Munich Startup: 12 years old, over 3,000 employees and several million euros in sales last year – can Celonis still be called a “startup”?
Remy Lazarovici: With our current size, we have now outgrown the common definition of a startup. us is secondary. We focus on our business, the further development of our software, and on generating as much added value as possible for our customers.
Munich Startup: How has Celonis changed since its founding?
Remy Lazarovici: Growing from three to over 3,000 employees means massive changes in almost all areas. This primarily affects structures and processes. Internationalization is also having a major impact on our current positioning.
Our role in the market, however, has remained the same: Celonis was a pioneer of process mining from the very beginning and, according to analysts, continues to be the pioneer and market leader in this field today. However, the market is still only partially developed. For us, this means there's still enormous potential.
What has fundamentally changed, however, is that in the early days, nobody knew Celonis, and hardly anyone even knew what process mining was. Now we're well-known as a company, and process mining has become an established software category.
“Examine entire process chains and their interdependencies”
Munich Startup: And what is your current focus?
Remy Lazarovici: Fundamentally, we remain committed to using our technology to best support our customers in becoming more efficient, resilient, and sustainable. In terms of product development, our focus is on the latest generation of process mining, which offers customers significantly more options. Put simply, process mining could previously only analyze and optimize individual processes. Now we can examine entire process chains and their interdependencies. If, for example, materials are delivered late, this naturally impacts production, the delivery of finished goods, and ultimately invoicing. Our software essentially creates a digital twin of our customers' organizations, giving them a much clearer overview. Another current focus of our development work is the further integration of AI technologies, such as large language models.
Munich Startup: With the Celonis Labs, you have not only created your own innovation center, but also several Executive Briefing Center How does this fit into Celonis's strategy?
Remy Lazarovici: The Celonis Labs are important to us because they allow us to anticipate technological aspects and the use of new technologies that extend far beyond current product development. They are therefore part of our corporate strategy and support us in becoming and remaining a technological pioneer.
Celonis works closely with customers
The Executive Briefing Center concept is a key component for close collaboration with our customers. They can test our software live on-site, view practical examples, and develop and test customized application scenarios together with our experts. Close collaboration with our customers and personal contact are firmly anchored in our corporate culture, which is one of the reasons why we have created a dedicated area for this at our headquarters in Munich. I myself frequently attend such meetings, and they are among my favorites, as new and exciting approaches to creating added value with our customers are always discovered there.
Munich Startup: What challenges are you currently facing?
Remy Lazarovici: We recently had the opportunity to Celosphere introduced the next generation of process mining technology. For the insider readers: Object-centric process mining offers versatile new application possibilities for the analysis of end-to-end processes and is based on the Process Intelligence Graph – our latest innovation. Helping our customers optimally utilize the associated new potential is currently a focus of my work.
“Put greater focus on sustainability”
Munich Startup: What milestones are you working towards next?
Remy Lazarovici: So far, our customers have been using our software to save costs through improved efficiency. One of our key priorities is to focus more on sustainability. Improved efficiency, for example in logistics, also means fewer resources are consumed. Put simply: Better utilization of truck capacity or routes not only saves costs, but also reduces fuel consumption and lowers CO2 emissions.
Munich Startup: Have the opportunities for young startups in Munich improved since you were founded?
Remy Lazarovici: Definitely yes. The universities continue to be outstanding, and students benefit from an excellent education. In recent years, the City of Munich, the universities, and especially institutions such as UnternehmerTUM has improved significantly. There are also more established companies willing to work with startups.
Munich Startup: How do you assess the Munich startup ecosystem from today’s perspective?
Remy Lazarovici: The aforementioned triad of universities, funding, and so-called anchor customers certainly makes Munich a very good location for startups nationwide. However, compared internationally, there is certainly still room for improvement – especially in terms of the number of successful startups and their scaling.
