What does it take to drive real change inside a company like BMW?
In this episode of Trust the Process, we follow Patrick Lechner’s journey from a curious IT specialist to the architect of one of the world’s largest Process Intelligence programs.
It’s a playbook for changemakers - from first pilot to full-scale transformation.
The following is a transcript of the podcast, edited and organized for readability.
In early 2017, something strange was happening at BMW’s most high-tech plant in Munich. A brand-new paint shop — packed with cutting-edge robotics — kept behaving not quite as expected.
It wasn’t the machines. It wasn’t the people. It was the process.
The problem was invisible. And the only people who could fix it... didn’t wear overalls. They weren’t factory veterans either. They were two IT guys with something no one had heard of: process mining.
This isn’t a story about a tool. It’s about the people — the ones who want to make a difference.
Namely, Patrick Lechner and Nicolas Größlein, two IT professionals who saw something others didn’t — and built a movement that would scale across all of BMW.
Patrick Lechner: Yeah, this was back in 2017. My colleague had already seen process mining during his university study, so he already quite liked it. But we got the tool and we thought, what can we do with the tool?
At BMW, we had just had our new paint shop installed here in Munich — I think the most modern, most fancy paint shop you can imagine. But when you start new technology, there are always some issues with the process. Some things could work better, some unexpected things. Two IT guys, we basically went there into the plant and said, maybe let’s try out this new tool.
The paint shop team wasn’t exactly thrilled.
Patrick Lechner: It was quite scary because the guys in this paint shop — they had worked with paint shops for 30 years. They were real experts. They said, "What could those IT nerds help us improve?"
But Patrick had the data — and the data told a different story.
Patrick Lechner: Before, they had to follow the car through the process manually. Look into each step. But we had the data already. With process mining, we helped them to understand their process and to make this paint shop work really smoothly and really excellently.
The results were instant. Throughput stabilized. Backlogs cleared. And something bigger emerged: visibility.
Patrick was hooked. If they could fix this — what else could they fix?
Today, BMW has over 2,000 users of Celonis, targeting 5,000 by the end of 2025. But the tech didn’t scale itself. It was Patrick’s approach to change that made the difference.
Patrick Lechner: We had a very strong bottom-up approach in the beginning. We really talked to people and tried to show them the benefit they can have with process intelligence. BMW people want to try out things. They want to understand why things work or don’t work. If you just tell them to use it, they might not. But if they’re convinced, they’ll use it — and be happy about it.
That mindset started at the paint shop. It spread as people saw real value.
Patrick Lechner: They really were active users. They built their own dashboards. They tried to understand how to use the technology. We saw we had to convince the hearts of the people.
Patrick Lechner: We started with the people who are responsible for making the process work — people sitting in the plant, active in the process. Those were the first change makers we brought in.
Once the people on the ground were on board, Patrick went to leadership. And it worked.
At Siemens, Lars Reinkemeyer saw something similar.
Lars Reinkemeyer: Most of the cases — 60% to 80% of the successes — are driven by an executive sponsor. That means not just saying, “Great thing, keep going,” but standing up and saying, “We need to transform. This is the capability that supports it.”
Lars Reinkemeyer: There’s a study of 200+ companies from the Fraunhofer Institute. An executive sponsor was the most critical success factor — even more than a highly qualified team or deep business knowledge.
Whether it’s BMW or Siemens, change doesn’t start with a tool. It starts with a changemaker.
If you want to scale Process Intelligence, you need structure.
Enter the Center of Excellence.
Lars Reinkemeyer: We asked 214 companies — 100% said a CoE is important to drive transformation and leverage this capability. Companies with a CoE had a 9x higher probability of realizing quick ROI.
At BMW, Patrick built a system that blended central expertise with local knowledge.
Patrick Lechner: We really want to have tool expertise, how to operate, how to maintain use cases centrally. That’s very important for us — that we’re not located in one business area, but can help all business areas.
Patrick Lechner: That’s where the Centers of Competence come in. They’re experts in their prime processes — production, after-sales, engineering. They come with the use cases. We help implement them and bring in technologies like AI.
BMW created a dual structure: a centralized CoE focused on tooling and scalability, and decentralized competence centers embedded across the business.
Patrick Lechner: We have a central team located in Munich and Porto — seven people in Munich, sixteen in Porto — driving Process Intelligence forward. They’re experts in operational, tool, and process excellence.
Each team member has a clear role.
Patrick Lechner: We have a product owner — that’s me — who defines the vision. We have subject leads for each process area. Data engineers for the backend — we’ve connected 360 systems already. Analysts for the front end. UX/UI experts. AI experts. Everyone plays a role.
Siemens took a similar path.
Lars Reinkemeyer: We started with a project team. Then said, let’s make it a Center of Excellence. The business saw the impact and gave us trust — we grew to 40 people supporting 6,000 users.
Show value. Build structure. Scale.
Once BMW had the right people and structure, they tackled more complex challenges — like the full customer journey.
Patrick Lechner: This is our new retail function — selling cars more directly, getting more interaction with customers. It’s a big game changer for BMW. Over 300 IT systems involved. Sales, financial services, production — all involved.
Object-Centric Process Mining helped them connect it all.
Patrick Lechner: Normally, a customer visits a dealer. They have a wishlist — object one. They take a test drive. They get an offer. Maybe they need financing. The interaction becomes complex.
Before, it all lived in silos. Now?
Patrick Lechner: For the first time, we can see the customer journey. How they’re dealt with by the dealer, by finance. We really see what’s happening.
Patrick Lechner: For each customer it’s different. Wishlist. Offer ID. Financial offer. Test drive. Car. Production. Delivery. Every object interacts in a different way.
That’s what lets BMW connect the front office to the backend — and turn thousands of moving parts into one seamless experience.
The automotive industry is changing fast. New tech. New players. Slimmer margins.
Patrick Lechner: We’re in a strong changing phase. Electric vehicles. 5G. Internet of Things. New competitors — very agile, much faster.
Julian Fischer (McKinsey): Productivity rates in Europe are 30% lower than in North America. That gap has to be closed through efficiency programs. Process Intelligence is a huge lever.
Julian Fischer: When you link disconnected functions — especially interfaces — you find value pockets. Handoffs that don’t work. KPIs that aren’t aligned. Lack of transparency.
BMW built an ecosystem — not just a platform.
Champions. CoEs. Executive sponsors. From two IT guys to a company-wide transformation.
Patrick didn’t set out to build a global transformation program. Lars didn’t start with 6,000 users.
Lars Reinkemeyer: It’s about finding people who are passionate to do things differently. Open to change. Open to adopting new tech. Show what can be done — and inspire others.
That’s what Patrick and Nicolas did in the paint shop.
Patrick Lechner: We showed them it’s a tool to improve the process — not to blame anyone.
He earned trust by listening. Built momentum through value. Scaled with structure.
That’s the changemaker’s playbook.
Join us next time as we jump into a new role in the CFO Office.
Because when people drive change, and processes work — everything works.
