Process Automation Skills
A Skill is the fundamental building block of automation within Celonis. While a Data Model identifies process inefficiencies, a Skill provides the logic and connectivity required to resolve them. It acts as a bridge between the Celonis Process Intelligence Platform and your external business systems (such as SAP, Salesforce, or ServiceNow).
Core Skill components
Every Skill is comprised of two primary elements that dictate its behavior and impact:
Sensors (The Logic): Sensors act as the "if" statement of your automation. They monitor data for specific triggers—whether that is a PQL condition being met (Smart Sensor), a manual user interaction (Manual Sensor), or an external call (Webhook).
Actions (The Execution): Actions are the "then" statement. These are the operations performed once a Sensor is triggered, such as updating a record in an ERP system, sending a Slack notification, or creating a Task for a business user.
Integration with Studio assets
Skills do not operate in isolation; they leverage other Studio assets to ensure data accuracy and security:
Asset | Relationship to Skill |
|---|---|
Knowledge Model | Provides the business context and PQL definitions that Sensors use to identify incidents. |
Connections | Securely stores the credentials and API endpoints required for Actions to communicate with third-party systems. |
Views | Serves as the front-end interface where Manual Sensors are surfaced to business users as buttons or dropdowns. |
Automation modes
Depending on the business requirement, Skills can be configured to operate with varying levels of human oversight:
Fully Automated: The Skill executes Actions immediately upon the Sensor trigger. This is ideal for high-volume, low-risk repetitive tasks.
Human-in-the-Loop: The Skill generates a Task instead of an immediate system action. This allows a business user to review the recommendation and manually approve the execution, ensuring human judgment is applied to complex or high-value decisions.