Celonaut Spotlight: Elsa Welshofer, Academic Alliance Manager

Empowering and encouraging tomorrow’s Process Miners is part of Celonis’ DNA. We believe in educating our youth as the next generation of thought leaders in data and process science.

Meet Elsa as she provides us with a closer look at Academic Alliance, our bridge between industry and academia, and find out what makes her role at Celonis such a unique experience.

Elsa Welshofer

Academic Alliance Manager

Celonis

What is the Academic Alliance at Celonis? What does your team do?

Academic Alliance is a global department that bridges the gap between industry and academia in the process mining and execution management disciplines. It’s mission is to empower the next generation of process miners through education, research collaboration, and community engagement. We partner with faculty members, national and international organizations, and educational consultancies on various projects in our work.

Today, we have reached over 110,000 students and teach in 1,300 classrooms annually.

How do the department’s goals align with Celonis’ goals?

As Celonis continues to grow at a staggering rate, our entire community of customers, partners, and relationships within the technology industry is also exploding with growth. Our role is essential because we are making the education and training of process mining mainstream. We are seeing 16-year-old students consider a future career in Process Mining/execution management.

We have our extensive partner community hiring talented candidates trained in process mining so they can make an impact on day one. We have customers putting forth complex data sets for master's students’ graduation projects, where they will apply process mining towards a real-life customer problem. And lastly, we have faculty members at some of the top universities working with Celonis to continuously innovate our product offering and push the boundaries of research.

What makes working in the Academic Alliance Department at Celonis such a unique experience?

Academic Alliance is a unique department because we work on many interesting projects. I am constantly energized in this role because I continually interact with customers, academia, and Celonauts, all with fascinating ideas for projects that bridge the gap between academia and industry.

What is so rewarding for me is seeing star students from one of my classes pursue and excel in a career in process mining. Or when I get to see an academic partner publish their first research white paper applying process mining to their area of study. Most of all, I’m so proud of our team. We span multiple countries and time zones, but we have worked hard to maintain an amazing working environment where everyone is close, supportive, and fun. I love waking up to our team meeting first thing in the morning, and I’m proud most of all to be a part of this team.

What does a typical day at Celonis look like for you?

As an Academic Alliance Manager, each week and day looks entirely different! We are sponsoring a global hackathon event with Major League Hacking this week, so I’ll be up early to answer contestant questions on the Celonis challenge. Then I’ll likely meet with one of Celonis' 200+ faculty partners in North America to plan for the upcoming spring semester. In the afternoons, I try to reserve some focused time dedicated to new curriculum and project work or office hours for students working on a Celonis project.

This Friday, I’ll have a guest lecture covering the applications of process mining in sustainable supply chain management. I love how varied and exciting my days are at Celonis, but I never forget to end my evenings watching an episode of “Seinfeld” or going running with the local Raleigh, NC cross country team.

Describe your team at Celonis in three words.

Energizing, fun, and driven.

Which of the Celonis values matters most to you and why?

The Celonis value that matters most to me is “Best team wins”. Here at Academic Alliance, we are truly one unit. We are constantly uplifting each other, personally and professionally. I know that I can rely on my teammates to help me out when I am working on a complex project or to be moral support for a large event we are keynoting. Our department goes out of our way to make sure we set aside time to enjoy each other’s company outside of the work context. We’ve painted easter eggs, did a virtual wine-tasting class, and do “yoga Fridays” where team members can zoom in and spend some time together being mindful and resetting after the week.

I love my job, but my team at Celonis is what makes me happiest!

Which background should applicants have to join the Academic Alliance Department?

At Academic Alliance, we’ve seen candidates from various personal and professional backgrounds join us and thrive in this department. With that, we look for someone who brings experience in relationship building, is very intellectually curious, and someone who can break down complicated concepts for beginners. We are also growing our community exponentially, so those who are adaptable and have a growth mindset do well here.

Why should someone join your team? 

Someone should join our team because you get to be at the forefront of one of the fastest-growing academic disciplines in the world. You will join a diverse and friendly group of professionals who share a common vision and excitement for the power of education in emerging technology. And lastly- we know how to enjoy a good laugh in and out of the workplace!

👩‍🚀 Elsa Welshofer graduated from Princeton in 2018 with a focus on Technology Policy and Diplomacy. She worked in Washington DC, Russia, and New York City, where she focused on technology politics, policy, and then cybersecurity. She heard about Celonis at a karaoke bar in Lower East Side Manhattan a few years ago. She went home, wrote the name of Celonis on a post-it, and promised herself to apply if openings came up in North America-the rest is history! Today, outside work, she loves to run ultramarathons with her brother and cook Lowcountry cuisine for friends and family. __________________________________

Are you interested in joining this energizing, fun, and driven team? Check our open positions.

Eylül Yesilyurt

Global Talent Acquisition Enablement - Working Student