13 trends that will shape process excellence in 2025

Process excellence in 2025 – what is it going to look like? Process excellence is constantly evolving, with multiple factors contributing to significant shifts in the ongoing pursuit of enhancing the efficiency, effectiveness and quality of business processes. Process excellence enables organizations to deliver better results and drive growth, combining process improvement, design and management techniques that optimize organizational performance.

Technology innovation, changing business requirements and stark workforce developments are creating a ‘perfect storm’ of opportunity and challenge – redefining what process excellence means for organizations today and raising important questions about reaching and maintaining process excellence benchmarks.

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As we head into 2025, here are 13 trends that are expected to play big roles in shaping the process excellence landscape in the coming year.

1. AI-driven enhancements
2. Hyperautomation
3. Human-centric process design
4. Process intelligence
5. BPM and EAM synchronization
6. Low-code/no-code platforms
7. Sustainability and green operations
8. Operational resilience and cyber security
9. Digital twins and scenario modeling
10. Object-centric process management
11. Lean and Six Sigma
12. Impact and implementation considerations
13. Digital transformation

1. AI-driven enhancements

As has been the case the last few years, AI be an unrelenting, game-changing force in process excellence in 2025. “AI companions or copilots will democratize process excellence, making it accessible to broader, less specialized user communities,” says Steve Ponting, regional director at Software AG. “AI’s ability to drive top-down efficiency savings and the critical mass from bottom-up AI-enabled adoption will inject a new impetus.”

AI will likely see enough advancements to starting actively and autonomously undertaking the design, monitoring and adjustment of all process workflows, adds Apoorva Dawalbhakta, associate director (research) and strategic consultant at QKS Group. “This will lead to an obvious minimization of active human intervention in routine tasks and process flows, thereby enabling a high intensity focus on key value generating activities.”

As AI models keep redefining processes and underlying trends, we could begin to see a meta-transformation in the interaction between AI and processes, according to Rahul Zende, principal data scientist at Navy Federal Credit Union. “Newer AI could, in turn, improve existing AI embedding within (recently) revamped processes, thereby leading to a new meaning to the terms ‘self-healing’ and ‘autonomous’ when associated with processes.”

Watch Lee Bogner, Mars Inc., discusses the importance of data in AI

The integration of generative AI and large language models (LLMs) will move beyond simple automation to enable real-time process optimization and decision support, says Sidharth Ramsinghaney, director of strategy and operations at Twilio.

Zende concurs, viewing generative AI as a “stepping stone” to machines becoming closer aligned with human ways of working, especially involving matters that involve communicating emotions and feelings. “We are likely to see some leaps made in the behavioural/biometric aspects of human-computer interaction in 2025.”

The PEX Report 2024/25, PEX Network’s flagship industry research report, revealed that AI will be the biggest investment area for enhancing operational excellence (OPEX) and business transformation initiatives in the next 12 months. More than half (58 percent) of surveyed professionals said their organization has discussed potential AI projects, with operations the leading area where AI is being leveraged.

Meanwhile, generative AI use in organizations jumped from 55 percent in 2023 to 75 percent in 2024, according to research from Microsoft and analyst firm IDC. The data reflects a tipping point as AI gains momentum across industries. It found that for every $1 a company invests in generative AI, the return on investment (ROI) is $3.7x, with the top leaders using generative AI - realizing an ROI of $10.3.

2. Hyperautomation

Upon this backdrop of evolving AI, hyperautomation (the symbiotic integration of technologies like AI, robotic process automation (RPA) and machine learning) will also continue to emerge as a significant catalyst for undertaking the end-to-end automation of enterprise processes, Dawalbhakta says.

“A combination of cutting-edge RPA and AI will bring about a new type of ‘supercharged’ improvement to many walks of life, both creating new efficiencies and new possibilities along the way,” agrees Zende.

Watch Ramnath Natarajan, Johnson Controls, outlines running an intelligent automation center of excellence

3. Human-centric process design

While everyone’s looking at AI and automation as the main process excellence trends in 2025, don’t overlook the power of human-centric process design. Process excellence will progressively focus on optimizing both employee and customer experiences. “Organizations will realize that process excellence isn’t just about efficiency; it’s about creating processes that empower people,” says Nell VH, business development expert and digital entrepreneur. As remote work solidifies, effective collaboration tools will also become vital. “Expect a shift towards personalization in process management that prioritizes user experience. This approach leads to happier teams and, ultimately, better outcomes.”

Real-time experience monitoring will drive continuous process improvement and the integration of voice of customer (VoC) and voice of process (VoP) will become standard practice, adds Ramsinghaney.

Watch Dan Riley, RADICL and Society for People Analytics (SPA), reflects on how vital people are to an organization’s success

4. Process intelligence

Process intelligence will be an integral part of key organizational processes, driven by the high demand for active responses and the promotion of adaptability, especially in the context of rapidly changing environments. A continued convergence of business process management (BPM) and process mining will pave the way to process intelligence where organizations can seamlessly use the insights from documented processes in the process mining exercise and vice-versa, says Caspar Jans, principal BPM specialist at Celonis.

Ramsinghaney predicts this to extend to “predictive process intelligence” where advanced analytics and AI will enable organizations to anticipate process bottlenecks and failures before they occur. “Decision intelligence will be embedded throughout core business processes,” he adds.

Watch Tony Benedict, Association of BPM Professionals International, discusses breaking down silos in process management

5. BPM and EAM synchronization

A trend that stands out to Marc Stromberg, sales and key account manager at GBTEC, is the synchronization of BPM with enterprise asset management (EAM), leading to a more harmonized, efficient and proactive approach to process management and asset utilization. “By viewing both assets and processes through a unified lens, organizations can improve operational performance, reduce costs, mitigate risks, enhance sustainability and better align their operations with strategic business goals.”

This integrated approach helps drive continuous improvement and supports a holistic view of process excellence that optimizes not just the flow of work but the assets that enable that work to be done efficiently and effectively, he adds.

Watch James Friend, NHS England, reflects on defining business problems in process management

6. Low-code/no-code platforms

Low-code and no-code platforms – applications that allow people with either minimal or no coding skills to create processes, workflows and automations – will become even more popular in 2025. They allow non-technical users (also known as citizen developers) to create and modify process maps without needing extensive coding knowledge, says Vineet Mehra, senior platform product owner at Maersk and PEX Network Advisory Board member. “This democratization of process management will enable faster innovation and adaptation.”

Low- and no-code platforms empower business users by promoting enhancements in design and optimization, thereby accelerating the total spectrum of digital transformation enabling grass-roots process excellence initiatives. “Ultimately, by democratizing the end-to-end process management cycle, these platforms greatly assist in expanding capacity, along with streamlining development cycles,” says Dawalbhakta. “This leads to appropriate process response, based on the growing need for agility and faster time-to-market.”

7. Sustainability and green operations

Sustainability and environmental factors will become a core key performance indicator (KPI) in process excellence initiatives in 2025, with organizations optimizing processes not just for efficiency and cost but also for carbon footprint and resource consumption. “With increasing consumer demand for sustainable practices, companies will integrate eco-friendly processes and technologies to reduce their environmental impact,” says Mehra. “I think companies need to reevaluate their processes to ensure special contracts with their customers that encompass environmental, social and governance (ESG) deliverables to stay ahead of competitors.”

Related market pressures, regulatory norms around sustainable practices and compliance adherence requirements are creating sustainability-rich mindsets and policies, adds Dawalbhakta. “These sustainability policies should be embedded across the organization, promoting process excellence as a ‘natural and organic approach’ that supports actions like designing workflows based on the associated environmental impacts.”

Watch Tyrone Smith Jr., University of Southern California (USC), explores prioritizing humanity in the age of AI 

8. Operational resilience and cyber security

Operational resilience will be a notable process excellence trend in 2025, driven by the EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA), set to become applicable in early January. DORA mandates organizations to adopt comprehensive measures to increase digital operational resilience and mitigate cyber threats and third-party IT risks.

“Business is becoming more complex and more reliant on resources outside of core IT’s control,” says Ponting. Understanding and managing risk associated with third parties including outsourcing, infrastructure providers and SaaS applications will be critical to ensuring continuity, he adds.

“As cyber threats evolve, organizations will need to embed robust cyber security measures into their process excellence initiatives to protect sensitive data and maintain trust,” says Mehra.

9. Digital twins and scenario modeling

The virtual replication of business processes (also known as digital twins), combined with scenario modeling, will increasingly enable organizations to simulate and stress-test processes before actual implementation, says Dawalbhakta. “With uncertain factors like supply chain disruptions and associated market volatility, achieving resiliency in such unpredictable conditions becomes all the more critical and imperative. This can be achieved through the ideation and implementation of digital twins and scenario modeling concepts,” he adds.

Almost a third (30 percent) of organizations have spent over $10 million on digital twin technology in the last year, double the proportion from the previous period, according to research from Siemens and S&P Global.

Wtach experts from Johnson & Johnson, Siemens Healthineers and Venera explore the critical role of technology during organizational transformation

Other process excellence trends to watch out for in 2025

• 10. Object-centric process management: “Similar to object-centric process mining, the way the process repository is structured will become more object-centric, allowing for more connectedness between the various parts of organizations,” says Jans.

• 11. Lean and Six Sigma: Reinventing process designs to fit trusted quality standards like Lean and Six Sigma will help businesses drive change management across enterprise-level process strategy, says Mehra.

• 12. Impact and implementation considerations: Organizations need to invest in upskilling their workforce to leverage new capabilities, says Ramsinghaney. “Success will require breaking down silos between process excellence teams and other functions. Change management will be critical as organizations adapt to more dynamic and automated processes.”

• 13. Digital transformation: Ongoing digital transformation will continue to reshape how organizations manage their internal processes. "Companies will need to stay agile and adapt to market shifts quickly, enabling them to reduce process complexities across various geographies and scale fast with greater value for their users and customers,” says Mehra.

The key to success in 2025 will be building adaptive process excellence that can continuously evolve with changing business needs and technological capabilities. Organizations that can effectively combine these trends while maintaining focus on business outcomes will gain significant competitive advantage.

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