Celonis appoints ex-SAP exec Dilipkumar Khandelwal as chief customer officer

German data processing company Celonis has appointed former SAP and Deutsche Bank executive Dilipkumar Khandelwal as the chief customer officer and chairman of its India advisory board as it steps up its operations in the country.

The company is looking to expand in terms of people and market, as more Indian enterprises adopt artificial intelligence (AI). It currently has 200 employees in the country.

Khandelwal, who will be based in Bengaluru, told ET that there is a massive opportunity for Celonis in India, where it will work with the customers, partners and the startup ecosystem to innovate and build value in AI leveraging the talent in the region.


In addition to India being an innovation hub, it is also a critical market for growth, he said. The company is working with two types of customers in the country – enterprise customers and global capability centres (GCCs).

Khandelwal said Indian enterprises are getting larger and are becoming more prominent. The other category includes GCCs of multinationals that have set up bases in India. “There are two parts to it, the India part and GCCs that are looking for the tools and mechanisms. That is a critical market,” he said.

The company recently hired Kaushik Mitra as vice president, India business to drive growth in the region. It also launched Celonis Garage, an innovation hub to work with customers, partners and startups to create solutions in AI.