Camunda & BPMN
We didn’t just adopt BPMN—we helped shape it.
BPMN is core to how thousands of global enterprises orchestrate mission-critical operations with Camunda. Since our founding in 2008, we’ve been focused on making BPMN executable and accessible for real-world software development; evolving our process orchestration technology and fostering a global community to collectively shape the future of automation.
Why BPMN? The value of an open standard
We chose Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) because it’s the only open standard that combines visual clarity, rich semantics, and execution power. BPMN bridges the gap between business and IT by providing a common language for modeling end-to-end processes—whether they span systems, humans, or AI agents. And, it’s directly executable so there’s no need to transform or interpret the model for developers, they work on the same BPMN model.
For our customers, this translates to:
- Transparency and governance
- Accelerated automation delivery
- Flexibility and scalability
From regulated industries to high-volume customer interactions, BPMN empowers businesses to maintain visibility, control and compliance while adapting fast.
“… as well as supporting and operating a highly flexible DevOps philosophy, Camunda has enabled Deutsche Telekom IT to visualize complex logic in one place, easily align human and automated tasks and use the same language for business and development with BPMN.”
Our Journey with BPMN: A Legacy of Leadership
2008
Camunda Founded
Camunda was established with a vision to make BPMN executable and developer-friendly, enabling practical automation for modern software systems.
2010
Real-Life BPMN Published
Co-authored by Camunda CEO Jakob Freund and Co-founder and CTO Bernd Ruecker, this book became a foundational resource for using BPMN in real-world business-IT collaboration.
2011
BPMN 2.0 Released
The official release of BPMN 2.0 by the Object Management Group (OMG) introduced execution semantics, laying the foundation for Camunda’s approach to process orchestration.
2013
Camunda 7.0 Released
The launch of Camunda 7 marked a significant leap in making BPMN fully executable, bringing the power of process orchestration to Java developers and enterprise teams.
2014
bpmn.io Released
Camunda launched bpmn.io, a suite of free to use BPMN modeling tools that promote collaboration and accessibility for developers and business users alike; or BPMN everywhere, for everyone (still the project’s mission today!).
2015
DMN Support Added to bpmn.io
Enabling seamless visual modeling for both processes and decisions, this update strengthened Camunda’s “one model” approach and business-IT alignment.
2017
DMN Engine Introduced
Camunda expanded its capabilities with a Decision Model and Notation (DMN) engine, reinforcing its commitment to open standards and end-to-end decision automation.
2022
Camunda 8 Released
A cloud-native, horizontally scalable platform built on Zeebe, Camunda 8 reaffirmed BPMN’s role in orchestrating modern, distributed systems and event-driven architectures.With Camunda 8, we also settled on FEEL as the expression language, further aligning with the BPMN standard and providing a simple, programming-language-agnostic way to express logic.
2023–2025
Ongoing Commitment to BPMN and OMG
Camunda continues to actively contribute to the BPMN, DMN and other open standards through team members like Falko Menge, who chairs the DMN/FEEL standardization committee, Maciej Barelkowski, who serves on the DMN Revision Task Force and Nico Rehwaldt who’s advancing the FEEL expression language through the DMN Technology Compatibility Kit. With leadership and advocacy from Camundi and the community, we’re helping to ensure that BPMN evolves to meet the challenges of AI integration, human-in-the-loop automation, and hyperautomation at scale.
Shaping the BPMN standard through active contribution
Our leadership in process orchestration is deeply rooted in our active involvement with The Object Management Group (OMG) — the standards body behind BPMN – and further strengthened by our development of bpmn.io, a widely adopted web-based tool for BPMN, DMN and forms.
We’re not just implementers of the standard; we are influencers of its evolution.
“Camunda is the only manufacturer that truly and consistently supports BPMN 2.0 and does not propagate the ‘Zero Code BPM’ myth. Camunda did not force us to change our IT environment or technology stack, but offered a fully integrated BPM engine with optional tools. This allowed us to benefit from BPM without having to adjust to specific products.”
Meet our BPMN experts
Several Camundi have played a key role in advancing the BPMN standard to ensure it remains a powerful, executable, and scalable foundation for real-world process automation that is able to meet the complex needs of today’s enterprises and tomorrow’s technology advancements.
Falko Menge
Sr. Principal, Solution Architect, Camunda
Falko drives high-performance process automation at Camunda. As an Open Standards Ambassador he’s spent 15+ years shaping key industry standards like BPMN, DMN, and SDMN through leadership roles in organizations such as the OMG. See his CamundaCon 2023 presentation “Collaborating for Standards-Based Process and Decision Automation: The Partnership Between Camunda and OMG“.
Maciej Barelkowski
Sr. Software Engineer, Camunda
Maciej is a core developer and contributor to bpmn.io with a focus on accessibility to aid the project’s mission of making process and decision modeling available for everyone, everywhere. He’s contributed to the SDMN specification and also works to shape DMN as a member of the DMN Revision Task Force.
Nico Rehwaldt
Principal Software Engineer, Camunda
Jakob Freund
CEO, Camunda
As well as being Camunda’s Co-Founder, Jakob Co-authored Real-Life BPMN, a foundational guide for practical BPMN usage.
Bernd Ruecker
Co-Founder and Chief Technologist, Camunda
Co-founder of Camunda while as well as Co-author of Real-Life BPMN, Enterprise Process Orchestration and author of Practical Process Automation focusing on BPMN best practices, modeling theory and practical software execution.
Niall Deehan
Sr. Developer Advocate, Camunda
Active BPMN Advocate, Trainer and Expert. Appearing annually to represent Camunda at the MIWG demo.Widely known for his BPMN Battle skills and hands-on BPMN training and demos.
See why he thinks BPMN is brilliant, actually.
“The step towards executable process models was particularly easy with Camunda because more than any other Business Process Management System, Camunda consistently works with BPMN 2.0.”
Dive in and deepen your BPMN skills
Enterprise Process Orchestration
A hands-on guide to strategy, people, and technology that will transform your business
See the book
Real-life BPMN
This definitive guide provides an overview of BPMN, presents implementation guidance and best practices, and offers useful tips on what works and what doesn’t.
See the book
BPMN Battles
We put Camunda and our BPMN skills to the test, live.
See the latest Battle, an AI edition with Developer Advocate Niall Deehan vs our CEO Jakob Freund.
BPMN Cheat Sheet
A quick reference guide to key BPMN symbols and concepts.
Get the cheat sheet
Start modeling with BPMN
Design, collaborate on and implement end-to-end processes using Modeler and BPMN and DMN standards.
Learn BPMN with Camunda Academy
Learn the basics as well as advanced BPMN skills through tutorials, videos and games in Camunda Academy.
Learn BPMN
