manufacturers of satellites.
Eight years ago I decided I want to make more impact on one company and joined an Insurance company (5 minutes cycling from my home). Of course I am still ‘doing BPM’ but with a much higher impact because I am part of the team now and fully responsible for the results of my implementations of ‘process things’. I can’t get away with leaving a slide deck behind, anymore
As a hobby, I started my blog ‘Procesje.nl’ in 2011. The goal of this blog is to address the “nonsense” I run into in BPM world. Mainly brought with some irony, but always with the goal to help organizations make their processes perform better and stay away from the non value adding things.

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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

AI solves all problems! At least that’s what a lot of companies (at least the C people) think.

That’s nonsense of course. But with a BPM way of working in mind it can really help to improve things. On all levels of BPM.

On process design level AI can be a sparring partner to help you make clear
– the Why of a process?
– Useful KPI’s of the process
– What is needed to implement the process?
– What data is needed to check process performance?

I’ve also seen AI that models processes. If that just leads to a picture of blocks and arrows, it has not much value. If it helps to create implementable workflows; yes!

On process execution level AI can execute some steps on it’s own or support the people in the process.

On case management level AI (if the data is available) can operate as some kind of flight control; keeping track of all the cases in the process and if they are still meeting their goals. If not, maybe AI can take some action or send out a warning.

On process improvement level AI can act as process mining on steroids; understand where bottlenecks arise, but more important what are the causes of those bottleneck, as bottlenecks are just symptoms of a bad process implementation.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

Still my number one is “strategic thinking”. BPM and processes are only a means. A means to solve the problems of customers. So always keep in mind if you are still solving the right problems. Help your company to implement useful processes. Help them make clear the why of the company an it’s processes.

It’s easy to dive in to process implementation very fast, but try to prevent that with your strategic view.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

Ask some generative AI. Pretty sure it will come up with my blog

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

My answer for many years has been high level modeling of processes. Of course those models are always right because they don’t tell the real story. Real processes are detailed. Very hard to catch in models. Happy that AI can help me now to really understand the dynamics of execution in a process. Having said that; without useful process data, AI lies to you. So I used it practically, but also had to apply a lot of common sense to not implement wrong improvements.

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Guillermo Lopez

Working in the BPM Competence Center at the European Commission, I have spent the last eight years leading a team of experts to drive digital transformation and the modernization of EU institutions. I hold multiple certifications, including Professional Scrum Master, as well as specialized training in digital transformation, artificial intelligence, and process mining.
My core competencies include business process management, enterprise architecture, artificial intelligence, and agile methodologies. My mission is to help the EU deliver better services and outcomes to its citizens and stakeholders by leveraging state of the art BPM and EA technologies and methodologies.
I bring over 30 years of experience successfully leading BPM and EA projects across various domains and sectors—such as finance, retail, the public sector, and the environment—achieving significant improvements in efficiency, quality, and innovation.

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X: @GoreML

How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

I don’t think AI will lead organizations; it will always be – or should always be – a technology under human supervision, with clear visibility into its reasoning and decision criteria. If multiple companies use the same kind of AI to shape their strategy, there’s a real risk they end up making very similar decisions and losing competitive differentiation. I’m also concerned about a “copycat” effect: erroneous strategies generated by a model being replicated uncritically across different organizations.

I don’t believe today’s generative AI will radically transform the world of processes and organizations, because it lacks deep context and doesn’t truly understand the world it operates in. When other kinds of AI emerge – like the family of approaches LeCun has proposed – that can build a solid representation of the environment and learn from it autonomously, then they may be able to lead and run truly autonomous enterprises. The current generation of models looks more like a powerful tool in the toolbox, not something that should play a leadership role.

Where I do see clear room for improvement is in case management: a constellation of agents helping you make better decisions and suggesting the most reasonable next steps to reach a given goal. AI can also add value in process mining analysis, process simulation, synthetic data generation, and similar tasks where its ability to explore scenarios and combine information is genuinely useful.

I’m particularly worried about three risks: removing the human-in-the-loop (HITL), starting from incorrect or biased input data, and the ultimate human responsibility for automated executions they may not fully understand. All of this makes me doubt that the current AI paradigm is the right path if it’s adopted as-is. On top of that, I see strong pressure to “move fast” and accelerate AI initiatives, and I think that’s a mistake: before making the whole organization “dance” to the tune of AI systems, we should first put in place strict governance, with clear rules on where, how, and under what constraints these models are used.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

In 2026, professionals will need to shift their mindset from a reactive stance to a clearly proactive one.

Aptitudes
• Ability to work with a far greater number of data sources (data fluency).
• Skill in interacting with and “questioning” AI systems with sound judgment (AI literacy).
• Significant strengthening of interpersonal and communication skills (soft skills).
• Deep understanding of the organization and its context: less of a “diagrammer” and more of an enterprise translator between business, technology, and people.
• Focus on responsible AI and governance: treating AI as a co pilot, not an oracle; demanding transparency, clear guardrails, and well defined accountability for AI influenced decisions and automations.
• Openness to change: viewing new tools (AI assistants, intelligent automation, unified BPM platforms) as leverage rather than threats and continuously updating one’s own methods.
• Customer and employee experience orientation: measuring success not only in cycle time or cost, but also in reduced friction for customers and frontline staff.
• Collaboration over control: moving away from a “central BPM police” model towards enabling process ownership in the business, with BPM acting as coach and backbone.

Core skills and techniques
• Strong command of BPMN and DMN, which will remain essential, and the ability to review and refine AI generated models.
• Process mining and analytics: ability to formulate the right questions, interpret variants and bottlenecks, and propose concrete redesigns based on the findings.
• Automation and orchestration: knowledge of BPM engines, RPA, event driven architectures, and the ability to design flows with human in the loop as a central element, avoiding AI based black boxes.
• Simulation and experimentation: use of scenario simulation, what if analysis, and A/B testing to compare process designs and quantify impact before large scale implementation.
• Data and AI literacy: understanding what LLMs, ML models, and analytical models can and cannot do, how they depend on data quality, and where they fit in the BPM lifecycle (from documentation authoring through to decision support).

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

• Academic–practitioner bridges for developing data fluency will remain very important, through initiatives such as bpm education or MultiProcessMining.
• It is also worth regularly following process mining and BPM trend blogs (for example, BOC Group, PrimeBPM, or PEX), as well as communities centered on commercial platforms (ARIS Community, Celonis, SAP Signavio, etc.).
• Another very good option is to follow leading voices in the field, such as Wil van der Aalst, Ian Gotts, or Jim Sinur.
• In addition, more and more university programs are emerging on BPM, the combination of BPM with AI, and process mining, such as some of the programs offered by the Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR), among others.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

No longer relevant
• Static documentation as the main deliverable.
• Highly centralized BPM acting as a “process police” function.
• Modelling for the sake of modelling, with no clear link to real decisions or change.
• KPIs defined and maintained manually or without backing from operational data.
• Process discovery done only through workshops, without cross checking against execution data.
• Treating processes purely as technical problems, ignoring people and business context.
• Endless discovery and modelling sessions with no hypotheses and no measurable outcomes.

Not really applicable yet (mostly hype)
• A fully autonomous enterprise with no transparency, no clear guardrails, and not well defined accountabilities.
• “In AI we trust” as a principle, delegating critical decisions to AI without questioning them.
• No one being accountable for what AI does: lack of an explicit framework for AI responsibility and accountability.
• Processes run without any visual representation that people can understand.
• Autopilots and black boxes “running the company”, without explainability or effective human oversight.

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Matúš Mala

I’m Matúš, co-founder of the Process Academy, organizer of the BPM-Münich Meetup, podcast co-host of “The Process Philosophers” and an absolute BPM enthusiast.

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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

I think that by 2026, we should accept that AI is here to stay. The first disruption phase is over; AI is changing the way we work, prepare for meetings, communicate, think and live.

To me, it’s a new infrastructure technology similar to the internet in its early days, and now we have the opportunity to forget about FOMO (fear of missing out) and focus on real use cases.

I think that AI implementations by ‘end customers’ will slow down; they will no longer create new LLMs, RAGs, etc. without a target or purpose. Instead, they would focus on real improvements to their business processes, “How can AI help my core processes?”

On the other hand, I think there will be a ridiculous amount of new features in “tools/software”, creating “co-pilots” for almost everything, and I must say that I love it.

By the end of 2026, I think we will have much better tools and software solutions that will make it easier for us to create processes and solutions in our special BPM area.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

That’s a great question!

I truly think that we have a lot of great methodologies, techniques and more in BPM that will still be needed in 2026. The way we understand processes will not change. The opposite would be true: we are currently challenging new workflows in agentic orchestration, where requirements engineering and methodological questions arise, and the ‘old-school’ methods of understanding processes would be important here.

However, we should not cling to outdated methods; we should start to “refresh” our approach. Everything in our work is changing, so I think it’s extremely important that “old” experts and “new” newcomers develop updated BPM methodologies that will help in 2026 and beyond. We should work on questions such as: What kind of workshops do we need? What kind of structures do we need? Do we need new, ‘modern’ process landscapes? How can we improve requirement engineering? How should we describe processes (not only with BPMN)? And how can we spread BPM skills faster and more widely?

There are so many workflow tools, not only BPM tools, with diverse ways of creating and modelling workflows. I don’t think we will reduce them, so we have to adapt and make it easier to understand processes and create solutions using diverse tools, frameworks and more.

If I had to pick one skill: Flexibility would be key.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

That’s a difficult question.

The problem isn’t that we don’t have enough resources. Just go online or use an AI chatbot and you will find enough. The challenge here is that only people with intrinsic motivation do it. For those people, the form of knowledge is not that important; they want to learn and accept bad resources, difficult explanations, and so on. People learnt like this in the past and would continue to do so.

BPM, processes, data, AI… All of these topics are now important for everyone, for every employee. Now more than ever, it is important that everyone understands what AI is for, what they can and cannot do, and so on. The same applies to company governance, processes and data. These people are not usually intrinsically motivated to “learn” independently. It is therefore becoming increasingly important for companies to motivate them to learn, because the world is changing so quickly at the moment. Pure study is no longer enough; lifelong learning is essential.

I am not sure if we will see any improvements in the next couple of years, because normally companies don’t invest in these important topics, which is sad. They create some “learning paths” and short videos, but I just don’t see employees enjoying them. In fact, I think it’s worse than it was in the past. At least there were 2–3 days of workshops away from the office, and people were happy to learn and enjoy other places — it was a win-win situation. Currently, we just say, “Here are six 30-minute videos. Take a look…”

My advice: Until companies change their philosophy, find your favourite source and don’t push yourself: conferences, podcasts, your favourite YouTube channel, shorts, etc.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

AI-only skills

For the last two years, we were somehow flying in the clouds, thinking that you don’t need anything but a prompt. You don’t even need to understand processes, data or anything else, just prompt.

Surely, people with less experience or technical knowledge can achieve more, but they need extremely high-level engineering skills to describe their “problem” or “solution”.

A poor process would be poor in AI as well.

Focusing only on prompting would not be that important anymore. A better understanding of problems and processes would be important. However, many technical disciplines would become less important. It is much easier now to create custom services and UIs. And it will improve even more. As with BPM, I think software engineers will become more “coordinating” agents. In the future, there will be fewer pure code solutions and more low-code or AI-engineered code solutions and models.

In short: A strong focus on one discipline (e.g. I am a Java programmer, I am prompt engineer, I am modeller …) is not future-oriented.

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Morten Marquard

Morten Marquard has dedicated his entire professional journey to addressing the challenges faced by knowledge workers, including lawyers, social workers, and other professionals dealing with complex work processes. The struggle to navigate these processes efficiently while complying with ever-changing laws and regulations has been a persistent issue. Traditionally, compliance has relied on laborious reading and understanding of lengthy paper-based documents—a cumbersome task that often hinders productivity.

Recognizing the need for a transformative solution, Morten embarked on a mission to leverage technology for the benefit of knowledge workers, not only enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of employees but also alleviating the burden of manual compliance checks and reducing stress levels.

Morten realized the limitations of using Business Process Model and Notation, BPMN, to streamline process digitalization as the rigidity of the processes failed to meet the requirements of end-users. It was during this critical juncture, approximately 15 years, that Morten collaborated with professor Thomas Hildebrandt, and together, they propelled the development of dynamic condition response graphs, DCR. This innovative approach has since been embraced by over 40 different customers, primarily in Denmark, with expanding reach into international markets such as Italy and the United Kingdom.

Morten’s journey exemplifies a commitment to pushing the boundaries of technology to empower knowledge workers, offering them a more streamlined and stress-free approach to managing their intricate work processes. The impact of his work extends far beyond national borders, contributing to a global shift in how organizations approach digitalization and compliance in the modern age.

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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

We are moving away from ‘Digital Theater’, where we just put PDFs on a screen, to the Agentic Stack. We use Generative AI to read the mess of regulations, but we don’t let it run the business. Why? Because LLMs are statistical; they guess! If you’re a student in Cambridge, a chatbot might say ‘yes’ to a beer, forgetting you’re at Cambridge Massachusetts, not England. In 2026, we manage processes by marrying LLMs for language with Symbolic AI for logic. This is the Business Operating System or Agentic AI: hardware-independent, sovereign, and 100% deterministic AI platform.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

Stop being a ‘Translator’ and start being a ‘Rule Architect.’ The most dangerous person in an organization is the one ‘building bridges’ between IT and Business. Bridges just keep the gap wide, and often widens it. We need to close the gap completely. The winning behavior in 2026 is Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) with a red marker. Michael Hammer: Don’t automate, obliterate. Don’t ‘digitize’ your old habits. If your process requires a person to manually type data into a CRM, don’t build an integration, kill the task! Practitioners must learn to empower business experts to own the logic directly through Declarative Process Modeling. We don’t need more ‘electronic’ paper; we need ‘Digital Twins’ of the organization where the logic is live, explainable, and hosted on European infrastructure.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

Stop reading generic “Success Stories” and start studying the intersection of Process Science and Computational Law. As Edsger W. Dijkstra famously warned, treating computers like humans is a sign of “professional immaturity.” We must stop pretending AI “thinks” or “understands” and start enforcing the formal logic our businesses depend on.

Real professions, like Law, Math, and Physics, developed specific languages precisely to avoid the ambiguity of “natural” language. Relying on the “vibe” of an AI is a step backward. For a practical deep-dive into how we fix this, look out for the upcoming book by Professor Thomas Hildebrandt and myself. It is the definitive guide to moving beyond “vibe coding” and into production-ready, rule-based engineering. We’ve been “too busy” in the trenches with our customers to finish it until now, but the era of “guessing” is over.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Retire the ‘Happy Path’ and stop ‘Building Bridges.’ The ‘Happy Path’ is a myth. As Professor Wil van der Aalst notes, 80% of cases follow their own unique paths. If you are still teaching ‘Lean’ flowcharts that break the moment reality hits, your skills are obsolete. People aren’t stupid; they deviate because they have to.

But the biggest ‘skill’ to unlearn? Bridge building. For years, we’ve hired ‘translators’ to sit between Business and IT. All they do is facilitate an expensive, digital game of telephone. The expert explains the law, the analyst writes a requirement, and the developer codes it. By the time it’s finished, the law has changed and the logic is lost in translation.

Also, stop the hype around RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation). Asking a chatbot to ‘read your manuals’ and guess an answer is irresponsible for Law, Finance, or GovTech. In 2026, the ‘Vibe Coding’ era is over for production. If your AI can’t provide a symbolic, explainable audit trail for its decisions, it’s just a toy. We don’t need ‘probably correct’ business processes; we need Compliance by Design.

In 2026, we don’t build bridges; we close the gap. The future belongs to the Business Operating System where the expert who knows the law is the one who defines the logic. IT should deliver the secure, sovereign infrastructure (Open Source and Kubernetes), but the business must own the execution. If you are still ‘translating’ requirements in 2026, you aren’t helping, you’re just slowing us down. Stand Tall Europe by letting the business take back the baton.

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What to expect in 2026? Many companies are investing heavily in AI. New models are becoming increasingly powerful and are outperforming humans on many benchmarks. AI can be used to build agents and power humanoid robots, which could dramatically change how work is done.

On the other hand, not all AI initiatives have been successful (to put it mildly). Add to this changes in global supply chains and greater unpredictability in the business environment, and it feels like “interesting times,” to borrow the phrase.

How will these changes affect the role of BPM, and what do BPM practitioners need to do to stay relevant?

Check out the thought-provoking answers for the usual set of questions from 20+ BPM experts plus few extras: answers from a perspective of a Business Analyst and advice for organization leaders.

As always, you can either read everything or use the navigation below. Enjoy!
Wil van der Aalst
Tony Benedict
Lloyd Dugan
Scott Francis
Ian Gotts
Paul Holmes-Higgin and Joram Barrez
Caspar Jans
Mathias Kirchmer
Mirko Kloppenburg
Harald Kühn
Amy Van Looy
Madison Lundquist
Jan Mendling
Nathaniel Palmer
Brian Reale
Adrian Reed
Björn Richerzhagen
Pedro Robledo
Michael Rosemann
Serge Schiltz
Jim Sinur
Roger Tregear
Roland Woldt

Which BPM skills will be hot in 2026

Now, let’s dive into the answers.

Prof. Wil van der Aalst

Prof.dr.ir. Wil van der Aalst is a full professor at RWTH Aachen University, leading the Process and Data Science (PADS) group. He is also the Chief Scientist at Celonis and part-time affiliated with the Fraunhofer FIT. Currently, he is also deputy CEO of the Internet of Production (IoP) Cluster of Excellence and co-director of the RWTH Center for Artificial Intelligence. His research interests include process mining, data science, process intelligence, business process management, workflow automation, Petri nets, process modeling, and simulation. Many of his papers are highly cited (he is one of the most-cited computer scientists in the world and has an H-index of 188 according to Google Scholar with over 169,000 citations), and his ideas have influenced researchers, software developers, and standardization committees working on process support. According to Research.com, he is the highest-ranked computer scientist in Germany and ranked 8th worldwide (ranking 2025). He previously served on the advisory boards of several organizations, including Fluxicon, Celonis, ProcessGold/UiPath, and aiConomix/Automaited. Van der Aalst received honorary degrees from the Moscow Higher School of Economics (Prof. h.c.), Tsinghua University, and Hasselt University (Dr. h.c.). He is also an IFIP Fellow, IEEE Fellow, ACM Fellow, and an elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities, the Academy of Europe, the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts, and the German Academy of Science and Engineering. In 2018, he was awarded an Alexander-von-Humboldt Professorship.

WWW: http://www.vdaalst.com
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Twitter: @wvdaalst

How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

AI is dramatically accelerating digital work, but it also exposes a long-standing weakness: organizations often lack a reliable, real-time understanding of how their processes actually function.

Generative, predictive, and prescriptive AI bring powerful capabilities, but only if they are connected to operational reality. AI needs process context, structured event data, and end-to-end visibility. Without these, AI will make processes faster, but not necessarily better. We risk accelerating inefficiencies, fragmenting responsibilities, or automating tasks that shouldn’t exist in the first place.

The most important shift is conceptual: moving from reactive process management, focused on dashboards and after-the-fact reports, to proactive and even autonomous operational steering. This shift requires:

• object-centric event data covering many interconnected processes,
• continuous monitoring rather than one-time analysis
• AI assistance that works on process models (not only text), and
• automated predictions and recommendations grounded in data semantics.

When processes become digitally transparent across objects, systems, and departments, AI can be used responsibly to suggest interventions, prevent bottlenecks, and optimize operations holistically. But if AI is used locally, optimizing individual tasks or documents in isolation, it can inflate work, obscure structures, and overwhelm people.

Ultimately, the organizations that will benefit from AI are those that combine automation with process awareness and operational grounding.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

A practitioner in 2026 will require a combination of process expertise, data fluency, and responsible AI thinking. The following dimensions will matter most:

Skills and techniques

• working with object-centric event data and multi-object process views
• process-aware predictive and prescriptive analytics
• data extraction, transformation, and semantic modeling
• real-time monitoring and operational process control
• integrating AI/LLM components into structured process contexts
• reference model use and domain-specific process standardization
• optimization, simulation, and scenario evaluation

Behaviors and attitudes

• evidence-based reasoning rooted in actual event traces
• critical assessment of automation proposals
• resistance to local sub-optimization
• interdisciplinary communication skills (IT, business, data science)
• comfort with hybrid intelligence – orchestrating humans + AI systems
• attention to unintended process consequences

The practitioner needs curiosity, scepticism toward purely technical promises, and confidence in working with high-dimensional process data across systems.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

I’m currently working on a new version of the process mining book. This will appear in 2026 (published again by Springer).

Moreover, I recommend reflecting on our recent BISE editorial “Process Mindlessness: When we Lose Sight of What AI is Supposed to Improve”. Bus Inf Syst Eng 67, 771–775 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-025-00972-0. Here, we discuss three potential problems that arise when applying AI naively. When applied without process awareness, AI may unintentionally worsen operational processes rather than improve them. Three effects illustrate how the misuse of AI can undermine process performance and transparency.

A short summary:
1. Bloating: inflating process artifacts rather than streamlining work.
Generative AI makes it effortless to produce text, reports, tickets, emails, and documentation. Instead of clarifying process steps, AI can flood a process with additional artifacts, status updates, autogenerated logs, long explanations, masking the true flow of work. The result is process noise: more events and documents without added value.

2. Blurring: dissolving precise process information into ambiguous text.
Organizations maintain structured data representing objects, lifecycle transitions, and constraints. When AI converts such structured information into free-form text to generate recommendations or actions, semantics are blurred. Decision logic becomes implicit and probabilistic rather than explicit and verifiable. Blurring erodes the “single source of truth” required for process intelligence.

3. Blasting: scaling local automation without process constraints.
AI systems can act rapidly and at scale, generating messages, tasks, or transactions far faster than human agents. When such actions are not governed by process models, workloads shift downstream, overwhelming teams and breaking throughput assumptions. Traditional capacity constraints, once natural brakes, vanish, and without monitoring, the process destabilizes.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Some established skills are losing relevance, and some emerging skills are still hyped because they lack grounding in operational reality.

Declining relevance

• ability to generate text, reports, and PowerPoint presentations,
• case-centric process thinking as the dominant process lens,
• manual KPI dashboarding detached from the underlying event data,
• modeling-first approaches without factual logs, and
• single-task automation without systemic process awareness.

Not practically applicable yet or overhyped

• autonomous AI process agents without human oversight or auditability,
• workflows delegated entirely to generative models without grounding,
• AI that converts structured process data into text only to re-interpret that text,
• unbounded automation that scales communications and actions without constraints, and
• simplistic claims that AI eliminates the need for process understanding.

These trends tend to ignore unintended consequences such as bloating, blurring of semantics, and blasting effects that overload process participants.

AI offers unprecedented opportunities for process excellence, but only when it is grounded in factual event data, connected across objects, and aligned with process goals. The skills that matter are those that combine process science, data science, and responsible automation, while guarding against naive forms of AI adoption that accelerate fragmentation rather than improvement. If you automate nonsense, you just get automated nonsense (faster).

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Tony Benedict

Tony Benedict is a Partner with Omicron Partners, LLC, a strategy advisory firm. He is a senior level operations executive best known for transforming organizations, improving operational excellence and profitability. Most recently, he served as Interim Vice President of Operations for Rising Pharma, managing all phases of complex $200M post-merger integration of 2 acquired companies (36 CMOs, 2 3PLs) within expedited timeframe, while concurrently launching a state-of-the-art pharma distribution center. Consolidated 3 ERP systems into a single SAP instance within 6 months. Benedict previously worked at HonorHealth as Vice President, Procurement and Supply Chain where he was responsible for over $600M in spend management. One of his accomplishments was in the restructuring of the procurement and supply chain organizations post-merger within 12 months and consolidating two ERP systems within 18 months while implementing $60M in cost reduction initiatives. Previously, he was Chief Information Officer, Vice President of Supply Chain for Tenet, and Vice President, Supply Chain, Vanguard Health Systems at Abrazo Community Health Network in Arizona.
He is currently serving as President and Director, Board of Directors for the Association of Business Process Management Professionals International and is a co-author of the Business Process Management Common Body of Knowledge versions 2, 3 and the recently released version 4.
WWW: http://www.abpmp.org
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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

The failure rate for AI projects to date has been over 70%. Companies have learned that injecting a new technology into your business shouldn’t be the primary strategy, rather that AI should augment business strategy. The challenge will be for more selectivity and prioritization for where the investments in AI should be made. The larger the company, especially multi-nationals, the more complexity, making AI models larger and implementations extremely difficult. I believe that successful companies will start where they have thoroughly documented their processes. The logical areas would be customer and supplier facing processes with customer facing taking priority given the impact on revenue. Companies can achieve quick wins within these two areas while they concurrently work on the major cross functional processes that touch the customers and suppliers to fully streamline and optimize internal operational efficiency.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

Building algorithms and language models will largely be left to technical analysts and developer types who are working on smaller scope projects. There is a tremendous need for a Business Architect Strategist to oversee enterprise level transformational efforts. The competency and skills required for practitioners will focus on greater depth and breath of business architecture strategy, integration and governance. The full list of competency areas are Strategy, Operations, Enterprise Performance Management, Human Dynamics, Enterprise Modeling, and Enterprise Governance inclusive of all the skills within each competency area. A complete competency matrix will be available at TheEssentialBusinessArchitect.org or at ABPMP.org

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

The BPM CBOK is a good start for those Director level practitioners who want the foundation for BPM. The best training is “on-the-job” training where the practitioner actually learns by doing. Every transformation is different and the diversity of experience will be the best teacher. Make every effort to increase the depth and breadth of your project experience while increasing scope to the enterprise level. If you do the same project work and the same scope then you’re not growing as you should in this profession. Find a very senior practitioner who can mentor you. Enterprise Governance will be more important now and in the future. Also, The Business Architect Consortium will be publishing “The Essential Skills of the Business Architect” in mid to late January 2026 which will outline what competencies and skills are needed for enterprise level transformation. Find our more at TheEssentialBusinessArchitect.org or at ABPMP.org

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

The BPM profession is not a “throw away” profession where certain skills are not longer relevant or applicable It’s always a question of what skills to use and why/when. As mentioned in the previous question, What is becoming more important is a greater depth and breadth of certain skills, many of which are non-technical and Business in nature. Competencies like strategy, systems thinking, operational integration, governance, etc.

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Lloyd Dugan

Lloyd Dugan is a widely recognized thought leader in the development and use of leading modeling languages, methodologies, and tools, covering from the level of EA and BA down through BPM, Case Management, and SOA. He specializes in the use of standard languages for describing business processes, systems, and services, particularly BPMN, CMMN, and DMN from the OMG. He has developed and delivered BPMN 2.0 training to the U.S. Department of Defense and large consultancies. He has nearly 40 years of experience with public and private sector clients, and has an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He is a past member of the Workflow Management Coalition and its BPSim Working Group that produced the process simulation standard, and also a past member of the OMG’s BPMN Model Interchange Working Group (MIWG). He is a Contributing Member (author) and Collaboration Team Member for the BA Meta Modeling and BPM-BA Alignment Groups of the Business Architecture Guild. He represents the Guild on the OMG Task Force for the BA Core Metamodel (BACM) standard. He is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences on BPM, BPMN, Case Management, Decision Management, SOA, and BA. He is a published author or co-author on BPM, BPMN, and BA. He led the effort to develop a new OMG certification for integrating BPMN, DMN, and CMMN, known as BPM+. He serves as the Chief Architect for Serco, NA, on its CMS Eligibility Support Program, which provides back-office processing of applications to access the Federal Health Care Exchange created under the Affordable Care Act, and where he has led award-winning efforts to build intelligent document processing, dynamic work assignment queuing, RPA for case management, use of AI/ML, process mining, and migration of all Program elements to the AWS Cloud. He still delivers BPM-related training, and when asked also provides client advisory services on BPM-related matters/technologies.

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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

It is truly swimming against the tide when it comes to attempting to convince folks to NOT think about AI as anything other than a monolithic black box straight out of “2001: A Space Odyssey”. In other words, there is not a simple, one-size-fits-all answer to this question, but rather specific answers that support distinct and identifiable use cases.

For example, AI technologies and the models that power them are now sufficiently capable of doing time-saving and productivity-enhancing activities for the analyst such that one can vibe-review/engineer models and code constructs, create documentation and design artifacts, summarize findings, etc. via well-targeted prompting. This saves on the effort to do the leg-work previously needed, but I think this is first-cut stuff that still warrants a practiced eye’s review…at least for a while longer. However, this says only so much about using such things as part of business process automation.

Regarding those use cases, AI technologies and the models that power them are increasingly capable of automating the execution of more complex tasks with more reliability, such that human-in-the-loop (HITL) is becoming more of a bug than a feature. New design patterns have emerged, such as Agentic AI, where the probabilistic logic of AI and deterministic decision logic combine into adaptive behavior by systems. The advent of retrieval-augmented generation (RAG)-based systems is making for more domain-specific results with less likelihood of hallucination, and now with the underlying knowledge bases of the business better understood and implemented. This helps the business to decide between pre-trained and to-be-trained models for risk/reward payoff.

Some use cases have always been there, but AI now provides stronger and more available tools to address them. An example of this is fraud detection, which is not a new need but is now better enabled via the latest AI. Of course, this is all part of the escalation where AI feeds both fraudsters and fraud-detectors in a never-ending race.

As with any impactful IT, all of this needs to be under some kind of governance, and there is substantial literature out there on this topic. As usual, the US is lagging behind Europe in tackling this because of pervasive and misguided laissez-faire takes on how best to advance the development of AI. It is not rocket science nor regulatory overreach to apply common sense requirements to the use of AI. It is simply sound thinking.

So, in conclusion, AI is part of the IT stack, fitting in where it can provide the best value. Sounds like any other IT that’s come along over the years. And like any other IT, we must come to terms with its use, and align management practices accordingly.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

The usual things are still true – namely: operational modeling and simulation, process and data analysis, an abiding intellectual curiosity about how to improve how things work, etc. – but the value gap between what the experienced practitioner can provide vs. what the noobie can provide is continuing to shrink as generative AI tools mature. However, greater reliance on such tools comes at the cost of losing the deep understanding that powers the discipline of BPM, widening the divide between those that simply produce artifacts for base level consumption by others and those that produce constructs that are intended to execute in production as automated processes.

One way to navigate the tensions created between these two Scylla-and-Charybdis forces is to be able to exploit domain-specific knowledge and to professionalize the deep understanding of BPM as a discipline – at least as long as there is value-add to practical experiences over AI “smarts”. The deep understanding needed is built around operational modeling, such as with BPM+ (BPMN/DMN/CMMN) and Value Stream Modeling (Value-generation), and knowing how best to capture the behaviors of AI in such models, making its role explicit rather than tacit. For example, work out how best to represent AI-enabled moments in an operational model that support automation without confusing (too much) business stakeholders. This can be done and taught.

Better understanding of the domain can come through use of knowledge graphs about the business, which AI and associated models should be built around. This should all be seen as just another thing about AI that BPM practitioners can get smarter about.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

I have found this book a great primer for AI/ML, but there are plenty of books to read: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/knowledge-graphs-mayank-kejriwal/1137268183.

I have found this book to be a great primer on governance, but other books exist: https://www.amazon.com/AI-Algorithms-Mastering-Ethical-Compliance/dp/1634624564.

For operational modeling with BPMN, there is an abundance of options available that a simple Internet search will reveal (including one for the author of this very website). Fewer, if just focused on DMN, but that continues to be a hot one, so also too many to cite. Few for CMMN, but I still have hopes that that turns around. BPM+ is about the unification/integration across all three, and there are some options, and even an integrative exam that I and others helped craft. Advanced Value Stream Modeling remains criminally underserved, but I’m hoping to turn that around in the future too.

Regarding AI/ML, there is all sorts of material out there. AWS, whose Bedrock set of services present a strong foundation (but not for the noobies) in AI/ML, has a set of training options, and given the cloud vendors investment here should be considered: https://aws.amazon.com/ai/learn/.

For a more contextual and philosophical take, I’ll plug something from an early source of BPM inspiration for me, Tom Koulopoulos, that he recently started (though I have yet to take) and a book from him and my long-time friend, mentor, boss, and collaborator Nathaniel Palmer: The Future of AI: Humanity’s Next Frontier and https://www.amazon.com/Gigatrends-Forces-Changing-Future-Billions/dp/1637589808.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

AI is rendering the background technical architecture for accessing data and application logic increasingly like a utility that one knows is there but doesn’t have to know too much about to use – think about how you don’t need to understand too much about electricity to use it in one’s household. As an example of this, note that one of the things that BPM technologies still have a lot to say about is service orchestration, but model context protocol (MCP) is moving to claim that space.

Deep technical knowledge may be receding in importance, but deep understanding of how things work remains key. I hope that strong – and especially domain-specific – understanding of how things work and can be improved for processes remains just as vital as it has for decades. I see in this a parallel with data science, which is more about understanding the meaning of data and the patterns therein than about where it resides and how to access it.

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Scott Francis

Scott Francis is President of Westslope Advisors, providing advisory and board services to growing and scaling firms and sharing what he’s learned from 30 years in Technology. Scott formerly led BP3 Global, Inc, and held senior roles at Lombardi Software and Trilogy Software. You can find his writings on Substack and Medium.

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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

A major impact of AI has been to slow budget spend on everything that isn’t “AI”. I highly recommend rebranding and reframing your process work as critical AI work. Organizations that try to manage and run their processes with AI today will have serious issues with hallucinations and inconsistencies, which are unacceptable for businesses. We do not expect calculators to be right 85% of the time. They are right 100% of the time, or we don’t use them. Generative AI asks us to lower our standards for what constitutes successful automation – but that error rate will lead to either bad business outcomes, or inordinate spending on “fixing” the AI results. Neither is acceptable.

What does work, is letting your processes manage AI. You use AI in the context of a business process with all of its inputs, outputs, and process flow context. You put AI algorithms into processes the same way. This gives you the scaffolding to make AI a productive and useful part of the systems that participate in your processes. AI is not a substitute for understanding your business processes and operational processes. AI is not a substitute for designing them, though you may well consult with AI tools on how to design them, and how to improve them.

Harking back to BPM the third wave: first, there’s the process instance and how you execute it (think, a single order). Second, there’s another dimension that is the collection of all the process instances of that process, and how they are managed collectively (think, all orders being processed). Third, there’s the dimension that is evaluating and improving the process definition for the future, based on what you are learning from the work that is happening now and in the past. AI can play a role in each.

In the first, it is subsidiary to the process instance and should be controlled by the process definition. In the second, AI can help identify problematic instances (orders for example), or highlight trends, or offer advice in response to queries from a manager for example, with respect to load management or likely risk. In the third, AI can provide advice on improving the process definition for the future based on past results.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

The traditional skills, techniques, behaviors and attitudes will continue to provide value in 2026. In fact, if you exhibit those values, you may find yourself an increasingly rare commodity. My advice is to continue to focus on designing for humans in the business – AI and process, when done right, greatly improve the human experience and customer experience in a business.

Another skill that is incredibly important in today’s world: the ability to estimate when an AI-focused project or program will complete. As an industry, many tech executives and IT executives have lost the ability to estimate when AI is involved, because it doesn’t follow the old rules for estimation in software. I’ wrote a whole post about this here: https://sfrancisatx.substack.com/p/we-are-terrible-at-estimating-progress Because I think this is a real challenge to many companies and executives, I recommend really working on how to estimate and when a good estimate is not possible. It’s a long read, but hopefully worth it.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

I can recommend two great resources:
1. Enterprise Process Orchestration – this is the book I wish I had written, and that I would recommend to every single BPM practitioner, and every single person who cares about process orchestration. https://www.amazon.com/Enterprise-Process-Orchestration-Hands-Technology/dp/1394309678 – by Berndt Rücker and Leon Strauch.

2. Irresistible Change, by Phil Gilbert https://www.amazon.com/Irresistible-Change-Blueprint-Buy-Breakout/dp/1394367759/. One of the main reasons we do this work is because we are effecting change within large organizations with complex processes. Phil gives here the how-to on making change – at scale – irresistible. It’s an amazing read.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Vibe coding. You can vibe code one-off utilities and single use programs. But if you vibe code ATM Clearing transactions, bad things will happen. This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t use AI assistants for coding, validating code, understanding code. But don’t confuse vibe coding with professional software development, with production use in mind.

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Ian Gotts

Ian Gotts. Speaker : Analyst : Advisor 

WWW: https://iangotts.medium.com
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Twitter: @iangotts

Business Analysis 2026: Why Domain Expertise is Your New Superpower

TL;DR

By 2026, we’ll have crossed the Carbon-Silicon Divide and the Business Analyst role will have bifurcated. Artificial Intelligence will automate the “mechanics” of analysis—mapping, documentation, and basic requirements gathering. This leaves the human BA with a binary choice: become a deep domain expert who directs the AI, or face irrelevance.

The rise of “vibe coding” and autonomous agents means building solutions is faster than ever. But speed without direction is just chaos accelerated. The future belongs to those who can provide the precise context, nuance, and industry expertise that AI lacks. That is the critical thinking that great Business Analysts provide, in teh context of the deep domain expertise.

Crossing the Carbon-Silicon Divide

For over two decades, the holy grail of Business Analysis was to capture a process and have the application generate automatically. We tried utilizing standards like UML and BPMN, but they largely failed for one reason: we were forced to describe business in terms computers understood—”silicon”. To make the logic executable, the resulting diagrams had to be so dense, rigid, and complex that often only their creators could decipher them .

AI has finally shattered that barrier. We no longer need to learn the syntax of the machine; the machine has learned ours. We can now describe business needs in natural language—”carbon”—and trust the AI to handle the translation into code and logic. As noted in my Forbes article “Silicon Vs. Carbon: Finally, Computers Are Speaking Our Language“, this doesn’t absolve us of critical thinking; much like delegating to a skilled intern, we must still be specific and clear about what we want. But the friction is gone. We have finally crossed the carbon-silicon divide, moving from a world where we serve the syntax to one where the syntax serves us.

The “Vibe Coding” Trap

We are entering the era of “vibe coding,” where anyone with an idea can describe it in natural language, and an AI will generate the code. While many current examples are prototypes, the trajectory is undeniable. The barrier to building software is collapsing.

However, the determining factor in the quality of these apps is no longer coding skill—it is the quality of the description. In the old world, a human developer might push back if a specification didn’t make sense or lacked organizational context. An AI vibe coding platform will not. It will build exactly what you asked for, errors and all.

This shines a harsh spotlight on the quality of Business Analysis.

• The stakes are higher: If you describe a flawed process, you get a flawed app instantly.
• Requirements are critical: You must “bottom out” the specification. What are the specific business processes? What is the data model?
• Architecture matters: If the app is destined for production, who is considering scaling, maintenance, and compliance?

As application generation becomes effortless, the rigor of the analysis becomes the only safety net.

Programming with English: The Rise of Agents

We are already managing a digital workforce. At Elements.cloud, we have deployed agents to support teams in every department. They have employee records, formal onboarding, and scheduled reviews. They aren’t replacing people; they are liberating them.

Take “Fin,” our support agent. Fin is now answering 90% of inbound customer questions accurately. For the 10% it cannot answer, it passes them to a human support team with a full analysis already complete. Furthermore, our internal “case to bug” agent has reduced resolution time from 23 days to 5, increasing documentation quality from 0.8/10 to 9/10.

But here is the catch: Agents are literal. An agent has limited common sense and zero organizational intuition. It will read a 200-page policy document in seconds and execute instructions precisely. If those instructions (your business processes) are loose, ambiguous, or rely on “tribal knowledge,” the agent will fail .

The ability to “agentify” an organization relies entirely on the quality of your process documentation .

• Process as Code: You are essentially programming with natural language .
• The Detail Gap: Humans cover up gaps in bad processes with workarounds. Agents do not.
• Documentation: If your agents are unreliable, it is almost always a failure of business analysis, not the technology.

The Death of the Generalist

We have built a Business Analysis (BA) Agent. It is impressive. It can interview stakeholders, identify missing steps, suggest improvements, and draw the process diagram automatically . It leverages the collective knowledge of Large Language Models (LLMs) which have “read” about every industry on earth.

So, what is the future of the human Business Analyst if an agent can do the heavy lifting in a week?

The answer is deep domain expertise.

The “A” in AI stands for Augment. A BA Agent is only as good as the context it is fed. If you ask it to define a field service process for upstream oil and gas, it will give you a technically correct, generic answer. But it won’t know the specific compliance nuances of your geography, your company’s specific operating model, or the political landscape of your stakeholders.

• The Generalist’s Risk: If you are a generalist BA who simply transcribes what people tell you into diagrams, you are at risk. An agent can do that faster and cheaper. When asked your ara of expertise, it cannot be “Oil and Gas”. THat is too broad. “Downstream Oil and Gas” whilst narrower is again is huge domain. “Filed Service for downstream Oil and Gas” is a tighter area, but still has a huge scope.
• The Expert’s Opportunity: If you are a domain expert, AI makes you the smartest person in the room. You can use the agent to handle the drudgery—drafting, mapping, checking for consistency—allowing you to focus on high-value strategy and complex problem solving. So take time to assess your experience to pinpoint your area of expertise and work out how to deepen that.

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Paul Holmes-Higgin

Dr Paul Holmes-Higgin, Fellow and co-founder of Flowable. Previously, as co-founder and CPO of Alfresco. Paul brought Activiti to the fore of the company’s innovation. A long-time Open Source advocate, he believes it has an important role to play in making today’s innovation more widely available. His PhD and background in AI gives him a deep understanding of the opportunities and realities of Machine Learning. Paul sees innovation around the standard models of BPM as the best way to bring together his passions for human-centred software and intelligent automation in today’s highly dynamic business and social environment.

WWW: https://flowable.com
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Joram Barrez

Joram Barrez is a Business Process Management and open-source expert, working as a principal software architect at Flowable. With over fifteen years of real-world BPM experience, Joram is known for his contributions to the field, constantly pushing the boundaries of innovation and efficiency. He’s one of the founders of the Flowable open-source project and Activiti before that, and has worked on JBoss jBPM early on in his career. Throughout the years, Joram has worked with numerous global companies, helping them optimize their processes and drive digital transformation.

WWW: https://flowable.com
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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

[PHH] Are there any other trends apart from generative AI? I think the “introducing AI with guardrails” trend in BPM is now dated, but what modern BPMs have always been doing is showing up as things get real with AI. That is, managing business processes that interact with external services, mixed with human interaction; all auditable and secure.

The automation focus is now far more on declarative, agentic behavior, rather than procedural flows for business solutions.

[JB] Agreed. I’m a big believer of declarative approaches. Instead of trying to map every possible path upfront, we can now describe the problem and let an AI agent determine the steps to reach a solution. In enterprise settings, though, it only really works with strong governance in place: clear boundaries, auditability, and explicit rules around what an agent is allowed to decide on its own.

That’s why I see context engineering as the real differentiator going forward. In many ways, this is not new to BPM. We’ve been doing it for years through processes, and even more through case management. The goal has always been the same: make sure the right information reaches the right person or system at the right time. Each interaction adds context, which then drives the next action, whether human or automated.

[PHH] One other trend is the build v. buy software selection decision changing to AI code-generated prototype solutions, before even thinking about a vendor. Liberal open source BPMs (Apache, MIT-licensed etc) are freely available libraries for AIs to exploit, but they can grow into full-strength enterprise platform use once the business solution has been proven.

[JB] Another way to look at this is to ask a simple question: what are the foundational building blocks for the next generation of intelligent automation? For me, processes, cases, workflows or whatever you name it (and the APIs that expose and interact with them) sit right at the center. They provide the structure AI agents need to operate effectively and safely inside an enterprise.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

[JB] Building on what I just said, declarative thinking will only become more important. At the same time, the fundamental skills that have always defined BPM practitioners remain crucial, arguably more so than ever. Making sure solutions meet data security standards, governance policies, and regulatory requirements is non-negotiable today. And with new players entering the field, that challenge is only getting tougher.

[PHH] I really think we should change the mindset, so that BPM means Business Problem Management, to avoid the easy oversimplification that everything is a sequential, procedural process. A business process is about getting an outcome from an initial situation. What happens in between is a blend of machine and human intelligence with repeatable best practice. BPMN, DMN and CMMN all have a role to play in this.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

[PHH] Get your hands dirty and try things out, because the technology is moving too fast for books or courses – even an online resource will be out of date at depth. Download the open source or trial versions of BPM platforms and use AI-generated BPM standard models to see how agentic solutions can work today. To learn CMMN through a book, Bruce Silver’s “CMMN Method and Style” is your best option.

[JB] Absolutely. We’re very much in an experimentation phase. Best practices are evolving so rapidly that what we write today can become outdated tomorrow. As you say, the most effective way to stay ahead is by actively experimenting with the capabilities and understanding what works in practice. On that note, I couldn’t agree more about CMMN: the evaluation-cycle approach in “case” management fits perfectly with agentic ways of working. It’s a natural match: structured flexibility that balances control with flexibility.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

[JB] One side-effect of generative AI is that people are reading less, relying on AI to summarize and extract key information quickly. When I started in BPM a long time ago, a big part of my work was process discovery: interviewing stakeholders, summarizing their intents, finding gaps to automate and sketching back-of-the-napkin diagrams. The essence of that work won’t disappear, but with today’s tools, how that information is gathered and processed is changing very fast.

Similarly, some technical skills are becoming less central. Early in my career, we crafted XML by hand; later, visual modeling made syntax less of a worry. Today, we can interact with models directly, applying changes or querying them via AI, without knowing every detail. The focus is shifting from mastering mechanics to orchestrating strategically and understanding how models drive real outcomes.

[PHH] Just don’t expect AI-generated BPM models to be production ready! I could be controversial and say not to spend time on RPA if you aren’t already committed to it: AI-generated code will do the same.

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Caspar Jans

Caspar is a seasoned BPM professional with 25 years of experience in various industries. From managing a center of excellence on BPM for a global manufacturing company, hosting a podcast on BPM and consulting large enterprises on the benefits of a process centric approach to being a Principal BPM Expert for Celonis, Caspar has been on both sides of the table on process management (and more). On top of that, Caspar is listed in the PEX Network Global Top 25 though leaders on Operational Excellence.

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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

With the introduction of AI also came the realization that your business processes actually provide the necessary alignment and guard rails for AI to be successful within. Without this, AI tends to spin out of control. The developments on the AI front are going so fast that the usual governance concepts can’t keep up and in order to offset that, a proper process landscape (connected to roles, applications, input/outputs and more) is vital. So, there seems to be a revived interest in how to efficiently and effectively document processes, not just for the sake of documenting them, but for the sake of being able to also orchestrate and automate them (either via automation platforms or AI).

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

The BPM practitioner has to become much more allround compared to the last decade. Just being knowledgeable on how to model and govern processes will simply not be sufficient anymore. BPM practitioners will need at least basic understanding on topics like orchestration, automation, AI and maybe even the most important one: human psychology, because after all, if you want to implement successful change within an organization, you will have influence people rather than software or hardware. Being an avid communicator will help the BPM practitioner to more eloquently explain why having a governed and up to date process landscape is vital for all of the AI use cases.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

For the more general background on BPM I would suggest the youtube channel of Roger Tregear (the Australian BPM guru) or season 1 of the BPM360 podcast (explaining the 4 key success criteria for BPM implementations in great detail). Also the book on “influence” by Robert Cialdini is a recommendable book (for the human behavioral part).

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Given the emergence of AI assistants in BPM, the modeling skill has become less relevant (in terms of: you don’t need that many modelers anymore and their work emphasis changes a bit from creating to validating process documentation). The model to execute skill (so the ability to model a process and then ingest it straight into an execution engine) is emerging but not yet critical to master for now.

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Dr. Mathias Kirchmer

Dr. Kirchmer is an experienced practitioner and thought leader in the field of Business Process Management (BPM) and Digital Transformation. He is Managing Director of Scheer Americas, previously BPM-D US. He co-founded BPM-D, a consulting company focusing on performance improvements and appropriate digitalization by establishing and applying the discipline of BPM. Before he was Managing Director and Global Lead of BPM at Accenture, and CEO of the Americas and Japan of IDS Scheer, known for its process modelling software and process consulting.

Dr. Kirchmer has led numerous transformation and process improvement initiatives in various industries at clients around the world. He has published 11 books and over 150 articles. At the University of Pennsylvania and at Widener University he has served as affiliated faculty for over 20 years. He received a research and teaching fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

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Twitter: @mtki2006

How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

Business Process Management (BPM) has become the management discipline that moves strategy into people and technology-based execution, fast and reliably. It creates the transparency necessary to take fast well-informed decisions and implement the related actions effectively. This transparency is the foundation of success in the digital age. The discipline of BPM helps to align business and technology aspects towards the goals of an organization to create the expected value.

Most process improvement initiatives must leverage digital technologies to achieve the desired agility, flexibility, innovation and efficiency. Realizing the business potential of those digital technologies has become a key role of BPM, delivering process-led digital transformation. This includes the identification of the improvement opportunities through AI. The visibility BPM provides helps to identify systematically where AI helps to enhance the end-to-end performance of business processes.

With Agentic AI, the role of BPM continues to evolve. Intelligent agents create process instances more and more independently, with little to no human intervention. Therefore, BPM shifts its focus from the design of operational processes to defining their deliverables and performance levels. Related data requirements are crucial and need to be addressed through the BPM-Discipline. Governance and management process become increasingly more significant.

BPM provides the “process of process management” integrating and aligning process, data and AI governance to provide the necessary control and rapid adjustment of the highly automated business processes. BPM moves from addressing mainly the design and implementation of operational processes to delivering appropriate management and governance processes.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

BPM Practitioners need to focus increasingly on delivering process-led digital transformation through appropriate standardization, optimization and innovation of processes. They organize the required management and governance processes, integrating process, data and AI requirements through the definition of a company specific “process of process management”, realizing value and driving the ongoing transformation journey. Therefore, BPM Practitioners need to understand both the business aspects of processes and the effects of digital technologies that support these processes. BPM Practitioners need to know how to create and apply related assets, such as software-based process reference models.

Process standardization remains an important topic since it simplifies digital transformation and makes it more efficient. BPM Practitioners need to develop related skills, such as the definition of the right degree of abstraction and detail for a specific standardization initiative or the appropriate leverage of process reference models.

Not all processes are equal. BPM Practitioners need to identify the 10-15% high impact processes for sophisticated innovation and optimization initiatives. Commodity processes are improved by applying industry common practices to reach an average performance level. Sophisticated optimization doesn’t pay off here. BPM Practitioners need to be able to apply process impact and maturity assessments to achieve the required process segmentation.

The role in digital transformation requires the handling of related data aspects. Developing logical data models and simplifying those to enable nimble processes as well as supporting applications becomes an important skill. The design of appropriate data management processes becomes another important task.

The high degree of automation allows the collection of related data. This enables the use of “digital twins” to manage processes more effectively. BPM Practitioners help to develop and apply those digital twins.

The BPM-Discipline goes through a digital transformation itself. The integrated use of BPM tools, such as modelling, mining and automation tools, leveraging AI, becomes an important success factor. BPM Practitioners need to drive this transformation of BPM.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

Specialized consulting and education organizations offer training and eLearning addressing those skills, such as Scheer with its academy and publications (www.scheer-americas.com). Industry organizations, like APQC (www.apqc.org), ABPMP (www.abpmp.org) or the BPM Institute (www.bpminstitute.org), provide related resources. Forward thinking universities and research organizations address related topics, for example the August-Wilhelm Scheer Institute for Digital Processes and Products (www.aws-institut.de), the Scheer School for Digital Sciences (Scheer School of Digital Sciences – Saarbrücken – Scheer School of Digital Sciences at Saarland University), Widener University with its master program for Digital Transformation (www.widener.edu) or the University of Pennsylvania (www.upenn.edu).

Here are some related readings that may help:
• Scheer, A.-W.: Digitale Industrie: Daten – Prozesse – Metaverse. New York, Berlin, e.a. 2025 (English version to follow in 2026).
• Scheer, A.-W.: The Composable Enterprise: Agile, Flexible and Innovative – A Gamechanger for Organizations, Digitalization and Business Software. 4th ed., New York, Berlin, e.a. 2023.
• Kirchmer, M., Havaligi, S.: Realizing the full Potential of AI Applications through Business Process Management. In: Shishkov B. (ed): Business Modeling and Software Design. BMSD 2025. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 559 (ISBN: 978-3-031-98032-9). Springer, 2025.
• Kirchmer, M.: Process-led Digital Transformation – Mastering the Journey towards the Composable Enterprise. In: Shishkov B. (ed): Business Modeling and Software Design. BMSD 2024. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 523 (ISBN: 978-3-031-64072-8). Springer, 2024.
• Wilson, H.J, Daugherty, P.R.: Generative AI – The Secret to Successful AI-driven Process Redesign. In: Harvard Business Review, January-February 2025.
• Kirchmer, M.: High Performance through Business Process Management – Strategy Execution in a Digital World. 3rd ed., New York, Berlin, e.a. 2017.
• Franz, P., Kirchmer, M.: Value-driven Business Process Management – The Value-Switch for Lasting Competitive Advantage. New York, 2012.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Traditional improvement approaches that do not address the alignment of business and information technology or do not leverage digital technologies as appropriate to enhance processes will no longer be successful. Every transformation is related to some degree of digital transformation.

General principles of process improvement as applied in approaches like Lean, Six Sigma or Kaizen remain true and useful. But to stay relevant they must be upgraded, leveraging modern digital process management capabilities, such as mining or modelling tools.

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Mirko Kloppenburg

Hi, I’m Mirko. I’m living in Hamburg, Germany, with my wife and our two daughters. For more than 20 years, I’ve been working in Business Process Management – starting in large, complex organizations and today helping companies build truly process-driven organizations.

I’m creator of the New Process approach and founder of NewProcessLab.com, where I combine BPM, New Work, and experience design into a human-centric approach to process management. My focus is on BPM as a leadership and management capability: creating clarity, enabling people, and turning strategy into action through processes.

I host the New Process Podcast, where I share real-world BPM experiences, frameworks, and conversations with practitioners from around the world.

WWW: NewProcessLab.com
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Twitter: @MirkoKBurg

How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

AI is fundamentally changing how work is executed – but not why work exists.

In many organizations, AI is currently introduced as a technology initiative. New models, agents, and tools promise efficiency and autonomy. At the same time, we see many AI initiatives struggling or failing because underlying processes are unclear, fragmented, or not owned by anyone.

This is where BPM becomes more important than ever.

In an increasingly unpredictable environment – with volatile supply chains, geopolitical shifts, and rapid technological change – organizations need orientation, clarity, and adaptability. BPM provides exactly that by making value creation explicit end-to-end, clarifying responsibilities, and creating a shared understanding of how work actually gets done.

AI will automate decisions, generate content, and execute tasks. But BPM must ensure that:
– processes are meaningful and aligned with strategy,
– humans remain accountable for outcomes,
– and AI is embedded intentionally into workflows, not layered on top of confusion.

I see BPM evolving from a discipline focused on optimization to a management capability that enables learning, resilience, and informed decision-making in an AI-enabled world.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

To stay relevant in 2026, BPM practitioners must shift from being process experts to becoming process enablers and sense-makers.

From my perspective, four capability areas matter most:

1. Strategic positioning of BPM: BPM practitioners must be able to connect purpose, strategy, and processes. This includes articulating why BPM matters, what impact it creates, and how it contributes to business strategy in times of uncertainty.

2. Implementing pragmatic BPM frameworks: Instead of heavyweight governance, organizations need lightweight, usable BPM frameworks that provide orientation without bureaucracy. This includes clear process architectures, meaningful communication, and well-defined roles such as Process Owners as real leadership roles.

3. Enabling people, not controlling them: The ability to inspire people for processes, facilitate dialogue, and build a process culture is becoming a core skill. BPM only creates value if people understand, accept, and actively shape their processes.

4. Applying AI with intention: BPM practitioners don’t need to become AI engineers. But they must understand where deterministic automation, GenAI, AI agents, or human decision-making are appropriate – and where they are not. The key skill is judgment, not tool mastery.

Underlying all of this is a mindset shift: from “designing processes” to continuously enabling organizations to learn and adapt through processes.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

I believe BPM skills are best developed where practice, reflection, and exchange come together.

Peer communities and practitioner exchange are extremely valuable, because they surface real-world challenges and patterns beyond theory. For example, New Process Pro is a free community where BPM practitioners share experiences, discuss frameworks, and reflect on what it really takes to build process-driven organizations.

Structured learning formats can help to create orientation, especially for practitioners who want to position BPM more strategically. A good starting point is a concise BPM roadmap that connects strategy, processes, and people – before diving into methods or tools.

Curated content such as podcasts, blogs, and BPM platforms helps to stay connected to the broader BPM discourse and emerging perspectives.

Most importantly, learning happens through application: facilitating workshops, coaching Process Owners, experimenting with BPM frameworks, and reflecting on what actually creates impact in a specific organizational context.

Examples mentioned above:
New Process Pro Community: https://www.newprocesslab.com/pro
BPM Roadmap Mini Course: https://www.newprocesslab.com/roadmap

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

No BPM skill is irrelevant per se – relevance always depends on purpose and context.

That said, I currently see a strong overemphasis on tools and technology compared to foundational capabilities.

Highly detailed process modeling, tool-driven BPM initiatives, or AI-first approaches often create activity without impact when organizations lack clarity about:
– their end-to-end processes,
– process responsibilities,
– and purpose.

Similarly, fully autonomous, self-optimizing process visions are still largely aspirational for most organizations. Without a strong process culture and clear accountability, they remain more hype than reality.

What is often underestimated – and still underdeveloped – are skills related to leadership, facilitation, sense-making, and cultural change. In 2026, these will differentiate BPM practitioners far more than technical specialization.

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Harald Kühn

Dr. Harald Kühn is a member of the management board of the BOC AG. He is responsible for the product management and the related strategic aspects of BOC’s ADONIS and ADOIT product portfolio. Dr. Harald Kühn works in the areas of BPM, EA, their integration and the usage of innovative technologies in these domains.
He is an author of over 20 publications about various aspects of BPM.

WWW: boc-group.com
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Twitter: @BOC_Group

How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

If you provide this question to the ChatBots of the big players (see question 3), you already get very good answers with various perspectives on the related impact. No need to repeat the answers here.

Independent of that, I personally see three concrete impacts:

• In the near future, human work processes will be primarily influenced by AI-based technology for “knowledge-related tasks” (white-collar tasks) such as writing, analyzing, summarizing, researching, planning, programming, testing, conceptualizing, managing etc. For the next 3-5 years I do not see a major impact on “manual tasks” (blue-collar tasks) of human work processes such as repairing of physical things, construction, outdoor services, maintenance activities, nursing services etc. The latter might change with the upcoming wave of AI-based robotics.
• In the domain of “knowledge-related tasks” I see intensive usage of AI-based technology within all kind of tasks. This leads to a distinctive productivity boost for “knowledge-related tasks”, but not a complete replacement of such tasks by AI. As a result, the nature of human work will continuously change from “do-ing” to “govern-ing”.
• In the domain of “machine-based processes” or “automated processes” I see a clear trend to extend the automation domain from pre-defined or rule-based execution to agentic execution. The domain of agentic AI is still in an early maturity level, but the evolution speed rapidly accelerates (https://aaif.io/).

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

To be honest, actually I do not see big differences between 2025 and 2026 on this topic. But it might be even more important to focus on speed to deliver value and results quickly as just having an eye on costs and short-term profitability.

1. Continuous Learning: As the work environment, used technologies, practices, methodologies etc. are continuously changing, the learning process must do so as well. Continuous learning involves the persistent broadening of knowledge and abilities. Within the realm of workplace professional development, it focuses on acquiring new competencies and insights, as well as reinforcing previously acquired skills and knowledge.
2. Practical Engagement with AI-based Tools: To successfully integrate AI with its different flavors such as Machine Learning, GenAI, Agentic AI etc. into BPM, practitioners in 2026 must prioritize continuous learning. This includes formal training, up-to-date online courses, and participation in global industry events tailored to AI advancements. Hands-on experience remains vital – through pilot projects, close collaboration with technology teams, and practical applications such as designing contextualized prompts or applying domain-specific models. Particular emphasis should be placed on addressing modern challenges like information security, data privacy, and the ethical use of company data in conjunction with public GenAI and/or Agentic AI services. Furthermore, staying actively connected with the BPM and AI communities is critical. Engaging in professional forums, participating in discussions on cutting-edge case studies, and networking with experts will ensure practitioners remain informed about the latest trends, tools, and best practices shaping the field in 2026.
3. Use of Conceptual Modelling: The intensified use of multi-perspective conceptual modeling continues, incorporating sustainability, customer journeys, digital ecosystems, and value streams into cohesive BPM methodologies. This is accompanied by using a mix of different design, analysis and data-science techniques.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

A very valuable resource is of course Zbigniew’s recent co-authored book :
Practical Business Process Modeling and Analysis: Design and optimize business processes incrementally for AI transformation using BPMN

In general, I heavily recommend to use ChatBots as “interactive learning companions”. Especially if you use various of them in a combined way. They already reached a reasonable mature state including the possibility to guide you to trustful information sources during your “learning dialog” or to use their agentic features for powerful research. Very good examples are Le Chat by Mistral (https://chat.mistral.ai/chat), Gemini by Google (https://gemini.google.com/app), ChatGPT by OpenAI (https://chatgpt.com/), Copilot by Microsoft (https://copilot.microsoft.com/), Claude by Anthropic (https://www.anthropic.com/claude) or Perplexity AI (https://www.perplexity.ai/).

Books on Conceptual Modelling:
Domain-Specific Conceptual Modeling (Part 1): Concepts, Methods and Tools,

Domain-Specific Conceptual Modeling (Part 2): Concepts, Methods and ADOxx Tools,

Domain-Specific Conceptual Modeling (Part 3): The OMiLAB Community of Practice,

Metamodeling: Applications and Trajectories to the Future.

Free Conceptual Modelling Tools:
Library of more than 80 OMiLAB Modelling Tools,

ADONIS Community Edition,

ADOIT Community Edition,

ADONIS Academy Programme,

ADOIT Academy Programme

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Any knowledge and experiences gathered in the past will influence decisions for the future. Therefore, even if specific skills, techniques or technologies are not really relevant any more, they are important to evaluate, decide on and apply new upcoming approaches.

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Prof. dr. Amy Van Looy

Prof. dr. Amy Van Looy holds a Ph.D. in applied economics. Before entering academia, she worked as an IT consultant. Being an associate professor at Ghent University, she coordinates the research cluster of “Process orientation” at the Department of Business Informatics and Operations Management. She teaches, among others, courses on research methods, process management, technology innovation and social media. Amy Van Looy is the recipient of the “Highest Award for Achievement” at the Dale Carnegie Consulting Program in 2007, the “Award for Best Contribution” at the OnTheMove Academy in 2010, the faculty’s “PhD Tutor Award” in 2022, as well as paper nominations (e.g., BPM2018, HICSS2025) and paper rewards (e.g., BPM2019). She was nominated in the top-10 for “Young ICT Lady of the year 2014” by the Belgian magazine DataNews, and was recognized as a tech role model by the non-profit “InspiringFifty Belgium” in 2020 (i.e., for being one of Belgium’s 50 most inspiring women in technology).

WWW: https://www.amyvanlooy.eu/
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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

The biggest 2026 trend affecting how organizations are looking at their business processes is definitely related to generative artificial intelligence (genAI), including all its variants, tools, and (potential) realizations. It is true that AI in general has already been frequently mentioned in the past years as a dominant technology to support and rethink business processes (e.g., by software robots such as robotic process automation and chatbots as well by physical manufacturing robots and service robots). And this AI wave will continue to evolve, but now being specifically expanded with genAI.

Especially the rapid pace and new possibilities offered by genAI increasingly raise questions on how to properly take advantage of the wide range of more novel, widespread and accessible genAI opportunities. Of course, this also come with the need for a more critical attitude toward genAI use, which I still consider as a major challenge for organizations and society at large. For instance, genAI can be positively supporting routine tasks and beyond, while also security and ethical concerns need to be more carefully addressed. For instance, examples are related to underlying copyright issues and hallucination problems with fake information. Nevertheless, I am sure that 2026 will bring new avenues to further explore how genAI can be used for facilitating all kinds of BPM activities in a more trusted and fair manner, among others during process modelling, process execution and process optimization.

Additionally, instead of seeing genAI as taking over human tasks or human roles, a more strategic approach is required to use genAI for the better. By this, I mean using genAI for dealing with internal and external pressures that come, among others, from pressures surrounding burnouts, work overload problems, social and green sustainability, customer centricity, and agility needs. Besides strategic alignment for genAI, also business-IT alignment issues remain critical.

Hence, the AI trends in general and genAI in particular demonstrate once more that the BPM discipline is not just a technical discipline but also a true managerial discipline that needs a holistic lens by extending the traditional BPM lifecycle with managerial, cultural and structural features to obtain long-term process performance outcomes.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

Thinking in terms of end-to-end value streams (instead of ad-hoc projects or siloed functional views per department) will remain highly important in 2026. By this, I mean putting the end customers first, and then exploring what business opportunities appear based on using digital technologies. While customer thinking is not necessarily new to 2026 (also in earlier years), much stronger employee-related skills will be needed to explore such business process opportunities because this contrasts from incremental process changes. Instead, upgrading skills related to out-of-the-box thinking, co-creation, ecosystem thinking, and experimentation with trial-and-error will increase much more in importance for creating business value to organizations.

Also, this value thinking needs to be further extended beyond purely financial or economic value (e.g., not just in terms of process costs, time, quality, flexibility). Instead, value thinking also need reconsidering the ecological footprints of specific business processes and the related social implications for obtaining a more responsible way of applying BPM. In this regard, AI algorithms are not necessarily fair and could be biased towards certain majority views. Also in decision-making, AI decision support mechanisms are not necessarily transparent and genAI features still have a high risk of hallucinations and so providing fake information. Consequently, a critical eye on using BPM for the good, will only increase in importance in 2026. This applies to everyone involved in BPM, namely BPM users, analysts, developers and employees in general will substantially benefit from a more open though critical view on how to explore those technology-based process opportunities.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

Since genAI and other digital technologies are evolving, it remains important for organizations to stay up-to-date about recent developments in the digital landscape and which BPM implications are related. For instance, managers and employees can attend seminars, conferences and even look for collaborations with universities (e.g., for participating in case study research or action-based research). Managers can also inform themselves about BPM updates by talking to consultants, especially since their own company’s core competence might not necessarily be in BPM and digital technologies. This way of working also aligns with the idea of ecosystem thinking, namely partnering with other companies and universities to find synergies and co-creation options.

Furthermore, managers and employees might follow Master university classes (e.g., as a kind of credit contract system) on the advanced and/or emerging topics of BPM, process mining and process innovation. Just one example is a practitioner-oriented Springer handbook that explains how organizations can improve their business processes based on agile projects by taking advantage of digital technologies, and which is also used as university teaching materials with a lot of practical cases (https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-59770-1).

Additionally, the annual International Business Process Management Conference will be organized in Toronto this year, and which I highly recommend for your October planning. This conference offers a broad range of workshops, fora, panels, presentations, etc. Such a conference is also a nice way for networking and getting in touch with BPM scholars and industry professionals.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

The BPM skills of, let us say 20 or 30 years ago, are still relevant nowadays to exploit daily business. It is rather a matter of extending them with more explorative skills for also thinking in terms of innovating business processes in an agile manner. The underlying idea of process modelling, monitoring and optimization is still needed, and will remain valid. This means that the BPM lifecycle remains more or less the same, though requiring faster iterations in particular. While process execution used to be with software-specific BPM systems (or alternatively, ERP or SAP systems), those dedicated tools are now being extended towards more AI and genAI features by tool vendors. Hence, I consider those renewed skills and features not as opposing to or contradicting with conventional BPM skills, but rather as an organic evolution towards more ambidexterity for which the traditional exploitation of business processes remains valid while also keeping an eye on exploring new business opportunities and benefiting from digital technologies.

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Madison Lundquist

As Principal Research Lead, Madison Lundquist develops and executes APQC’s research agenda for process and performance management and serves as subject matter expert. She interviews leading organizations on their practices, identifies key findings from the research projects, and shares the approaches and best practices organizations use to manage processes, improve organizational agility, and continuously improve.

WWW: apqc.org/expertise/process-performance-management
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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

While the digital landscape is evolving rapidly, I don’t believe the fundamentals of BPM are changing all that much. If anything, having a strong foundation is becoming even more critical. The core essentials of process management remain consistent. Each year, when we ask process professionals about their priorities and challenges, the same themes continue to surface: process management, continuous improvement, and data and measurement. New technologies like AI, automation, and process mining can be powerful enablers, but they don’t replace the basics. In the end, people still run processes, and people don’t naturally love change—strong change management is what helps organizations move forward.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

Each year, APQC surveys process professionals to understand their priorities and challenges for the year ahead. This year’s data highlights three areas where change is most needed within the process discipline: technology and tools, a more collaborative culture, and stronger integration with IT. In my view, these areas are deeply interconnected, especially as the digital landscape continues to evolve. Process professionals increasingly recognize the need to work more closely with IT to successfully implement new tools and technologies, and that level of integration isn’t possible without a collaborative culture.

When we look more closely at the skills BPM practitioners need to develop, survey participants consistently point to design thinking, change management, and analytics as the most critical. Together, these skills help practitioners not only design better processes but also drive adoption and demonstrate value through data.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

APQC has a robust Resource Library that includes content critical to process management professionals, along with our training courses and webinars that help process professionals learn the necessary skills to be successful in an ever-changing business environment.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Looking at our survey data over the past several years, problem solving and data management/data visualization have declined in perceived importance. We’re also seeing facilitation and project management ranking lower for 2026, which I find surprising. Facilitation, in particular, remains a critical skill for process professionals—especially when the goal is to truly understand how work happens across the organization. Strong facilitation and project management skills are what enable teams to thoughtfully assess the current state, propose meaningful improvements, and successfully execute change.

I also believe data management and visualization are undervalued in this year’s results. As digital tools and technologies evolve rapidly, clean, well-managed data becomes even more essential. Underestimating the importance of data foundations could ultimately create challenges for organizations that don’t invest the time and attention these skills require.

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Prof. Dr. Jan Mendling

Prof. Dr. Jan Mendling is the Einstein-Professor for Process Science with the Department of Computer Science at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, adjunct professor at Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, and Principal Investigator at the Weizenbaum Institute, Berlin. His research interests include various topics in the area of business process management and information systems. He is co-author of the textbooks Fundamentals of Business Process Management and Wirtschaftsinformatik. He has published more than 500 research papers and articles, among others in IEEE Transaction journals and MIS Quarterly. He is inaugural Co-Editor-in-Chief of Process Science and Co-Founder of Noreja, a tool vendor focusing on generative process intelligence.

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WWW: Noreja website

How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

Best the organizational management of processes should dictate where which AI technology is used to make a substantial impact on the processes. But yes, AI functionality also improves and speeds up the way how we manage our processes. In noreja, we have integrated analytical support based on GenAI. Agentic functionality will be next. Autonomous agents will take care of tasks in the background and trigger actions where necessary.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

Companies need resilience more than ever. This requires building capabilities and having processes under control. The next crisis is just around the corner. Denial is the wrong response to it.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

The Fundaments of Business Process Management capture all the core methods that have not changed. It is great to see that now translations are available in German, French, Greek, Indonesian, Mongolian, Persian, Polish, Spanish, Ukrainian and soon also Brazilian Portuguese and Italian. These translations make fundamental BPM concepts even more accessible. I am very grateful for those who took part in the translation teams.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

The Case Management Model and Notation is no more relevant. Among others, Camunda has marked their CMMN support as deprecated for a while. In contrast, agentic automation is on the rise in exactly this spot. Where CMMN was meant to address the underspecification of processes that humans should somehow fill, it is exactly here that agentic process automation can fill the gap.

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Nathaniel Palmer

Nathaniel Palmer is the CEO of Infocap AI Corp and the author of “Gigatrends” (2024) which recently reached #1 on Amazon’s “Hot New Releases” list for books on AI and Machine Learning. Rated as the “#1 Most Influential Thought Leader in Business Process Management (BPM)” by independent research, Nathaniel has also co-author over a dozen books on BPM and Process Improvement, as well as being the first individual named as a “Laureate in Workflow.” Over his career has he has the led the design and execution for some of the industry’s largest and most complex projects involving investments exceeding $200 Million and has overseen more than $2.5 billion in R&D around automation and AI.

WWW: www.infocap.ai
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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

Finally (!!) we are witnessing the inescapable yet fundamental shift from process as a static artifact to living, adaptive system.

For decades BPM was defined by documenting workflows, standardizing execution, and incrementally improving efficiency. The notion of adaptable, dynamic defined processed emerged as a first-class citizen within the BPM discipline in the late-2000s with Adaptable and Dynamic Case Management. Yet until now it was cast within the false dichotomy of Adaptability versus Automation – rather than embracing and enabling Adaptable Automation.

Today AI (notably Agentic AI) turns that notion on its head. Unlike Generative AI tools that provide answers or generate content, the newest wave of AI can act by executing tasks, collaborating with humans, and dynamically adapting to new challenges. “Agentic” or “Agent AI” moves beyond providing information to taking action, enabling processes which are no longer simply executed, but interpreted, optimized, and acted upon dynamically by digital workers operating, either with agency (autonomously) or working in concert with humans co-workers.

This present three significant changes in perspective on how changing how organizations manage and run processes.

First, work is moving from information → action. Generative AI was interesting when it produced answers. It becomes transformational when it executes multi-step workflows autonomously. That turns processes into decision-driven systems, not flowcharts.

Second, organizations are shifting from task automation to end-to-end orchestration. Intelligent automation now spans documents, decisions, integrations, compliance, and human collaboration—collapsing silos that BPM unintentionally reinforced for decades.

Third, trust becomes the limiting factor. Black-box AI fails in regulated, mission-critical environments. The future belongs to glass-box automation: observable, explainable, auditable systems grounded in operational excellence disciplines, not statistical mysticism.

In short, AI doesn’t replace or obviate process management, but rather hastens its need for successful business transformations, especially where AI adoption is deemed a key success factor.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

Most of all (and building on the points above) the BPM practitioner of 2026 is no longer a process modeler but rather the designer of human-machine collaboration. This true not just for human facing processes, but in understanding and leading the holistic orchestration of processes (or more apropos, attempting to holistically understand the process and moments of automation within your enterprise).

The new mission of BPM practitioners is make palpable and comprehendible to business stakeholders the re-envisioning the structure of the task to be not a single, discrete unit of work, but business outcomes, and to remove the distinction between what supports a task and the task itself – as well as who performs the work.

This is framed by making the work done by humans more consistent, predictable, and less reliant upon subjective interpretation of policies and rules, while simultaneously expanding the aperture for what is automatable, where digital workers and human workers use the same systems, follow the same rules, as well as are equally observable and accountable. Success requires a new set of critical skills and techniques than previously defined BPM as a discipline. These include:

• Decision Intelligence & Rule Design: the ability to externalize decisions from code and models into explicit, governed logic is foundational. If you can’t explain why a system acted, you don’t control it.
• Agent Orchestration & Digital Workforce Design: practitioners must design how AI agents, humans, and systems collaborate—who decides, who executes, who escalates.
• Operational Data Literacy: not data science, but knowing which data matters operationally, how it flows, and how it creates accountability.
• Process Observability & Metrics: AI without measurement is theater, not transformation.
• BPMN as an AI Orchestration Language: there are very individuals sufficiently knowledgeable of BPMN, DMN, and CMMN to use create useful models of agentic workflows which stand on their own, yet BPMN remains the closest thing to a true lingua franca for AI Orchestration.

Behaviors and attitudes that create value

• Skeptical optimism: excited about AI, intolerant of hype.
• Human-centric mindset: automation exists to amplify human capability, not obscure responsibility.
• Systems thinking: understanding second- and third-order impacts of automation across people, compliance, and culture.
• Governance-first thinking: designing control, transparency, and auditability from day one.

The practitioners who thrive will be those who can translate ambition into execution, rather than evangelizing a particular methodology or technology. Be a change agent and transformer, not an ideologue.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

Books

• Gigatrends (Koulopoulos/Palmer, 2024): a foundational primer for understanding where work, identity, AI and automation are heading over the next decade and beyond.
• Decision Management Systems (Taylor/Raden) still one of the clearest foundations for understanding decision intelligence
• Business Process Management: A Rigorous Approach (Martyn A. Ould): still the single best source for understanding BPM as a discipline and as a learning foundation to build upon with contemporary concepts such as agentic AI.

Technical Learning Paths

• Python (if not already conversant, start your own learning path and explore frameworks such as Django, Flask, FastAPI, et al.)
• Decision intelligence and rules-based automation platforms
• Low-code / no-code workflow orchestration tools
• AI governance and compliance training (especially for regulated sectors)

The driving the learn path behind the modern BPM Practitioner should be learning how to operationalize AI, not how to demo it.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Some hard truths about skills that are no longer relevant or mostly hype:

• Pure process modeling without execution context: BPMN diagrams that never touch production systems are mostly irrelevant, and this is most of them (i.e., out of the sum total of process modeling artifacts only a small percent make it execution). Process modeling is not dwindling in value as much as it is becoming a lost art, but what will sustain it is the ability to create models as living artifacts, able to be linked to execution context.
• “Prompt engineering” as a standalone skill: useful tactically, but not a profession. Prompts don’t scale, but the key to success for a BPM Practitioner has always come down to the ability to ask the right questions. In the GenAI era this will often mean framing the right questions as prompts, but prompts are only as effective the questions they represent (however they are expressed).
• Black-box machine learning for core operations: if you can’t explain or audit it, you can’t deploy it responsibly at scale. All decisions and actions made through automation must be transparent, observable, and appealable.
• AI “ethics” without operational accountability: Ethical AI discussions disconnected from real workflows, controls, and metrics are well-intentioned but insufficient. Focusing on automated outcomes is more important than chasing model training bias.
• AI-powered Automation Without Modeling: The biggest hype of all is the belief that AI strategy can exist without operational excellence. It cannot. That gap is where most failures occur. Automating poorly designed processes is faster than process improvement, and can also be more effective when transparent and aligned to outcomes. The critical difference is not upfront re-engineering but continuous measurement and optimization.

AI doesn’t diminish the role of BPM. Raises it raises the bar and hastens the need for skill BPM professionals able to apply traditional methods to contemporary system design. The future belongs to practitioners who can design clarity in a world of increasing autonomy.

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Brian Reale

Brian Reale is a serial entrepreneur. Brian founded a telecommunications company in 2000 called Unete Telecomunicaciones which provided, voice, data, and satellite services in Latin America. Brian sold Unete to a publicly traded US telecom company in 2000. Brian was also the co-founder of Spotless LLC, an entertainment technology company that developed projection mapping technology for major live entertainment industries.

Brian has been involved in the workflow and BPM industry since he co-founded ProcessMaker in 2000. ProcessMaker is a leading open source BPM suite. The ProcessMaker BPMS has been recognized with numerous awards and pushes the bounds of BPM with a fundamental belief that process management can be simple, elegant, and easy to use.

Brian graduated magna cum laude from Duke University in 1993 and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship in linguistics in Ecuador in 1994.

WWW: https://www.processmaker.com
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Twitter: @breale
Twitter: @processmaker

How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

The fundamental shift for 2026 is the realization that Agentic AI is the natural evolution of Case Management. For decades, Case Management was the “exception” to the rule—the way we handled unstructured work that required human judgment. Now, the AI Agent has become the ultimate knowledge worker.

• From Deterministic to Intent-Driven: We are moving away from “Hard-coded Workflows.” Instead of a rigid path, we give an Agent a goal (the “Case”) and the boundaries (the “Governance”). The Agent then orchestrates the steps to reach that goal.
• The Orchestration Stack: We are seeing a “Layered Intelligence” approach. Organizations no longer rely on a single LLM. They use BPMN as the control plane to prevent “agent-to-agent” chaos (the digital equivalent of Chinese phone tag), DMN for cost-effective deterministic logic, and Agents to handle the “messy” middle of the work.
• The Death of the Static Interface: We are seeing the “disappearing UI.” Instead of users clicking through 10 screens in a portal, they are interacting with processes via natural language or voice. The process is becoming invisible, running in the background and only “surfacing” to a human when a judgment call is required.
• Process Intelligence as the Foundation: You cannot have effective AI without Process Intelligence (PI). Organizations are realizing that feeding an LLM their data isn’t enough; they need to feed it their operational context. PI acts as the digital twin that tells the AI exactly how work currently happens so the AI can actually improve it rather than just automate a broken step.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

The BPM practitioner of 2026 is less of a “Map Maker” and more of a “System Architect of Intent.”

• Skill: Governing Autonomy: You must learn how to design “BPMN Guardrails.” The skill is no longer just drawing a line from A to B; it’s defining the sandbox in which an AI Agent can safely operate without creating a feedback loop or a compliance nightmare.
• Technique: Hybrid Modeling (BPMN + DMN + LLM): Value is created by knowing which tool to use for which task. You use DMN for regulated, binary decisions to keep costs low and outcomes certain; you use BPMN to maintain the state machine; and you use Agents for everything that requires “understanding.”
• Attitude: Pragmatic Optimism: You must embrace the power of Agents to solve the “un-automatable,” but maintain a healthy skepticism regarding the “black box.” The best practitioners will be those who refuse to let agents manage agents without a structured BPMN “supervisor.”
• Skill: Prompt Engineering & AI Literacy: You don’t need to be a data scientist, but you must understand how to “instruct” an AI agent. Understanding RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation) and how to give an agent the right “knowledge base” is more important than knowing how to drag-and-drop a gateway.
• Technique: Value-Based Orchestration: Stop measuring “time to complete a task.” Start measuring “value created per process cycle.” In 2026, practitioners must focus on orchestrating diverse “workers”—humans, bots, and AI agents—into a unified stream.
• Attitude: Radical Agility: The business environment is too volatile for “annual process reviews.” Practitioners must adopt a mindset of continuous, real-time optimization.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

• The “Trifecta” Frameworks: Study the intersection of BPMN 2.0, DMN 1.x, and AI Agentic Frameworks (like LangChain or AutoGPT). Understanding how these three standards talk to each other is the “Gold Standard” of 2026.
• Case Management Theory: Revisit the core principles of CMMN (Case Management Model and Notation). Even if the notation itself is less common, the philosophy—that work is a collection of events and data rather than a straight line—is exactly how Agentic AI operates.
• Cost-Benefit Modeling for AI: Learn to calculate the “Token Cost vs. DMN Cost.” As models get larger, the ability to offload logic to deterministic DMN tables becomes a major competitive advantage in operational efficiency.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

• Irrelevant: Perfectionist Process Mapping. If you are spending months on a “Current State” map, you are documenting the past. In 2026, Process Intelligence (PI) tells us the current state in real-time; the practitioner’s job is to design the “Governed Future State.”
• Hype: The “Agent-Only” Enterprise. There is a lot of hype around letting Agents run the whole show. This is a recipe for disaster. Without a BPMN State Machine, you lose auditability and control. We don’t want “Chinese Phone Tag” where one agent misunderstands another until the process drifts into a hallucination.
• Hype: Purely Generative Decisioning. Using an LLM to decide on a credit limit or a medical diagnosis is still a “hype” risk. For those outcomes, we still require the DMN layer for total transparency and 100% repeatability.
• Irrelevant: Manual Coding for Connectors. Building “hand-coded” integrations and scripts is a dying art. AI can now generate these connectors or use “action-based” APIs on the fly. If you are spending weeks writing integration code, you are falling behind.
• Irrelevant: Rigid BPMN Perfectionism. Spending three months perfecting a 50-page BPMN manual is now a liability. By the time you finish the map, the business environment has changed.
• Hype: Fully “Autonomous” Enterprises. While we talk a lot about agents, the idea that a company can run entirely without human oversight in 2026 is still hype. The “Human-in-the-loop” is not an elective; it is a requirement for governance, ethics, and complex decision-making.

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Adrian Reed

Adrian Reed is a true advocate of the analysis profession. In his day job, he acts as Principal Consultant at Blackmetric Business Solutions where he provides business analysis consultancy and training solutions to a range of clients in varying industries. He is editor-in-chief of the quarterly open-access magazine BA Digest, and he speaks internationally on topics relating to business analysis and business change.  Adrian wrote the 2016 book ‘Be a Great Problem Solver… Now’ and the 2018 book ‘Business Analyst’

You can read Adrian’s blog at http://www.adrianreed.co.uk and connect with him on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrianreed/

WWW: http://www.adrianreed.co.uk
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Twitter: @UKAdrianReed

How do AI and other trends impact the BA?

This is a really interesting question, Zbigniew, and one that lots of people are asking. I suppose at this point it’s worth highlighting that my background is business analysis, rather than business process management. Of course, there’s overlap, but I’m likely to have a slightly different lens on these questions compared with your other interviewees…

In my mind, this question has three core angles:

Angle 1: How can BAs utilize AI to become even more efficient and effective
Angle 2: How can BAs work with their stakeholders to ensure organizations deploy AI in an effective, ethical, safe and secure way.
Angle 3: How might customers, suppliers or “service users” start using AI, and how might that impact our processes, services or “systems” (in the broadest sense).

I think a lot of the debate is currently around Angle 1, and that’s understandable. Yet, for me, Angle 2 is even more crucial. And there’s so much value that a BA can add here. One of the key ways I believe I’ve added value in my career is encouraging people to pause, stop and understand the real set of problems they are trying to solve, or outcomes they are trying to achieve. Too often, people reach for the most seductive, shiniest, newest thing. That’s human nature, we all do it. But with something like AI, where the consequences of getting it wrong could be huge, ensuring adequate thought is crucial.

Angle 3 is a big topic on its own, so that’s a blog for another time. But imagine a world where a customer sends an AI agent to interact with your company’s live chat. Do you allow that? Do you care? Can you even detect it…? But that’s just scratching the surface…

So, in my view, BAs absolutely need to be thinking about AI, experimenting, and learning.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help Business Analysts create value for their organizations in 2026?

For me it’s always about ensuring that the desired outcomes are stated and agreed. I’ve been on too many projects where there’s surface level agreement on what’s being delivered… but when you pick away at the edges you realize that people have no shared agreement on “why”.

This sounds trivial, but it isn’t. This can happen at a micro or macro level. People might say “we want a new CRM system” or even something like “we just want a new field”. Well fine, a new field sounds small doesn’t it?

But when you probe, you find that they want a “source of business” field so the marketing team can test which marketing campaigns work. Their actual aim is to “optimise marketing spend”. Once you know that, you can work with them to figure out a way of doing that… and spoiler alert: a new field (on its own) almost certainly won’t achieve that.

Add AI into the mix, and the potential impacts on process, policy and ethics and there needs to be someone asking the tricky questions. For example “what groups might be negatively impacted if we do this? And are we OK with that, ethically? Can we mitigate it?”, and sometimes, frankly “should we actually be doing this at all?”.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

Well, obviously everyone should read bpmtips.com! And I’d also plug a quarterly magazine that I edit, BA Digest. It’s completely free and available at BAdigest.link.

I’d also say find people on LinkedIn who are knowledgeable practitioners and follow them. There are too many people here that I really respect for me to name anyone (as I fear I’d leave someone out!).

Also, with AI, I genuinely think things are moving so quickly the best way to learn it is to do it. Start, experiment. If your company doesn’t currently have an AI policy, do it at home. There are so many resources out there, many are free.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

I always struggle with this question! I find myself taking meeting notes much less frequently now, as I find usually (for non-confidential meetings) people are happy for them to be recorded and transcribed. However, I’m always very diligent about checking the meeting summaries (again, this is an area where bias can inadvertently happen. E.g. if someone is speaking English with an accent, their points may not be transcribed accurately, which means their views are not accurately represented. It’s so important to be aware of stuff like that).

But, on the whole, I think it’s “the same but different”. Business analysis has always been, in my view, a primarily human endeavour. Perhaps it’s even more so now, as AI tools can help with some of the more routine aspects, we can spend more time with people. And that has to be a good thing.

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Björn Richerzhagen

The trained businessman, business economist and business IT specialist is one of the most sought-after BPM experts. The BPM rationalist has been at the interface between departments and technology for two decades now and sees himself as a translator between the worlds. As a BPM consultant and trainer, he is OCEB and CBPP certified and accompanies process initiatives at company level as well as process automation projects as a workflow analyst.

In his private life, the family man is involved in numerous community / charity projects, enjoys traveling (Europe and Africa), listens to a lot of music (everything that has bass) and is an enthusiastic ocean sailor.

WWW: https://www.mi-nautics.com/
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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

We observe that our customers are highly interested in AI with a strong focus on AI being a resource in a process, not so much being the resource orchestrating the process. Often they fail to identify use cases that ofter a true business benefit. Hence, it is often a discovery and get accustomed to the AI tech stacks. Anyway, we assume use cases creating a real business value are on the rise and will gain traction in 2026.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

Besides from foundational process management skills (they never get old), we foresee that proper training on AI and skills on creating effective guardrails will become most relevant things to work on. To accept AI agents will become team members will speed up process execution generally as they can be engaged in tedious work whereas human colleagues may focus on what the can do best: human oriented work, system design, creative work, exception handling etc.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

Numerous sources for AI and process management can be found not only in books but also on the internet. The first one is still rapidly developing. Hence, the time it takes to publicize cannot keep up with current developments. Numerous blogs, video and pod casts (mainly from scientists, vendors and consultants) offer valuable insights but have to be critically judged if it is just buzz or if it contains generally applicable principles. The latter, process management, is more profound and magazines and books can be helpful for first steps in process management. Anyway, recent developments in BPM can also be found in numerous online sources.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Process Mining and RPA seem to be beyond its peak. Customers invested heavily but either did not get the expected return or are now facing the consequences they have not been able to foresee. Whilst edge cases exist where a positive business value is existent, the advertised approach by tool vendors to be generally applicable on a bread range in processes turned out to be technically true but often of little value when a ROI is calculated.

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Pedro Robledo

Pedro Robledo is President and Co-founder of the Spanish chapter of ABPMP International and a leading authority in Business Process Management (BPM), digital transformation, and artificial intelligence. He is the author of the Business Process Maturity Model (BPMM, 2014), a framework adopted globally to assess and elevate process maturity across seven pillars: Strategy, Processes, Technology, People, Governance, Methodologies, and Culture, helping organizations define and execute successful BPM roadmaps.

With over 25 years of experience, Pedro’s mission is to help professionals and organizations rethink, redesign, and future-proof their processes, connecting operational excellence with strategic innovation. He has led initiatives in multinational organizations and served as a jury member for the WfMC Awards for Excellence in BPM & Workflow, reinforcing his position as a recognized thought leader in the field.

Currently, Pedro focuses on:
Acting as a thought leader and architect in BPM, AI, and Autonomous Agents
Designing strategic roadmaps for BPM, AI-driven automation, and enterprise architecture
Researching Agentic AI and its impact on organizational process maturity
Teaching and delivering advanced, strategic BPM education, bridging innovation, governance, and operational excellence

He shares insights and thought leadership through his newsletters and publications:
Diario de un COO – High-level operational management insights: https://lnkd.in/dnYn4ybU
BPM & AI-Driven Innovation – The process revolution in the age of AI: https://lnkd.in/dE8eH3VR
Voces BPM – Inspirational cases and people: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/voces-bpm-casos-testimonios-7346543494393466881/

Pedro is committed to empowering professionals and organizations to think critically about processes, moving beyond tools and certifications through consulting, advisory, frameworks, training, and applied intellectual leadership.
Philosophy: He believes that processes are not just tasks to manage—they are the foundation for innovation, resilience, and value creation in the age of AI.

Pedro’s specialties include BPM, BPMM, PEMM, AI applied to processes, Agentic AI, process innovation, enterprise architecture, process benchmarking, strategic roadmaps, BPMN, and DMN.
He currently counts 32,722 LinkedIn followers, reflecting his growing influence as a BPM and AI thought leader, with over 1,700 new followers gained in the past year.

WWW: pedrorobledobpm.blogspot.com.es
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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

By 2026, processes are no longer simply managed. They are co-managed with AI, but this does not mean chaos, nor does it mean abandoning structured processes.

AI has pushed BPM beyond documentation and isolated optimization toward continuous, autonomous orchestration. However, one of the biggest challenges organizations face today is not the lack of automation, but the lack of coherence. Many companies have accumulated hundreds of task-level automations, copilots, bots, and agents that optimize locally but damage performance end to end.

This is where BPM becomes more important than ever.

Processes are evolving from static representations into living operational systems. BPMN models are no longer frozen diagrams; they are increasingly connected to execution engines, process mining, and decision services, forming operational digital twins that reflect reality in near real time. These twins allow organizations to understand how work truly flows from start to finish, not just how individual tasks are automated.

At the same time, decision automation becomes a structural element. DMN is essential to ensure that AI-driven decisions remain consistent, explainable, auditable, and aligned with strategy and regulation. Without DMN, AI quickly becomes a black box operating at task level, increasing risk rather than reducing it.

This brings us to CMMN and case management, which play a crucial, but often misunderstood role. The rise of AI agents and knowledge-intensive work has revived interest in CMMN, as many business scenarios are event-driven, non-linear, and unpredictable. Case management is extremely powerful for handling variability, exceptions, and human judgment.

However, a dangerous misconception is emerging: the idea that everything should become case management.

Structured, repeatable, high-volume processes do not disappear in 2026. They still require BPMN, clear flows, performance control, and optimization. Treating all work as cases creates fragmentation, weak governance, and loss of end-to-end visibility. Autonomous agents should not live only inside CMMN worlds; they must operate across BPMN, DMN, and CMMN, depending on the nature of the work.

The real shift is not BPMN versus CMMN, but intentional orchestration. BPM provides the backbone that connects structured flows, unstructured cases, and AI-driven decisions into a coherent operating model.

Human roles, therefore, move upward. People stop managing task execution and start governing behavior, intent, and outcomes. AI handles coordination, optimization, and execution, but BPM ensures that all of this happens end to end, not in isolated pockets.

In short, BPM in 2026 becomes the discipline that prevents intelligent automation from becoming intelligent chaos. In 2026, BPM is not about choosing between BPMN, CMMN, or AI agents. It is about orchestrating them coherently. Without BPM, intelligent automation becomes fragmented, risky, and opaque. With BPM, organizations gain control, clarity, and scalability, even in an autonomous world. The real challenge is not automating more. It is automating with intent, structure, and governance. And that is exactly where BPM proves its relevance again.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

The BPM professional of 2026 is not a simple process analyst, nor a task automator. They are a business process architect and business orchestration designer.

A critical skill is the ability to design end-to-end processes that combine BPMN, DMN, and CMMN intentionally. Practitioners must know when to use structured flows, when to enable case-driven behavior, and how decisions and AI agents operate consistently across both. This architectural thinking is what separates scalable automation from fragile experimentation.

AI-first process design is no longer optional, but it must be process-first, not task-first. BPM professionals must be able to challenge initiatives that automate individual tasks without understanding upstream and downstream impact. Value in 2026 comes from optimizing the whole system, not local efficiency.

Decision-centric BPM remains essential. DMN provides the guardrails that allow autonomous agents to act responsibly across both structured processes and cases. Without decision models, agents become unpredictable and governance collapses.

Process mining skills also evolve. Practitioners must use mining not just to discover flows, but to expose fragmentation caused by disconnected automations, identifying where task-level optimization has broken end-to-end performance.

From a behavioral standpoint, BPM professionals must be comfortable saying no. No to automation without process context. No to agent deployments without governance. No to replacing structured processes with cases simply because “AI is flexible.”

Ethics and accountability remain central. As automation becomes more autonomous, BPM practitioners increasingly act as custodians of fairness, transparency, traceability, and compliance, across flows, cases, and decisions.

Above all, BPM in 2026 requires a relentless focus on business outcomes. Automating tasks is easy. Designing resilient, compliant, and scalable operating models is hard, and that is where BPM creates value.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

To operate at this level in 2026, learning must go far beyond tools.

The BPM classics remain essential because they teach systems thinking. Hammer, Rummler & Brache, and Weske provide the intellectual discipline needed to reason end to end, something desperately needed in an era of fragmented automation.

At the same time, practitioners must deepen their knowledge of BPMN, DMN, and CMMN as a coherent triad, not as isolated standards. Understanding how these standards complement each other is fundamental to governing AI-driven operations.

Formal education in Strategic Process Management becomes increasingly relevant, particularly when it incorporates process architecture, decision governance, AI, and maturity assessment. In complex organizations, knowing what to automate is less important than knowing what the organization is ready to automate.

This is why BPM maturity models regain strategic importance. My BPMM evolved for 2026, explicitly addressing AI, decision automation, agentic behavior, governance, and the balance between structured processes and cases, is essential to avoid both under-automation and reckless over-automation.

Beyond formal learning, practitioners must stay close to real implementations. Process mining academies, decision automation communities, and practitioner forums that discuss BPM + AI honestly (not just vendor marketing) are critical.
And, as always, experimentation matters. Working hands-on with AI agents inside structured processes and cases is the only way to truly understand where each approach adds value.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Some trends need to be challenged openly.

Task-level automation without end-to-end process thinking is rapidly becoming a liability. Organizations full of disconnected bots and copilots often perform worse than those with fewer but well-orchestrated automations.

Over-reliance on case management for everything is another emerging risk. CMMN is powerful, but it is not a universal replacement for BPMN. Treating all work as cases leads to loss of predictability, weak KPIs, and governance gaps.

Manual documentation and static modeling are also declining. AI now generates documentation automatically from execution data. The valuable skill is not writing documents, but validating, governing, and improving AI-generated process knowledge.

On the hype side, the idea of a fully self-managing organization remains fiction. Autonomous agents still need human-defined intent, constraints, and accountability. AGI- or ASI-driven BPM is not a practical reality in 2026, and pretending otherwise creates unrealistic expectations and poor decisions.

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Prof. Michael Rosemann

Dr Michael Rosemann is the Director of the Centre for Future Enterprise and a Professor for Information Systems at the Business School, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia.
Dr Rosemann’s main areas of research are corporate innovation, revenue resilience, process management and trust management. His work is focused on creating compelling future worlds with today’s possibilities that make current practices obsolete. As a researcher and advisor to board rooms and senior executives he is committed to advancing research-informed knowledge and confidence in order to appreciate the emerging design space and to create an increased ‘sense of ambition’ and innovation appetite.
Dr Rosemann is the author/editor of ten books, more than 350 refereed papers in outlets such as MIS Quarterly, European Journal of Information Systems, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Information Systems and Journal of the Association of Information Systems, Editorial Board member of ten international journals (incl. MISQ Executive) and co-inventor of US and European patents. His ‘Handbook of Business Process Management’ (with Prof. Jan vom Brocke, second edition) is a comprehensive consolidation of global BPM thought leaders. His publications have been translated into German, Russian, Portuguese and Mandarin. His latest book, ‘The New Learning Economy’ (with Martin Betts), has been published by Routledge in December 2022.
Michael provides advice related to performance, innovation, trust and process management to organisations and their executives from diverse industries including telco, banking, insurance, utility, retail, public sector, higher education, logistics and the film industry. He is also the Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Southern Queensland.

WWW: https://www.qut.edu.au/research/michael-rosemann
WWW: http://www.michaelrosemann.com/
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Twitter: @ismiro

How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

AI in all its forms – machine learning, generative AI, agentic AI – has three main impacts within business processes.

First, its deep machine learning capacity provides the opportunity to delegate a new range of typical human activities to technology. This is what I call autonomization as it reflects the ability of AI to autonomously make decisions. Instead of specifying what needs to be done (automation), and as common in business process modelling, autonomization requires a definition of the why of an activity or a process. Thus, organisations need to become more explicit in terms of process objectives and related constraints and guardrails. Also, responsibility will have to complement feasibility, viability and desirability as a key criterion in assessing process improvement proposals. This is why we developed a Process Canvas  consisting of these four dimensions as a way to support comprehensive process contextualisation ‘on a page’.

Second, this increased potential for delegation will make substantial capabilities exclusive to humans available for future business processes. This impact is called humanization, and a BPM community traditionally focused on streamlining processes seems poorly prepared to benefit from this capability. This is a tremendous opportunity for process designers, but it will not be adequately harvested with common reductionist, technology-centric approaches. Instead, organisations are encouraged to follow a resource-based, human-centric view and explore the extent to which personal 1-1 advice, diagnostics, therapy, care or new services can add value to its business processes. In a world of ubiquitous AI utilization, humanization might become the distinct factor in tomorrow’s business processes.

Third, augmentation describes the AI-enabled creation of entirely new forms of value resulting from the interplay of humans and machines. For example, a retailer might enhance its online shopping process by providing a conversational as opposed to a transactional experience. A bank might use proactive banking and not only anticipate but flip the process and actually run transactions on behalf of its customers. And a university might consider precision education, i.e. personalised educational processes. This emergence of new value is in sharp contrast to the common elimination of non-value.

Beyond considering the impact of AI within processes, we need to be aware of the growing role of AI on business processes. This includes the use of AI along all stages of the business process lifecycle and includes AI-supported identification of high priority processes, detection of process issues, and conversational navigation across large process data derived via process mining. In addition, we also see an increased use and maturity of AI in the context of explorative BPM, i.e. supporting BPM professionals in identifying entirely new process design options.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

With the growing AI footprint in business processes, it is needless to state that data and algorithmic literacy, but also ethical literacy will be essential.

As we witness increasingly digitised, friction-free processes, we are moving from a focus on pain points to a concentration on opportunity points within business processes. Rather than only looking to the inside and analysing existing problems, BPM practitioners also need to explore a growing process design space and assess new value opportunities. This will mean experimentation might become more important than expertise, and the social licence to experiment with corporate but also with public business processes will be required. For example, we might see (autonomous) A/B testing more often embedded in processes that otherwise were aimed for predictability and stability. The required new skills, techniques and attitude include curiosity, environmental scanning, hypothesis testing and comfort with minimum viable business processes among others.

We also encourage organizations to develop futures literacy, i.e. assess different types of process futures – preferred, plausible, possible, probable futures – and develop robust response strategies so that process designs remain decisive and agile.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

The global uptake of the book ‘Fundamentals of Business Process Management’ by my dear colleagues Marlon Dumas, Marcello La Rosa, Jan Mendling and Hajo Reijers demonstrates that it remains the point of reference for every BPM professional. The very recent book Enterprise AI (edited by Shazia Sadiq, published by Springer 2026) provides a contemporary overview about the impact of scalable AI capability on organisational assets including its business processes. In this book, we also elaborate on the notion of process autonomization.

There are many high-quality BPM learning resources available, often with strong regional roots. One example is the largest Brazilian BPM YouTube channel, hosted by Andréa Magalhães from dheka, who visited us here at QUT in Brisbane last year. The channel covers a broad range of BPM topics (from fundamentals to innovation, research, and emerging topics) and has an impressive 30,000+ followers. A good podcast with a strong AI lens on all matters BPM is Lukas Egger’s Process Transformers.

The International BPM Conference will take place in Toronto, Canada, end of September. This remains the event that brings the global BPM community together like no other, including various forums and workshops to specific BPM topics, and it is always a wonderful week to experience and discuss the emerging state-of-the-art.

Finally, it is great to see the uptake of the new journal Process Science, the new flagship journal on BPM and process mining.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

As processes start to reach the state of being streamlined and digitised, techniques dedicated to the search of waste (Lean Management) and non-value might become less relevant. This will be amplified by the fact that in a world of cloud-based business processes, types of waste like bottlenecks will be a dying species.

There might be two nuanced versions of BPM becoming relevant soon. Individual Process Management (IPM) will be dedicated to the optimisation of our very own personal processes (e.g., shopping, banking, healthcare) as AI assistants might take over more of the transactional duties in our lives. As a consequence we might become orchestrators of such individual processes. How we approach and best support Individual Process Management is still in its infancy.

Public Process Management (PPM) is about entire national business processes. Digital infrastructure including government processes are becoming a new distinct competitive feature of global investment and trade attraction. The design and management of such processes is still poorly understood, exposed to a wide range of contextual factors (e.g., national risk aversion, digital literacy). The diversity of global process practices is a rich source of insight for academics and PPM professionals.

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Serge Schiltz

Serge Schiltz is CEO and founder of processCentric GmbH, a European consulting and training firm focused on business process management. With his extensive practical experience as a senior consultant working with clients on their BPM challenges in different industries, he has been able to build a solid reputation over the past decades. Author, trainer, university lecturer and conference speaker in English, German and French. Member of OMG’s DMN Task Force and contributor to the OMG Certified Expert in BPM (OCEB) examination.

WWW: https://www.processcentric.ch/en
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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

The way that we approach process discovery could potentially take an entirely new perspective if we use generative AI tools for documenting business processes. To date, the way business representatives describe their processes is influenced by the process analyst, who typically takes a BPM expert approach and gives direction to the interviews. If we manage to build AI tools that can transform process descriptions as made by SMEs in the form of written text, audio, or video (Why not describe your processes using Lego or Playmobil for Business?), there will be less of the expert bias in process modeling and models will be truly owned by the business.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

It remains key for BPM practitioners to understand the value proposition and strategy of the organizations that they work with. To me, OMG’s Business Motivation Model (BMM) is one of the most important tool to understand and apply for being able deliver value to an organization through BPM.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

The BPM certifications of OMG (OCEB certification program) cover the Business Motivation Model and it is no surprise that many candidates have difficulty answering the BMM questions. OMG’s BPM certification task force is currently finalizing the questions for the new edition of the Fundamental level exam, of which 10% will about the BMM, 70% BPMN, 15% DMN, and 5% CMMN. There is little use modeling business processes, rules, or cases, as long as you don’t understand the business context and purpose. If you are looking to understand BMM, you can read my books for the Fundamental or Intermediate exam certification preparation, or the Fundamental prep book of Tim Weilkiens. My colleague Joshua Ara and I are currently putting the final touches to a new book that will prepare you for the next edition OCEB Fundamental exam … expect this to be published late February or early March.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

I see a lot of potential in case modeling using CMMN. Yes, this approach has not been successful (yet) and some vendors even completely scrapped if from their offering, while enhancing the capabilities of BPMN adhoc subprocesses. I expect that this proprietary approach will disappear in the near future and that BPM practioners will at last understand the value that the standard CMMN brings. Read Bruce Silver’s “CMMN Method & Style” if you are not familiar with it yet, or my new book that I mentioned above. There are excellent tools on the market that offer CMMN support. Watch out for Trisotech and Flowable!

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Jim Sinur

Jim Sinur is an independent thought leader in applying smart Digital Business Platforms (DBP), Customer Experience/Journeys (CJM), Business Process Management (BPM), AI, Automation (RPA), Low-code and Decision Management at the edge for enhanced business outcomes. His research and areas of personal experience focus on intelligent business processes, business modeling, real time data feedback with heterogeneous data types, business process management technologies, smart process collaboration for knowledge workers, process intelligence/optimization, AI applied to business policy/rule management, IoT and leveraging business applications in processes. Jim was a contributor to Forbes in AI. Jim is also one of the authors of BPM: The Next Wave. His latest book is Digital Transformation. Innovate or Die Slowly. Jim also co-authored recently a new book entitled “Practical Business Process Modeling and Analysis”. Jim’s personal blog is approaching two million hits to date. Jim is also a well known digital and traditional artist. His recent adventures include songwriting. He is revisualizing his art and marketing his music with generative AI.

WWW: https://www.forbes.com/sites/cognitiveworld/people/jimsinur/
WWW: http://www.james-sinur.com/
WWW: http://jimsinur.blogspot.com
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Twitter: @JimSinur

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

There are a number of skills that BPM folks could pick up as there are many in the middle of digital evolution assisted by AI, but my top seven would be the following:

1. Journey Mapping for Customers, Employees and Partners including touchpoint analysis and persona creation that crosses internal functional stovepipes. Outside-in Thinking.
2. Embedded Advanced Analytic and Visualization Capabilities. Process plus big, fast and dark process/data mining is growing to be more important. Decision Models and Intelligent Management Cockpits will become more important as they integrate with process models. Strategic and situational analysis can be helpful in guiding agents and processes.
3. Agentic AI, Adaptive, Smart and Goal Driven Processes (often in Case Management and also Explicit Rule enabled) guided by guardrails and by process/data mining with real time feedback. Concentrating on Agents inside and outside a process or process snippets. Snippets and RPA bots are often candidates for converting into agents. Get ready for specialty agents such as broker agents.
4. AI Productivity Focused looking for opportunities to add automation or more smarts like Generative AI. Machine learning, Deep Learning and 17 other AI technology tributaries. See the 20 AI tributaries by clicking here: https://jimsinur.blogspot.com/2023/11/ai-tributaries-types-for-2024.htm
5. Cognitive Collaboration for Knowledge Workers Intense Processes or Cases. AI Assistance for process resources is on the move right now. Leveraging learning AI software and Agents for knowledge building and simulating potential outcomes. Having Skills to interact and guide AI in an interactive fashion will be key.
6. Signal and Pattern Detection at the edge (often needed for agility, IoT and business strategy). IoT integration is a new emerging theme. This can be taken to the level of digital twins and by merging control on the edge with central control.
7. Business Professional Process creation, adaptation, and optimization by leveraging lite BPM/workflow, Process/Data Mining utilizing Low code and generative AI.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

While there are no skills that one should drop, there are several that are considered common and receding. My top three would be the following:

1. Central Control Only approaches with siloed skill sets. More lateral thinking is and collaborative control is needed today.
2. Water Fall Only project methods are taking a second seat to incremental development leveraging Generative AI, RPA and rapid experimentation. We are living in an emergent world with emergent responses required.
3. Large blocks of dumb frozen code are giving way to smart and instrumented components, micro services and late binding rules guided by constraints. Turn dumb code into adaptive agents where possible.

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Roger Tregear

Roger Tregear spends his working life talking, consulting, thinking, presenting, recording, and writing about the analysis, innovation, improvement, and management of business processes. He helps organizations improve performance.
As Principal Advisor at TregearBPM Roger provides business process management consulting, training, and coaching services. 36 years’ experience as a business, management, and IT consultant means that he has well-developed insights into business improvement and problem resolution.
Roger’s practice and client base are global with assignments completed in Australia, Bahrain, Belgium, Jordan, Namibia, Nigeria, Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Switzerland, New Zealand, United Arab Emirates, UK, and USA.
Roger writes, presents, and records on many topics related to process-based management. That material can be accessed via https://bit.ly/TregearBPM_Resources.

WWW: https://www.tregearbpm.com
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Twitter: @rogertregear

What advice would you give organization leaders who want to start managing processes intentionally in 2026?

Do This:

• Identify the organization’s processes in a hierarchical format (process architecture). This is not hard to do and has two important effects. Provides a coherent context for understanding the organization’s processes. Promotes understanding of the key principles of process-based management.
• Select a small number of high-impact processes and use these to establish and demonstrate active process management. For many organizations there will be 20-30 high-impact processes. You might start by selecting just three demonstration processes.
• Design and implement effective process governance. Assign Process Owners (PO) to the demonstration processes. Establish support arrangements for these new POs. Clearly communicate the need for, and practice of, process governance.
• For the demonstration processes identify process KPIs (PKPIs) and related targets. Make sure there are viable data collection mechanisms.
• Establish the data collection, analysis, and reporting cycle. Look for actual or emerging problems. Search for other opportunities for performance improvement. Repeat endlessly.
• Create and execute a whole-of-organization communications plan to share the theory and practice of active process management. Communicate the plans, successes, and failures. Deal with fears, uncertainties, and doubts throughout the organization.
• Deliver proven, valued, business benefits. Encourage engagement.
• Prepare to survive success, i.e. dealing with (many) more business units asking for active process management support and guidance.
• Regularly review the process of process management and improvement. Make it the organization’s most effective process. Imagine the impact of that!
• Plan to appear in BPM Tips next year as an exceptional example of active process management!

Don’t Do This:

• Don’t just focus on the processes that self-select by being broken or difficult. They may be important but are they the processes that can provide the highest return?
• Don’t try to manage “all your processes”. You can’t do it — there are thousands of them — and the good news is you don’t need to.
• If starting the process-based management journey, avoid the temptation to start with lots of processes to actively manage. Better to demonstrate success with 3 than failure with 30.
• Process documentation is important but challenge the business/operational purpose before any documentation effort is started. What’s the problem the documentation will fix? Avoid the insanity of “we will model all our processes”. Document just in time, not just in case.
• Don’t underestimate the degree of change involved in moving to process-based management. Cross-functional management is vital and can be challenging for some people and organizations.
• Don’t take the ‘easy’ path and ‘assign’ existing functional KPIs to processes. Put the functional KPIs aside and design effective process KPIs (PKPIs) and targets (and measurement methods).
• Don’t allow the organization to fall in love with the process artifacts it creates and waste time admiring them at the expense of using them to deliver proven, valued, business benefits. Realize innovative and productive opportunities. Fix — better yet, anticipate and avoid — real problems.
• Don’t give up.

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Roland Woldt

Roland Woldt is a well-rounded executive with 25+ years of Business Transformation consulting and software development/system implementation experience, in addition to leadership positions within the German Armed Forces (11 years).

He has worked as a Team Lead, Engagement/Program Manager, and Enterprise/Solution Architect on many projects. Within these projects, he was responsible for the full project life-cycle, from shaping a solution and selling it, to setting up a methodological approach through design, implementation, and testing, up to the roll-out of solutions.

In addition to this, Roland has managed consulting offerings throughout their life-cycle, from definition, delivery to update, and had revenue responsibility for them. This also included the stand-up and development of consulting teams, and their day-to-day management. Roland worked as a Vice President at iGrafx, Director in KPMG’s Advisory, as a Practice Director at Software AG/IDS Scheer, and as a project manager at Accenture.

WWW: “What’s Your Baseline?” podcast
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How do AI and other trends impact the way organizations manage and run their processes?

The topic of AI is cooling down a bit these days, it seems (good, because it is overhyped to the degree that I roll my eyes when I see the next “AI expert” telling me that everything is changing on LinkedIn. I just hope that the bubble will not explode (to a degree that makes the dot.com or housing bubble look tiny comparatively), but rather that there will be a controlled release of hot air.

Let’s call things what they are – AI is a form of process automation. Nothing more, nothing less.

Yes, it has some advanced capabilities, like learning from previous process executions, or having more autonomy in orchestrating things in a workflow, but it is still “just automation” and not your “new coworker” or any other anthropomorphic nonsense (“If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, …”).

So, with that out of the way, I see a few things that are relevant for BPM practitioners in regards to AI:

• There will be more AI features in every software and vendors will stress this until it becomes “normal” and is not a distinguishing feature anymore. This will be true for process management software as well (I am including the subdiscipline of mining here) , but the quality for the foreseeable future will be the one of “little helpers.”
  If you expect to see a full blown analysis or simulation on the press of a button (or prompt), then you will be disappointed.
• AI will have a bigger impact when it comes to automation. Here I see the biggest potential in orchestration and executing the “dummy tasks” that cost a lot of time today. Do I think that you can “fire and forget” processes and replace what you do today (and the humans involved included)? No, and I am not sorry to disappoint you.
• But this also means that you need to get the basics of process management right – understand and optimize processes before automation, creating simulations for business cases, describe your intended changes in solution designs, and monitor the process execution, while keeping the risk & compliance topics always in mind.
  I would love to see process groups mature into these higher-levels of maturity, but it seems that we are still discussing how to describe what we do, instead of aiming for CMMI 4 or 5 levels of maturity (note to everyone in the former camp: BPMN won, don’t try to reinvent the wheel, go and improve things higher in the stack).

So, things change and stay the same as they’ve always been

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2026?

I hope that 2026 will be the year when data-driven analysis will finally take off. Gartner rated Process Mining as “early mainstream” in their Enterprise Automation hype cycle earlier this year, which means that it is in the 20-50% addressable audience for this approach … and this means these are people who have never heard about mining at all, so don’t confuse them with “object-centric mining” or any other terms that are “hot” in our bubble these days. Stick to the basics.

I find it astonishing how many organizations still “fly blind” when running their organizations and don’t measure or even just monitor what they are doing. Process Mining is becoming an affordable commodity where you don’t have to pay an arm and a leg to get process-oriented visibility into what is really going on in your organization – and not only what your SMEs know or want to tell you.

If I could dream even more, I would love to see more collaboration (not only of SMEs in mining projects, which you will need for sure), but also in the full process lifecycle that then will include things like a central repository, strategic analysis of capabilities and finding improvement areas systematically, or process simulation.
And, of course, I would love to see more collaboration between the practitioners in real life. It seems that there are some great initiatives of Meetups in Germany for example, but I have not found anything similar in my neck of the woods, unfortunately.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

I am biased because I published two books -Successful Architecture Implementation and Successful Process Mining Projects- last year. And I run the “What’s Your Baseline”?” podcast together with j-m@whatsyourbaseline.com and the occasional co-hosts (thanks caspartcjans@gmail.com and matus.mala@gmail.com so far) for 4.5 years by now. And there is more to come in 2026 (IYKYK

If you want to learn more, please head over to whatsyourbaseline.com.

But in general I think it is important to learn data analysis skills as a BA. And the one tool that I really like is KNIME (knime.com) – it allows you to create workflows for data analysis or preparation of process mining logs without the need for coding in a “self documenting” way. And the folks in that community are super helpful (in the forums) and also have free-of-charge training for different roles on the website.
And did I mention that it is open-source? The perfect tool IMHO.

Lastly, there are also some basics to be learned, and if you are brand new here and want to know what that whole process thing is all about and how you can describe them, I recommend Zbigniew’s BPMN course on Udemy of course

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

I mentioned it above, but I think that data analysis in the context of mining and simulation will become more relevant, and there will be some improvements on the technology front as well. My hunch is that by the end of the year the majority of tool vendors will have enabled object-centric data sets in their tools, so you will have to change how you do step 3 of my approach to Process Mining. This will come with some challenges and complexities (not at least based on the fact that your data structure and governance in your organization might be a mess) that you will have to overcome.

But otherwise I think the fundamentals of describing your processes, analyzing them, automating processes, predicting future performance, and monitoring the realization of everything does not change. Why should it?

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What to expect from this book? Let’s start with a brief excerpt from the description:

“Every business transformation begins with a question: How can we do this better? Whether it’s eliminating inefficiencies, optimizing business operations, automating repetitive tasks, or reimagining entire workflows with the help of AI, success depends on understanding and optimizing business processes.”

Inside the book you will find 10+ chapters covering various aspects of practical business process modeling and analysis. You will find there insights about the role of process modeling and BPM in digital transformation initiatives, the use of process architecture, BPMN, measuring the value of the process transformation, and much more!

This time I asked not only questions about BPM, but also the question about the impact of global megatrends on BPM to give you some broader context.

Check out the thought-provoking answers from 10+ BPM experts.

As always, you can either read everything or use the navigation below. Enjoy!
Wil van der Aalst
Tony Benedict
Scott Francis
Ian Gotts
Mathias Kirchmer
Mirko Kloppenburg
Harald Kühn
Madison Lundquist
Jan Mendling
Brian Reale
Pedro Robledo
Michael Rosemann
Michal Rosik
Serge Schiltz
Jim Sinur

Which BPM skills will be hot in 2025

Now, let’s dive into the answers.

Prof. Wil van der Aalst

Prof.dr.ir. Wil van der Aalst is a full professor at RWTH Aachen University, leading the Process and Data Science (PADS) group. He is also the Chief Scientist at Celonis, part-time affiliated with the Fraunhofer FIT, and a member of the Board of Governors of Tilburg University. He also has unpaid professorship positions at Queensland University of Technology (since 2003) and the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven (TU/e). Currently, he is also a distinguished fellow of Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) in Trento, deputy CEO of the Internet of Production (IoP) Cluster of Excellence, co-director of the RWTH Center for Artificial Intelligence. His research interests include process mining, Petri nets, business process management, workflow automation, simulation, process modeling, and model-based analysis. Many of his papers are highly cited (he is one of the most-cited computer scientists in the world and has an H-index of 161 according to Google Scholar with over 121,000 citations), and his ideas have influenced researchers, software developers, and standardization committees working on process support. He previously served on the advisory boards of several organizations, including Fluxicon, Celonis, ProcessGold/UiPath, and aiConomix. Van der Aalst received honorary degrees from the Moscow Higher School of Economics (Prof. h.c.), Tsinghua University, and Hasselt University (Dr. h.c.). He is also an IFIP Fellow, IEEE Fellow, ACM Fellow, and an elected member of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities, the Academy of Europe, and the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts. In 2018, he was awarded an Alexander-von-Humboldt Professorship.

WWW: http://www.vdaalst.com
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Twitter: @wvdaalst

What is the impact of global megatrends such as climate change, demographic shifts, digital technologies, and AI on BPM, and how can process management help organizations adapt to this new reality?

Global megatrends such as climate change, demographic shifts, digital technologies, and AI are profoundly reshaping the landscape of business process management (BPM). Organizations need to rethink how they design, manage, and optimize their processes. Organizations face growing expectations to reduce carbon footprints and adopt sustainable practices. This requires redesigning processes to be energy-efficient and environmentally friendly.

Traditional process mining focuses on event logs linked to a single case (e.g., an order). Object-Centric Process Mining (OCPM), however, tracks multiple object types (e.g., orders, invoices, and shipments) and their interrelations, reflecting the complexity of modern business ecosystems. OCPM provides a more comprehensive view of interconnected processes, revealing hidden inefficiencies and dependencies. OCPM can be used to identify inefficiencies in end-to-end processes (e.g., redundant steps, excessive energy use) and suggests optimizations to cut emissions. Also, the IT infrastructure itself needs to be sustainable. Process mining tools can optimize IT workflows (e.g., data center operations), reducing energy consumption. By identifying high-energy usage processes, organizations can move less critical operations to greener time slots or regions. In one of my LinkedIn posts, I stated that Python consumes 75 times as much energy as C when performing the same tasks and is 71 times slower. The post was viewed 3.4 million times and generated over 1000 comments. My goal was (1) to create awareness that the choice of programming language has a huge impact on energy use and (2) that this is rarely a consideration when teaching a programming language. This hit an open nerve and illustrates that we typically do not think about this.

Next to environmental challenges, we need to address demographic challenges (like low birth rates in developed countries). With fewer younger workers, retaining knowledge becomes critical, and processes need to become more efficient. Process mining identifies time-intensive, repetitive tasks that can be automated using technologies like robotic process automation (RPA). This reduces dependency on a shrinking workforce. Process mining exposes unnecessary steps or approvals in workflows, enabling organizations to simplify overly bureaucratic processes. By automating bureaucratic processes, fewer workers are needed to manage routine administrative tasks, alleviating the strain caused by a smaller workforce.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2025?

To create value in 2025, BPM (Business Process Management) practitioners must evolve to meet the challenges and opportunities of a data-driven, rapidly transforming business environment. Data literacy and integrating data science with domain expertise remain important. Practitioners must be proficient in interpreting data, identifying patterns, and drawing actionable insights. This includes familiarity with statistical concepts, skills in cleaning and preparing data for analysis, and the ability to interpret results from analytics tools. A deep understanding of the organization’s industry (e.g., finance, healthcare, manufacturing) and its unique process requirements is key. For example, a BPM practitioner in healthcare must understand regulatory requirements like HIPAA and understand the challenges related to data management. Storytelling skills are needed to convey insights and recommendations from process analytics to stakeholders in an engaging and understandable way.

BPM practitioners should steer away from superficially using GenAI. The goal is not to produce text or PowerPoints but to improve processes and add value. Professions that are “text heavy” were considered to be above automation. However, generating beautiful sentences has become a commodity. ChatGPT knows nothing about an organization’s processes unless you supply it with data. GenAI works well with unstructured data. However, most business-relevant data are structured, and one needs clever computations instead of generating unfounded answers. This requires an attitude change.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

– W.M.P van der Aalst. Object-Centric Process Mining: Unraveling the Fabric of Real Processes. Mathematics, 11(12):2691, 2023. https://doi.org/10.3390/math11122691
– W.M.P. van der Aalst and J. Carmona, editors. Process Mining Handbook, volume 448 of Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing. Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-08848-3
– W. M.P. van der Aalst, O. Hinz, C. Weinhardt: Sustainable Systems Engineering. Bus. Inf. Syst. Eng. 65(1): 1-6 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-022-00784-6
– L. Barbieri, E. Madeira, K. Stroeh, W.M.P. van der Aalst: A natural language querying interface for process mining. J. Intell. Inf. Syst. 61(1): 113-142 (2023) https://doi.org/10.1007/s10844-022-00759-9
– LinkedIn post on the energy use of programming languages: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/wvdaalst_sustainability-activity-7223303687266336768-0X0r

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Not much has changed here despite the uptake of GenAI. Traditional BPM, centering around yellow notes and hand-made process schemas, is no longer a good idea. It also does not make any sense to focus on advanced ML techniques when the biggest challenges are data management, unawareness of technologies that actually work (e.g., process mining), and organizational change.

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Tony Benedict

Tony Benedict is a Partner with Omicron Partners, LLC, a strategy advisory firm. He is a senior level operations executive best known for transforming organizations, improving operational excellence and profitability. Most recently, he served as Interim Vice President of Operations for Rising Pharma, managing all phases of complex $200M post-merger integration of 2 acquired companies (36 CMOs, 2 3PLs) within expedited timeframe, while concurrently launching a state-of-the-art pharma distribution center. Consolidated 3 ERP systems into a single SAP instance within 6 months. Benedict previously worked at HonorHealth as Vice President, Procurement and Supply Chain where he was responsible for over $600M in spend management. One of his accomplishments was in the restructuring of the procurement and supply chain organizations post-merger within 12 months and consolidating two ERP systems within 18 months while implementing $60M in cost reduction initiatives. Previously, he was Chief Information Officer, Vice President of Supply Chain for Tenet, and Vice President, Supply Chain, Vanguard Health Systems at Abrazo Community Health Network in Arizona.
He is currently serving as President and Director, Board of Directors for the Association of Business Process Management Professionals International and is a co-author of the Business Process Management Common Body of Knowledge versions 2, 3 and the recently released version 4.
WWW: http://www.abpmp.org
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What is the impact of global megatrends such as climate change, demographic shifts, digital technologies, and AI on BPM, and how can process management help organizations adapt to this new reality?

AI will have a place in monitoring and auditing as guard rails for theft and counterfeiting. Sensor technologies will play a role to accomplish this especially in the bio-pharma and agriculture industries. AI will also play a role in compliance to regulations and reporting to government authorities.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2025?

As much as I’d like to say generative AI, I will refrain from saying it because those tools are already here and take away a lot of the core work people used to perform like process modeling. Now you have low and no-code which will only get better. Business Process modeling will still be a foundational skill, however, in order for BPM professionals to move up the food chain, higher level skills sets will emerge as the evolution of the business process architect role takes on more strategic efforts in business transformation. This is an inflection point and tectonic shift requiring people to move into higher level skill sets to stay relevant in the job market. For example, strategic alignment and aligning operations to corporate strategy and goals is key to overcoming the 70% failure rate of digital/business transformations. In the past, too much effort (and money) was spent on aligning technology to operations with no connection to strategy. Some of the key competencies will be: Business Strategy, Operations, Enterprise performance Management, Enterprise Business Modeling and Management of Architecture & Performance. Each competency has a skill set associated with it along with maturity levels for each skill. For example, within Business strategy is systems thinking. Most people know the definition, however, putting it into practice within a department is very different than across an entire enterprise. Experience matters when it comes to proficiency. The skill has to develop over time and be rated according to a scale.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

ABPMP will be releasing an executive level guide to Business Architecture in the second quarter of 2025 which will outline the key competencies and skills within each necessary for business process architects to move up that food chain within corporate cultures. It is an executive skill set and point of view for leading digital/business transformations. Stay tuned.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Agile has moved past the hype and become more commonplace. It’s not a requirement for transformation as much as it is for software development which in itself has become less labor intensive with the introduction of generative AI.

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Scott Francis

Scott Francis is CEO and Co­-Founder of BP3, a BPM specialist firm focused on accelerating process innovation for customers. Scott and his team have grown BP3 into a Leader in Forrester’s Wave for BPM Services Providers, a top 10 Company in Fortune’s Great Places to Work, a top 10 company in Austin’s Fast 50, and to 120 employees worldwide. Scott is a speaker at conferences such as: bpmNEXT, BPMPortugal, and BPMCAMP, and is the primary author of BP3’s blog.

WWW: http://www.bp-3.com
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Twitter: @sfrancisatx

What is the impact of global megatrends such as climate change, demographic shifts, digital technologies, and AI on BPM, and how can process management help organizations adapt to this new reality?

Right now, most organizations are probably looking at an IT future that looks a bit like chaos. More data than ever is traveling into their servers in the cloud, more AI capabilities than ever are at the fingertips of their employees. And there is little discipline or organization to this chaos. While AI can derive meaning from your data, what data should it have access to? Who should have access to the AI tools with these insights? How do we get control over all of this?

If you try to solve these problems with access control lists and data security alone, you’re solving the problem in a really complex, and declarative way that makes it very difficult to see the forest for the trees.

Processes are the key organizing principle that can make order out of chaos here. Processes define who participates, and when. Processes define what actions are expected by these participants – and when. Processes define what information is needed, provided, altered, and created to support the process – and when, and by whom or by which systems. Processes can also be the mechanism for defining when and where AI plugs into your business operations. By having this organizing principle, you don’t have to wonder what rogue AI tools might be addressing your corporate data – the AI tools can be deployed in an organized fashion for specific needs and capabilities.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2025?

Continue to be open minded to new technologies and capabilities – don’t get caught up on what AI “can’t do” – because AI is only another kind of automation – and potentially anything can be automated if we’re clever enough. That doesn’t mean that it is commercially viable to automate everything. I don’t think it is about the specific skills – building LLMs, or transformers, or whatever – it’s about how to use the tools that are being released. The process practitioner has the luxury of *applying* these technologies to our process work, rather than having to do fundamental work inside these techniques/technologies themselves.

Having the creativity, and process-oriented thinking skills, to put these together into solutions is where it is at.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

I think training your own LLM is already no longer relevant for the average BPM practitioner – if it ever was!

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Ian Gotts

Ian is CEO and founder of Elements.cloud, tech advisor, investor, speaker and author. He has written 12 books on BPM, change management, and compliance, and can be found on the professional speaking circuit or in a plane!!! 

Elements.cloud helps customers clean-up, document and build their app implementations, focused on Salesforce. But valid for any low code app platform.
WWW: https://iangotts.medium.com
WWW: elements.cloud
WWW: LI profile
Twitter: @iangotts

FINALLY, the BPM dream of “map process and it builds app” is realized with AI agents. And the cool thing is the process maps can be simple e.g. UPN making the multiple shapes supported by BPMN unnecessary.

The implications for app development is profound. As Microsoft CEO said in recent interview “with AI, the business logic is moving to agents”.

Also, in that interview he said he is revisiting LEAN because process reengineering is making a comeback.

@52:00 https://youtu.be/9NtsnzRFJ_o?t=3022

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Dr. Mathias Kirchmer

Dr. Kirchmer is an experienced practitioner and thought leader in the field of Business Process Management (BPM) and Digital Transformation. He is Managing Director of Scheer Americas, previously BPM-D US. He co-founded BPM-D, a consulting company focusing on performance improvements and appropriate digitalization by establishing and applying the discipline of BPM. Before he was Managing Director and Global Lead of BPM at Accenture, and CEO of the Americas and Japan of IDS Scheer, known for its process modelling software and process consulting.

Dr. Kirchmer has led numerous transformation and process improvement initiatives in various industries at clients around the world. He has published 11 books and over 150 articles. At the University of Pennsylvania and at Widener University he has served as affiliated faculty for over 20 years. He received a research and teaching fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.

WWW: LI profile
WWW:https://www.scheer-americas.com/
Twitter: @mtki2006

What is the impact of global megatrends such as climate change, demographic shifts, digital technologies, and AI on BPM, and how can process management help organizations adapt to this new reality?

Business Process Management (BPM) equips organizations with the transparency needed to make fast, well-informed decisions and to implement resulting actions effectively. It enables rapid adaption, transforming strategy into people and technology-based execution at a pace with certainty. By leveraging BPM, you identify the impact of megatrends on your operations and how to act on the related opportunities and threats. BPM enables the value-driven use of digital technologies, including the various forms of AI, realizing their full potential.

As these megatrends drive continuously change, BPM has become a management discipline that addresses the ongoing transformation needs of an organization. It is the foundation for the “composable enterprise”—an agile, flexible, innovative and efficient company built on an appropriate organizational structure and software architecture. BPM prioritizes initiatives, drives standardization, optimization and innovation in business processes as well as establishes process governance to sustain the transformation journey.

The role of BPM becomes especially significant in enabling impactful enterprise-wide use of AI. The visibility it provides helps to identify where predictive AI adds best value, such as in maintenance processes, where generative AI is best suited, for example for tasks like generating design alternatives in engineering processes, and where agentic AI can autonomously execute processes, for instance, in simple procurement workflows. By guiding the AI transformation of the organization, BPM ensures that the resulting capabilities are seamlessly integrated in the end-to-end business processes and deliver best value.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2025?

Successful BPM Practitioners focus on business impact and outcomes rather than emphasizing enabling methods and tools. They must understand both the business aspects of processes and the effects of digital technologies that support these processes. Technology-based process reference models can aid in this understanding, enabling BPM practitioners to align business and technology towards the overall goals of the organization.

The broad role of the BPM-Discipline requires solid process prioritization approaches, such as a process impact and maturity assessments, as well as the right combination of standardization, optimization, and innovation. Standardization in particular, is becoming increasingly critical for efficient digitalization and the journey towards the composable enterprise. A practical approach to appropriate standardization is an important skill. Continuous change also requires an agile process governance approach which incorporates appropriate roles and governance processes. BPM Practitioners define the governance model which fits to the specific organizational context.

The BPM-Discipline is established through the “process of process management” (PoPM). BPM Practitioners manage the lifecycle of this key process. Leveraging modern tools, such as modelling and repository tools, mining or enterprise architecture applications, enables an effective PoPM. Additionally, AI is playing an increasingly important role for the PoPM. Generative AI capabilities, for instance, help with the analysis of as-is processes, generation of design alternatives for the future state, or to evaluate process mining data. BPM Practitioners ensure these digital tools are applied in ways that deliver outcomes to the organization.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

Specialized consulting and education organizations offer training and eLearning addressing those skills, such as Scheer with its academy and publications (www.scheer-americas.com). Industry organizations, like APQC (www.apqc.org), ABPMP (www.abpmp.org) or the BPM Institute (www.bpminstitute.org), provide related resources. Forward thinking universities and research organizations address related topics, for example the August-Wilhelm Scheer Institute for Digital Processes and Products (www.aws-institut.de), Widener University with its master program for Digital Transformation and Innovation (www.widener.edu) or the University of Pennsylvania (www.upenn.edu).

Here are some related readings that may help:
Scheer, A.-W.: The Composable Enterprise: Agile, Flexible and Innovative – A Gamechanger for Organizations, Digitalization and Business Software. 4th ed., New York, Berlin, e.a. 2023.
Kirchmer, M.: Process-led Digital Transformation – Mastering the Journey towards the Composable Enterprise. In: Shishkov B. (ed): Business Modeling and Software Design. BMSD 2024. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 523 (ISBN: 978-3-031-64072-8). Springer, 2024.
Wilson, H.J, Daugherty, P.R.: Generative AI – The Secret to Successful AI-driven Process Redesign. In: Harvard Business Review, January-February 2025.
Kirchmer, M.: High Performance through Business Process Management – Strategy Execution in a Digital World. 3rd ed., New York, Berlin, e.a. 2017.
Franz, P., Kirchmer, M.: Value-driven Business Process Management – The Value-Switch for Lasting Competitive Advantage. New York, 2012.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Basic principles of process management as reflected in concepts like Lean, Six Sigma or Kaizen remain true and useful. But to stay relevant and efficient they must be upgraded, leveraging modern digital process management tools.

Improvement approaches that do not address the alignment of business and information technology or do not leverage digital capabilities to enhance processes will no longer be successful. Nowadays, every transformation is related to some degree of digitalization.

Most BPM software vendors already offer AI capabilities in their tools. Those look promising but are still in an emerging state. This is an area to watch closely.

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Mirko Kloppenburg

Hi, I’m Mirko. I’m 43 years old and I’m living in Hamburg, Germany, with my wife and our two daughters.
For 20+ years, I have been working in different process management positions at Lufthansa Group. But today, I’m transferring all my BPM experiences to other organizations to help them to inspire people for processes.
Therefore, I combine New Work and Process Management to form New Process and I founded NewProcessLab.com as a platform to share experiences and to rethink processes.
I focus on a human-centric transformation approach, experience design, and community building.
I’m also the host of the New Process Podcast where I’m sharing all my learnings from my journey to rethink processes.
For more information, please have a look at my LinkedIn profile.

WWW: NewProcessLab.com
WWW: LI profile
Twitter: @MirkoKBurg

What is the impact of global megatrends such as climate change, demographic shifts, digital technologies, and AI on BPM, and how can process management help organizations adapt to this new reality?

For me, BPM is a structured management approach to turn any strategy into reality. This also works for responding to a changing environment, for example due to megatrends. BPM can help to take megatrends into account in processes and develop processes accordingly.

Of course, some megatrends also have an impact on BPM itself. We are already seeing many BPM tool vendors experimenting with the integration of AI into their tools. From my human-centric BPM perspective, however, not all of these experiments are really helpful. For example, I am not a fan of AI-generated processes at all, as there is a lack of employee acceptance. Nevertheless, AI-generated processes are of course nice for inspiration.

Regarding the megatrends mentioned as examples, I recently noticed in the evaluation of a survey on the topics that the New Process Community has on the agenda for 2025 that the topic of ESG has so far been completely underrepresented. Only 2% of survey participants want to implement ESG topics in processes in 2025. Certainly, a point which I will explore in more detail in the New Process Podcast in 2025.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2025?

I currently see three stages on the path to a process-driven organization that need to be passed through to create an impact for the respective company:

1. Position for impact: BPM practitioners need to define the purpose of why they are applying BPM in the organization on an emotional level and they need to develop a BPM strategy accordingly. Based on this, the impact can be estimated and — even more important — demonstrated. Finally, all these insights should be used to design a BPM framework that contributes to bringing BPM purpose and strategy to life.

2. Implement a BPM framework: The implementation always starts with building up the process architecture and prioritizing processes. As soon as we know which processes to start with, the people have to be inspired for processes and modeling of processes can be done. Finally, BPM role owners such as Process Owners must be appointed.

3. Manage and improve processes: In the third stage, BPM roles must be enabled and guided to manage and improve their processes based on the BPM framework. Here, more advanced methods such as Process Mining, Process Automation and AI can be applied.

Unfortunately, stage 1 is often left out and organizations are solely focusing on the modeling of processes, ignoring the need for a reliable BPM framework. And after processes are modeled, there is no plan to get to the next level. To get beyond modeling. To really manage and improve processes.

I recommend that every BPM practitioner takes a critical look at where they stand today to identify gaps and close them in 2025. In addition, I encourage to also focus on continuously building a process culture by creating transparency, involving the people and creating experiences to get the people excited about processes.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

I have three recommendations to learn more about these topics — and beyond:
1. Listen to the following episodes of the New Process Podcast to learn more:
– State of New Process – https://www.newprocesslab.com/episode52

– How to create a good Process Culture with Amelie Langenstein – https://www.newprocesslab.com/episode53

– Lufthansa’s leading approach to BPM – https://www.newprocesslab.com/episode58

2. I invite you to join New Process Pro to learn even more about the topics, find best practices, and explore tools and methods. New Process Pro is my community for BPM enthusiasts like you and me. And it is free: https://www.newprocesslab.com/pro

3. Beyond these topics, to never miss any important BPM content — like this outstanding collection by Zbigniew — again, take a look at BPM.today. BPM.today is an AI-assisted BPM news site that even e-mails you updates on the latest BPM blogs, podcasts, videos and more. Sign up for free at BPM.today

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

I think it depends on the purpose you pursue with BPM. Based on this, some skills are more relevant and others become obsolete.

Especially from my human-centric BPM perspective, I consider skills such as process mining, process automation and detailed process modeling with BPMN 2.0 to be rather unimportant and would always prioritize the skills that are necessary to build a process culture. It is essential to know how to rethink processes, focus on people, and get them excited about processes. This is what I’m fighting for. So, let’s join forces!

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Harald Kühn

Dr. Harald Kühn is a member of the management board of the BOC AG. He is responsible for the product management and the related strategic aspects of BOC’s ADONIS and ADOIT product portfolio. Dr. Harald Kühn works in the areas of BPM, EA, their integration and the usage of innovative technologies in these domains.
He is an author of over 20 publications about various aspects of BPM.

WWW: boc-group.com
WWW: LI profile
Twitter: @BOC_Group

What is the impact of global megatrends such as climate change, demographic shifts, digital technologies, and AI on BPM, and how can process management help organizations adapt to this new reality?

I expect the following key impacts:
1. Climate Change:

• Organizations face increasing regulatory, social, and operational pressures to adopt sustainable practices. BPM can assist by embedding sustainability metrics into process designs, optimizing resource usage, and integrating environmental impact assessments into their design and execution.
• Carbon accounting and CO2 estimation tools are being incorporated into BPM systems, helping organizations reduce their carbon footprint.
• On the other side, there are various geopolitical situations, where climate change is ignored or even denied. I see a risk that this produces a counter-trend and would make the described impact less important in the context of BPM.

2. Demographic Shifts:

• Aging populations and diverse workforce dynamics require flexible processes tailored to different workforce needs. BPM can enable adaptive workforce planning, cross-generational training, and inclusive customer journey designs.
• Processes need to address shifting consumer expectations, including personalization and accessibility.
• In industry countries aging populations lead to reduced workforces both in private as well as in public organizations, and therefore the optimization, digitization and automation of processes is a must to keep wealth creation in these countries.

3. Digital Technologies:

• The continued adoption of IoT, AI, and hyper-automation is transforming BPM. Processes are becoming more data-driven and interconnected, enabling real-time monitoring and decision-making.
• The integration of mobile and wearable devices with many types of digital services and business processes creates increasing requirements on security, data consistency and compliance, to be considered both in BPM initiatives as well as in process execution.

4. AI, GenAI and Agentic AI:

• AI and Generative AI amplify the potential of BPM, as seen in 2024. Specific advances in 2025 include refined predictive modeling, enhanced process optimization, and even more accessible AI-driven process automation.
• Process engines for rule-based process control play still an important role. For the next years I expect that they will be complemented with increased usage of Agentic AI for some more autonomous parts of processes.
• Process mining tools now incorporate AI-powered insights to uncover inefficiencies and generate actionable recommendations, fostering adaptability in dynamic environments.

And how can BPM help? BPM supports organizations in adapting to these megatrends by offering tools and techniques for continuous improvement and fostering a culture of process innovation & transformation. Process management and related governance procedures, create reliable information which is approved, validated and sometimes even audited. Especially in the context of using AI services, reliable information as input is one of the most important characteristics to get trustful results.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2025?

1. Continuous Learning: As the work environment, used technologies, practices, methodologies etc. are continuously changing, the learning process must do so as well. Continuous learning involves the persistent broadening of knowledge and abilities. Within the realm of workplace professional development, it focuses on acquiring new competencies and insights, as well as reinforcing previously acquired skills and knowledge.

2. Practical Engagement with GenAI Tools: To successfully integrate GenAI into BPM, practitioners in 2025 must prioritize continuous learning. This includes formal training, up-to-date online courses, and participation in global industry events tailored to AI advancements. Hands-on experience remains vital – through pilot projects, close collaboration with technology teams, and practical applications such as designing contextualized prompts. Particular emphasis should be placed on addressing modern challenges like information security, data privacy, and the ethical use of company data in conjunction with public GenAI and/or Agentic AI services. Furthermore, staying actively connected with the BPM and AI communities is critical. Engaging in professional forums, participating in discussions on cutting-edge case studies, and networking with experts will ensure practitioners remain informed about the latest trends, tools, and best practices shaping the field in 2025.

3. Use of Conceptual Modelling: The intensified use of multi-perspective conceptual modeling continues, incorporating sustainability, customer journeys, digital ecosystems, and value streams into cohesive BPM methodologies. This is accompanied by using a mix of different design, analysis and data-science techniques.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

ChatBots:
I recommend the intensive use of ChatBots such as ChatGPT by OpenAI (https://chatgpt.com/), Gemini by Google (https://gemini.google.com/), Claude by Anthropic (https://www.anthropic.com/claude) or Perplexity AI (https://www.perplexity.ai/) for learning purposes. In many cases they provide an easy way to be used as an “interactice learning companion”.

Books on Conceptual Modelling:
Domain-Specific Conceptual Modeling (Part 1): Concepts, Methods and Tools,
Domain-Specific Conceptual Modeling (Part 2): Concepts, Methods and ADOxx Tools,
Metamodeling: Applications and Trajectories to the Future

Free Conceptual Modelling Tools:
Library of various OMiLAB Modelling Tools, ADONIS Community Edition, ADOIT Community Edition, BOC Academy Programme

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Any knowledge and experiences gathered in the past will influence decisions for the future. Therefore, even if specific skills, techniques or technologies are not really relevant any more, they are important to evaluate, decide on and apply new upcoming approaches.

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Madison Lundquist

As Principal Research Lead, Madison Lundquist develops and executes APQC’s research agenda for process and performance management and serves as subject matter expert. She interviews leading organizations on their practices, identifies key findings from the research projects, and shares the approaches and best practices organizations use to manage processes, improve organizational agility, and continuously improve.

WWW: apqc.org/expertise/process-performance-management
WWW: LI profile

What is the impact of global megatrends such as climate change, demographic shifts, digital technologies, and AI on BPM, and how can process management help organizations adapt to this new reality?

According to our research on priorities and challenges for process professionals, the top drivers of change for process management in 2025 are digital transformation initiatives, the growth of process automation options, and the pace of change in the business, along with the application of machine learning and AI in the business. While new tools, technology and automation can provide great efficiencies for organizations and the management of their processes, there is still a critical component to their success: strong process management.

A strong process management program can enable new technologies, tools, and more through:

1. Strategic alignment –Alignment of your process management activities and organizational strategic plans enables organizations to focus their process efforts on those most critical to achieving the long-term goals of the business.

2. Governance – Strong process governance is critical for effective technology implementation. For example, someone needs to be accountable for securing any sensitive data used by technology while keeping it accessible and ensuring its quality for key stakeholders. Common process management roles like process owner also enable organizations to assign responsibility for continually monitoring and improving processes.

3. Change management – New trends and technologies usually require employees to change in one way or another. It’s critical that organizations have a strong change management plan/program in place that keeps in mind how their employees receive information, the time it takes to process the upcoming change, and how to encourage the employees to make the necessary change through things like rewards and recognition.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2025?

The top skills process management teams need to stay relevant in 2025 are change management, analytics and data visualization, problem solving, design thinking, and storytelling. Storytelling is a skill that historically has been more popular for knowledge management practitioners, however, according to our annual priorities survey in 2024, storytelling has started rising in popularity for the process practitioners. Stories are what we remember. They connect us to the emotion and remind us of our purpose. When organizations are presented with change and new ideas, storytelling can a be a great tool for the “BPM toolbox” to encourage the adoption and successful implementation of new tools and technologies.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

APQC has a robust Resource Library that includes content on core tenets for process management, along with our training courses and webinars that help process professionals learn the necessary skills to be successful in an ever-changing business environment.

• APQC’s Resource Library, which includes articles, case studies, and more:
  • APQC’s Seven Tenets of Process Management
  • APQC’s Drivers of Change Management Infographics on Engagement, Rewards and Recognition, and Communication
• APQC’s Training Courses; including online self-paced courses on topics like process analysis, process frameworks, and process management essentials.
• APQC’s Events Calendar

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Every year, we survey process professionals to understand the skills necessary for the upcoming year. According to our 2025 survey, the bottom three skills were software programming, training, and risk management. Instead, skills like change management, problem solving and data visualization are rising to the top. Process professionals need to have a more diverse set of skills allowing them to work with cross-functional teams, carry out change initiatives, and be able to both analyze data and create stories for their stakeholders on what the data is conveying.

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Prof. Dr. Jan Mendling

Prof. Dr. Jan Mendling is the Einstein-Professor for Process Science with the Department of Computer Science at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, adjunct professor at Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien, and Principal Investigator at the Weizenbaum Institute, Berlin. His research interests include various topics in the area of business process management and information systems. He is co-author of the textbooks Fundamentals of Business Process Management and Wirtschaftsinformatik. He has published more than 500 research papers and articles, among others in IEEE Transaction journals and MIS Quarterly. He is inaugural Co-Editor-in-Chief of Process Science and Co-Founder of Noreja, a tool vendor focusing on causal process mining.

WWW: LI profile

WWW: Personal website

WWW: Noreja website

What is the impact of global megatrends such as climate change, demographic shifts, digital technologies, and AI on BPM, and how can process management help organizations adapt to this new reality?

There are two forces. First, trends such like demographic change and climate change create pressure for organizations to adapt. Second, new technologies such as GenAI provide new tools to implement such a change faster. Bottom line is: The demand for BPM increases while its capabilities increase.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2025?

I offered some BPM trainings this year where I met participants who had not yet played around with ChatGPT. This hit me by surprise. It is of utmost importance for organizations to continuously monitor which tools emerge and who they can help employees for speeding up their daily work.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

I am a big fan of what Michael Jordan said: “Get the fundamentals down and the level of everything you do will rise.” Such fundamental knowledge is available in books. When it comes to new AI-tools, you need to follow online resources. Technology magazines and LinkedIn are important to stay up to date.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

GenAI capabilities can pave us the way to self-documenting information systems and self-documenting business processes. BPM approaches that fully focus on manual documentation work are becoming less and less sustainable.

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Brian Reale

Brian Reale is a serial entrepreneur. Brian founded a telecommunications company in 2000 called Unete Telecomunicaciones which provided, voice, data, and satellite services in Latin America. Brian sold Unete to a publicly traded US telecom company in 2000. Brian was also the co-founder of Spotless LLC, an entertainment technology company that developed projection mapping technology for major live entertainment industries.

Brian has been involved in the workflow and BPM industry since he co-founded ProcessMaker in 2000. ProcessMaker is a leading open source BPM suite. The ProcessMaker BPMS has been recognized with numerous awards and pushes the bounds of BPM with a fundamental belief that process management can be simple, elegant, and easy to use.

Brian graduated magna cum laude from Duke University in 1993 and was awarded a Fulbright scholarship in linguistics in Ecuador in 1994.

WWW: https://www.processmaker.com
WWW: LI profile
Twitter: @breale
Twitter: @processmaker

What is the impact of global megatrends such as climate change, demographic shifts, digital technologies, and AI on BPM, and how can process management help organizations adapt to this new reality?

Global megatrends like climate change, demographic shifts, digital technologies, and AI significantly impact Business Process Management (BPM).

Impact of Megatrends on BPM:

• Climate Change:
  • Supply Chain Disruptions: Extreme weather events disrupt supply chains. We are seeing it everyday. Just look at how the wildfires in LA are going to affect the US economy in 2025 – $250 Billion in losses. Supply chains and processes are going to need to make major changes to adjust to this. Think of all the materials and labor that now need to be sent to California.
  • Regulatory Compliance: Regulation is changing constantly because of climate change and politics. Politics is probably the bigger driver, but it is reacting to climate change (or at least the news of climate change).
• Demographic Shifts:
  • Aging Workforce: Aging populations are changing the way businesses think about their processes. Workers are disappearing from the workforce, and companies see AI agent workforces as a solution to these changes.
  • Skill Shortages: Shifts in demographics can create skill gaps, requiring organizations to adapt processes to leverage available talent and potentially automate tasks.
  • Diverse Workforce: Managing a diverse workforce requires inclusive processes that accommodate different needs, communication styles, and cultural backgrounds.
• Digital Technologies:
  • Automation: Automation technologies like RPA and now Agentic AI are transforming processes. We are less than a few years away from AI being able to dynamically change its own processes on the fly to react to change. The idea of drawing a BPMN diagram will not exist by 2030.
  • Data-Driven Decisions: AI depends on data. Whoever has it wins. Period.
  • Customer Experience: Web 2.0 revolutionized customer experience. Apple capitalized on this. Now, all those beautiful interfaces will disappear. The interface won’t exist by 2030. Everything will be a command line controlled via voice and some text.
• AI:
  • Process Automation: AI will change the face of process automation as it will everything else. As I said above, BPMN diagrams won’t exist by 2030. Or, another way to say it – they will exist on the fly. It is similar for reporting. Reporting suites will cease to exist. Reporting exists to anticipate the needs of decision makers so they can reduce the complexity of the information they are analyzing. AI does not need this intermediate step. It can process the pure data and decide on the next best action in a process, for example.

How BPM Can Help Organizations Adapt

• Agility and Flexibility: BPM enables organizations to design and execute flexible processes that can quickly adapt to change, such as supply chain disruptions or shifts in customer demand.
• Data-Driven Decision Making: BPM+AI can provide data-driven insights into process performance, allowing organizations to identify areas for improvement and make better decisions
• Automation and AI Integration: AI will kill BPM, but for the next few years it will help it work much better. Sound familiar? The same will happen to humanity unfortunately.

Key Skills for BPM Practitioners in 2025

• Foundational: Practitioners should still master process modeling (BPMN, DMN), analysis.
• Advanced: It is becoming more important to gain advanced skills in AI/ML to understand where and how to apply it.
• Essential Behaviors: As always, teams need strong abilities in collaboration, communication, problem-solving, innovation, and results-orientation.

What are the Key Attitudes practitioners need?

• Adaptability: Embrace change and new technologies. Get ready for a roller coaster ride!
• Resilience: Overcome challenges and learn from setbacks. Realize you are going to need to retrain yourself much much faster.
• Sense of Humor – If you can’t laugh – why do it?

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

I would recommend users start training on various Agentic AI platforms (Mindstudio, N8N, and many others). This way of thinking will greatly enhance BPM in the next couple of years. Although most of the BPM players (ProcessMaker included) have launched or are launching AI agents, it is useful to try them and build with them on the native AI agent platforms. Similarly, all the RPA platforms are building AI agent layers and even converting their entire business models to agentic AI models. However, I would recommend to start training on some of the native platforms. This technology will rather quickly merge with BPM, and then it will swallow BPM.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet?

Building connectors and scripts by hand is a skill that will die in the next 24 months. I would not waste time learning to do a lot of manual coding. Also, building forms will die off as well. It is important to get good at the big picture business analysis and not get lost in the technical weeds of BPM implementation.

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Pedro Robledo

President and co-founder of the Spanish chapter of ABPMP International, Pedro Robledo stands out as a prominent figure with significant influence in Process Management, specializing in the BPM (Business Process Management) discipline. This influence is underscored by his substantial online following, boasting nearly 31,000 followers on LinkedIn. With over 23 years dedicated to advancing the knowledge of Business Process Management in Spain and Latin America, Pedro is a trailblazer in the field.

Currently serving as the Director of the Master’s Degree in BPM for Digital Transformation and the Director of the Master’s Degree in Strategic Process Management at the International University of La Rioja (UNIR), Pedro also imparts his expertise as a Professor of Innovation Management in UNIR’s MBA program. Focus now on the role of High-Performance AI Project Director in UNIR. Beyond academia, he acts as a BPM consultant, guiding organizations in their BPM initiatives, Digital Transformation endeavors, BPM maturity diagnosis, ROI calculations, supplier selection, and comprehensive training and advice on BPMN process modelling, CMMN and DMN decisions. His strategic guidance extends to offering roadmap advice for the progressive implementation of BPM and Enterprise Architecture.

As the Director of BPMteca, Pedro Robledo further contributes to the BPM landscape. A Computer Engineer from the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Pedro has honed his skills through leadership roles in multinational software companies, including Borland International, Ask Group, Computer Associates, Progress Software, Teamware, and Oracle.

Pedro’s commitment to excellence is evident in his role as a jury member for the international WfMC Awards for Excellence in BPM and Workflow, a position he held from 2013 until the conclusion of WfMC. He shares his wealth of knowledge on BPM and Digital Transformation through his blog, “The White Paper on Process Management” (http://pedrorobledobpm.blogspot.com.es/), and regularly contributes insights to various blogs and magazines. Pedro Robledo’s multifaceted contributions make him a leading authority in BPM, shaping the discourse and practices within the industry.

WWW: pedrorobledobpm.blogspot.com.es
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What is the impact of global megatrends such as climate change, demographic shifts, digital technologies, and AI on BPM, and how can process management help organizations adapt to this new reality?

Global megatrends are reshaping business landscapes, presenting both challenges and opportunities for organizations. These trends, which include digital transformation, sustainability, demographic shifts, deglobalization, and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), are fundamentally altering how businesses operate, compete, and deliver value. Business Process Management (BPM) plays a pivotal role in helping organizations adapt to this rapidly changing reality.

Digitalization and AI’s Disruption

The acceleration of digitalization and the proliferation of AI technologies are driving innovation across industries. From the current state of Narrow AI (ANI) to potential advancements toward Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) in the coming years and eventually Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) in the more distant future, AI is revolutionizing workflows, enabling automation, enhancing decision-making, and uncovering new business opportunities. BPM provides the structure to seamlessly integrate these technologies into core operations, ensuring processes are optimized for efficiency, scalability, and resilience. Through process mining, predictive analytics, and intelligent automation, BPM helps organizations unlock the full potential of AI while aligning it with strategic objectives.

Sustainability and Environmental Responsibility

The growing emphasis on sustainability, fueled by stricter regulations and increased consumer awareness, requires organizations to transition toward greener operations. BPM helps align business processes with environmental goals by reducing waste, optimizing resource use, and embedding principles of the circular economy into workflows. By leveraging BPM to implement sustainable practices, organizations can not only meet regulatory requirements but also strengthen their brand reputation and attract environmentally conscious customers.

Demographic Shifts and Workforce Dynamics

Demographic changes, such as aging populations in developed nations and a growing young workforce in emerging markets, are reshaping labor availability and consumer preferences. BPM enables organizations to adapt to these shifts by fostering agility in workforce management, designing customer-centric processes tailored to diverse market needs, and leveraging AI to address talent shortages through automation. Additionally, BPM supports organizations in building inclusive strategies that reflect the evolving demographics of their workforce and customer base.

Deglobalization and Trade Reconfiguration

Geopolitical tensions and protectionist policies are prompting businesses to rethink global supply chains and prioritize resilience over cost efficiency. BPM helps organizations navigate these complexities by reconfiguring supply chain processes, diversifying sourcing strategies, and strengthening operational agility. By incorporating BPM frameworks, companies can enhance their ability to respond to trade disruptions, minimize dependency on single suppliers, and ensure supply chain continuity.

Cybersecurity and Digital Safety

The growing reliance on digital technologies exposes businesses to increased cybersecurity risks. BPM plays a key role in mitigating these threats by embedding robust security protocols into processes, enabling real-time monitoring, and ensuring compliance with global data protection standards. With BPM, organizations can enhance their cyber-resilience, protecting sensitive data and maintaining stakeholder trust.

BPM’s Role in Adapting to Megatrends

BPM provides a comprehensive framework to help organizations thrive amidst these global megatrends. By fostering agility, resilience, and innovation, BPM empowers businesses to align their processes with emerging challenges and opportunities. Whether integrating AI, achieving sustainability goals, adapting to demographic shifts, or navigating geopolitical complexities, BPM serves as the backbone for strategic transformation. Organizations that leverage BPM effectively will be better equipped to lead in this dynamic and disruptive era.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2025?

In 2025, BPM practitioners will need a blend of advanced skills, innovative techniques, and adaptive behaviors to create value in a rapidly evolving business environment dominated by artificial intelligence (AI) and digital transformation. The rise of AI agents and the incorporation of generative AI into BPM tools will redefine how processes are designed, monitored, and optimized. Practitioners must develop expertise in leveraging AI technologies to enhance efficiency, automate complex workflows, and derive actionable insights. Proficiency in interpreting outputs from AI-driven tools such as process mining platforms and predictive analytics will be essential for identifying opportunities for improvement and mitigating risks.

A strong foundation in data literacy will also be indispensable. BPM practitioners must navigate vast amounts of data to validate AI models, ensure accurate outcomes, and guide AI systems to align with organizational objectives. As enterprise applications become more integrated with AI-powered BPM solutions, practitioners will need to master these platforms, understanding how to optimize and customize them to align with evolving business needs.

Beyond technical skills, the ability to collaborate effectively with AI systems and agents will define successful BPM professionals. Practitioners must adopt an open and innovative mindset, viewing AI not as a replacement but as a powerful partner that amplifies their capabilities. This requires a continuous learning attitude, staying up to date with advancements in AI, automation, and process management methodologies.

Ethical considerations will take center stage as BPM practitioners lead AI-driven transformations. Ensuring transparency, fairness, and accountability in process design will be critical, particularly in areas that impact employees and customers. Practitioners must balance technological capabilities with a deep understanding of human needs, maintaining a customer-centric approach that prioritizes delivering value through personalized, efficient, and seamless processes.

Effective communication and leadership will remain crucial. Practitioners will need to engage cross-functional teams, articulate the benefits of AI-driven BPM initiatives, and address concerns from stakeholders. This will demand strong persuasion skills, empathy, and the ability to build trust across diverse groups within an organization. Moreover, expertise in change management will be vital to navigate resistance and foster adoption during transitions.

In a world characterized by constant disruption and innovation, agility and resilience will be essential attitudes. Practitioners must adapt quickly to shifting market dynamics, technological advancements, and regulatory requirements, ensuring that processes remain relevant and effective. By combining technical mastery with human-centered leadership and a commitment to ethical and innovative practices, BPM practitioners can drive substantial value for their organizations in 2025 and beyond.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

To acquire the skills, techniques, and expertise necessary for effective BPM in 2025, there is an abundance of high-quality resources spanning books, courses, certifications, and practical training. These resources cater to the evolving landscape of BPM, particularly as AI technologies like autonomous agents and generative AI-enabled virtual assistants (VAs) become central to transforming organizational competitiveness.

To acquire foundational knowledge for BPM in 2025, it is essential to follow the works of renowned experts such as Michael Hammer, whose “Reengineering the Corporation” and Process and Enterprise Maturity Model (PEMM) remain central to process improvement. Geary Rummler and Alan Brache’s “Improving Performance” offers frameworks for aligning processes with organizational goals, while H. James Harrington’s “Business Process Improvement” emphasizes continuous improvement. Other key figures include Mathias Weske, author of “Business Process Management”, and John Jeston and Johan Nelis with “Business Process Management: Practical Guidelines”. Additionally, thought other leaders that they provide practical insights into adapting BPM for the digital age. These resources collectively lay the groundwork for BPM professionals to thrive in the evolving landscape of AI and automation. For those aiming to integrate AI into BPM workflows, resources like “Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI” by Paul R. Daugherty and H. James Wilson are invaluable for understanding how AI enhances human and organizational performance.

Online learning platforms such as Coursera, edX, and LinkedIn Learning remain essential for developing specialized skills.

Formal education tailored to BPM and digital transformation is also indispensable. Postgraduate programs, such as the Master’s Degree in Business Process Management for Digital Transformation or the Master’s Degree in Strategic Process Management at UNIR, provide holistic training across the BPM lifecycle, with a special focus on aligning business and technology, using Generativa AI in practice to empower BPM. These programs include coverage of BPMN/DMN standards, process mining, ROI analysis, and the implementation of AI-based tools. Certifications from international organizations like ABPMP International and OMG further enhance a professional’s credibility and adherence to global BPM standards.

As someone actively contributing to BPM education as the President of ABPMP Spain and the director of these UNIR programs, I emphasize the importance of learning-by-doing. My blog serves as a hub of resources for BPM practitioners, offering access to bibliographies, videos, articles, and event calendars to keep professionals updated on industry trends. In 2025 my blog also will address cutting-edge topics, including the transformative role of ANI, AGI, and ASI in BPM. My ongoing research into how autonomous agents, generative AI-enabled VAs, and other AI advancements can be applied to BPM ensures that I remain a trusted source for actionable insights into the future of BPM.

With over 30,800 LinkedIn followers, I am committed to sharing the latest breakthroughs, practical applications, and real-world case studies on how AI-driven BPM solutions enhance organizational competitiveness. By staying connected, practitioners gain exclusive access to curated insights that will shape their understanding of how BPM evolves in this AI-driven era.

Ultimately, combining formal education, international certifications, curated online courses, and insights from industry leaders ensures that BPM professionals are equipped to excel in 2025 and beyond. By leveraging these resources, practitioners can harness the full potential of generative AI and other advanced technologies to drive organizational success and innovation in a highly competitive landscape.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

As we move into 2025, some skills and practices in BPM that were once considered essential are becoming less relevant or are being overtaken by emerging technologies. For example, traditional manual process mapping techniques that do not integrate digital tools are increasingly outdated, as process automation, AI-driven analysis, and advanced process mining offer more efficient, scalable alternatives. Similarly, knowledge of outdated process management tools that lack integration with AI or robotic process automation (RPA) is becoming less practical. While process design and modeling remain critical, the reliance on manual, paper-based documentation is being replaced by digital, cloud-based BPM solutions that facilitate real-time collaboration and adaptive workflows. In addition, old-school change management practices that don’t account for rapid, AI-powered transformations or fail to incorporate agile methodologies are also losing relevance. Another area losing its practicality is the overemphasis on traditional job roles that focus solely on process optimization without considering the integration of AI, IoT, and digital transformation strategies. As AI and autonomous agents begin to take on more process management roles, manual intervention in process decision-making and analysis will continue to decrease. In essence, BPM professionals must pivot towards skills that focus on integrating AI, automation, and data-driven decision-making, while moving away from legacy practices that lack the scalability and adaptability needed in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven business environment.

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Prof. Michael Rosemann

Dr Michael Rosemann is the Director of the Centre for Future Enterprise and a Professor for Information Systems at the Business School, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, Australia.
Dr Rosemann’s main areas of research are corporate innovation, revenue resilience, process management and trust management. His work is focused on creating compelling future worlds with today’s possibilities that make current practices obsolete. As a researcher and advisor to board rooms and senior executives he is committed to advancing research-informed knowledge and confidence in order to appreciate the emerging design space and to create an increased ‘sense of ambition’ and innovation appetite.
Dr Rosemann is the author/editor of ten books, more than 350 refereed papers in outlets such as MIS Quarterly, European Journal of Information Systems, Journal of Strategic Information Systems, Information Systems and Journal of the Association of Information Systems, Editorial Board member of ten international journals (incl. MISQ Executive) and co-inventor of US and European patents. His ‘Handbook of Business Process Management’ (with Prof. Jan vom Brocke, second edition) is a comprehensive consolidation of global BPM thought leaders. His publications have been translated into German, Russian, Portuguese and Mandarin. His latest book, ‘The New Learning Economy’ (with Martin Betts), has been published by Routledge in December 2022.
Michael provides advice related to performance, innovation, trust and process management to organisations and their executives from diverse industries including telco, banking, insurance, utility, retail, public sector, higher education, logistics and the film industry. He is also the Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Southern Queensland.

WWW: https://www.qut.edu.au/research/michael-rosemann
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What is the impact of global megatrends such as climate change, demographic shifts, digital technologies, and AI on BPM, and how can process management help organizations adapt to this new reality?

It is indeed important to think broader than a purely technology-driven (AI) outlook on the immediate future of BPM. The trends mentioned here have two impacts: (1) They create a new set of requirements (demand-side of BPM), and (2) they provide new process design options (supply-side of BPM).

In terms of requirements, we are seeing a tremendous extension of the traditional time-cost-quality ambition that has characterized BPM for the last century. Sustainability and its embedded call for carbon reductions is now a firm requirement for business processes demanding extensions to the way we model, measure and mine processes. Adequate enhancements of BPM can help organisations with external reporting and compliance requirements (e.g., ESG).

Demographic changes include the new work movement, inclusive processes, and a focus on total experience design, customers and employees, when managing business processes. This demands extensions of current design practices. For example, organisations need to make their processes accessible to diverse customer cohorts and find ways to better understand employees’ desired process experiences. Preference-based workload allocation is one way for how tomorrow’s processes could be adopted to these changes – the Like-It button finally finds its way into internal workflows.

The rise of advanced technologies increases the need for processes to be responsible meaning reliable, transparent, explainable, fair, private, secure, contestable and accountable. We will see companies that will explore these attributes as the next source of their competitive process advantage. A process might not be the most efficient or streamlined one but stands out because of its degree of responsibility.

In terms of new design options, emerging low-code, highly capable technologies powered by analytical and generative AI will make process personalisation scalable. As a result, the common reductionist focus on process simplification will be enriched with a call for process sophistication. Omnichannel, truly elegant, proactive processes previously unaffordable will become reality. This will most likely occur in those digital industries in which processes are now indeed straight-through, friction free, cloud/mobile-first real-time processes. Here, transactional excellence is becoming a hygiene factor and BPM professionals will be tasked to find the next competitive benefit of BPM.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2025?

A continuously maintained AI-literacy will be a key demand for BPM practitioners who need to unlock the next level of productivity gains, especially in processes where difficult and dangerous processes can be replaced with robotic solutions.

Trained lean six sigma experts will need to boost their data literacy to roll-out the data-hungry tools and methods they are so well trained in, but for a long time could not deploy due to their affordability. This also includes a wider uptake of ABC-costing which will benefit from being fed by process mining solutions.

Both of these trends will elevate a further, so far under-developed literacy: ethics. In her BPM 2024 keynote, Prof Flavia Santoro referred to ethics-first, moral transparency and ethics-as-a-process. The more previously unthinkable process designs become possible (can do), the more we need ethics literacy to be able to answer should we?

And as we democratize the design but also the use of processes, we will see an increased demand for conversational literacy to make the best use of new process interfaces enabled by generative AI.

A significant behavioural change will change will be the request for curiosity. As the frequency of new technologies, regulations and demand shifts is increasing, previous deductive knowledge (e.g., process improvement techniques) and inductive knowledge (e.g., evidence as derived from mined logfiles) might no longer be sufficient. As a result, abductive approaches will become more important – creating hypotheses and then testing their validity. The idea of process prototyping, minimum viable processes and A/B-testing processes is still in its infancy. However, I assume it will be the next significant set of skill/tool/datasets that becomes important as possibilities will become as relevant as problems.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

The key drivers for change for BPM will come from outside the narrow BPM domain. This means, BPM professionals need to (1) learn beyond BPM and (2) become a translator back to their BPM domain. There are plenty of potential avenues here ranging from new business models and ESG to the various facets of AI and related large language models. Combining any of these with solid BPM capability will surely lead to a contemporary, high-demand profile.

A valuable, but under-explored resource are comparative, better global practices. It stands out that many organisations, and entire countries, start digital process transformations literally from scratch following established (as-is/to-be) lifecycle models as opposed to identifying and then adopting already existing digital process practices. This is in particular the case in the public sector where we observe common process requirements, but idiosyncratic BPM initiatives.

The International Conference on Business Process Management (Seville, Spain) in the first week of September will be the gathering of global experts in 2025. An event not to be missed for anyone who wants to shape future processes with next generation tools and techniques. This event is also a great place to understand the BPM-related offerings provided by universities worldwide ranging from dedicated BPM degrees to micro-credentials.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

The new skill requirements are largely additive and not a substitute. However, the 1.0 version of manual process design, labour-intensive lean six sigma, or manually training RPA engines will come to an end. In 2025, these approaches will be largely grounded in data using advanced BPM solutions.

At the beginning of the BPM hype curve, I see developments such as process model learning (large model sets autonomously capable of self-improvement) or reliable process model-to-video solutions in which process instructions are articulated in instructional videos tailored to its user base. We are also only at the beginning of truly contextual business processes where process change is triggered automatically by environmental changes.

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Michal Rosik

Michal Rosik, Microsoft / Minit is a former CPO at Minit, a process intelligence leader acquired by Microsoft in 2022. Now holding a PM architect role at Microsoft, shaping the form of Power Automate Process Mining, an AI first, robust, hyper-automation solution. In his free time, he is a passionate trail runner.

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What is the impact of global megatrends such as climate change, demographic shifts, digital technologies, and AI on BPM, and how can process management help organizations adapt to this new reality?

I see the fundamental role of process management in being a safe harbor for any organization in a rapidly changing world.

Years ago, BPM came and established order in the fuzziness of organizational ecosystems, helping them to cope with rapid changes. Today, technology in form of copilots and agents returns with even more fuzziness, unpredictability and non-determinism, and organizations feel the FoMO pressure.

This rings the same bell.

Today, fuzziness is not a bug, but an expected, even wanted feature. And even though process management is also not the same “good old BPM”, it’s role is even more important – to manage the non-determinism, control the unpredictable and give it a shape and form which will become a trusted partner in the enterprise.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2025?

Even though the technological progress seems to be unstoppable, what did not change much, is what we still need to do to keep the pace.

Change the way we think and perceive the world/environment around us.

In short – what was top of mind last year:
[click for the answer from 2024 here]
stays and we just add building trust in newest tech (GenAI, Agents) to it.

Talking to enterprise customers initiated multiple discussions on determinism, predictability, reliability, replicability of outcome. What is our role in this?

Well, it seems it is not the tech itself, that is not reliable per se. It is how we use it, where and when we use it and how we combine it with traditional techniques to achieve the necessary level of trust that customers need, to rely on the outcomes.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

For gaining theoretical knowledge on relevant topics, start with platforms like Udemy, edX, Coursera. One of the most recent tips is an update on the Process Mining in Action course, dealing with Object Centric Process Mining, that is crisp out of oven at edX:
https://www.edx.org/learn/computer-science/rwth-aachen-university-bai-process-mining

For practical skills, just search on Medium and follow relevant authors:
https://medium.com

And I highly recommend following trends and news outside of the narrow BPM field, in other scientific areas, as this broadens the context, motivates innovation and initiates imagination and inspiration.

Business processes do not live in vacuum.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Both object centricity and agentic universe(s) make traditional process modelling techniques less accurate and more outdated. A bigger update in this area would soon be needed to accommodate to the new world view.

In other words, BPMN, DMN and CMMN can describe less and less of the business process reality we all live in.

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Serge Schiltz

Serge Schiltz is CEO and founder of processCentric GmbH, a European consulting and training firm focused on business process management. With his extensive practical experience as a senior consultant working with clients on their BPM challenges in different industries, he has been able to build a solid reputation over the past decades. Author, trainer, university lecturer and conference speaker in English, German and French. Member of OMG’s DMN Task Force and contributor to the OMG Certified Expert in BPM (OCEB) examination. He is also a Regional Director Europe for ABPMP.

WWW: https://www.processcentric.ch/en
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What is the impact of global megatrends such as climate change, demographic shifts, digital technologies, and AI on BPM, and how can process management help organizations adapt to this new reality?

Even more than in the last few years, I see AI as the key game changer. Digital technologies collect more and more data that we as humans don’t have the capacity to analyze any more. The increasing scarcity of skilled personnel adds to this and requires us to find intelligent ways of extracting valuable information from the mountains of data that we are being flooded with. AI systems offer the possibility to automate business processes that so far, we thought require human skills. This opens possibilities for delivering better service faster and at a lower cost to customers, despite the lack of skilled human resources, which is getting worse by the day.

However, I see that many colleagues have a too narrow view of how to build AI systems. There is a tendency to just throw a complex prompt at a Large Language Model (LLM), which often leads to mediocre results. You must understand your data, remove the noise, merge it with other data, present and/or visualize the results … In other words, you need to design a process for collecting, massaging, merging, processing, and presenting data. Will AI systems replace business processes? No, they are a perfect match and complement each other.

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2025?

As a BPM practitioner, you must familiarize with AI technology, master it and identify ways of using it to enhance and automate business processes. This may not be obvious at the beginning, but think of it as just another tool or approach that will allow you to improve your business processes. It is not a panacea, but there are really cool tools around!

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

Of course, there is a lot of literature and training on AI. Some are helpful, many very superficial. What you need to get is a deep understanding and hands-on experience. Currently, my preferred source are the training modules of Diogo Alves de Resende, a real expert in business analytics and data science.

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Jim Sinur

Jim Sinur is an independent thought leader in applying smart Digital Business Platforms (DBP), Customer Experience/Journeys (CJM), Business Process Management (BPM), AI, Automation (RPA), Low-code and Decision Management at the edge for enhanced business outcomes. His research and areas of personal experience focus on intelligent business processes, business modeling, real-time data feedback with heterogeneous data types, business process management technologies, smart process collaboration for knowledge workers, process intelligence/optimization, AI applied to business policy/rule management, IoT and leveraging business applications in processes. Jim was a contributor to Forbes in AI. Jim is also one of the authors of BPM: The Next Wave. His latest book is Digital Transformation. Innovate or Die Slowly. Jim is also working on a new book with others entitled “Winning at Digital Transformation with Process Modelling” Jim’s personal blog is approaching one million hits to date. Jim is also a well know digital and traditional artist. His recent adventures include songwriting. He is revisualizing his art and marketing his music with generative AI.

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What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2025?

There are a number of skills that BPM folks could pick up as there are many in the middle of digital evolution assisted by AI, but my top seven would be the following:
1) Journey Mapping for Customers, Employees and Partners including touchpoint analysis and persona creation that crosses internal functional stovepipes. Outside-in Thinking.

2) Embedded Advanced Analytic and Visualization Capabilities. Process plus big, fast and dark process/data mining is growing to be more important. Decision Models will become more important as they integrate with process models. Strategic and situational modeling can be helpful in guiding agents and processes.
3) Agentic AI, Adaptive, Smart and Goal Driven Processes (often in Case Management and also Explicit Rule enabled) guided by guardrails and by process/data mining with real time feedback. Concentrating on Agents inside and outside a process or process snippets. Snippets and RPA bots are often candidates for converting into agents. Get ready for specialty agents such as broker agents.

4) AI Productivity Focused looking for opportunities to add automation or more smarts like Generative AI. Machine learning, Deep Learning and 17 other AI technology tributaries. See the 20 AI tributaries by clicking here. https://jimsinur.blogspot.com/2023/11/ai-tributaries-types-for-2024.htm

5) Cognitive Collaboration for Knowledge Intense Processes or Cases. AI Assistance for process resources is on the move right now. Leveraging learning AI software and Agents for knowledge building and simulating potential outcomes.

6) Signal and Pattern Detection at the edge (often needed for agility, IoT and business strategy). IoT integration is a new emerging theme. This can be taken to the level of digital twins and by merging control on the edge with central control.

7) Business Professional Process creation, adaptation, and optimization by leveraging lite BPM/workflow, Process/Data Mining utilizing Low code and generative AI.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

While there are no skills that one should drop, there are several that are considered common and receding. My top three would be the following:
1) Central Control Only approaches with siloed skill sets. More lateral thinking is and collaborative control is needed today.

2) Water Fall Only project methods are taking a second seat to incremental development leveraging Generative AI, RPA and rapid experimentation. We are living in an emergent world with emergent responses required.

3) Large blocks of dumb frozen code are giving way to smart and instrumented components, micro services and late binding rules guided by constraints. Turn dumb code into adaptive agents where possible.

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Books about BPM in general

Business Architecture: Collecting, Connecting, and Correcting the Dots (by Roger Burlton)

Business Process Change: A Business Process Management Guide for Managers and Process Professionals 4th Edition (by Paul Harmon)

Business Process Management Cases Vol. 2: Digital Transformation – Strategy, Processes and Execution (by Jan vom Brocke, Jan Mendling, and Michael Rosemann)

Business Process Management: Profiting From Process (by Roger Burlton)

Elements (by Roger Tregear)

Faster Cheaper Better: The 9 Levers for Transforming How Work Gets Done (by Michael Hammer and Lisa Hershman)

Fundamentals of Business Process Management (by Marlon Dumas, Marcello La Rosa, Jan Mendling, and Hajo A. Reijers)

Handbook on Business Process Management 1. Introduction, Methods, and Information Systems and Handbook on Business Process Management 2. Strategic Alignment, Governance, People and Culture (by Jan vom Brocke and Michael Rosemann)

Holistic Business Process Management: Successful with BPMN 2.0 and OCEB 2 Fundamental (by Serge Schiltz)

OCEB 2 Certification Guide: Business Process Management – Fundamental Level (by Tim Weilkiens, Christian Weiss, Andrea Grass, and Kim Nena Duggen)

Process Precepts: Conversations about the process of management (by Roger Tregear)

Reimagining Management: Putting process at the center of business management (by Roger Tregear)

White Space Revisited: Creating Value through Process (by Geary Rummler, Alan Ramias, and Richard Rummler)

Books about process modeling
BPMN Quick and Easy Using Method and Style: Process Mapping Guidelines and Examples Using the Business Process Modeling Standard (by Bruce Silver)

Real-Life BPMN (4th edition): Includes an introduction to DMN (by Jakob Freund and Bernd Rücker)

Workflow Modeling. Tools for Process Improvement and Applications Development (by Alec Sharp and Patrick McDermott)

plus additionally DMN Method and Style: 3rd edition, with DMN Cookbook (by Bruce Silver)

Books about change management
While those books do not cover process management directly, they can be very useful source of inspiration, interesting techniques and great stories you can use in your BPM initiatives.

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard (by Chip and Dan Heath)

Smarter Faster Better: The Transformative Power of Real Productivity (by Charles Duhigg)

Do you have any more recommendations? Let me know in comments!

Below you can see answers to the questions regarding BPM skills in 2020 from following experts:
BJ Biernatowski
Paul Holmes-Higgin
Harald Kühn
John Mancini
John Morris & Peter Schooff
Michal Rosik
Tomislav Rozman
Mathias Weske

BJ Biernatowski

BJ Biernatowski is an advanced BPM Practitioner with 20 years of IT experience, 15 of which spent implementing Business Process Management solutions. He has practical experience with K2, Appian, Pega, and Tibco AMX BPM including large-scale business transformations.

BJ’s areas of interest include COEs, Knowledge Work automation and Citizen Development adoption of Low Code Digital Process Automation (DPA) platforms. UW Foster School of Business alumni and a Woodinville, WA resident.

WWW: http://www.healthcarebpm.com
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What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2020?

The answer on the surface seems pretty straightforward if you look at this subject through the lens of driving execution towards measurable results (the proverbial get *it done approach). The choice of the Digital Process Automation (DPA) vendor will ultimately determine your company’s success with process driven transformation. Your behaviors and attitudes should align with your organization’s strategic vision so get to know it first.

In 2020, I’d separate what you need to know and practice into 4 buckets:

1. COEs
Customer journey mapping, process discovery, automation architecture blueprints and mentoring, roadmaps and project artifacts reuse, best practices and change management methodologies. You will need these skills to articulate and plan your path forward. If you are a customer of your company’s COE, learn how to work with this team.

2. AI-DP-RP-A (as in Artificial Intelligence Digital and Robotic Process Automation)
The coalescence of these technologies and vendors’ approach to low code implementation will define the body of knowledge required to participate in projects. In 2020, the AI-DP-RP-A stack is the modern version of iBPMS from a few years ago. Since there is a lot more to learn, courses like Coursera’s Learning How to Learn with Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski will give you a solid footing. The advent of Low Code technologies creates many exciting opportunities that empower individuals like never before in the history of IT. Opportunities to democratize AI, automaton and solution delivery come with significant learning requirements though. If you are aspiring to the role of the Citizen Developer or perhaps even Automation Architect the depth and breadth of knowledge will vary accordingly.

3. Political awareness, influencing and knowing how to be a great team player.
Most successful projects are delivered by small and nimble teams supported by the leadership. Knowing how to play nice, without sacrificing your professional integrity, how to influence without sounding like the know it all and how to identify strong leaders for your programs are all very important skills.

4. The awareness of BPM as a management practice
Most people don’t have the time to go back to school to get their MBA in Business Process Management before their next project. Two vendors deserve accolades for publishing consumable, for dummies books on this subject. IBM ‘s edition of ‘BPM For Dummies’: https://www.ibm.com/downloads/cas/B4R8JWK0 and K2’s ‘Operational Process Transformation for Dummies’: http://www2.k2.com/l/110682/2016-09-01/34w8jy
For extra credit discovery, I’d recommend checking out Fut Strat publications: http://www.futstrat.com/ or Pepperdine’s Graziadio Business School BPM Certification program: https://bschool.pepperdine.edu/executive-education-certificate-programs/business-process-management/

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

There are a couple of established online resources i.e. bpmtips.com that could be used as the go-to place to start your exploration. DPA and RPA vendors’ online academies can be useful as well, although such training materials usually focus on the implementation without getting into the whys of DPA. Future Strategies (http://www.futstrat.com) is my personal favorite publisher writing about Digital Transformation and DPA in a way that’s both educational and vendor-neutral. The challenge with these materials though is that they don’t apply directly to practitioner’s work and the style of communication can be pretty formal. To overcome this issue and with the help of my work team I developed and taught the DPA 101 introductory course as a way to bridge the theory with practice.
It only took us 4 iterations to get this course right and the amount of time invested into curriculum development was pretty significant.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

I’d caution against some DPA vendors hype (or even bashing) against the future of the cloud and the demise of software designed by humans. Both the cloud and Citizen Developer delivered solutions will have a crucial role in Digital Transformation. During the last few years, I’ve seen a lot of very innovative projects delivered by Citizen Developers quickly and with very little investment. This trend is going to disrupt revenue streams of DPA vendors dependent on specialized knowledge. In my view, the bold entry of Microsoft into the DPA and RPA markets in 2019 with its PowerAutomate platform confirms the strategic direction of the Citizen Developer driven process automation for the masses.

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Paul Holmes-Higgin

Dr Paul Holmes-Higgin, Chief product Office and co-founder of Flowable. Previously, as co-founder of Alfresco, one of his achievements was to bring Activiti to the fore of the company’s innovation. He has always been focused on software execution with a strong conceptual underpinning, and on closing the gap between the users and builders of software. A long-time Open Source advocate, he believes it still has an important role to play in making innovation more widely available. His PhD and background in AI gives him a deep understanding of the opportunities and pitfalls of Machine Learning. He sees innovation around the standard models of BPM as the best way to bring together his passions for user-centred software and intelligent automation in today’s highly dynamic business and social environment.

WWW: https://flowable.com
WWW: LI profile
Twitter: @paulrhh

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2020?

While I have a strong theoretical background, my real passion is getting smart software that does a real job into the hands of people, so that’s what I’ll focus on here. We’re all very familiar with BPMN and increasingly DMN, but I think 2020 will be the year of CMMN, the Case Management Model and Notation standard. Like all the standards, it’s not perfect, however, it allows us to express a range of problems in a different and more natural way, some of which are hard in BPMN. The executable blend of CMMN with BPMN and CMMN is now available at speed and scale, and global solutions built on it are out there in production. I think it’s also going to allow us to build low-code, model-driven solutions with some creative innovation around it. The other area I think is important for BPM is clearer management of the source and target of data that flows through processes. With GDPR and compliance now being so important to so many organizations, linking Data Models to case and process models is essential for showing where and how information is used.

The idea of blending and innovating concepts to make something that works applies as much to development methodologies as to the software that’s being built. Ironically, for me it’s not about the process itself, it’s about what the process is achieving: a super-efficient sausage machine churning out poor quality sausages is not what I think we should be about. I see BPM in 2020 as providing the framework that allows businesses to be as agile as the market demands of them. If you’re interested in AI, then Explainable AI (XAI) is where I’d focus.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

There are a number of internet resources that can help a developer get started with BPM, especially with Open Source – go to flowable.org and download software to run or source code to extend, with a community to help you get going and keep going! For the business practitioners, I think the great work Bruce Silver has done with his Method & Style books makes them essential reading.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Skills learned always bring something, so it’s more a question of what’s been learned in the last year that allows us to be smarter. For me, the importance of blockchain remains highly relevant if you’re looking at supply chain problems but is less important in general. Also, that gratuitous application of AI to everything is not relevant. I think in 2019 we also found that RPA isn’t the answer to every problem either. We’ve been refining our understanding and role of these tools in the solution builder’s tool bag.

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Harald Kühn

Dr. Harald Kühn is a member of the management board of the BOC AG. He is responsible for the product management and the related strategic aspects of BOC’s product portfolio. Dr. Harald Kühn works in the areas of metamodelling, BPM, EA and the usage of cloud technologies in these domains.
He is an author of over 20 publications about various aspects of BPM.

WWW: boc-group.com
WWW: LI profile
Twitter: @BOC_Group

What are the skills, techniques, behaviours, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2020?

1. Capability Mapping
In modern organisations, business process design is highly influenced by digitization. Digital influences are present in each phase of the business process management lifecycle. To make a specific business process design operational, each organisation needs capabilities which match to the digital requirements of the specific business process design. To keep a process-oriented organisation up-to-date, an overview of the needed capabilities and an active management of these capabilities is essential. Capability Mapping, e.g. such as contained in the enterprise architecture language ArchiMate, provides a useful approach. Each BPM practitioner should have a certain degree of knowledge about Capability Mapping.

2. Business Process Optimisation applying Lean Startup Principles
Many business process optimization approaches use lean management methods, business process excellence methods, simulation and statistics. In the context of process optimisation, it is worth to have a deeper look on the principles of the Lean Startup Movement which have been initially created to grow more successful entrepreneurial businesses. The “Build-Measure-Learn” cycle is about how we can learn more quickly what works and discard what doesn’t. And the related principles can be successfully applied in BPM as well. It is worth a look for each BPM practitioner.

3. Know the potential of AI/ML
The pace of including more and more AI-based (= artificial intelligence) and ML-based (= Machine Learning) components into digitalised business processes is tremendous. RPA and Process Mining are two prominent examples. But there are many more AI-based approaches such as pattern recognition, irregularity detection, predictive alerts, user guidance etc. which a BPM practitioner should be aware of.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

Capability Modelling (as part of Archimate): https://www.opengroup.org/archimate-forum
Capability Management (as part of EAM): https://uk.boc-group.com/consulting/enterprise-architecture-management/
Eric Ries – The Lean Startup: http://theleanstartup.com/
5 Main Approaches to AI Learning: https://www.dummies.com/software/other-software/5-main-approaches-ai-learning/
OMiLAB – Open Models Initiative: https://www.omilab.org/

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

I repeat what I stated already last year: any knowledge and experiences gathered in the past will influence decisions for the future. Therefore, even if specific skills, techniques or technologies are not really relevant any more, they are important to evaluate and apply new upcoming approaches.

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John Mancini

John Mancini is the Past President of AIIM and President of Content Results, LLC.

Recent keynote topics include:
The Stairway to Digital Transformation
Information Modernization — The Elephant(s) in the Room
Getting Ahead of the Automation Curve
What on Earth do Users Really Want? — Keys to Success in Disruptive Times
Intelligent Automation — Solving the Problem of the Back-Office

WWW: http://www.contentresults.net
WWW: LI profile
Twitter: @jmancini77

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2020?

We are in an interesting period of terminology confusion when it comes process management. RPA, low code, no code, case management, intelligent automation and a host of other terms sometimes make “BPM” feel a bit dated. In this cacophony, and with the very real necessity of modernizing, there is a tendency to say there a shift away from BPM and toward…..something. And that “business process management” is…well it’s turning into something else.

My take is that all of the technologies I mentioned are not so much replacements for BPM as they are complements to it. Organizations at scale still need “industrial-strength” BPM. Smart organizations are augmenting BPM capabilities with agile tools to fill in the grey manual spaces of business process and connect the gaps between them.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

I’m biased. I worked at AIIM for two decades. I still think the AIIM deep-dive courses represent a great foundation layer for process management professionals. And for line of business executives who need to understand the connections between technologies — from a business perspective — there is no better overview of what it means to be an information professional in an age of digital disruption than the AIIM Certified Information Professional program. I’m also a big fan of both the AIIM and ARMA annual conferences — a great place to find fellow travelers in process improvement and information governance. And if you have the budget and a connection to a particular vendor, the vendor-specific conferences I’ve spoken at in the past year have all been terrific and engaging.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

In my experience, there is usually about an 18 month gap between the latest shiny objects promoted by vendor marketing machines and actual adoption at serious scale by real organizations. So pay attention to the latest announcements and get ready for the next generation of technology, but cut yourselves some slack. Organizations at scale take a bit longer to move on new technologies than you might think, but once they do, watch out. Unless there is a commanding pre-chasm business advantage to be gained, be on the leading edge, not the bleeding edge.

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John Morris & Peter Schooff

John Morris is a business development and sales specialist with almost 30 years’ experience at vendors including IDC, DEC, Oracle, Intalio and Bosch, where he covered business services, financial services, manufacturing, field service, supply chain, and CRM & B2B marketing. John’s business development forte is selling new technology products where there are few or no existing references. He currently serves in a business development leadership role with several technology start-ups.

Peter can be reached at pschooff(at)datadecisioning.com and on Twitter at @PSchooff

WWW: http://www.datadecisioning.com
Twitter: @JohnHMorris
Twitter: @PSchooff

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2020?

BPM Sales Skills: Many senior execs see BPM as “just another technology”. It is not. BPM is the technology of the work of business. There is no other technology where, by definition, the concepts of the work of business are first-class citizens of that technology. This is doubly true because business process is about repetition and viable business is all about repetition.

With BPM technology, an organization can achieve its automation goals faster, with less complexity and more agility than with any other technology. Along with supporting technologies such as decision technology and AI, there’s a big opportunity to make BPM technology the strategic focus in the executive suite. Sell that opportunity!

BPM Ops Focus: DevOps! DataOps! Even now AIOps! How about BPMOps! All software development is about “manufacturing artefacts or tools for business automation”. This idea shows up in capability maturity models as the “industrialization phase”. Consider that the evolution of any organization in a dynamic market depends on acquiring new automation tools — and then mastering the use of these new tools. It’s about programmatic tool creation. Think “process”, think a program of regularly delivered process automation tools. Think BPMOps.

AI & Decisioning Leverage: X-ray any business process, whether automated or not, and you’ll find that competitive advantage happens at decision points (i.e. BPM gateways). Often opportunities are missed when gateways are coded casually. A business process where decision logic is realized via BPM process can be very complicated — unnecessarily so in fact. By abstracting out decision rules for deployment in a decision engine, many business processes can be enormously simplified (avoiding dreaded “spaghetti processes”). And this is where AI comes in too.

The real meaning of AI today is machine learning, which is just pattern recognition. This is an ideal technology to deploy at business process decision points. AI is not “generically good for you”, but it is good for you in BPM gateways. The combination of BPM plus decision rules engine, optionally including AI, is a recipe for maximum process throughput and decisions-at-scale.

Business Analysis: Your biggest return on skills is your ability to identify viable business automation opportunities. Within your technology envelope, that means exploring potential new use cases for your particular business, and helping build a business case. That’s the work of business analysis. Technology is a given; and there’s little edge. Business analysis is where differentiation is realized.

New Spotlight On Executives: A strange thing is happening in the executive suite. Executives want operations visibility through dashboards! It’s a revolution. Operations used to be relegated to “the plant” or “shipping”, or operations research (OR) and industrial engineering! It was a black box. But the advent of big data and AI and many more integrative technologies means that the black box is no longer opaque. Competitive wins require that executives take responsibility for “what’s in the black box of production”. Because you can’t make strategy without understanding what you have — all the way down.

What does this mean for BPM? That executives will increasingly be taking responsibility for the inventory of key processes for which they are responsible. That’s what your competition will be doing. It’s a thrilling time!

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

BPM Start-up Business case: Reading Steve Blank about startups is a great resource! He emphasizes talking to your customers all the time! And running experiments. “Have BPM Ops, will travel.”

Domain Knowledge: Business transformation is about “the new”. That’s high risk though—unless you are building on what you already have. Most new initiatives in fact are building or extending existing business models. And that’s good news for BPM practitioners with deep domain knowledge. There are no “generic BPM process wins” – BPM wins are almost always very business-domain specific. So, one’s store of knowledge from experience is very relevant. Why not learn more about the business of your business?

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

BPM Software Skills: Let’s consider “no longer relevant” as “in-place, let’s leave it alone”, while we pursue strategic change.

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Michal Rosik

Product Visionary & CPO, Minit

As Product Visionary for Minit, Michal defines the Research & Development direction for this process mining solution, develops close ties to the academic community in this area and evangelizes process mining benefits to enterprises worldwide. Michal previously lead Microsoft Consulting department in Siemens and was involved in several large enterprise projects as a consultant and project manager. In his free time, he is a passionate trail runner.

WWW: http://www.minit.io
WWW: LI company profile
WWW: LI profile
Twitter: @rosik
Twitter: @minit_io

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2020?

For the past 2 years, I’ve been challenging most of the tech abbreviations in the game. I think this is the year of soft skills. So, here is my Process Intelligence Top 3 for 2020:

Courage
Process stakeholders need to be brave enough to implement the changes from process analysis initiatives. There is no ROI in this area unless the loop is closed. Doing complex analytical work, presenting to management, and drawing large figure slides in PowerPoint is just not enough.

RPA has been the fast performer, with automation’s first approach, enterprises have been receiving near-immediate value. But most of them are stuck now. Analysis first approach comes to help, but be prepared, because RPA might not be the correct answer to the traffic jam.

Confidence
To gain courage you need at least a basic level of confidence. And to gain confidence, you need a data-based approach. Only data can cover your back and build a solid foundation to rely on.

Whether it is simulating the changes in a sandbox environment before they are implemented in real life, or whether it is setting up a continuous monitoring pipeline to give you the most current process insights, this transparency level is the only way to overcome your inner challenges.

Interdisciplinarity
Process Mining and Process Intelligence have been a self-standing area of interest. I believe it’s time to open the gate to the world outside. And I mean the world outside of the galaxy, outside of the universe. It has become obvious that many problems and challenges that we are facing, are similar to problems and challenges in completely different scientific areas – biology, chemistry, even social science. We can look at the processes as living organisms, materials, or machines. They are interacting, communicating, solving conflicts. Just like we do.

And vice versa, there are areas where the word “process” does not exist, maybe it is called reaction, mutation, procedure or experiment, but still, I believe we are speaking the same language.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

Discussions with experienced professionals still remain at the “top of the list”. There is a lot of resources all over the internet on any of the topics – the more hype, the more resources you’ll find. But only experience gives you the right filter on those sources.

In second place, with just a small gap, goes to academic research. Even though it might look complex and sometimes impractical, academic research is becoming the most relevant source of well-compiled and argumentative views on a specific topic. Combined with design-oriented approach, which gives it a little creative touch, academic research stands behind most of the things we, at Minit, do.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

From both the technological and business point of view I am happy to say that AI and ML have come back to earth and touched the ground again. Process stakeholders have begun to utilize a very practical view on power and usage of those technologies.

Interestingly enough, topics that might be, at first sight, easier to grasp are still hanging in the air. I am talking about DTO in general – it is still so difficult for many organizations and their representatives to take a clear journey from vision and mission, through strategy, down to the processes and their KPIs and in the opposite direction. Back the digital organization with data, so that they can, at any time, see how changing the individual parameters on different levels influences the other parts of the overall picture.

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Tomislav Rozman

Dr. Tomislav Rozman is a founder of consultancy company BICERO Ltd. He is also designing online courses related to BPM, CRM, IT and teaching and mentoring Masters’ students at DOBA Faculty of applied business and social studies Maribor, Slovenia.

In his free time, he is a runner, guitar & ukulele player and psychology counsellor.

WWW: http://www.bicero.com
WWW: LI profile
WWW: Company LI profile
WWW: Company FB page
WWW: ResearchGate profile
Twitter: @tomirozman

What are the skills, techniques, behaviours, and attitudes that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2020?

I can talk about my experiences with so-called ‘long-tail’ of BPM adoption because I have direct contact with it.

Who are ‘long-tail’ BPM adopters? I work with late adopters such as process approach sceptics, public administration organizations, traditional companies which are far away from IT (e. g. construction), small businesses with out-of-place management practices. This world is very far from AI, RPA and other hype.

Collaborating with mentioned customers, we still deal with the BPM foundations such as:

(imaginary conversations)

Attitudes: Adopt process thinking first. Yes, I know you have silos type of organization which is impossible to change, but that doesn’t prevent you to cooperate. Design your processes with great customer experience in mind. Don’t adapt Cx to your existing processes.

Behaviours: Adopt teamwork. For process participants: Imagine you’re a relay runner. You get the baton, you pass it forward. For process managers: observe ‘the baton path’, optimize it and watch out it doesn’t fall on the ground. Teach your team how to be grounded, emphatic and technologically literate.

Skills: I have found out BPM (in its full incarnation) can be an overkill for SMEs. Even a simple list to describe the steps/inputs, outputs/documents/rules of your process and a spreadsheet to track your processes can be enough for SMEs.

Techniques: BPMN + DMN are a standard. I still miss a proper standard for process architecture design. The overview (process architecture) which shows which processes are managed and which are not is one of the most important things for companies which are starting with BPM approach.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

I will not repeat my predecessors – there are numerous resources to learn techniques related to BPM.

I’d like to stress out 4 types of learning resources which are worth looking at after you learn the basics of BPM:
1. ‘Process content’ resources, best practices, such as APQC and similar.

2. Standards, which can be a great source for your own process design ideas.

3. Unrelated skills. Learn something from the totally unrelated field (e.g. sustainability) and observe how your attitude towards BPM and your teaching (if you’re a trainer) will change.

4. Mentors. Self-study is fine, but if you want to speed up your BPM-related learning, find a good mentor to teach you ‘tips and tricks’ which are not mentioned in any book.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

All skills acquired during your career somehow contribute to your current behaviour and performance. The broader the better. Techniques are more transient than skills, e.g. let’s abandoned EPC already. If you’re an evangelist, please spare your customers with the hype until your technology is solving real problems.

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Mathias Weske

Professor Dr. Mathias Weske is chair of the business process technology research group at Hasso Plattner Institute of IT Systems Engineering at the University of Potsdam, Germany. The research group aims at addressing real-world BPM problems with formal approaches and engineering useful prototypes. His research focuses on the engineering of process oriented information systems, decision management, and event handling. In addition to running the BPM Academic Initiative bpmai.org with colleagues from academia and Signavio, the BPT research group has a track record in engineered prototypes with a significant impact on research, including projects like Oryx and jBPT. Dr. Weske is author of the first textbook on business process management and he held the first massive open online course on the topic in 2013. He on the Editorial Board of Springer’s Distributed and Parallel Databases journal and a founding member of the steering committee of the BPM conference series.

WWW: University website
Twitter: @mathias_weske

What are the skills, techniques, behaviors, and attitudes that help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2020?

With increasing maturity of our discipline, new application domains being attracted by what BPM has to offer. We see BPM projects in, for instance, logistics, in the food industry, and in health care. By the way, HPI has established a Center for Digital Health to use patient data for better diagnosis and treatment. In all these domains, data and processes meet. And the role of process models shifts. Rather than being blueprints for automation, process models are an instrument to communicate execution data. Reasons include such different things as delay forecasting in logistics, transparency in sustainable food production, and conformance analysis in treatment processes. It is exciting to see the BPM machinery being constantly developed in response to these challenges.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

The more diverse and challenging novel application scenarios become, the more important a solid foundation in process management is. With the focus on data, database skills become increasingly relevant, too. Any good online course and text book will provide the basis. To catch up with the latest developments, practitioners should consider visiting the top conferences, like BPM 2020 in Seville in September.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Don’t think about skills that are not relevant.

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Stay tuned for part 3!

I think that one of the best sources of knowledge about Business Process Management is the “Fundamentals of BPM” book along with the MOOC courses based on it.

You may recall from my post “Back to school 2019: free online courses for BPM professionals” that while awesome MOOC course “Fundamentals of BPM” (run till 2017 by QUT) is not available anymore in an interactive form, video recordings are available.

Professor Marcello La Rosa kindly allowed me to present them in a form more convenient than the original PDF (available on http://fundamentals-of-bpm.org/mooc/).

Below you can find links to pages with videos.

Enjoy (and stay tuned for more interesting materials about BPM soon)!

Part 1: Process identification and discovery

Interviews

Introduction to BPM

Process Identification

Essential Process Modeling

Advanced Process Modeling

Part 2: Process analysis and redesign

Qualitative process analysis

Quantitative Process Analysis

Process Redesign

Part 3: Process implementation and monitoring

Process-Aware Information Systems

Process Implementation with Executable Process Models

Process Monitoring & Closing

Even brightest idea does not transform into results without:

a) Good old-fashioned hard work

b) Knowledge what to do and how to do it.

I cannot help you with point a, but for point b…

As in previous years I prepared for you answers from experts about hot skills for process/automation professionals.

If you want to get more context take a look also at the 2018, 2017 (plus part 2), and 2016 version of this post.

You may also enjoy predictions for 2019 from top influencers at BPM.com.

Which BPM skills will be hot in 2019?

Below you can find answers from 20+ BPM experts. You can either read everything or use the navigation below. Enjoy!

Lloyd Dugan
Marlon Dumas
Ian Gotts
Barbara Hodge
Cristian Ivănuș
Emiel Kelly
Mathias Kirchmer
Harald Kühn
Bob Larrivee
Holly Lyke-Ho-Gland
John Mancini
Connie Moore
Juergen Pitschke
Brian Reale
Adrian Reed
Pedro Robledo
Michal Rosik
Pramod Sachdeva
Suresh Sambandam
Phil Simpson
Jim Sinur
Shik Sundar
Keith Swenson
Miguel Valdés-Faura
Leslie Willcocks

Now, let’s dive into the answers.

Lloyd Dugan

Lloyd Dugan is a widely recognized thought leader in the development and use of leading modeling languages, methodologies, and tools, covering from the level of EA and BA down through BPM, Case Management, and SOA. He specializes in the use of standard languages for describing business processes, systems, and services, particularly BPMN, CMMN, and DMN from the OMG. He has developed and delivered BPMN 2.0 training to the U.S. Department of Defense and large consultancies. He has nearly 30 years of experience with public and private sector clients, and has an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke University. He is an OMG-Certified Expert in BPM (OCEB) – Fundamental, a member of the Workflow Management Coalition and its BPSim Working Group, a member of the OMG’s BPMN Model Interchange Working Group (MIWG), and a Contributing Member (author), Meta Modeling and BPM-BA Alignment Collaboration Teams Member, and Advisory Board Member of the Business Architecture Guild. He is a frequent speaker at national and international conferences on BPM, BPMN, Case Management, SOA, and BA. He is a published author or co-author on BPM, BPMN, and BA. He serves as the Chief Architect for Business Process Management, Inc. (see www.bpm.com), for whom he delivers BPM-related training and client advisory services on BPM-related matters and technologies.

WWW: BPM.com
WWW: LI profile

What are the skills and techniques that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2019?

Modeling skills remain key, but BPMN is still key as it has new life in describing the procedural/algorithmic business logic being automated as first-gen RPA. (In first-gen RPA, existing applications are re-purposed as more efficient STP processing sequences, avoiding the need for more invasive and disruptive refactoring.) However, BPMN as the dominant modeling language is giving ground to DMN (and a bit to CMMN) as more of the spectrum of structured vs. unstructured business processes are addressed by BPM practitioners. (Integrated modeling with all 3 languages is also gaining ground, as the effort between the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Mayo clinic, and various academic institutions showcases this in health care situations.) Model management skills are emerging as key, in which business processes in an enterprise can have both standard forms and field-level variants, all of which are to be understood together. Grounding in Business Architecture disciplines is also a key skill nowadays, requiring BPM practitioners to know how to create/apply value streams, capability maps, and customer journey maps that cross-reference process models as part of BPM work.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

Books and training courses are available for all of these skill sets, but supporting tools required some savvy to find. Only a handful of process modeling tools support all 3 standards, and pocess model management is still only enabled by a subset of the process modeling tools out there. BPM aggregator sites as well as vendor sites are rich sources of best practices, available webinars, etc. for learning these skills. Business Architecture skills really require some training, or apprenticing at the side of actual Business Architects.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

BPM skills are still relevant and practical, but DMN (and, to a lesser extent, CMMN) are increasingly more relevant and practical (especially as use becomes more commonplace). As always, BPM as a discipline requires analytical skill sets at least as much as those required by the automation engines. However, as these engines are increasingly “low coding”, meaning that more and more of the design work is less and less development on technical developer skill sets, the BPM practitioner will be increasingly pulled into automation design work. Work with RPA will drive this extension even further, but more work with the technology needs to occur for critical masses of best practices to accumulate in sufficient quantities to make this skill set practically applicable.

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Prof. Marlon Dumas

Marlon Dumas is Professor of Software Engineering at University of Tartu, Estonia where he leads a team of 15 researchers focused on Business Process Management (BPM). Previously, he was faculty member at Queensland University of Technology and visiting researcher at SAP Research, Australia, where he led several BPM-related applied research projects. Prof. Dumas has provided consultancy and training to a dozen organizations in Australia and the Baltics. He is co-inventor of six granted US/EU patents in the field of BPM and co-author of the textbook “Fundamentals of Business Process Management”, now used in more than 100 universities worldwide.

WWW: WWW
WWW: LI profile
What are the skills and techniques that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2019?

Broad-ranged data science skills have become an essential wrench in the toolbox of process analysts. In the past two years, process mining and predictive process monitoring techniques have proven their value in a wide range of industries. Mastering these techniques is becoming imperative.

Strong competition from lean and highly specialized post-startup companies are a major challenge for traditional players (fintech, insurtech, agritech, etc.). A key advantage of traditional players is their ability to offer integrated and broad-ranged products. Skills in business process integration are likely to become valuable in 2019 and beyond. The need for integration is one of the key drivers behind robotic process automation. Companies need to glue together multiple (legacy) systems and break across silos faster than what can be achieved with full-scale IT integration projects. Skills in design and development of proactive services will be particularly valuable in the coming years.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

First of all, in these times of rapid change, it is important to get the foundations right. Harmon’s Business Process Change, Franz and Kirchmer’s Value-Driven Business Process Management, vom Brocke and Rosemann’s Handbook of Business Process Management, and (sorry for the self-promotion) the Fundamentals of BPM, are references worth keeping at hand. Davenport’s recent writings on AI and robotic process automation, particularly those based on case studies, are a good complement to keep up with ongoing trends.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

In the past two years, blockchain technology has been touted as a possible solution to long-standing cross-organizational business process integration problems. However, it appears that the current generation of blockchain technology will take a few more years of refinement to fulfill its promises. Skills in cross-organizational process integration using blockchain might be useful in future, but they will not be broadly applicable in the medium-term.

Big Data and AI have fallen victims of over-hype. Big Data skills are needed, but in relatively specialized settings. AI skills (beyond machine learning skills for predictive analytics) might become useful for process automation in a few years time, but again they will not be broadly applicable in the medium-term. Let’s hope that the over-hyping of AI will not result in a backslash as it did in the late 80s. There is a lot of latent value in the emerging generation of AI technology (e.g. chatbots), but due to its complexity, AI technology needs incremental adoption driven by a long-term vision.

We should never forget that process automation (and this is particularly true of AI-driven automation) is never total nor does it come for free. It comes with exception handling costs, contingency management costs, maintenance costs, integration costs, flexibility loss, etc. The cracks of automation are wider than we think. Those who master the skill of filling these cracks will be in a strong position to deliver value in their companies in the coming 5 years.

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Ian Gotts

Ian is a founder of Elements.cloud, tech advisor, investor, speaker and author.

Elements.cloud helps customers clean-up, document and build their app implementations, focused on Salesforce. But valid for any low code app platform, esp as the process mapping is free, for ever, for everyone.
WWW: https://medium.com/@Q9ELEMENTS
WWW: elements.cloud
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Twitter: @iangotts

What are the skills and techniques that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2019?

Business analysis, critical questioning, challenging status quo (esp at senior level). Digital transformation is more revolution than evolution. Great read: https://www.mckinsey.com/business-functions/digital-mckinsey/our-insights/why-digital-transformation-is-now-on-the-ceos-shoulders

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

Get the big picture, think about how your industry can transform, reengineer from the customer perspective, understand industry drivers and compliance, follow @iangotts !! BTOES conference, TED talks.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Understanding different technical standards UML, BPMN, DMN. RPA and AI are still emerging so practical skills are not very usable and standard/approaches are still evolving…. wait and see how they turn out.

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Barbara Hodge

Barbara Hodge is SSON’s Global Editor, and has been with the organization since 2000, having joined to launch Shared Services News. She is now responsible for SSON’s online portal content, including industry reports, case studies, surveys, interviews, etc. – as well as everything else that makes SSON the most trusted space for practitioners from around the world.
Barbara uses her extensive industry knowledge and connections to provide a unique perspective on the latest trends and developments across the SS&O landscape. She is the voice of ssonetwork.com, SSON’s online content portal, and she regularly conducts interviews with key industry figures to ensure SSON is a one-stop shop for shared services and outsourcing resources.
Prior to joining SSON, Barbara was Editorial Director at Armstrong Information, a London-based specialist publishing firm, with responsibility for launch and editorial content management for a number of management journals, including corporate communication, change management and business process reengineering. She started her career with Deutsche Bank Capital Markets in London.

WWW: http://www.ssonetwork.com
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Twitter: @ssonetwork
Twitter: @abrakabarbara

What are the skills and techniques that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2019?

The trend this year is toward Centers of Excellence as the key levers of process productivity and process performance. According to SSON’s 2019 industry survey, more than two thirds of shared services have chosen to set up COEs.
In addition, automation is of course a critical strategy and is fast becoming “the way business is being done”. This means that processes are becoming more reliable, cost-effective, and standardized with less deviation.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

SSON online (www.ssonetwork.com) It is the most trusted online resource for executives tasked with process performance. As such we host webinars, white papers, networking activities at our conferences around the world, and various other opportunities to share best practices across the industry.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

One trend that is certainly being hyped up, although not without reason, is the appetite for evolved intelligent automation solutions such as machine learning and artificial intelligence. These types of skills [i.e. automation centric] will become significantly more important. Connected to this will be skilled around data analytics that emerged from automation. However, to answer your question more correctly, the traditional functional skills will perhaps become proportionately less important as automation takes over rules-based work, and centers of excellence hone functional and process-based expertise. While additional “process expertise” is therefore taken over by technology, humans can shift their attention to value adding analytics based competencies.

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Cristian Ivănuș

Cristian Ivanus is a BPM Solutions Architect & RPA Practice Lead at NTT DATA Romania.

Cristian is also managing the Romanian ABPMP Chapter.

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What are the skills and techniques that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2019?

I consider that along the years, BPM practitioners should learn continuously and improve techniques from the real projects. BPM practitioners should be able to understand both business and technical aspects of this management discipline having in mind the actual trends in the global business, so called “digital transformation”.

Digital transformation roadmap of any company should include, in my opinion, a dedicated stage for describing and documenting existing processes in the business followed by clear plans for automation using BPM Software, Robotic Process Automation or other software tools and techniques for improving the quality of the business and getting more value.

In the list of mandatory skills for BPM practitioners I would include:
– Process discovery skills.
Because understanding BPM concepts is not always formalized in many companies, prior to any initiative, people who are part of the process (process owners, process controllers, performers and any other roles involved along the pathway of the process), awareness session should be the entry point in the project. The aim of this session is to create a common understanding of the processes amongst the participants. At the end of this session, people should be able to define the list of the processes of the company organized in three categories (core processes, support processes and management processes).

– Process analysis skills
Process analysis is one of the most important skills that must be demonstrated by BPM practitioners because the quality of the analysis is the key factor for identification of optimization or improvement initiatives. Main tool for analysis is the direct interview with the process participants. Process analyst should have the ability to “extract” from interlocutors appropriate details for modeling the process, because the aim is to create the abstract representation of the process steps and the interfaces between different other processes. Another tool required in the process analysis phase is a modeling tool. Personally, I am using BPMN 2.0 for process modeling because using this standard it is possible to identify and represent process details at the most detailed level.

Apart from the analytical and technical skills, process analyst should have few behavioral skills like patience, ability to listen and empathy. This will create an invisible link between process analysts and process participants.

– Lean and/or Six Sigma skills.
In many cases, lean and/or six sigma skills will help practitioners to identify deep process problems applying specific techniques like: identify waste, apply root cause analysis for process problems, use experimental solution design, measurement and control of the process variations, etc.

These advanced tools should be chosen when traditional improvements techniques are not applicable.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

There is no a comprehensive list of resources that can be used. There are a lot of excellent books that may be used as a reference for learning or completing the skills. Amongst these books (the list is not exhaustive, of course) I would recommend:
– Business Process Management: Practical Guidelines to Successful Implementations by John Jeston;
– Fundamentals of Business Process Management by Marlon Dumas, Marcello La Rosa, Jan Mendling and Hajo A. Reijers;
– BPMN 2.0 by Thomas Allweyer;
– Business Analysis by James Cadle, Malcom Eva, Keith Hindle & others.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

I would say that skills are evolving. The complexity of the businesses requires a deep understanding of the methodological framework for providing appropriate solutions for business processes improvements.

Combining business skills with vision about appropriate technology solution that may be applied, will offer any BPM initiative the satisfaction for better and performant processes.

The essential skills enumerated in the previous section requires discipline, rigor and tenacity but offers a huge professional satisfaction when measuring the results of the solutions applied for business improvements.

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Emiel Kelly

Emiel has been working as a trainer and consultant for vendors of software like BPM tooling, since 1999. He also started his own initiative, Procesje.nl, a valuable source of practical and common sense information about Business Process Management and how to avoid blindly following the trends.
Emiel is known from his practical and unorthodox approach to BPM.
He is also a contributor to bpm.com where he is a very active participant of discussion forums. You can also find lots of his both informative and entertaining tweets on Twitter.

WWW: http://procesje.blogspot.nl
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Twitter: @Procesje

What are the skills and techniques that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2019?

Processes (and the management of them) brings a lot of aspects of an organization together. I’ve seen a lot of organizations where a lot of separate initiatives work on the same processes without talking to each other, Think about Lean, Datamanagement, Building new systems, Compliance, etc. Sometimes they are even counterproductive.

To me the most important BPM skill is bring those initiatives together, Make organizations understand that working on the same processes from different inititiatives is the new sub uptimization. It’s like making your car very fast by tuning the engine but forget to adjust the suspension and brakes.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

Not specific, but any resource that helps you to understand what makes a process perform. And that’s not a picture of blocks and arrows,

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

As a BPM professional you have to worry about processes, not about BPM systems, They’re just a means to implement a process the way you want.

Of course it might be interesting to know about techniques like AI, RPA etc, but to me that doesn’t make you a BPM professional but an AI or RPA expert.

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Dr. Mathias Kirchmer

Dr. Kirchmer is a visionary leader, thought leader and innovator in the field of Business Process Management (BPM), successfully integrating business and technology initiatives. He has combined his broad business experience with his extensive academic research to deliver pioneering management approaches that have proven to be both, sustainable and provide immediate benefits.
Most recently, Dr. Kirchmer founded BPM-D, a company focused on enabling ongoing digital transformation and strategy execution through the discipline of BPM. Before he was Managing Director and Global Lead of BPM at Accenture, and CEO of the Americas and Japan of IDS Scheer, known for its ARIS Software.
Dr. Kirchmer has published 11 books and over 150 articles. He is affiliated faculty at the University of Pennsylvania and teaches regularly at several other universities. In 2004, he received a research and teaching fellowship from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.
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WWW: http://bpm-d.com
Twitter: @mtki2006

What are the skills and techniques that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2019?

Here are six key skills I see for 2019 and the following years in the field of business process management (BPM):

* Digital Transformation Management: Process management becomes the discipline of digital transformation management, leveraging new technologies as improvement approaches. Hence, BPM practitioners need to prioritize, scope, and execute digital transformation initiatives as well as manage the related value identification and realization. They need to provide the approach to align people, products and processes for the digital world. The BPM-Discipline has to be managed as the value-switch for digital business transformation.
* Focused Agile Process Improvement: The volatile business environment requires a fast adaptive approach to improvements and transformation. However, there is also a big need to set clear direction and focus. The combination of agile principles, like the fast realization of process improvements in different stages, with top down approaches and supporting digital tools, such as process mining or prioritization applications, address those challenges. Integrated customer journey planning becomes a major component of process improvements to ensure an outside-in view and the right degree of standardization. Hence, a new combination of improvement skills is required.
* Value-driven Robotic Process Automation (RPA): RPA continues to close the automation gap of traditional applications to deliver significant efficiency gains and other benefits. However, this requires a thought-through process-led approach that considers up and down-stream effects of (ro)bots and realizes their full potential. BPM practitioners need to provide skills for a systematic approach to realizing value through RPA, leveraging process modelling and repositories, process mining and other process management tools.
* Business Context for Artificial Intelligence (AI): More and more organizations are excited about the potential opportunities of AI and experiment with topics like Machine Learning (ML) or predictive analytics. In the coming months and years a key focus will be on identifying business scenarios to create best value through AI using appropriate data so drive the AI learning process. BPM practitioners need to provide process-led approaches to enable the outcome-driven use of AI.
* Integrated Process and Data Governance: Digital processes are only agile and deliver continued value if they are governed systematically across different departments. The new speed of digital execution accelerates negative effects of bad data quality. Therefore an integrated process and data governance becomes more and more crucial for successful digital processes. Skills do define appropriate governance processes, bodies, collaboration models and their integration into the organizations are very important.
* Hybrid Workforce Management: In the digital enterprise human and digital workforce co-exist. This requires an appropriate management approach to employees who have to resolve more and more often complex exception cases and specific individualized customer requirements. Standard processes are mainly supported through robots – that need to be adjusted and aligned with changing business environments, too. The resulting process-led hybrid workforce management is another key skill process practitioners need to provide.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

* A good overview over the topics mentioned is provided by industry organizations, like ABPMP or the BPM-Institute, and by specialized service firms like BPM-D. It is worth to compare training and education agendas to come up with the right mix.
* There are more and more eLearning offerings available covering at least some of those topics, such as the module “Strategy Execution in a Digital World: The BPM-Discipline” from BPM-D.
* A deeper and more comprehensive education in many of the areas mentioned is provided by academic institutions, such as Widener University (Master in Business Process Innovation) or the University of Pennsylvania (Program of Organizational Dynamics in the School for Arts and Sciences).
* In addition there are first books available covering those topics, such as “High Performance through Business Process Management – Strategy Execution in a Digital World” or “The Drivers of the Digital Transformation”.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

I think many of the traditional statistical improvement tools and related traditional approaches, like e.g. Six Sigma, will continue to lose traction since their application in the office environment is too slow for the digital world.

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Harald Kühn

Dr. Harald Kühn is a member of the management board of the BOC AG. He is responsible for the product management and the related strategic aspects of BOC’s product portfolio. Dr. Harald Kühn works in the areas of metamodelling, BPM, EA and the usage of cloud technologies in these domains.

He is an author of over 20 publications about various aspects of BPM.

WWW: boc-group.com
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Twitter: @BOC_Group

What are the skills and techniques that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2019?

Amongst many others, I see three areas in 2019 where BPM practitioners can create immediate value for their organizations:
1. Compliance
Many organisations need to show compliance to various standards and frameworks, depending on the markets they are acting in and in which type of industry they operate. In compliance initiatives such as data compliance, risk compliance, quality compliance, legal compliance etc., business process descriptions play a central role to provide input for an efficient compliance audit. By re-using existing work, BPM practitioners create immediate value for such initiatives reducing audit efforts and costs.

2. Business Transformation
By extending BPM with aspects from Design Thinking and Storytelling e.g. such as Scenes, BPM practitioners create value for business model decisions and business scenario designs. The same for the transformation of the application and technology architecture e.g. by using BPMN and Archimate in the context of Cyber Physical Systems.

3. Operational Excellence
State-of-the-art technology such as micro-service architectures, API-first approaches, mining and data science techniques allow the easy access to business-relevant runtime data, KPIs, execution frequencies etc. To combine these with business-level process definitions creates value and insight into process performance and gives the foundation for business process improvement e.g. using process simulation.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

– Open Model Initiative Laboratory (OMiLAB): http://www.omilab.org/
– Storytelling and Storyboards using Scenes: https://experience.sap.com/designservices/approach/scenes
– Archimate Forum: https://www.opengroup.org/archimate-forum
– Microservice Architecture: https://microservices.io/

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

Any knowledge and experiences gathered in the past will influence decisions for the future. Therefore, even if specific techniques or technologies are not really relevant any more, they are important to evaluate and apply new upcoming techniques and technologies.

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Bob Larrivee

Bob Larrivee is the President and Founder of Bob Larrivee Consultancy. With over 34 years in the industry, Bob is a recognized expert in the application of advanced technologies and process improvement to solve business problems and enhance business operations and Technology Jounalist for Document Strategy.

During his career, Bob has developed many training courses, led many projects, and authored hundreds of eBooks, Industry Reports, Blogs, Articles, and Infographics. In addition, Bob has served as host and guest Subject Matter Expert on a wide variety of webinars, Podcasts, Virtual Events, and lectured at in-person seminars and conferences around the globe.

WWW: https://boblarriveeconsulting.com
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Twitter: @BobLarrivee

What are the skills and techniques that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2019?

I think that one of the most valuable skills for folks in BPM, is that of being able to accurately map business processes, their information interdependencies, and the actors in a way that aligns to the business, compliance, and customer experience. Once the current state is truly known – most organizations are not fully aware of what is really happening – process improvement and automation can take place. There are many who believe automated process mapping software is the answer but I believe it still takes human insight to answer the question of why things are currently being done in a certain way and identify the potential impact of process change, cultural change, and automation will have on the business and organization.

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Holly Lyke-Ho-Gland

Building on more than 10 years of business research and consulting experience, Holly Lyke-Ho-Gland is a principal research lead who conducts and publishes APQC research on process management and improvement, quality, project management, measurement, and benchmarking for APQC’s Process and Performance Management research team. Her research supports APQC members and clients across disciplines and centers on helping professionals and project managers solve business problems with strategy, process and measurement.

Holly regularly partners with other APQC research leads to look at improving the end-to-end business processes in areas such as procure-to-pay or order-to-cash where true improvement rests in the entire process versus one functional department. On a biannual basis, she conducts APQC’s extensive research survey and report on The Value of Benchmarking as well as annual surveys and reports on how organizations adopt and use the Process Classification Framework®.

WWW: https://www.apqc.org
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Twitter: @hlykehogland

What are the skills and techniques that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2019?

According to both our 2018 and 2019 annual process and performance management priorities surveys BPM practitioners feel that their capabilities need to step up to stay relevant and provide value to their organizations. Namely they need to improve their change management skills and technological savvy:

1. Change management skills—process work, whether it’s tied to broad organizational initiatives or discrete process improvements, requires people change how they execute work. As shepherds of these projects BPM professionals need the tools and techniques necessary to engage people in changes and address resistance.

2. Technology capabilities—given that 75% of organizations are undergoing a digital transformation and BPM teams are tasked with supporting these initiatives, understanding technologies—what they are, what they can do, and just as importantly what they can’t do—is more important than ever before. Often the BPM teams work closely with IT to help identify when an improvement opportunity requires traditional process tools and/or could benefit from things like automation. Hence, BPM professionals need to understand the application of technologies, namely advanced analytics, data management, and process automation.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

There are several resources available for all these skills and the investment in them depends on the resources and budget you have available. For change management I would recommend seeing if your organization has an Organizational Change Management program or if your HR and Training groups have training available. If not, there are several great books and training programs available depending on the methodology you prefer—Kotter’s 8 Steps and PROSCI/ADKAR are two of my favorite methodologies.

For technology skills, these are much more accessible than they used to be. There are a wide variety of free courses available on all these topics. Many universities and groups like Coursera offer free programs on everything from data management to machine learning. I personally find these types of courses beneficial over books and articles because they are less academic and include lab work where you apply what you learn.

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

I don’t think that any skills are no longer relevant. Even in support of digital and new technology applications organizations still rely on BPM teams for traditional discovery, improvement, and re-engineering of processes. However, in many cases AI is not practically applicable yet. According to this year’s priorities survey only 26% of the organizations plan on investing in AI over the next 18 months. Most organizations are still working on getting their data house in order and building out their analytics capabilities and automation programs.

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John Mancini

John Mancini is the Chief Evangelist and Past President of AIIM. He is a well-known author and speaker on information management and digital transformation. As a frequent keynote speaker, John offers his expertise on Digital Transformation and the struggle to overcome Information Chaos. He blogs under the title Digital Landfill (http://info.aiim.org/digital-landfill), has more than 11,000 Twitter followers, 6,000 LinkedIn followers, and can be found on most social media as @jmancini77. He has published more than 30 e-books, the most recent being:
* Leveraging Deep Learning and Machine Learning Capabilities
* Integrating Content Services into Low Code Applications
* Enhancing Your RPA Implementation with Intelligent Information
* How does the Office 365 Revolution Impact Governance and Process Automation?
* Automating Governance and Compliance
WWW: http://www.aiim.org
WWW: info.aiim.org/digital-landfill
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Twitter: @jmancini77

What are the skills and techniques that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2019?

I think the key to creating value for BPM practitioners – both FOR and TO their organizations – is to understand the connections between BPM technologies and other enterprise systems. Some of the “connections” that I feel are particularly valuable:

* An understanding of the role that content and unstructured information plays as the fuel (or the “clog”) for business processes. The management and integration of this content cannot be treated as an afterthought.
* The connections that “big process” technologies like BPM have with tactical process improvement tools like Robotic Process Automation. Some view RPA as a replacement for BPM; I tend to see it as a complement to BPM. Each has their role, and understanding the connections between the two is a skill rising in importance.
* An understanding of the business process itself – and not just the technologies like BPM that help automate it – is increasingly important. As organizations have begun to look at their processes from the outside in rather than from an inside-out technology-centric perspective, it has created the need to view processes more holistically. And that means connections between processes. For example, the uber process of customer acquisition all the way through customer fulfillment is not a single process, but a system that connects multiple processes.

What are the best resources to learn those skills? (e.g. books, articles, courses)

When it comes to skills and resources, many know I have a long connection with AIIM, so I have a bias there. But in particular the annual Conference that AIIM does is a great place to explore the connections I mention above and the people charged with making those connections within their organizations. In addition, AIIM’s CIP (Certified Information Professional) is a great place to understand the broader world beyond BPM. At the heart of the CIP is this point – “The value-add for information technology in organizations is rapidly shifting from the technology per se to the stewardship, optimization, and application of the information assets themselves. It has changed how we think about enterprise information and IT – and changed how we think about the kinds of skills needed to adapt to these changes.”

Which skills are no longer relevant or not practically applicable yet (hype)?

I don’t know that I think about particular skills as being irrelevant as I do particular mindsets. And by that I mean a technology-centric mindset rather than a business-centric one. If there has ever been a time in which the business needs to lead when it comes to technology strategy, it’s now.

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Connie Moore

As Senior Vice President of Research at Digital Clarity Group, Connie has unparalleled experience working with senior executives in business and IT, technology marketing, and government, from SMEs to large enterprises throughout the globe. She has managed international teams of analysts focused on a wide range of technologies such as social and collaboration, content management, business analytics, business software (e.g. ERP, CRM, HCM), and BPM suites. Her research encompasses business transformation, business process management, customer experience management, information management, the future of work, new business models and organizational change management. Connie is highly sought as a keynote speaker and conference chair on five continents. This year, she was honored by her peer group for thought leadership in business process transformation, adaptive case management and BPM software when she received the highly coveted Marvin Manheim Award from the Workflow and Reengineering Association (WARIA).

Prior to DCG, Connie was a Vice President, Principal Analyst and Research Director at Forrester Research for more than 20 years, where she pioneered new data-driven research on global Bring Your Own Technology trends, forecasted and defined the next generation of business suites, and drove innovative dialog among marketing, business process and IT senior executives about how to succeed at large-scale business transformation.

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WWW: http://www.digitalclaritygroup.com
Twitter: @cmooreclarity

What are the skills and techniques that can help BPM practitioners create value for their organizations in 2019?

Large-scale business transformation projects invariably require a multidisciplinary team comprising individuals who bring different tools, experiences, perspectives and insights to the table. This creates two immediate challenges for business process professionals that are typically steeped in Lean, Six Sigma and business process modeling:

1. In addition to their own expertise, BPM professionals often need to cross-train in their co-workers’ methodologies and tools so that everyone at least has a cursory knowledge of how the different approaches fit together across multi-faceted project teams.
2. Increasingly, the knowledge, methodologies and tooling that most business process practitioners possess isn’t sufficient—they also need to master new customer-centric skills and new technologies, such as robotic process automation, that continue to emerge.

Figure 1 shows the four broad disciplines/job titles that typically comprise a large business process project: 1) business stakeholder, 2) customer experience, 3) technology and 4) business process[i]. In keeping with the times, the new initiatives being launched may not even be called business process transformation efforts; they may instead be customer experience or digital transformation efforts. Or, just as easily, it could be called something else—say, next-generation customer service or an omnichannel initiative. The point we need to recognize is that while business process skills are still vitally important, a pure business process focus on largely internal processes may no longer be the organization’s top priority.

And that’s okay, because as every Lean practitioner knows, organizations must start with an outside-in customer viewpoint. In many organizations, it’s Chief Customer Officer (or some other CXO title) who drives business process change as part of a larger customer experience or digital experience transformation initiative. Process professionals need to recognize and accept this reality.

So what new skills needed are needed? Business transformation practitioners must double down on new areas, depending on where they report:

* Business stakeholders are increasingly asked to help with digital transformation efforts, which may require learning about voice of the customer and customer journey mapping, in addition to their more traditional role of providing business stakeholder insights. And independent of what tools they need to master, these professionals will be asked to look at transformation from the customer’s perspective rather than concentrating on more traditional internal improvements.

* Customer experience practitioners of all stripes are in high demand as companies develop and implement their digital transformation roadmap. These individuals, who may be part of a small CX group or embedded within business or IT, help develop a firm’s digital transformation strategy by conducting voice of the customer sessions, creating customer journey strategies and completing journey maps. This can be a tall order; organizations may have 200-500+ customer journeys. Interestingly, there are strong parallels between customer journey mapping and business process modeling. Inevitably, these types of tools will increasingly overlap. Put simply, journey maps look at processes from the customer’s vantage while process modeling typically analyzes the “to be” for internal steps. Some organizations already use process modeling tools for journey mapping, which illustrates how the different disciplines are now overlapping from a skills and training perspective. For this reason, customer experience teams must work more closely with process professionals, and vice versa—and they will need to learn each other’s tooling. Additionally, some power-users in the business may need to learn how to create scripts for robotic process automation.

[i] Organizational change management is vitally important in any transformation initiative and these practitioners may report into their own group, or the skill set may be found elsewhere in other groups. Most commonly, IT or HR is where change management professionals report if there is not a separate team. For more on organizational change management, see Organizational Change Management: An (Emerging) Core Competency for Customer Experience Management.

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Juergen Pitschke

Juergen Pitschke is Partner and Managing Director at Process Renewal Group Deutschland.