Process excellence is shaping business transformation. PEX Network’s All Access: BPM Business Process Management brought together global leaders to discuss the evolving role of BPM in organizational transformation.
Over two days, speakers explored how BPM has become the leading enabler of transformation initiatives, its critical role in unlocking artificial intelligence’s (AI’s) potential and the cultural and leadership shifts required for lasting change.
BPM takes center stage in transformation
BPM has emerged as the most widely applied technology for business transformation, cited by 53 percent of organizations in the PEX Report 2025/26. This represents a dramatic increase from 27 percent the previous year.
Speakers across the event agreed on one key point: transformation cannot succeed without process visibility and governance. As one panelist warned, without clarity organizations are “merely guessing how their processes work.”
This reality is driving adoption of process modeling tools, which topped the list of solutions deployed by participants. Documented, governed processes are increasingly seen not just as housekeeping, but as the foundation for successful business change.
Process excellence: The key to responsible AI
AI dominated much of the discussion, but the message was clear: AI is only as good as the processes that underpin it.
The newly launched PEX Report 2025/26, co-sponsored by Nintex, SAP and Chazey Partners, revealed that while nearly half of organizations (48 percent) plan to increase AI investment this year, only a minority have the governance frameworks to support it.
David Barnes, head of business process management, AstraZeneca, put it succinctly in his case study with GBTEC: “AI needs process as much as process needs AI.” Without well-governed workflows, quality data and clear context, AI initiatives risk delivering little more than hype. Organizations leading the way are using process intelligence as the “boundaries and guardrails” that ensure AI addresses the right problems, with the right data, in the right way.
Register for All Access: Revolution in Process Intelligence APAC 2025!
Transformation at scale requires leadership alignment
With 56 percent of organizations now pursuing enterprise-wide transformation strategies (up from 48 percent last year), speakers stressed the importance of leadership alignment and structured governance.
Leila Kagawa, chief transformation officer at HEMIC, urged leaders to frame transformation as something done “on behalf of employees, not to them,” a mindset that builds trust and encourages adoption. Meanwhile, Andrea O’Hara, associate solutions engineer at Nintex, recommended networks of “process champions” across departments to bridge the gap between business needs and technology.
The consensus: transformation gains far more traction when it’s linked to outcomes like customer experience and faster decision-making, not just cost savings.
Watch the session with Leila Kagawa now!
From process maps to execution
Several sessions challenged the value of static process maps. True transformation happens when documentation connects directly to execution through workflow automation, system integration and user-friendly tools.
Caspar Jans, head of process management and enterprise modernization GTM for EMEA and APAC at Celonis, described this as “process adherence,” comparing actual execution against the ideal to expose bottlenecks, compliance gaps and inefficiencies. The result, he argued, is “organizational self-awareness,” which means not just knowing how work should happen but verifying how it really does.
People at the heart of transformation
While technology featured heavily, speakers repeatedly came back to the human factor. O’Hara from argued that investing in training creates “process-thinking people” who naturally spot opportunities for improvement, while in his case study with Niamh Lordan, head of marketing at FlowForma, Will Johnson, head of information services at Morley College London showed how embedding guidance within workflows improved adoption and employee engagement.
The key takeaway at the end of day one was that sustainable transformation depends on empowering people, not just deploying tools.
Join us at All Access: AI in Business Transformation 2025!
Adopting a change mindset
The second day shifted focus to the human side of change. In a lively opening panel, Elizabeth Johnson, managing director, head of credit card operations for consumer finance at Goldman Sachs, Mary-Peyton Amburn, director, global HR change and transformation at Kyndryl and Cathy Gu, deputy divisional director at IQPC discussed how change is often driven by external pressures such as market disruption or new technologies like AI. Amburn reflected on Kyndryl’s spin-off from IBM, stressing the importance of collaboration and openness when adopting a change mindset.
A key theme was the balance between top-down vision and bottom-up feedback. Transparent forums and surveys help leaders understand employee concerns and accelerate adoption.
An audience poll revealed a shift toward bottom-up change facilitation, with 55 percent favoring this approach over traditional top-down methods.
Watch the panel debate!
BPM as an enabler of organizational resilience
Craig Willis from Netcall then gave a presentation in which he stated that BPM remains underutilized in transformation programs, despite being critical to organizational readiness. He introduced the concept of a “self-healing organization” powered by technology that:
- Closes the loop between customer experience and back-office processes.
- Engages staff in continuous improvement.
- Evolves technology at the pace of change.
His case study counterpart, Jenna Taylor, senior business analyst transformation team at IRIS Software Group shared her company’s approach to integrating acquisitions. With a dedicated M&A team and process intelligence tools, IRIS has streamlined systems, mapped hundreds of processes and is adopting low-code and AI to unify its data ecosystem.
Chas Moore, executive partner – transformation at Chazey Partners then introduced the next segment on AI foundations, emphasizing the widening gap between AI hype and reality. He urged organizations to focus on readiness, governance and foundational process excellence before pursuing advanced AI initiatives.
The final session featured J-M Erlendson, chief evangelist at ARIS, who took the audience on a pilgrimage to agentic AI. Drawing on personal and professional experiences, J-M likened the journey to a that requires structure, tools and the right companions to succeed. He gave a vividly entertaining presentation about AI readiness, warning that deploying agentic AI without governance is risky. Success, he argued, requires clear goals, robust guardrails, high-quality data and orchestration between humans and machines.
The road ahead
Overall, the message from All Access: BPM 2025 is clear: BPM is no longer a back-office efficiency tool; it is the foundation of transformation.
Process excellence underpins AI adoption, drives cultural change and supports enterprise-wide strategies. The future will see further convergence of BPM, AI and enterprise architecture, with organizations that integrate these disciplines and place people at the center best positioned to thrive.