business process management
What It Means
Business process management (BPM) is the practice of analyzing, designing, and continuously improving how work gets done across your organization. It involves mapping out step-by-step workflows, identifying bottlenecks and inefficiencies, then implementing changes to make processes faster, cheaper, or more reliable.
Why Chief AI Officers Care
BPM is critical for AI implementation because AI solutions often require restructuring existing workflows and processes to be effective. Without proper BPM, AI projects fail when they're built on top of broken or inefficient processes, leading to automated inefficiency rather than improvement. Strong BPM practices also help identify which processes are best candidates for AI automation and ensure AI initiatives deliver measurable business value.
Real-World Example
A financial services company uses BPM to map their loan approval process, discovering it takes 12 steps across 4 departments and averages 8 days. They redesign the workflow to eliminate redundant approvals and implement AI-powered document verification, reducing the process to 6 steps and 2 days while maintaining the same approval quality standards.
Common Confusion
People often confuse BPM with just workflow automation or think it's only about software tools. BPM is actually a management discipline that includes people, policies, and governance - the technology and automation are just enablers of better-designed processes.
Industry-Specific Applications
See how this term applies to healthcare, finance, manufacturing, government, tech, and insurance.
Healthcare: In healthcare, BPM focuses on optimizing clinical workflows, patient care pathways, and administrative processes while e...
Finance: In finance, BPM is critical for streamlining core processes like accounts payable, financial reporting, and regulatory c...
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Includes:
- 6 industry-specific applications
- Relevant regulations by sector
- Real compliance scenarios
- Implementation guidance
Technical Definitions
NISTNational Institute of Standards and Technology
"Discipline involving any combination of modeling, automation, execution, control, measurement and optimization of business activity flows, in support of enterprise goals, spanning systems, employees, customers, and partners within and beyond the enterprise boundaries."Source: IEEE_Guide_IPA
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