Celonis Announces "Process Optimization Report 2026"

The global leader in process intelligence, Celonis, today announced the "Process Optimization Report 2026," a survey conducted with over 1,600 business leaders worldwide. The survey revealed a significant gap between companies' high expectations for agentic AI and their actual operational readiness.

According to the report, many companies are actively working towards an AI-driven future, with 85% of organizations aiming to become autonomous enterprises within three years. However, 76% admit that their current business processes are a hindrance.

For AI agents to function autonomously and effectively, they require processes optimized for AI utilization, along with process data and business context obtainable only through process intelligence. Without both, AI agents cannot understand the actual flow of business operations or determine how to improve them. Furthermore, 82% of decision-makers believe that AI cannot generate return on investment (ROI) if it does not understand the reality of operations.

Key Additional Findings:

・ High Expectations: 90% of organizations are already leveraging or considering implementing multi-agent systems to automate complex decision-making.

・ Expertise and Context are the Biggest Barriers: The top two barriers to implementation are a lack of internal expertise (47%) and the difficulty of enabling AI to understand business context (rules, KPIs, benchmarks, models, enterprise architecture, etc.) (45%).

・ Silos Hinder Effective AI Adoption: 58% of process/operations leaders reported that cross-departmental collaboration is still not seamless, hindering the end-to-end visibility required for effective enterprise AI.

・ Competitive Urgency: 89% of leaders stated that AI represents the greatest opportunity to enhance competitiveness.

To bridge this gap between ideal and reality, companies must move beyond isolated automation efforts. The survey results indicate that process intelligence is essential for AI to function not merely by executing simple, isolated tasks, but by understanding the complex reality of enterprise activities. Process intelligence provides the "common language" that enables AI agents to comprehend workflows across departments and systems, identify friction points, and execute actions that lead to true business outcomes.

Carsten Thoma, President and Board Member at Celonis, stated: "While many business leaders are boldly steering towards an enterprise AI future, the reality is that they are struggling to connect that vision to tangible ROI. For AI to truly work in an enterprise, data alone is not enough; what's needed is context. By leveraging process intelligence and giving AI a common understanding of how businesses actually operate, we can finally move beyond the stage of setting ideals and start delivering visible results."

For more details on the survey findings and how companies are building AI-ready operations, please refer to the full Process Optimization Report 2026. Additionally, an executive summary and data sheets for IT, supply chain, and finance/shared services departments are available.

Survey Methodology

This survey was conducted by Insight Avenue, an independent third-party research and consulting firm specializing in B2B and technology. 1,649 interviews were conducted between June and July 2025, targeting approximately 320 individuals in each of five regions and approximately 400 individuals in each of four departments. Interviewees were business leaders from organizations with annual revenues of $500 million or more across various industries.

The sample composition used in this report is as follows:

Composition by Department Supply Chain 25%, Finance/Shared Services 25%, Process/Operations 25%, IT/Digital 25%

Composition by Job Title Board/Executive Management 6%, VP Level 11%, Department Head/Director 33%, Senior Manager 50%

Composition by Revenue Size $500 million - $2 billion 15%, $2 billion - $10 billion 80%, Over $10 billion 5%

Composition by Industry Manufacturing 18%, Banking 15%, Automotive 13%, High-Tech/Software 11%, Retail 9%, Energy/Oil & Gas 8%, Consumer Goods/FMCG 5%, Healthcare 4%, Logistics 4%, Insurance 4%, Pharmaceuticals/Life Sciences 3%, Public Sector 3%, Utilities 2%, Telecommunications 2%

Composition by Region APAC (Australia, Japan, South Korea) 20%, DACH (Austria, Germany, Switzerland) 20%, Europe (France, Spain, UK) 20%, India 20%, USA 20%

Composition by Country Australia 9%, Austria 2%, France 6%, Germany 12%, India 20%, Japan 6%, South Korea 6%, Spain 4%, Switzerland 5%, UK 10%, USA 20%

About Celonis

Celonis enables process improvement for people, businesses, and the planet. The Celonis Process Intelligence Platform, powered by process mining and AI, integrates process data and business context to generate a "living digital twin" of business operations. Celonis empowers thousands of customers worldwide to understand the reality of their businesses and, together with partners, build intelligent solutions that transform and continuously improve operations, unlocking billions of dollars in value.

Celonis is headquartered in Munich, Germany, and New York City, USA, with over 20 offices worldwide.

©2026 Celonis SE. All copyrights belong to Celonis SE. Celonis and the Celonis "droplet" logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Celonis SE in Germany and other countries/regions. All other product names and company names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.