BPM360 Podcast - Covering Every Angle

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]

Process Makes Perfect: A Spirited Conversation with Prof. Hajo Reijers

In this lively BPM360 episode, Caspar and Russell sit down with Prof. Hajo Reijers, whose career spans coding, consulting, and co-authoring the BPM field’s “bible.” The discussion is as energetic as it is insightful: from the quirks of workarounds in hospitals to the excitement of process hackathons, from redesign heuristics to the promise (and pitfalls) of AI in BPM. With plenty of laughs, real-world anecdotes, and a contagious enthusiasm for processes, this conversation shows why BPM is both a serious discipline and a source of endless curiosity and fun.   🔑 Key Takeaways  1. Applied Nature of BPM – BPM is both an academic discipline and a practical craft; lasting impact comes from linking research with real organizational challenges. 2. Process Redesign Heuristics – Simple, experience-based improvement patterns have become some of the most cited contributions in the field. 3. Value of Practice–Academia Hybrids – Consulting experience and academic rigor together provide fertile ground for impactful BPM research and teaching. 4. Rise of AI in BPM – Large language models and AI agents are rapidly lowering the barrier from theory to practice, opening new ways to validate, optimize, and document processes. 5. Workarounds as a Research Frontier – Detecting and analyzing workarounds shows how different roles (doctors, nurses, admin staff) experience processes differently, highlighting the gap between “happy flow” models and reality. 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]

Whack-a-Mole, AI Pilots, and the Process Lens: Why 95% of AI Projects Fail

In this episode, Caspar and Russell kick things off with Russell’s mole invasion at home (a perfect metaphor for stubborn BPM stakeholders who pop up where you least want them). From there, they dive deep into why so many AI pilots collapse before reaching scale, and how process management must act as the “guide rails” for AI to deliver real business value. Expect analogies from mountain bike races, a Dunning-Kruger reality check, and a candid discussion on why “there is no AI without PI.”   🔑 5 Most Interesting Takeaways  1. Moles = Stakeholders → Resistant people in BPM projects behave like moles: they vanish when you need them and resurface in the worst places. Don’t take it personally—understand their nature. 2. AI Pilots Often Fail → Up to 95% of AI pilots collapse because they chase hype, lack governance, and don’t connect to core business processes. 3. Process Intelligence Is Essential → “No AI without PI”: AI must be guided by process context (process mining + management) to be sustainable and compliant. 4. Agility Over Perfection → Unlike traditional IT rollouts, AI requires iterative testing and adaptation—the tech evolves too fast for one-off pilots. 5. Humans Still Matter → While AI can optimize structured, system-based steps (like purchase-to-pay), the “black spots” where human judgment rules remain the biggest opportunity—and risk. 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]