Process mining shows you what happened. Process intelligence goes further: it governs every case, surfaces only human-approved AI insight, and does it at a price a mid-market operation can forecast. Here is an honest look at where each approach fits.
The two terms overlap, and the lines are blurring as enterprise suites add governance modules. But there is a meaningful distinction: process mining is fundamentally a discovery and analysis tool, while process intelligence wraps that discovery in governance rules, human-reviewed AI, and automated action.
PROCESS MINING
Process mining tells you what happened. Acting on it — writing rules, enforcing segregation of duties, raising compliance events with evidence — is typically a separate workflow or custom add-on.
PROCESS INTELLIGENCE (APIP)
Process intelligence folds governance into the same workspace. You write a rule once (SLA threshold, forbidden sequence, mandatory approval) and every case is evaluated against it in real time, with an evidence trail attached.
PROCESS MINING
Enterprise suites now ship AI copilots that summarise findings and suggest next steps. The suggestions reach the user without a mandatory review gate.
PROCESS INTELLIGENCE (APIP)
APIP's HELIX engine proposes bottleneck, cost and compliance findings with a confidence score and the basis for each one — but nothing lands in a report until a named person approves it. The human stays accountable.
PROCESS MINING
Enterprise process mining is typically priced per engagement and metered on case volume. Contracts start in the tens of thousands of pounds a year and scale with usage, which makes mid-market budgeting hard.
PROCESS INTELLIGENCE (APIP)
APIP is a flat monthly subscription — £99 to £1,299 a month, no case-volume metering. You can predict next year's cost today, and upgrade or downgrade in the app.
PROCESS MINING
A traditional mining rollout needs an implementation partner, data connectors scoped, and a baseline built before you see your first insight. Weeks to months is normal.
PROCESS INTELLIGENCE (APIP)
Upload a CSV and APIP reconstructs your process the same day. Governance rules and AI insight are available from the first session, not after a project milestone.
Celonis and SAP Signavio are excellent enterprise platforms with deep ERP integration and global implementation networks. This table summarises the differences in governance, AI approval and pricing — the three areas where the approaches diverge most.
| Capability | AGS APIP | Celonis | SAP Signavio |
|---|---|---|---|
| Process discovery from event logs | Included | Included | Included |
| Variant, rework and hand-off analysis | Included | Included | Included |
| Governance rules and compliance register built in | Included | Add-on / custom | Partial (Process Governance) |
| AI insight with mandatory human approval | Included | AI copilots, no approval gate | AI recommendations |
| Smart-shape designer with scenario simulation | Included | Simulation in higher tiers | Included |
| Outbound automation triggers | Included | Included | Via SAP workflow |
| Self-serve sign-up and free trial | Included | Not available | Not available |
| Flat monthly pricing, no case-volume metering | Included | Not available | Not available |
| Typical entry cost | £99/month | £50k–£250k+/year | Six-figure enterprise agreements |
| Time to first insight | Same day with a CSV | Weeks with an implementation partner | Weeks to months |
| Deep ERP-native mining at global scale | Enterprise tier | Included | Included |
| UK company, UK data residency options | Included | Global vendor | Global vendor |
Comparison based on publicly available vendor documentation, G-Cloud listings and published benchmark pricing at the date of writing. Vendor capabilities change — check current terms with each supplier before making a purchasing decision.
Neither approach is universally better. The right choice depends on your scale, your ERP estate, and whether governance is a nice-to-have or a must-have from day one.
Book a guided product walkthrough of the APIP software and leave with a process-intelligence roadmap.