Celonis has appointed Dilipkumar Khandelwal, a former SAP and Deutsche Bank executive, as its Chief Customer Officer and Chairman of the India Advisory Board.
The appointment highlights Celonis's focus on delivering measurable value from artificial intelligence through process intelligence and underlines its ongoing investment in India as a centre for both talent and innovation.
Customer value focus
With increased adoption of AI across industries, organisations are prioritising business outcomes that can be demonstrated in tangible ways. Khandelwal's new role at Celonis aligns with the company's approach to helping customers attain return on investment from their process intelligence and AI projects.
Carsten Thoma, President and Board Director at Celonis, said: "In this economic climate, delivering quantifiable value is the only thing that matters. Our customers are looking for a true partner to help them make AI work for their business. "Dilip has built and scaled global teams that serve the world's most demanding clients. He has lived in the world of our customers, understands their challenges intimately, and knows how to connect technology to the top, bottom, and green line. He is the ideal leader to guarantee our customers' success."
In addition to joining the executive team as Chief Customer Officer, Khandelwal will chair the company's India Advisory Board, with a remit to further Celonis's expansion in the region. India continues to serve as a crucial market for Celonis, particularly for technological development and recruitment of software engineering talent. Recent regional investments include the creation of the Celonis Garage innovation hub in Bengaluru.
A regional and global remit
Khandelwal said he aims to deliver value for customers by applying process intelligence and AI to their most critical business priorities. He commented on the potential of process intelligence to transform enterprise operations.
"I am excited to work with our customers and partners to harness the power of Process Intelligence and AI to move the needle on their most critical business goals and unlock billions in value," said Khandelwal. "When I saw how the process intelligence platform provides AI the operational context it needs to be relevant and effective for the enterprise, I knew it had the potential to completely reinvent operations. I'm here to make that a reality for our customers."
Khandelwal brings a background in building, scaling and leading teams in enterprise software and financial services. At SAP, he led the turnaround of a business unit, which later became the fastest-growing cloud segment within the organisation, and developed a global engineering team. During his tenure at Deutsche Bank, he was responsible for strategic technology initiatives and integration across business lines.
Broader industry experience
In addition to his corporate roles, Khandelwal is the founding member of Plaksha University, has acted as a partner and advisor to venture funds, and is an active angel investor involved in more than 70 companies. His focus on supporting new technologies and entrepreneurs has been recognised across industries.
As Celonis continues its strategy of placing customer outcomes and AI integration at the heart of its business, the appointment of Khandelwal is positioned as a step to ensure customer success and to continue developing Celonis's presence in key global markets, notably India.
