BPM360 Podcast - Covering Every Angle

Decoupling the Enterprise: James Davies on User Experience, AI, and the Future of Orchestration

In this episode of the BPM360 Podcast, Caspar and Russell welcome James Davies — CEO of Kinetic Data — for a deep dive into the past, present, and future of enterprise workflow orchestration.  James shares his unlikely origin story: from a teenage helpdesk agent diagnosing dial-up modems to leading a platform used across major government and Fortune-2000 organizations.  The conversation explores why Kinetic Data deliberately avoids rigid BPM standards, how it decouples user experience from systems of record, and why freedom to change is becoming mission-critical as organizations try to escape the gravitational pull of mega-SaaS vendors.  James explains how his team designs human-centric workflows, enables modular front-ends, and reduces dependency risks that lock enterprises into a single platform’s UX, pricing, or AI strategy.  The trio dig into real examples — from US Army data clean-up to COVID laptop distribution at scale — illustrating how orchestration can stay lightweight without becoming another monolithic “monster system.” They also tackle citizen development, governance challenges, and the rise of AI agents inside enterprise processes.   The episode closes with James’ outlook on the future: AI as a decoupled layer across the enterprise stack, easier integration, more low-code capability, and true citizen development grounded in guardrails rather than chaos.   A rich, energetic session packed with honest insights on data, orchestration, AI, and the evolving role of BPM in large enterprises.  We hope you enjoy our BPM Podcast. Subscribe and stay tuned for more. Please send us your comments and questions to questions@bpm360podcast.com [questions@bpm360podcast.com]

Episode 50: ServiceNow, Process Orchestration & The Next Chapter of BPM

In their 50th milestone episode, Caspar and Russell take a step back to reflect on the BPM 360 journey—50 episodes, 5,000 downloads, and countless insights into the evolving world of business process management. The hosts discuss recent market shifts, including ServiceNow’s acquisition of Apromore, and explore how major platforms like ServiceNow and SAP are reshaping their strategies toward end-to-end orchestration, process intelligence, and platform ecosystems. They also celebrate the growing BPM podcast community and hint at what’s next for BPM360 and beyond.  🔑 Five Key Takeaways:  1. BPM 360 Turns 50: The podcast celebrates its 50th episode and over 5,000 downloads, reflecting on how the BPM landscape continues to evolve without losing steam. 2. ServiceNow Goes Process Mining: The acquisition of Apromore signals ServiceNow’s ambition to move from service management into holistic process orchestration and intelligence. 3. SAP’s Platform Play: SAP’s Clean Core and BTP approach focuses on creating an open, extensible platform ecosystem—contrasting ServiceNow’s vertical integration strategy. 4. The Future Is Orchestration: True business value lies above the application layer—in orchestrating data, processes, and AI-driven agents across systems rather than within silos. 5. BPM Community on the Rise: With new podcasts like Mining Your Business returning and initiatives like the BPM Alliance, the global process community is growing stronger and more connected than ever. We hope you enjoy our BPM Podcast. Subscribe and stay tuned for more. Please send us your comments and questions to questions@bpm360podcast.com [questions@bpm360podcast.com]

From Legacy BPM to Digital Twins: Liam O’Neill on Evolving Process Management Beyond Compliance

In this lively episode of the BPM 360 Podcast, Caspar and Russell welcome Liam O’Neill, Managing Director of BPM-D, for an engaging conversation about how process management must evolve from compliance-driven legacy practices to orchestrated, data-driven business transformation. O’Neill shares lessons from a decade of BPM consulting across Europe, explains why many BPM teams get stuck in “quality management mode,” and envisions a future where orchestration, digital twins, and human-centric ownership reshape enterprise performance.  🔑 Five Key Takeaways:  1. Legacy BPM’s Trap: Many organizations remain stuck in compliance and documentation loops—producing models for auditors rather than value for operations. 2. Make BPM Business-Relevant: Process management must focus on clear business outcomes and user value; otherwise, it risks becoming a siloed architecture exercise. 3. The Next Wave—Orchestration: True progress lies in connecting people, systems, and automations end-to-end through orchestration layers and digital twins that offer real-time insight. 4. Ownership & Gamification: Embedding process ownership into job roles (and even incentives) drives accountability—while gamification can make BPM adoption fun and sustainable. 5. Cultural Nuances Matter: Northern Europe leads in BPM maturity—more direct, data-driven, and innovation-friendly—while the UK and others still lean on Lean Six Sigma and QMS traditions but are catching up fast.   We hope you enjoy our BPM Podcast. Subscribe and stay tuned for more. Please send us your comments and questions to questions@bpm360podcast.com [questions@bpm360podcast.com]

From Process Pioneer to AI Navigator – Sven Schnägelberger on BPM’s Next Wave

WARNING: This episode is in German - Caspar again exposes his hidden language capabilities! :)  In this engaging episode of BPM360, hosts Caspar and Russell sit down with BPM veteran Sven Schnägelberger, founder of BPM&O. Sven’s journey from freight forwarding clerk to IT leader to BPM pioneer is rich with insight. He reflects on how BPM moved from workflow automation to strategic process management, shares how he built one of the largest process-management communities in Germany, and reveals how he’s now embracing AI-driven agents to reshape how organizations work. Full of practical stories, bold predictions and forward-looking ideas, this episode is a must-listen for anyone shaping the next era of BPM.  🔑 5 Key Takeaways  1. BPM is more than flowcharts – Successful process management lives in the minds of people and how they organise themselves, not just in diagrams. 2. Three perspectives must converge – Strategy, process methods/automation and change management remain frequently separated, yet must be integrated for lasting impact. 3. Communities drive sustained BPM success – Sven built a deep BPM community early on, proving that outside-in exchange and shared frameworks (e.g., the “Eden” maturity model) matter for progress. 4. Automation isn’t the endpoint—Intelligence is – As Sven puts it, pure workflow engines are giving way to AI-based orchestration, knowledge graphs and context-rich automation for the 70% of work outside structured data. 5. Tools change, mindset endures – While BPM tools evolve fast (e.g., AI integration, new platforms), the underlying question remains the same: how do we link organisation strategy to operational process design and execution? We hope you enjoy our BPM Podcast. Subscribe and stay tuned for more. Please send us your comments and questions to questions@bpm360podcast.com [questions@bpm360podcast.com]

Processes, Purpose & Pragmatism: Holger Wüsthoff on Making BPM Real

Strap in, process nerds — this episode of the BPM360 Podcast with Holger Wüsthoff is a wild ride through the evolution of process work, from “they dragged me into SAP” stories to bold claims about process-driven AI. Caspar, Russell, and Holger spar over whether business must bend to systems or if systems should dance to business moves — and land squarely in the middle: pick your horse (process), then pick your saddle (system).  Holger brings decades of global transformation scars and wisdom: culture doesn’t care how good your blueprint is, adoption kills more projects than tech ever will, and data is the “secret sauce” no one loves to talk about. He challenges us: tools and AI are exciting, but they’re useless unless grounded in reality. So yes, we cover “process first” philosophies, cloud vs custom tension, cross-cultural rollout tales, and even how printing-ink companies clue us into new process/AI frontiers.  Laughs abound (especially when we mock how AI fails simple image raids), but beneath the levity lies serious truth: BPM without process intelligence is like a car with no steering wheel — cool engine, useless overall.  Key Takeaways 1. Engineers sometimes get “drafted” into process roles  Holger originally came from mechanical engineering and got pulled into process management through quality/ISO 9001 duties and an SAP implementation. Sometimes your path finds you. 2. Systems don’t drive business — processes (and choices) do Back in the day, the system was a “given” and business adapted to it. Holger argues we’re in a shift: pick your processes, and let the composable system support them—not dictate them. 3. Cloud and standardization demand balance In cloud-first/SaaS environments, customization is limited, so organizations need to harmonize processes, pick what’s essential and where differentiation really belongs. 4. Culture + adoption = the biggest hurdle In global rollouts (for example, India vs Spain) you see that mindset, timing, and local habits matter more than tech. Change is slow; having patience and adapting to culture makes or breaks success. 5. Data, not tools, is the real fuel for AI You can have the slickest AI or toolset, but if your data is incomplete, messy, or siloed, you won’t get far. Holger stresses that people + data > system hype. We hope you enjoy our BPM Podcast. Subscribe and stay tuned for more. Please send us your comments and questions to questions@bpm360podcast.com [questions@bpm360podcast.com]