BPM360 Podcast - Covering Every Angle

“You Can Pretend to Care, But You Can’t Pretend to Show Up” – Tommie Jo Brode on Culture, HR & Keeping People

In this episode of the BPM360 Podcast, Caspar and Russell “cover another angle” of process entirely: the human one. While Russell checks in from Frankfurt between company meetups and Business Flows releases, the conversation quickly shifts from process content to a much deeper question: how does it actually feel to work inside an organization?  Their guest, Tommi Jo Brode – attorney, workplace culture expert, and consultant at Venice Solutions Group – brings a people-first lens to what many leaders still treat as “soft stuff.” She explains why most culture problems aren’t about salary or perks, but about respect, fairness, time with family, and whether people feel seen, heard, and included. “Little things” like how you react when someone asks for time off, or who gets invited to lunch, often sit behind big issues like turnover, complaints, and disengagement.  Together they unpack the gap between policy and practice, why people usually leave managers rather than companies, how HR can shift from “the department you fear” to a genuine people partner, and why leadership needs more unfiltered input from the front line. From “undercover boss” moments to practical habits for remote check-ins, Tommie shows that good culture is less about posters on the wall and more about showing up consistently as a human being.   5 Key Takeaways  1. Most culture problems aren’t about money. Turnover, complaints, and disengagement are usually rooted in respect, workload, fairness, and inclusion – not in base pay alone 2. Policy is what’s written; culture is what actually happens. A company may “allow” flexible time or easy time-off in policy, but if managers roll their eyes, guilt-trip, or quietly punish people for using it, the real rule is very different. 3. Employees experience the company through their manager. For most people, “the company” is their direct supervisor. If the manager is supportive and fair, the company feels good. If not, no amount of glossy mission statements will fix it. 4. HR should enable, not intimidate. HR can be a powerful ally by training managers in real conversations, listening skills, and prevention – instead of only appearing when something has gone wrong. 5. You build trust by showing up, consistently. Walking the floor, joining a night shift once, or scheduling regular 1:1 check-ins in remote teams sends a clear message: I see you, I’m interested, and how you’re doing matters — and that’s the foundation of sustainable performance and process excellence. 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]

Four Kids, Zero Limits: Jesper Blomster on Process Chaos & Human Magic

In this special 10th episode of the BPM360 Podcast, Caspar and Russell connect with Swedish process leader Jesper Blomster — a self-taught digitalization expert, father of four, and the driving force behind major process intelligence initiatives in one of Sweden’s largest financial institutions. Jesper shares how he built a career not through formal degrees, but through curiosity, courage, and a deep commitment to solving real operational problems.  The conversation spans personal philosophy (“nothing is impossible”), culture in Nordic organizations, and why meaningful BPM always starts with people — not tools, not automation, not tech buzzwords. Jesper breaks down his approach to stakeholder engagement, ownership, and cross-level alignment, offering pragmatic insights from the trenches of operational change.  The trio also explores the limits of automation, why “optimizing five minutes” doesn’t move the needle, and how focusing on cash conversion cycles creates real business value. Jesper reflects on Scandinavia’s consensus-driven culture, how it shapes problem-solving, and why connecting people across strategic, tactical, and operational levels is the true engine of transformation.  The episode wraps with Jesper’s community project AUTOMATE, a global, open network where practitioners, academics, and leaders come together to learn, debate, and explore digitalization challenges collectively.  A rich, human-centric episode that embodies the spirit of BPM360: complex topics made understandable, meaningful, and connected to real people.  ⭐ TOP 5 TAKEAWAYS  1) People first, technology second. Real BPM breakthroughs come from understanding frustrations, motivations, and human behaviour — not from pushing tools or automation. 2) “Impossible” is often just unexplored. Jesper’s mindset — shaped by “nothing is impossible” — shows that courage, curiosity, and reframing problems outperform formal structures. 3) Ownership beats enforcement. If you help teams look good, solve their pain points, and connect their work to strategic goals, they become advocates instead of resisters. 4) Automating five minutes is irrelevant — impact the big levers. Shaving off micro-tasks doesn’t transform a business. Improving cash conversion cycles or end-to-end flows does. 5) Culture determines transformation speed. Nordic consensus culture fosters debate, commitment, and alignment — creating an environment where change is not imposed, but co-created. 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 Strudel Beats to BPM Streets: Mirko Kloppenburg on Process Culture & Orchestration

In this episode of the BPM360 Podcast, hosts Caspar and Russell kick off with autumn vibes, coding beats in strudel.cc, and the parallels between creative open-source communities and process-management ecosystems. The discussion leads into a special segment: a live, on-site interview with Mirko Kloppenburg, returning to the show directly from Celonis Celosphere.   Mirko shares his impressions from the event, including the atmosphere of reunion, the buzz around process orchestration, and insights from hosting his standing-room-only brain date on building a process-driven organization. Together, Caspar and Mirko dive into the realities of cultural change, the pitfalls of oversimplified BPM narratives, and the increasing convergence of process management, mining, and orchestration technologies — while staying skeptical about fully replacing specialized operational systems.  Back in the studio, Russell and Caspar reflect on Mirko’s perspectives: the time it takes to build true process culture, the challenges of best-of-breed vs. best-of-suite, and how organizations like Techniker Krankenkasse structure their internal BPM and automation functions for success. The episode ends with a shared conviction: process excellence is as much about people and culture as it is about software.  ⭐ TOP 5 TAKEAWAYS 1) Culture eats BPM for breakfast. Building a process-driven organization takes time and relies far more on mindset, shared language, and process ownership than on tools alone. 2) Convergence doesn’t mean replacement. Even as process mining, modeling, and orchestration converge in platforms, core operational systems won’t simply disappear — API-driven integration remains key. 3) Simplicity attracts, complexity sustains. Like Strudel’s web version vs. its deeper coding layers, BPM needs both: fast wins to excite people and strong governance to keep things running. 4) Community matters as much as technology. Events like Celosphere succeed because they bring people together — cross-pollinating ideas, experiences, and practical lessons that pure tooling can’t deliver. 5) Best-of-breed vs. best-of-suite is still an open battle. Large organizations seek harmony across mining, architecture, BPM, and orchestration — but finding the right compromise often matters more than choosing one camp.   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]

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]