Toward Self-Modifying Autonomous Business Process Systems

Autonomous business process systems (ABPS) operate with minimal human intervention while modifying themselves over time. Being ‘self-modifying’ thereby becomes an intrinsic characteristic that enables a process to become autonomous. In this paper, we define what it means to be self-modifying in autonomous business process systems (ABPS) and outline key characteristics of such capability, including (1) the differentiation between two types of modifications, namely adaptation and evolution, (2) the levels of granularity in which a modification can be carried out, and (3) the reasons why a possible modification may be triggered. After presenting a motivating example, we characterize the goals for advancing self-modifying capabilities in ABPSs, and identify open research challenges, particularly around governance, uncertainty, and continuous learning. This work aims to structure the problem space of self-modification in ABPSs and provide a conceptual foundation for future research and development.