The Celonis Way: Living Our Values, Leading with Value

As we enter our tenth year in business, Celonis is poised to become one of the most impactful technology companies of the future. Today we are growing in triple digits year on year with more than 1,000 employees who together with our customers and partners, are proudly driving our vision forward. When I reflect on what got us to this place, it all comes back to our values and beliefs, and how we do business at Celonis. It comes back to the culture we created.

We lead with value, and live to deliver value.

Celonis’s transformational technology is helping enterprises execute their operations more intelligently to achieve better outcomes. Customers like Siemens, L’Oreal and Uber are gaining measurable business value from highly automated, intelligent business processes. This in turn leads to increased enterprise productivity, happier employees and customers, better use of resources, and, ultimately a better world. . 

Today I am incredibly proud to share with you The Celonis Way - our company values. They are aligned with our four stakeholder groups - customers, employees, shareholders, and society, and capture how we operate and collaborate. Every action and idea is infused by these values. They impact our hiring, product development, and programs. They touch our brand, technology, operations, and our relationships with customers and partners. Our vision for the company is reinforced by these values. 

The Celonis Way: 

• Live for Customer Value - Some companies live for customer satisfaction, we live for customer value. That’s what sets us apart. We are committed to delivering value and measurable business outcomes. Our first customers essentially financed the business and were our first “investors”. Their trust in us is everything.

• The Best Team Wins - We have always had a rigorous recruitment program, a full week of onboarding exercises, and believe every Celonaut has the three Cs: character, commitment, and capability. We celebrate our Celonauts - diverse, passionate, humble, curious talents, relentless in their quest to support our vision. We can only win as Celonis, as one team and it’s our people who make us who we are. 

• We Own It - We bring a strong sense of ownership and passion to the table in everything we do. Taking ownership is about taking accountability so we focus on the bigger picture and own the outcomes - for our customers, our team, and society. From day one, every Celonaut is given ownership and it is refreshing and exhilarating to see them run with it. Accountability breeds trust.

• Earth Is Our Future - This value holds a special significance for me and is aligned to our “society” stakeholder. We believe good business does good for people and the planet. Our product can have a tremendous impact on society, by achieving more outcomes from fewer resources. In addition to enabling customers to reduce waste, The Celonis Way also emphasizes ecological impact and social action as key components of sustainability. In line with this value, I am super excited to elevate Janina Nakladal to our Director of Sustainability. Janina is an exemplary Celonaut and will drive our sustainability agenda. Our full sustainability program will be unveiled in the fall of 2020.

• FISA - None of the values stand alone, they always interact with each other. Tying them together is our operating principle, FISA, which surrounds and informs everything we do. It stands for FOCUS, INVENT, SIMPLIFY, ACT and guides all our thinking and actions. FISA tells us how we live The Celonis Way. We focus on what is important, we are inventors, we explore new territory. We keep things simple and have a bias for action. Already FISA has become shorthand in the company for “are we living The Celonis Way”?

With so many variables beyond our control during the pandemic, one guiding principle leaders can offer their people right now is a values compass. These values are our inner compass, guiding collaboration, decision-making, operational execution, and continued success. By living our values, we bring value to our stakeholders. That’s the Celonis Way.

Alexander Rinke

Co-Founder and Co-CEO

Alex Rinke is co-founder & co-CEO of Celonis, the undisputed leader in process mining and execution management technology. Born out of a university project in Munich, Alex and his co-founders turned the theoretical concept of process mining into a working product, and landed their first client within weeks. Alex and his team successfully grew the company for five years without external funding, scaling rapidly across the globe before raising money. Five years and several rounds later, Celonis has now earned decacorn status, and recently completed the first ever $1bn Series D Round.

Today, Alex steers the global vision and executive team for Celonis, and is an active ambassador for sustainability and equal access to education. Alex firmly believes that by unlocking the world’s processes, we can create a better future for businesses and the planet.