Process is eating the world!

What’s the single biggest X factor to successful artificial intelligence (AI) adoption for businesses today? It’s not the technology itself. Organizations are investing heavily in AI and delivering impressive prototypes.

The real struggle lies in putting the technology into production and something far less headline-grabbing but infinitely more critical to long-term success – process. 

That’s right, process. It runs your business, and it determines whether AI scales effectively or stalls out. Process holds the key to the return on investment (ROI) doubts and challenges that executives are eager to solve. 

Marc Andreessen’s 2011 prediction that “software is eating the world” became the rallying cry for innovation. Today, there’s something else critical to business performance, especially in the AI-first era. Process is eating the world. 

Companies that learn to master their processes now will gain sustainable competitive advantage and dominate the coming wave of AI innovation. The biggest challenge to any complex change is the lack of current state understanding. Actionable process data is the last gap to being able to achieve holistic, autonomous, data-driven decision-making across the emerging agentic enterprise. 

This article explores why process is central to modern enterprise success, how process gaps are hurting performance and why process intelligence is emerging as the indispensable bridge between business and AI. 

Process runs your business

Every task – from closing a sale to issuing an invoice to sourcing materials – is part of a larger web of processes. Hire-to-retire, procure-to-pay, issue-to-resolution and others – these complex, end-to-end workflows are the backbone of any enterprise operation. 

Yet for many organizations, these processes remain poorly understood and inefficient. Departments operate in silos and leaders struggle to see the big picture unable to connect the dots. Without a clear understanding of how work gets done, companies are left relying on instinct, not data. 

Some expect AI will pick up the slack, but here’s the hard truth for businesses entering the AI-first era: you can’t optimize what you don’t understand. If you aim to apply AI to automate, innovate or scale your enterprise, you first need a deep understanding of your processes. 

Gaps challenge business performance 

Enterprise leaders face two critical challenges in scaling AI adoption: transitioning pilots into production and proving a clear ROI. Behind both lies a common issue – poor process visibility. Research shows that only 1 percent of organizations have their processes sufficiently under control to fully leverage their digital solutions. This gap contributes to massive losses, with IDC reporting inefficient processes costing companies 20 – 30 percent of revenue annually.

The problem? Many businesses take a technology-first approach, treating AI as a potential quick fix. Yet even the most advanced models can’t succeed without reliable workflows guiding them. Transformative AI programs require structured and optimized operations. As we learned with digital transformation, technology alone is not the answer.

McKinsey estimates that failed change initiatives cost companies $900 billion annually, with only 14 percent achieving sustainable results. To close this gap, businesses must first strengthen process intelligence, creating a resilient foundation for AI to scale effectively while proving predictable returns.

No AI without PI

A staggering 87 percent of AI models never reach production. Why? Process inefficiencies prevent organizations from operationalizing many pilots, leaving initiatives stuck in pilot purgatory. Fragmented workflows worsen inefficiencies, making it nearly impossible to measure or achieve ROI.

The solution lies in understanding that process intelligence isn’t optional. It’s the backbone that supports AI deployment by connecting ambitious goals with actionable execution. By unifying data and enabling clean workflow redesigns, process intelligence ensures that AI investments translate into measurable value.

Process discovery enables businesses to address process gaps to improve efficiency and accelerate ROI, transforming AI from potential to performance. Models alone do not guarantee success in the new AI-first era. They have to be incorporated into a high-performance enterprise motion to gain competitive advantage and drive value.

Non-negotiable capabilities of modern process AI 

To effectively evaluate and implement a modern process intelligence program, understanding the essential capabilities it should offer is critical. Any cutting-edge process AI platform must include five critical process capabilities: discovery, analytics, monitoring, prediction and simulation.

1. Process discovery
   Automatically map workflows using event logs and system data to reveal inefficiencies and redundancies. Gain a clear view of current operations as the foundation for meaningful improvement.
2. Process analytics
   Transform raw data into actionable insights with advanced metrics like flow efficiency and cycle times. Dig deeper than surface-level KPIs to identify priority areas for impactful change.
3. Process monitoring
   Stay proactive with real-time tracking and alerts. Monitor workflows to ensure compliance, prevent issues and maintain smooth operations.
4. Process prediction
   Use AI-driven insights to forecast trends, spot risks and preempt bottlenecks. Empower faster, smarter decisions for sustained competitive advantage.
5. Process simulation
   Test new ideas in a digital twin of workflows. Experiment with changes risk-free to refine processes and ensure seamless implementation.

Together, these five core capabilities form the ultimate toolkit for delivering process intelligence. They empower organizations to gain clarity, maintain agility and ensure operational excellence (OPEX) in an increasingly competitive landscape. When these capabilities work in harmony, businesses maximize efficiency, minimize risks and consistently drive long-term success.

The future belongs to process-led innovators 

Organizations that master their processes today will lead the AI-first era tomorrow. By prioritizing process intelligence, you can turn inefficiencies into opportunities, break down silos and build the foundation for AI to thrive in your enterprise. 

Now is the time to act. Don’t wait for another quarter to unlock AI-driven processes and transform the way your business operates. Bring process into your core business strategy now and speed operationalization of your AI-driven processes today.