The Potential and Applications of LLM Agents in the Business Process Lifecycle
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15611/pn.2026.3.06Keywords:
BPM, business process lifecycle, LLM agents, Large Language Models, systematic literature review (SLR)Abstract
Aim: The article aims to identify and systematize knowledge on using Large Language Model (LLM) agents in Business Process Management (BPM). The research subject encompasses agentic solutions analyzed for their application across business process lifecycle stages.
Methodology: The Systematic Literature Review (SLR) method based on the PRISMA standard was applied. The Scopus and Web of Science databases were searched (2023-2026). The procedure included the selection and allocation of 22 tools to specific business process lifecycle phases.
Results: The creation phase is currently the most heavily supported area. In the adaptation and maturity phases, LLMs serve defensive and flexibilizing functions. A clear dominance of systems functioning as assistant agents was also demonstrated (20 out of 22 tools).
Implications and recommendations: The study highlights a research gap: a marginal share of fully autonomous agents and a lack of tools for the process breakdown phase. Future research should expand on systems supporting the deep restructuring of inefficient processes.
Originality/value: The value of this study lies in the systematization of new technological knowledge by situating it within the classic business process lifecycle. The article presents an innovative classification of AI tools, distinguishing between supporting agents and autonomous agents.
Downloads
References
Adair-Heeley, C. B. i Murray, B. A. (2002). Radykalna reorganizacja firmy. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Amarasinghe, P. T., Nguyen, S., Sun, Y., Sobhan (Sean), A. i Alahakoon, D. (2026). Business Optimization for Digital Manufacturing: A Fine-Tuned Large Language Model Approach. International Journal of Production Economics, 295, 109934. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijpe.2026.109934
Ayad, S. i Alsayoud, F. (2025). Dynamic Prompt-Based Framework for Pragmatic Quality Improvement in Business Process Models. IEEE Access, 13, 107764-107782. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3580616
Barrientos, M., Winter, K. i Rinderle-Ma, S. (2026). Impact Analysis of Regulatory Requirement Changes on Business Process Compliance. Information and Software Technology, 194, 108079. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.infsof.2026.108079
Bitkowska, A. (2009). Zarządzanie procesami biznesowymi w przedsiębiorstwie. Vizja Press & IT.
Bitkowska, A. (2019). Od klasycznego do zintegrowanego zarządzania procesowego w organizacjach. Wydawnictwo C.H. Beck.
Busch, K. i Leopold, H. (2024). Towards a Benchmark for Large Language Models for Business Process Management Tasks. arXiv:2410.03255. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2410.03255
Buss, A., Kecht, C., Kratsch, W., Röglinger, M., Sadeghianasl, S. i Wynn, M. T. (2026). Process Mining between the Lines: Extracting Object-Centric Event Logs from Textual Data. Information Systems, 140, 102713. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2026.102713
Casciani, A., Bernardi, M. L., Cimitile, M. i Marrella, A. (2026). Enhancing Next Activity Prediction in Process Mining with Retrieval-Augmented Generation. Information Systems, 137, 102642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2025.102642
Cimino, A., Longo, F., Solina, V. i Veltri, P. (2026). Integrating Large Language Models with Industrial Simulation for Multi-Level Decision Support: An Innovation Management Perspective in Industry 5.0. European Journal of Innovation Management, 29(11), 27-53. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJIM-10-2024-1246
De Nicola, A., Formica, A., Mele, I., Missikoff, M. i Taglino, F. (2024). A Comparative Study of LLMs and NLP Approaches for Supporting Business Process Analysis. Enterprise Information Systems, 18(10), 2415578. https://doi.org/10.1080/17517575.2024.2415578
Deka, P. i Devereux, B. (2026). From Sketch to Structure: Agentic Prompting for Business Process Diagram Understanding with Vision–Language Models. IEEE Access, 14, 48575-48598. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2026.3678494
Du, K., Yang, B., Xie, K., Dong, N., Zhang, Z., Wang, S. i Mo, F. (2025). LLM-MANUF: An Integrated Framework of Fine-Tuning Large Language Models for Intelligent Decision-Making in Manufacturing. Advanced Engineering Informatics, 65, 103263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aei.2025.103263
Dumas, M., La Rosa, M., Reijers, H. A. i Mendling, J. (2022). Business Process Management. Istota zarządzania procesami biznesowymi. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Fahland, D., Fournier, F., Limonad, L., Skarbovsky, I. i Swevels, A. J. E. (2025). How Well Can a Large Language Model Explain Business Processes as Perceived by Users? Data & Knowledge Engineering, 157, 102416. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.datak.2025.102416
Fettke, P. i Di Francescomarino, C. (2025). Business Process Management and Artificial Intelligence: Literature Survey and Future Research. KI – Künstliche Intelligenz, 39(2), 67-79. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13218-025-00891-y
Grajewski, P. (2012). Procesowe zarządzanie organizacją. Polskie Wydawnictwo Ekonomiczne.
Hensel, P. (2020). Systematyczny przegląd literatury w naukach o zarządzaniu i jakości. Wydawnictwo Naukowe Wydziału Zarządzania Uniwersytetu Warszawskiego. https://doi.org/10.7172/978-83-66282-19-3.2020.wwz.2
Hofman, M. (2025). Agenci AI bazujący na modelach językowych. Istota, konfiguracje, zastosowania. Helion.
Kodssi, I. E., Sbai, H. i Mansour, N. A. (2026). PRISMA: Physically-Aware Reasoning and Intelligent Semantic Mining Architecture for IoT Process Discovery Using Deep Learning and Large Language Models. IEEE Access, 14, 32666-32689. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2026.3664833
Kourani, H., Berti, A., Hennrich, J., Kratsch, W., Weidlich, R., Li, C.-Y., Arslan, A., Van Der Aalst, W. M. i Schuster, D. (2026). Leveraging Large Language Models for Enhanced Process Model Comprehension. SSRN. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.5017379
Leung, E. K. H., Balan, N., Lee, C. K. H. i Xie, S. (2026). The Generative Artificial Intelligence Large Language Product Design Multi-Model Framework for Manufacturing Operations. Journal of the Operational Research Society, 77(7), 2044-2070. https://doi.org/10.1080/01605682.2025.2570407
Li, S., Liu, Z., Liu, X., Chen, G., Zhang, Y., Ling, H. i Huang, X. (2025). Structured Extraction and BPMN Generation from Chinese Procedural Texts via Hybrid Attention-Based Domain Language Models. IEEE Access, 13, 166241-166253. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3611811
Liang, W., Zhang, Y., Codreanu, M., Wang, J., Cao, H. i Zou, J. (2025). The Widespread Adoption of Large Language Model-Assisted Writing Across Society. Patterns, 6(12), 101366. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2025.101366
Park, J. H. i Madisetti, V. K. (2025). CAPRI: A Context-Aware Privacy Framework for Multi-Agent Generative AI Applications. IEEE Access, 13, 43168-43177. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3549312
Potoczek, N. (2018). Zarządzanie zasobami ludzkimi w organizacji zorientowanej procesowo. Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN.
Sarferaz, S. (2025a). Implementing Conversational AI Into ERP Software. IEEE Access, 13, 160238-160250. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3608477
Sarferaz, S. (2025b). Implementing Generative AI Into ERP Software. IEEE Access, 13, 73342-73354. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3564133
Schinckus, M., Simonofski, A. i Bono Rosselló, N. (2026). Large Language Models for Process Knowledge Acquisition: Designing and Evaluating a Multi-Agent System. Business & Information Systems Engineering, 68(1), 7-33. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12599-025-00976-w
Senderovich, A., Cabanillas, C., Vanderfeesten, I. i Reijers, H. A. (red.). (2026). Business Process Management: 23rd International Conference, BPM 2025, Seville, Spain, August 31 – September 5, 2025, Proceedings (t. 16044). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-032-02867-9
Trong, M. P., Tung Son, N., Hai, L. N., Giang, V. T., Viet, B. H. i Tung, D. T. (2026). A Business Process-Centric Approach for LLM-Driven Functional Test Generation. IEEE Access, 14, 44120-44146. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACCESS.2026.3671629
Witkowski, A. i Wodecki, A. (2026). A Prescriptive Generative AI Maturity Model for New Product Development Processes. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 37(9), 40-63. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMTM-09-2025-0884
Xu, R., Fang, H., Fang, W., Wang, F. i Zhao, C. (2026). A Large-Language-Model-Guided Progressive Error-Correction Framework for Structured Process Modeling. Expert Systems with Applications, 317, 131998. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2026.131998
Yuan, D. (2026). Building an Intelligent Brain Platform for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Using ChatGLM and Multi-Agent Systems. PLOS One, 21(3), e0340964. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0340964
Downloads
Published
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Krystian Lewandowski

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Accepted 2026-07-06
Published 2026-10-16








