Ep. 119 - Progressive BPM: Volker Stiehl

It feels as if we have a little streak going on here—guests who question the current operating mode of process teams today beyond just optimizing the existing process landscape. But then what?

It is about using "process" to create new value. That's where "Progressive BPM" comes in, created by this week's guest, Volker Stiehl.

Volker is Professor of Business Information Systems at Technische Hochschule Ingolstadt and initiator of Progressive BPM. With his "Processes First" principle, he shows how companies turn innovative ideas into executable digital business models. As the faculty’s Startup Commissioner, he also supports new ventures, following twelve years at Siemens and twelve years at SAP.

In this episode of the ⁠podcast,⁠ we talk about:

• Introduction to Progressive BPM: Inspired by progressive rock, Progressive BPM emphasizes creativity, new ideas, and forward-looking digital transformation over traditional optimization.
• The Process Paradox: Despite being fundamental to products and services, BPM often remains a niche interest rather than a strategic imperative.
• Digitize vs. Digitalization vs. Digital Transformation: Digitize replaces analog materials with digital ones; digitalization focuses on efficiency and cost savings; digital transformation leverages IT to create new solutions customers pay for.
• Classical BPM vs. Progressive BPM: Classical BPM focuses on continuous optimization and bottom-line savings, whereas Progressive BPM targets top-line growth and new market opportunities.
• Overcoming the AI Distraction: Instead of spending 98% of time tracking AI trends without execution, Progressive BPM uses AI as a catalyst to drive insights into action through processes.
• The Abstraction Problem: Organizations often treat processes abstractly, missing the opportunity to understand the core engine driving the business.
• Starting Point 1 – The Greenfield Approach: Addresses an unsolved customer problem—like retirement planning—through an automated end-to-end process.
• Starting Point 2 – The Inside-Out Approach: Turns valuable internal process expertise into external offerings for other companies (e.g., SAP scaling internal translation workflows).
• Starting Point 3 – The AI Rebuild: Rethinks broader end-to-end processes into scalable services rather than just replacing individual steps with AI automation.
• Turning Static Knowledge into Executable Processes: Converting expert domain knowledge into executable processes creates unique, monetizable assets protected from simple AI scraping.
• B2C Potential for Process Models: Progressive BPM extends beyond enterprise scenarios to consumer domain processes, such as interactive workflows for growing plants.
• Corporate Culture and Startup Spinoffs: Establishing spin-off startups allows teams to de-risk early ventures and build entrepreneurial momentum outside rigid corporate IT.
• Open Standards Over Proprietary Tools: Relies on open-source standards like BPMN and DMN rather than locking core operations into proprietary platforms.
• Domain Processes vs. Integration Processes: Separates core domain logic from technical integration tasks to build adaptable process architectures.
• Connecting with the What's Your Baseline? Community: Connect with Volker Stiehl on ⁠LinkedIn or via ⁠email⁠, and catch Roland and Volker at the process management event in Stuttgart (Sep. 30 and Oct. 1).

Please reach out by sending an email to ⁠hello@whatsyourbaseline.com⁠ or subscribing to our newsletter on Substack at ⁠whatsyourbaseline.substack.com⁠.

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