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Celonis Academy x Bayer: Experts share instructor-led training benefits, best practices and successes
When it comes to keeping up with new technologies, businesses haven’t quite reached the adapt or die stage…but it’s not far off. Those companies not on board with the proliferation of use cases for artificial intelligence and other transformative technologies are increasingly ceding competitive advantage to their rivals. Which is why digital transformation has become the norm. For context, by 2027 global digital transformation spending is forecast to reach $3.9 trillion.
Teams that possess the expertise to make the most of new systems and solutions are pivotal to successful technology deployments. Without them, the impact is diminished. In a 2024 McKinsey survey of C-level executives, for example, more than one in four respondents stated that failing to capture the required skills could impede their efforts to leverage the value from AI. Similarly, in a separate study, as many as 81% of tech managers said their organizations’ upskilling programs are highly effective in preparing their tech employees for new projects.
Training can be the key to unlock the tech that secures your future.
The Celonis Academy
That’s why we set up the Celonis Academy. Having helped more than 330,000 learners, the Academy is designed to give all users of the Celonis Process Intelligence platform the means to generate understanding and practical value from the system. The Academy offers more than 30 different training tracks, including learning tailored to specific customer roles such as business user, manager / executive, analyst, or data engineer. The online resource provides standardized training in multiple formats from full guided learning programs, to webcasts and bite-sized microlearning updates. Available 24/7/365, these online options are ideal for independent, self-paced and certificated learning.
But increasingly businesses want training geared to the specific needs of their teams and the achievement of their strategic goals. For this they are turning to the Celonis Academy’s instructor-led training (ILT).
The benefits of instructor-led training
ILT offers highly focussed group training programs. The participants’ learning journeys are accelerated and facilitated by expert Celonis instructors. Training delivery methods are shaped according to user requirements – from bootcamps and full on-site training weeks to classroom-based sessions. These can be virtual or in-person to maximize their practical reach.
While standardized options are available, course content tends to be tailored to achieve specific customer learning targets for specific groups of carefully selected employees. Instructors work with customer training sponsors to pitch the learning at the right level to ensure practical benefits for all participants.
Elena Zaforteza, Training Specialist in Celonis’ Instructor-Led Training Team outlines some of the key benefits of this approach. “It makes a major difference having instructors to guide and drive the training, to connect with the participants and offer specific help”, she says.
Zaforteza continues: “Instructors work to understand the customer better, the internal processes they are working with in Celonis, as well as the roles and skills of the participants. With that understanding of the audience it helps maximize the impact of the training itself. We prepare ad hoc training that works for the individual and their company. And at a person-to-person level it means that no one falls behind. Instructors can intervene to ensure that trainees understand what’s being taught, with the option for feedback and questions in real time.”
Unsurprisingly, Zaforteza and her ILT colleagues have been busy, with active customer engagements across Europe, Scandinavia, the Americas and Asia. In fact, between February 2023 and January 2024 the ILT team has delivered 110 instructor-led training programs. One of the most successful of which was for pharmaceutical and life sciences giant Bayer AG.
Bayer x Celonis ILT: shared learning, tangible benefits
Bayer Global Businesses Services (GBS) has relied on Celonis process mining technologies for a number of years. Bayer was looking to accelerate its digital transformation across several key processes using the Celonis platform, and opted for instructor-led training.
“We were aware of the [Celonis] Academy and our managing director in Barcelona wanted to complement the online lessons with training assisted by Celonis professors. We wanted to make it more specific for Bayer employees”, says Miguel Carreño de Asúa, Value Engineer at Bayer.
The program was designed and delivered by two Celonis Academy instructors and two members of Bayer’s process mining CoE – including Carreño de Asúa, who continues: “Celonis instructors aligned with Bayer CoE team members to prepare the frequency and duration of the training and also to specify when CoE support would be needed in the lessons (for example to explain the CoE, architecture and Bayer specific topics).”
Together they produced two 12-week programs targeted to the needs of 30 Bayer professionals who had minimal previous experience using the Celonis system. Using Bayer’s own live data, the initial eight weeks focussed on providing a grounding in key activities such as building, reviewing and interpreting analyses, data integration and writing PQL queries, as well as an introduction to Action Flows and knowledge models. The training was delivered virtually, across two two-hour sessions per week, with participants in breakout rooms and the instructors moving between the rooms to support them.
The focus of the final four weeks was a group project. It involved preparing an executive presentation demonstrating key ILT course learnings. Getting the participants to a level of understanding where they could demonstrate and pursue the practical ongoing benefits to Bayer was a key objective of the program as a whole. And it delivered outstanding results. Not only were former process mining novices able to demonstrate real expertise, they identified and presented eight viable, real-world use cases in which the Celonis system could be used to unlock new value previously hidden in Bayer’s processes.
Reflecting on the ILT program, what did Carreño de Asúa consider the most successful aspect? “To be close to the students, answer their questions, propose practical examples and help to solve problems…and then to organize a final project with potential Bayer use cases to be presented to the top management and continued after the training, it’s just fantastic.”
Instructor-led training best practice
As the Bayer story shows, instructor-led training can generate significant practical value for organizations prepared to invest time (and money) in them. Here are some practical tips for maximizing the impact of ILT courses:
Find a strong project sponsor: A strong internal sponsor with consistent interest in the ILT is important on a number of levels:
Helping shape the subject matter, identifying areas of need.
Contributing to the selection of relevant participants.
Driving internal visibility of (and wider buy-in to) the training program.
Ensuring training is aligned to strategic company goals.
Define training goals and success measures: Businesses need to be clear what they want to achieve with the training. If there are existing Celonis use cases or specific areas of expertise they want to address, this needs to be included in the course content. Similarly it’s essential to agree ILT success measures between instructors and customer stakeholders.
Agree practical parameters and delivery methods: ILT programs need to be designed to deliver maximum insight while respecting participants’ busy work schedules. So it’s essential to define upfront how much time can be allocated to the training. This, along with budgets and geographical spread of participants, will help shape the ILT delivery – whether it’s in person, virtual, or a hybrid of both.
Define participant profiles clearly to maximize ILT impact: It’s essential that the instructors have a detailed understanding of the people they’re going to train. To pitch the training at the right level, include relevant content, and ensure maximum engagement, trainers need to know participants’ job roles, locations, and level of Celonis familiarity.
Agree pre-course learning: To optimize the ILT impact, it’s a great idea to establish a baseline of technical understanding before the course commences. This prerequisite learning (such as the Celonis Kickstarter) means participants have a basic grasp of (and a common starting point for) the training content.
Give participants time to train: Part of employers’ commitment to training includes providing course participants with enough time in their work schedules to actually train. Both engagement and attainment can be compromised if day-to-day work pressures mean training sessions feel like distractions. ILT is a value-adding activity, it is work.
With this framework to structure an instructor-led training rollout, almost any business looking to amplify the impact of Celonis process mining technology could enjoy the type of tangible benefits enjoyed by Bayer. And as technology continues to advance, the bespoke, interactive approach offers organizations a way to keep pace and take full advantage. As Carreño de Asúa affirms: “To have an instructor instead of a simple online training, to be close to the students and guide them, is a more efficient learning journey.”
For more information about ILT, visit the Celonis Academy training page now.
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