Process mining has emerged as a pivotal tool for organizations striving to identify and rectify inefficiencies within their intricate operational frameworks. By harnessing data-driven methodologies, process mining enables the discovery, monitoring, and enhancement of business processes. This technology functions by extracting event logs from enterprise systems, constructing visual workflows that illuminate bottlenecks and compliance issues often overlooked. When combined with artificial intelligence (AI), process mining's capabilities are further amplified, facilitating predictive analytics and automated process optimizations. This advanced functionality is particularly beneficial for utility companies managing legacy IT systems, navigating regulatory challenges, and integrating renewable energy resources. It empowers them to adapt more effectively to volatile market dynamics and enhance overall operational efficiency.
A notable collaboration exemplifying this synergy involves Celonis, Microsoft, and Uniper. This partnership integrates Microsoft's AI technologies, Uniper's expertise in the energy market, and Celonis' process intelligence platform to implement large-scale, AI-powered automation across Uniper's operational framework. The objective is to provide Uniper with deeper insights into its business processes, enabling AI-driven improvements throughout its organizational structure.
Uniper's Digital Transformation Journey
Uniper, a leading global utility company, has been at the forefront of digital transformation within the energy sector. Recognizing the need to modernize its operations, Uniper embarked on a comprehensive digitalization strategy aimed at optimizing its power generation fleet and enhancing safety standards. In 2018, the company's Internal Audit department initiated a pilot project utilizing Celonis' Process Mining technology to analyze the maintenance processes of a power plant. This initiative uncovered opportunities to improve safety and reduce costs, leading to the establishment of a Center of Excellence (CoE) dedicated to driving process mining across the enterprise. (celonis.com)
The CoE operates as a matrix organization, comprising project managers, data engineers, process analysts, and implementation experts. This structure ensures clear responsibilities and facilitates the delivery of process optimization and automation from a single source. By implementing process mining at scale, Uniper has achieved significant financial value, including savings exceeding 2 million euros in areas such as plant maintenance, energy trading, and IT service management. Beyond financial gains, the company has realized qualitative benefits, such as improved safety for workers, reduced operational risks, and faster time-to-market in sales. (celonis.com)
Strategic Collaboration with Microsoft
In April 2021, Celonis announced a strategic partnership with Microsoft to accelerate intelligent business execution. This collaboration aimed to integrate Celonis' Execution Management System (EMS) with Microsoft's cloud data services, analytics, and intelligent automation platforms. Joint customers can deploy the Celonis EMS on Microsoft Azure, enabling real-time process data analysis from enterprise systems. The integration also includes enhancements to Microsoft Power BI, providing strengthened analytics capabilities, and forthcoming integrations with Microsoft Power Platform and Power Apps to facilitate intelligent automation. (celonis.com)
Building upon this foundation, in April 2025, Celonis and Microsoft expanded their strategic collaboration by integrating process intelligence into Microsoft Fabric. This development allows Microsoft customers to leverage process intelligence across Microsoft Fabric, driving AI innovation with built-in, contextual process data. (celonis.com)
Implementation and Outcomes at Uniper
The collaboration between Celonis, Microsoft, and Uniper has led to the implementation of AI-powered automation across Uniper's operational framework. By integrating Celonis' process intelligence platform with Microsoft's AI technologies, Uniper has gained deeper insights into its business processes, enabling AI-driven improvements throughout its organizational structure. This synergy has facilitated the optimization of maintenance processes, enhanced safety standards, and improved operational efficiency.
For instance, Uniper's application of process mining to plant maintenance processes has resulted in increased operational efficiency and reduced maintenance costs. The company has also applied process mining to improve human resource recruiting efforts, enhancing recruitment cycle times and ensuring efficient onboarding of talent. Additionally, hydropower operations have benefited from process mining, optimizing workflows and reducing process waste, directly contributing to Uniper's sustainability goals. (tf-pm.org)
Challenges and Future Prospects
While the collaboration has yielded significant benefits, it has not been without challenges. Ensuring data privacy and regulatory compliance, particularly concerning sensitive employee and operational data, has been a critical consideration. To address these challenges, Uniper has fostered open dialogue with internal stakeholders, including the Workers Council, to ensure transparency and security in all data processing activities. (tf-pm.org)
Looking ahead, Uniper is committed to advancing its process mining capabilities and sees significant potential in emerging trends such as Object-Centric Process Mining (OCPM). OCPM promises a more detailed understanding of operational data, providing deeper insights into the flow of processes across the organization. As demand for process mining grows, Uniper is also managing an increasing number of requests for its CoE services, indicating a broader organizational rollout and full-scale adoption of process mining across business units. (tf-pm.org)
Conclusion
The collaboration between Celonis, Microsoft, and Uniper exemplifies the transformative potential of integrating process mining with AI technologies in the energy sector. By leveraging data-driven methodologies and advanced analytics, Uniper has enhanced operational efficiency, improved safety standards, and achieved significant financial savings. This partnership underscores the importance of strategic collaborations in driving digital transformation and operational excellence in the energy industry.
Source: Energy Digital Magazine Celonis, Microsoft & Uniper: Energy Process Mining
