Celonis bets big on India as the epicentre of AI-powered process excellence

At a time when enterprises are racing to embed AI across every layer of their business, process intelligence is steadily becoming the foundational technology shaping these transformations. Celonis, a global leader in process mining and process intelligence, is placing a big bet on India.

“Last week marked an inflection point for us,” says Malhar Kamdar, Chief Customer Officer and President, Celonis India. He’s referring to Celonis’ Process Intelligence Day on May 22, 2025 in Bengaluru, India, a global series of events the company is hosting across 20+ major cities worldwide. The Indian edition, held last week, has turned out to be the company’s largest gathering yet, in terms of both turnout and profile of attendees.

The scale is significant: Around 500 attendees representing 300 companies, including 100 domestic prospects, a staggering number considering that Celonis only formally entered the Indian domestic market about three months ago. “We’ve always believed India is the epicentre of process excellence,” says Kamdar, pointing out that now, with the AI revolution underway, process intelligence becomes even more indispensable.

From Munich to Bengaluru: The Celonis journey

Founded 14 years ago in Munich by Alexander Rinke and his two co-founders Bastian Nominacher, and Martin Klenk, Celonis began as an unplanned venture, one that quickly turned into a global movement. “We stumbled upon process mining during our university days. It was like giving companies an X-ray of how their operations actually worked. We knew immediately it was transformative,” says Rinke, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Celonis. 

What began with large German industrial customers like Siemens and Bayer soon found traction across the U.S. and global markets. Today, Celonis works with nearly half of the world’s largest 200 companies of the Forbes Global 2000, and over 1,500 enterprise customers globally. India has emerged as a key geography in this growth story, not just as a customer base, but as a centre for innovation and decision-making.

GCCs lead the way in intelligent transformation

The company’s deep ties with India’s GCCs have proven strategic. Kamdar notes that Celonis is already working with over 150 GCCs in the country. “The role of GCCs is evolving. They are no longer just offshore execution centres, they’re leading global innovation and driving enterprise-wide transformation,” he says.

This shift is clearly visible in how GCCs are leveraging Celonis, not just to identify inefficiencies, but to lead initiatives such as enterprise modernisation, AI deployment, and supply chain digitisation. Rinke adds, “You can’t automate or transform what you don’t understand. That’s where process intelligence becomes your strategic compass.”

The AI multiplier effect

As businesses begin deploying AI agents to automate decision-making and execution, understanding underlying processes becomes mission-critical. “Our view is simple. There is no enterprise AI without process intelligence. AI needs to be fed with how the business actually runs, what’s working, what’s broken, and where the value lies,” Rinke explains.

Celonis positions itself as the foundational layer for this next wave of transformation. Not only does the Celonis Process Intelligence platform offer real-time insights, but it also monitors how new processes or AI agents perform post-deployment—enabling continuous improvement. Rinke explains, “The more AI you adopt, the more you need oversight and understanding. It’s not about replacing humans, it’s about enabling better collaboration between humans and AI.”

The role of partners in driving scale

Carsten Thoma, President of Celonis, highlights how the company’s partnerships with global systems integrators and consulting giants like TCS, Accenture, and KPMG are amplifying this impact. “We built one of the fastest-growing partner ecosystems I’ve seen in enterprise tech. These firms use Celonis not just to increase margins or execution speed, but to reimagine how industries operate,” Thoma says. 

He also notes that process intelligence provides a crucial input layer for industry cloud platforms, offering customised KPIs, dashboards, and data models tailored to specific sectors. This makes Celonis a horizontal platform with vertical adaptability, ideal for the complexity of Indian conglomerates and diversified enterprises.

India: From process epicentre to AI powerhouse

Celonis’ leadership agrees on one thing, India’s importance will only grow from here. The sheer scale of digital transformation, the rise of the domestic market, and India’s role in the global AI economy make it a strategic market.

“The AI revolution will be powered by processes,” Kamdar says, echoing the sentiment that India, with its strong foundation in process excellence, is uniquely positioned to lead this next wave.

As the dust settles from its largest Process Intelligence Day ever, it’s clear that for Celonis, India is not just a market, it’s the future.