Episode 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 … optimizing the existing current process landscape.

But then what?

Well, it is how to use “process” to create new value. And this is where the concept of “Progressive BPM” comes in that was invented by this week’s guest, Volker Stiehl.

Volker is Professor of Business Information Systems at Ingolstadt Technical University of Applied Sciences and the initiator of Progressive BPM.
With his Process-Driven Approach and the guiding principle “Processes First”, he shows how companies can turn innovative ideas into executable digital business models. As the faculty’s Startup Commissioner, he also supports the creation of new ventures.

Previously, he spent twelve years at Siemens and twelve years at SAP in senior expert roles in integration and business process management.

In this episode of the podcast, we talk about:

• Introduction to Progressive BPM: Volker introduces Progressive BPM, an approach inspired by progressive rock that emphasizes creativity, new ideas, and forward-looking digital transformation over traditional optimization.
• The Process Paradox: Despite processes being fundamental to product manufacturing and service delivery, BPM often remains relegated to a niche interest rather than being treated as a strategically imperative discipline.
• Digitize vs. Digitalization vs. Digital Transformation: Volker clarifies the three terms: digitize replaces analog materials with digital ones (like replacing paper forms with PDFs); digitalization focuses on efficiency and saving money; digital transformation leverages IT to create new solutions customers will pay for (making money).
• Classical BPM vs. Progressive BPM: Traditional classical BPM focuses heavily on continuous process optimization (bottom-line savings), whereas Progressive BPM focuses on top-line growth and building new market opportunities.
• Overcoming the AI Distraction: While many teams spend 98% of their time tracking AI trends without clear execution, Progressive BPM positions AI as a catalyst to drive insights directly into real-world action through processes.
• The Abstraction Problem: Organizations often treat processes abstractly or only focus on final products, missing the chance to understand the core capabilities and engine-level processes driving the business.
• Starting Point 1 – The Greenfield Approach: Starts directly with an unsolved, recurring customer problem—such as complex, lifelong retirement planning—and addresses it through an automated end-to-end process from early career to post-retirement.
• Starting Point 2 – The Inside-Out Approach: Involves recognizing valuable internal process expertise and turning it into external offerings for other companies (e.g., SAP scaling internal translation workflow management out to external target markets).
• Starting Point 3 – The AI Rebuild: Uses the integration of AI as an opportunity to rethink and redesign broader end-to-end processes into scalable services rather than just replacing individual step actions with AI automation.
• Turning Static Knowledge into Executable Processes: Relying solely on static media (such as books or static websites) leaves domain knowledge vulnerable to AI scraping; converting expert domain knowledge into executable processes creates unique, monetizable assets.
• B2C Potential for Process Models: Progressive BPM applies not only to enterprise scenarios (like hire-to-retire), but extends to consumer domain processes, such as step-by-step interactive workflows for growing plants.
• Corporate Culture and Startup Spinoffs: Large enterprise IT departments often lack the entrepreneurial drive to launch process-based business models; establishing focused spin-off startups allows teams to celebrate initial growth milestones and de-risk early ventures.
• Open Standards Over Proprietary Tools: Implementing progressive processes should rely on open-source solutions and standards like BPMN and DMN, rather than locking core business operations into rigid programming or proprietary software platforms.
• Domain Processes vs. Integration Processes: Practitioners must separate core domain-specific logic from technical integration tasks to build scalable, adaptable process architectures.
• Connecting with the What’s Your Baseline? Community: Listeners can engage with Volker Stiehl on LinkedIn or via email and catch Roland and Volker at the upcoming process management event in Stuttgart (Sep. 30 and Oct.1).

Please reach out to us by either sending an email to hello@whatsyourbaseline.com or signing up for our newsletter and reading articles about process and architecture on our Substack… Go and subscribe at whatsyourbaseline.substack.com.

And if you like to support “the little podcast that could,” become a Patron at https://www.patreon.com/c/whatsyourbaseline. We appreciate you!

Additional information

• Here is more information on the “All About Process Management” conference in Stuttgart at the end of the month (9/30 and 10/1). If you are there stop by and say “hi”. Or even better, participate in one of the two workshops that Monika and I will give on Day 1.
• And to save some money, use the code AAPMBASELINE26 for 10% off your registration fee.
• The other episode mentioned – “Opportunities for the Future: Michael Rosemann” — https://www.whatsyourbaseline.com/episode-116-opportunites-for-the-future-michael-rosemann/

Credits

Music by Jeremy Voltz, www.jeremyvoltzmusic.com