Exclusive: Celonis’ Peter Budweiser on transforming the digital supply chain

In an era where supply chain disruptions are the norm rather than the exception, Peter Budweiser has a clear message: visibility and action are everything.

Budweiser, General Manager Supply Chain at Celonis, has spent over seven years working at the forefront of process intelligence, helping companies transform the way they manage procurement, logistics and inventory.

Speaking with TechDay, he described his journey from solution engineer to supply chain leader, and the evolution of his role since joining Celonis in early 2018.

"I had a lot of exposure to manufacturing and automotive companies, especially in Germany, Austria and Switzerland," he said. "That's what led me to move into the product organisation to build out our supply chain products."

Since 2020, Budweiser's focus has shifted towards developing ready-to-use supply chain solutions on top of the Celonis platform. "We are moving into warehouse management, transportation management, as well as production," he explained.

Key to this work is helping businesses understand their internal and external supply chain drivers. Process intelligence, Budweiser said, plays a pivotal role.

"You can control the controllables," he explained. "It helps you understand how you are executing, how your processes run and what you can change to respond better to situations."

As global volatility increases, so too does the need for real-time data. Budweiser outlined how the technology provides businesses with the ability to quickly assess what they need to respond to and take action at scale. "Instead of one decision, supply chains typically involve hundreds or thousands of people, SKUs and orders," he said.

Celonis approaches supply chain inefficiencies through two main strategies: exploratory and confirmative analysis. "You look at the data, mine the processes, and analytically understand what goes wrong," Budweiser explained.

"You can also work with hypotheses - say you suspect your service levels are poor because production delivers late - and process intelligence helps confirm or disprove this."

Tariffs, particularly, have become a major concern. Budweiser detailed a structured playbook that companies now follow: first, understanding exposure by identifying where goods originate; second, assessing cost impacts by linking tariffs to materials; and third, taking short-term actions like qualifying products under trade agreements or switching suppliers.

"The reality is that data in many companies is incomplete or outdated," he said. "Sometimes, you need to reconfirm supplier information because what you have might be six years old and no longer valid."

Budweiser also emphasised the critical importance of breaking down silos within organisations. "Supply chains are a wicked problem," he said. "Collaboration helps bring down information asymmetry - it's about creating visibility and aligning actions."

On the subject of data, Budweiser was equally clear: it must not only be available but also contextualised and actionable.

"Every company has lots of data, but connecting it and making sense of it is the challenge," he said. "That is where process mining and technologies like AI and machine learning come in."

Actionable insights, he said, are key. "We strive to deliver very tangible recommendations on specific supply chain objects, whether that's a purchase order, production order or inventory."

When asked what advice he would give to companies looking to move from insight to action, Budweiser said technology alone is not enough.

"The successful companies are not those with different products - they are those that embrace change," he explained. "Introducing new technology should be seen as a catalyst for a broader mindset shift."

Looking to the future, Budweiser expects data sharing and external data integration to become even more critical for supply chains. "More companies will realise that the data they have themselves does not suffice to make the right decisions," he said.

Beyond internal data, external risk factors such as tariffs, geopolitical instability and sustainability metrics will play an increasingly prominent role. Budweiser also sees a growing shift towards faster, more flexible analytics platforms.

"Traditionally, supply chain planning assumed a relatively steady environment," he said. "Today, that steady state is disrupted for the longer term."

Asked whether the rapid pace of change worries him, Budweiser laughed. "Three years feels like extremely long-term planning these days," he said.

As supply chains become more interconnected and digitalised, Budweiser believes companies that focus on collaboration, actionable insights and data-driven decision making will be best placed to succeed.

"In the end, it's about empowering people to make better, faster decisions based on the right information," he said.