Celonis, Uniper & Microsoft drive AI-powered energy overhaul

Celonis has entered into a collaboration with Uniper and Microsoft aimed at supporting digital transformation and process excellence within the energy sector.

The arrangement will support Uniper in achieving greater transparency in its business processes and facilitate AI-driven automation and end-to-end process orchestration across the company.

Leveraging Microsoft Copilot Studio and Power Automate, in conjunction with Celonis Process Intelligence, Uniper intends to implement artificial intelligence solutions company-wide, enabling the adoption of new technology-driven processes for broader operational gains.

Damian Bunyan, Chief Information Officer at Uniper, commented, "The energy industry is facing major challenges, and we want to be a pioneer in digital transformation. The powerful combination of Microsoft's AI technologies with Celonis' process intelligence lets us identify value-driving AI use cases, intelligently automate workflows, and track performance gains. Thanks to this strategic collaboration, we can optimise our operations, empower our employees, and deliver greater value to our customers."

Bastian Nominacher, co-founder and co-CEO of Celonis, stated, "AI is only as effective as the data and context it feeds on. Celonis provides the process data and business context that gives AI the understanding it needs to drive meaningful business transformation and real value. Together with Microsoft, we're enabling Uniper to drive tangible results."

Celonis will deliver its system-agnostic process intelligence platform as part of the collaboration. This platform creates a process-centric data foundation, which is key for developing agents using AI platforms such as Microsoft Copilot Studio and is now integrated with Microsoft Fabric to enhance interoperability and data availability.

Microsoft will contribute its AI technology and its ability to scale AI deployment rapidly, supported by its productivity suite that includes Microsoft Teams, Microsoft Power BI, and Power Automate. Uniper has been recognised as an early adopter, applying the joint capabilities of Celonis and Microsoft in real-world, high-impact AI use cases with results intended to act as an example within the global energy industry.

Charles Lamanna, Corporate Vice President for Business and Industry Copilot at Microsoft, said, "The next generation of AI requires deep reasoning grounded in enterprise data and business processes. By combining Celonis Process Intelligence with Microsoft Copilot Studio and Microsoft AI, we are enabling companies to build intelligent solutions that deeply understand and optimise business operations. Uniper is a great example of how this powerful combination can accelerate transformation, unlock significant value, and help companies lead their industries forward."

Uniper's involvement with Celonis began five years ago, focusing on operational excellence within its global energy operations. To date, Uniper has deployed Celonis across 27 business processes, connecting to eight source systems, and involving over 350 active users throughout the company.

Reported operational improvements from Uniper's use of Celonis technology cover areas such as plant maintenance, human resources, hydro power operations, IT service management, energy sales and technology, financial services, and internal audit. Among key achievements, Uniper has optimised its plant maintenance processes to ensure workplace safety and compliance, thereby reducing risk and supplier waiting times.

Within HR, Uniper has improved the recruiting process for managers by reducing the time to hire and optimised the candidate experience through the deployment of automated notifications. Business reporting in the hydro power segment was made more timely, decreasing operational costs and improving supplier steering.

IT service management was enhanced to allow more efficient supplier steering and faster incident response. In energy sales and technology operations, Uniper shortened proposal management cycles, while automating daily and timely reporting in financial services and optimising opportunities for cash discounts. Meanwhile, the internal audit department benefited from support for its "Trusted Advisor" and data-driven eAudit approach.