Oklahoma saves $10 million with process intelligence

The State of Oklahoma has unlocked more than US$10 million in value by leveraging process intelligence. Oklahoma unveiled results from the first year of leveraging the Celonis Process Intelligence platform to enhance visibility into its processes as it positions itself as a national leader in efficient, transparent and accountable governance.

As part of the state’s collaboration with Celonis, Oklahoma has deployed an artificial intelligence (AI) copilot to simplify access to process insights for procurement specialists and leadership, focusing on flagged and exempt purchase orders. This has generated direct financial savings and efficiency gains, enabling Oklahoma to reinvest resources into critical public services.

What is process intelligence?

Process intelligence is data that has been systematically collected to analyze individual steps of business processes. It is an evolving component of process discovery that turns raw process data into a continuous flow of accurate, unbiased process insights to pinpoint inefficiencies and bottlenecks.

Organizations are progressively adopting process intelligence technology to enhance processes with many using federated models and centralized centers of excellence for efficiency, according to Forrester’s The State Of Process Intelligence, 2024 report.

“Process intelligence is becoming increasingly important for organizations seeking to gain a competitive advantage through process optimization and data-driven decision-making,” Pranjal Singh, principal industry analyst, tells PEX Network.

Learn more by downloading The power of process intelligence: 2024 industry report

Oklahoma boosts efficiency and streamlines workflows

As the first US state to implement Celonis in 2023, Oklahoma has taken bold steps to modernize its operations and strengthen its stewardship of taxpayer funds, said Rick Rose, state chief operating officer and director of the Oklahoma Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES). “By harnessing the power of process intelligence and AI, the state has boosted efficiency, streamlined workflows and realized significant financial and operational improvements across its agencies.”

OMES is using technology to monitor how taxpayer dollars are being spent within Oklahoma’s 118 agencies. This has helped identify $8.48 billion of statutory exempt purchases, $190 million in flagged purchase card transactions and $5.63 million in transactions that exposed areas for agencies to implement better controls and education.

What’s more, process intelligence has driven improved purchase oversight by reviewing $29.4 billion worth of purchase order lines in record time, ensuring greater transparency and accountability. 

The state has also:

• Optimized its procurement lifecycle by accelerating approval processes and reducing redundant expenses.
• Made improvements in accounts payable via streamlined invoice handling, minimizing overdue payments and errors.
• Enhanced its delivery of citizen services, cutting response times and increasing satisfaction levels.

Setting the standard for OPEX in the public sector

Public sector organizations face increasing pressure to maximize resources and deliver high-quality services. Oklahoma’s success underscores the potential of innovative technology to drive transformation and, by automating routine processes and enabling smarter workflows, the state is setting a new standard in public sector operational excellence (OPEX).

“Previously, processing this amount of data would be time-consuming and expensive, requiring us to contract more than 45 people,” said Janet Morrow, director risk, assessment and compliance at OMES. “Now we can do much more in a significantly shorter timeframe, saving thousands of hours in manual labor and tens of thousands of tax dollars in wages, allowing us to redirect our workforce to other areas where they’re needed.”

Oklahoma’s approach sets a benchmark for what is possible when government organizations embrace process intelligence, added Mark Jacobs, SVP of North America at Celonis. “By leveraging the power of Celonis, Oklahoma has not only boosted its efficiency but also transformed how its agencies operate. This success highlights how our platform empowers teams with the insights they need to identify improvement opportunities, make informed decisions and ensure accountability to taxpayers and we look forward to building on this momentum to help the state achieve even greater outcomes in the years ahead.”

Building on its initial success, Oklahoma plans to expand its use of process intelligence to further streamline operations and ensure accountability in the use of taxpayer funds by expanding modernization initiatives across additional agencies and functions.

Process intelligence is key to AI success

Process intelligence is a crucial factor in enabling successful use of current and emerging AI technology. The data-centric nature of process intelligence not only informs and improves the development and adoption of AI but also supports its continuous monitoring and optimization of end-to-end processes.

In a recent Celonis survey, 89 percent of business leaders said that AI without process intelligence fails to deliver expected results, citing a need for AI to have the context of how their business runs to be effective. Furthermore, the majority (58 percent) of leaders fear that process shortcomings may limit AI’s contribution to their business.

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