B3 – Brazilian Exchange and OTC + Celonis

A culture of process improvement

B3 is the Brazilian Stock Exchange, and one of the world’s largest financial market infrastructure companies, providing trading services in both an exchange and over-the-counter (OTC) environment. It aims to connect, develop, and enable the financial and capital markets, while boosting the growth of Brazil.

B3 focuses on delivering the best possible experiences and outcomes for its customers. This focus is vital to compete in a tough economic environment characterized by high inflation, and to ensure B3 remains customers’ first choice when new entrants are challenging its position.

To support customer centricity, B3 has adopted a culture of data-driven process optimization and continuous improvement. It now has a Process Intelligence team – which acts as a Celonis Center of Excellence (CoE) – led by Head of Process Intelligence Renato Sanchetta.

Sanchetta rebranded and reorganized the team after attending Celosphere 2024. He realized the power of framing data-driven process optimization in terms of business transformation and value creation, rather than as a methodology.

“We changed the way we talk to the company,” explains Sanchetta. “When we were a continuous improvement team, the scope was very defined. Now, with Celonis, we can amplify what we can do for the company, not only continuous improvement but also data automation and AI. We rebranded our team to the Process Intelligence team, and now every single conversation I have is about value. We don't talk about methodology.”

A quick win in Accounts Payable 

B3’s Celonis journey started in 2024 in AP. With the Head of Finance open to trying new improvement approaches, AP was identified as a strong first use case where results could be achieved quickly to prove the value of Celonis to the rest of the organization.

The Duplicate Invoice Checking App was implemented to identify duplicate invoice processing and payment, caused largely by small errors in manual activities. The app alerts B3 in real time, enabling proactive steps to ensure no invoice is paid twice. 

Within just five weeks of go-live, the app delivered enough value to cover B3’s investment. It has since generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in value. While B3 is implementing additional AP use cases, like improving on-time payment rates, it has expanded the use of Celonis to other parts of the Procure-to-Pay (P2P) process. 

A cultural transformation in Procurement 

Alongside AP, B3 also addressed the Procurement process which required a complete restructure. The team took a two-phase approach, starting by improving the existing process, while also moving ahead with redesigning the process – all enabled by enhanced visibility in Celonis. 

Celonis connects B3’s multiple source systems to gain a single view of the Procurement process, as Sanchetta explains: “Celonis brings us much more transparency, much more data, to make decisions in a short amount of time. In two weeks we had more information than we’d had in the last five years.”

The biggest challenge in Procurement was a cultural one. Employees were used to the way things had been done for years and were sure they knew the process. They didn’t feel the need for software to tell them what to change, and didn’t initially trust the data. But gradually they began to see the value of Celonis and the benefits of a data-driven approach where everyone can take responsibility for analysis and improvement. 

With the single Procurement process now split into three distinct workstreams, Celonis is having a positive impact on SLA adherence, lead times, and rework rates. But the biggest change has been the cultural transformation, with a significant improvement in the employee experience. “After many years trying to improve the procurement process with traditional methods and limited success, we are now able to solve the real problems by using Celonis," says Sanchetta.

B3 is now working with Celonis to implement an AI agent in contract renewals, which is one of the three workstreams created in the Procurement process restructure. The AI agent will automate the entire process, from understanding contracts to communicating with suppliers. The restructure of B3’s Procurement process has already taken contract renewal from approximately 30 days to around 15 days. But with the AI agent, the aim is to renew contracts in ten days or less.

“We want to use AI for real use cases, so when we get the AI agent working for the procurement process it’s going to be a landmark, a very different and positive moment for B3.”

Renato Sanchetta, Head of Process Intelligence, B3

A roadmap for customer centricity 

B3 is implementing Celonis in a number of other areas. One example is Accounts Receivable (AR), where the team is addressing underpayments and uncollectable invoices, as well as implementing the Sailfin Collections and Dispute Management App. Next on the roadmap are customer services, IT service management (ITSM), and the software development lifecycle (SDLC). 

It all comes back to B3’s underlying goal to increase customer understanding and enable better experiences. AR is a process in which customers are directly involved, and where eliminating data errors or incorrect invoices can dramatically improve the relationship. Equally, checking whether B3 is delivering what it promises in software development, or flagging when customers are having to contact the business too frequently in customer services, are both key to gaining an end-to-end understanding of the customer relationship.

The ultimate vision for the future would be to have every business process connected in Celonis – including the highly complex core transactional process – to provide a complete picture of each customer relationship. 

In the meantime, multiple teams within B3 – from risk and compliance to agile transformation – are knocking on the Process Intelligence team’s door. 

“Celonis is getting known inside B3. Our people are hearing about it and want to know what it can do for them. They’re excited about both the result and the potential.”

Renato Sanchetta, Head of Process Intelligence, B3

As an advocate for Process Intelligence, Renato is actively involved in the Celonis community, attending events in Brazil and further afield, to both share his knowledge and learn from others in the financial services industry.