US & UK launch major AI projects, Oklahoma adopts process intelligence
Oklahoma adopts process intelligence to drive transparency and South Wales Fire and Rescue unveils new OPEX strategy
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PEX Network’s weekly news bulletin rounds up the latest from the process community including operational excellence (OPEX), digital transformation, business process management (BPM), process mining, artificial intelligence (AI) and more.
This week includes:
- President Trump reveals Stargate AI initiative with OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank
- UK government announces new AI tools to streamline public services
- Process intelligence helps Oklahoma drive transparency and accountability
- Discover Airlines appoints new COO to drive OPEX
- South Wales Fire and Rescue unveils new OPEX strategy
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President Trump reveals Stargate AI initiative with OpenAI, Oracle and Softbank
On only his second day in office, new US president Donald Trump announced multi-billion-dollar AI infrastructure investment and the creation of new company Stargate by OpenAI, Softbank and Oracle. Trump said Stargate will generate over 100,000 jobs “almost immediately” and the companies will begin with $100 billion in investments. He added that Stargate will be “building the physical and virtual infrastructure to power the next generation of AI.” It aims to boost capacity to train and run new AI models and will initially build a data center project in Abilene, Texas — construction of which is already under way. Trump was joined by Masayoshi Son, CEO of Softbank, Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI and Larry Ellison, chief technology officer (CTO) of Oracle.
The PEX Report 2025 found that AI will be the biggest OPEX and business transformation investment area over the next 12 months, with more than half of surveyed businesses (58 percent) having discussed potential AI projects to drive objectives. The areas where AI is being leveraged the most are in operations (35 percent), customer service and call centers (29 percent) and data processing and management (24 percent).
Watch Tyrone Smith Jr, program faculty member/adjunct associate professor at University of Southern California (USC) and founding member of Society of People Analytics (SPA), discuss building trust in AI
UK government announces new AI tools to streamline public services
The UK government announced a new plan to leverage AI tools to streamline public services, eliminate delays through improved data sharing and reduce costs. The new AI technologies - nicknamed ‘Humphrey’ – are designed for civil servants to save time and money by summarizing large amounts of information, such as responses to public consultations. Meanwhile, two new apps will enable people in the UK to engage more easily with departments when they need support, as well as store digital versions of official documents.
This is hot on the heels of the AI Opportunities Action Plan, which has put the UK on course to become an AI superpower, already attracting over £14 billion in investment since being launched last Monday.
“Sluggish technology has hampered our public services for too long, and it’s costing us all a fortune in time and money,” said Peter Kyle, science security. “My department will put AI to work, speeding up our ability to deliver our Plan for Change, improve lives and drive growth. We will use technology to bear down hard to the nonsensical approach the public sector takes to sharing information and working together to help the people it serves. We will also end delays businesses face when they are applying for licenses or permits, when they just want to get on with the task in hand – growth.”
Watch thought leader Vishal Bhalla reflect on the pros and cons of AI technology
Process intelligence helps Oklahoma drive transparency and accountability
The State of Oklahoma is using AI-powered process intelligence to monitor how taxpayer dollars are being spent within state agencies. In partnership with process mining leader Celonis, Oklahoma’s Office of Management and Enterprise Services is utilizing advanced data analytics to enhance transparency, reduce inefficiencies and improve accountability across state operations, according to a press release. “By embracing technology, Oklahoma is leading the nation with its commitment to spend tax dollars responsibly,” said governor Kevin Stitt. “These efforts not only streamline day-to-day purchases within agencies but encourage state employees to maximize the value of every taxpayer dollar.”
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The Celonis Process Intelligence Platform analyzes and optimizes processes by examining data from various systems to visualize inefficiencies and identify opportunities for improvement. “Oklahoma is the first state to adopt Celonis’ groundbreaking technology for procurement and process optimization,” commented Rick Rose, state chief operating officer (COO). “The insights we gain allow us to strengthen our operations and address flagged purchases much sooner.”
Watch Madison Lundquist, principal research lead at APQC, discuss team structures for process excellence
Discover Airlines appoints new COO to drive OPEX
Discover Airlines, Lufthansa Group’s quality leisure airline in Germany, appointed Sascha Unterbarnscheidt as its new chief operating officer (COO) and accountable manager, effective March 2025. In his new role, Unterbarnscheidt will assume overall responsibility for the leisure airline’s operations and drive the strategic development and expansion of the organization, according to a press release.
“We are very happy to welcome Sascha, an expert with many years of varied experience, who is also very familiar with the special requirements of the leisure airline business from his time at Eurowings,” commented Bernd Bauer, CEO of Discover Airlines. “Operational efficiency, stability and reliability will be important factors for our continued success. I am convinced that Sascha’s expertise and experience from significantly larger airlines will help us to successfully and sustainably master the next growth steps.”
Watch Cathy Gu, deputy divisional director of IQPC, preview OPEX Week Business Transformation World Summit 2025
South Wales Fire and Rescue unveils new OPEX strategy
The South Wales Fire and Rescue Service recently held a workshop to review draft proposals for a new cultural change and OPEX strategy. The strategy aims to guide the service through challenges while maintaining its commitment to protecting over 1.5 million people in South Wales.
“We have been building a strategy that outlines our journey and how we work together to create and embed OPEX operational excellence,” said Fin Monahan, chief fire officer. “We will take a two-speed approach to our change. There are immediate changes we know we need to make in the short term, but our strategic changes will be bigger and will take more time to develop.”
Where possible, South Wales Fire and Rescue will quickly exploit opportunities such as introducing a mediation process, delivering conflict resolution training and exploiting technologies to make the service more effective.
“We want our vision, mission and values to be our bedrock for who we are how we get things done in South Wales Fire and Rescue Service,” commented Dominic Mika, director of strategic change and transformation. “Our transformation program is ambitious, and we are committed to seeing unprecedented change and improvement across the service – another big step forward for us in our transformation journey.”
Watch Pradheep Kileti, director at National Grid, outline balancing operations and innovation
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