Saimir Bala, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Business Process Technology (BPT) Group
Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI), University of Potsdam, Germany
About
Saimir Bala is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Business Process Technology (BPT) Group at the Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI), University of Potsdam, Germany, and a Postdoc of the Systems Cluster. His research sits at the intersection of Software Engineering, Business Process Management, and Artificial Intelligence, with a particular focus on data-driven techniques for analyzing and improving complex processes.
Prior to joining HPI, he was a Research Associate at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (2021–2025). He holds a PhD in Economics and Social Sciences from the Institute for Data, Process and Knowledge Management at the Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU), Austria. His doctoral work investigated ways to bridge Process Mining and Software Engineering, developing analytical methods for understanding the software development process through data. He is also a Fellow of the Weizenbaum Institute for the Networked Society in Berlin.
Saimir holds a BSc and an MSc in Computer Science Engineering from Sapienza University of Rome.
Core Research Areas
Business Process Management & Process Mining
My work in this area focuses on three specific problems: data quality in object-centric event data (how do we detect and classify issues that corrupt process analysis?); fairness and bias in process mining (which process perspectives are systematically distorted, and how can we intervene?); and AI-augmented process analytics (from exam process mining to lifecycle nudging). I am particularly interested in cases where process data reveals behavioral patterns that are hard to see with classical methods.
Software Engineering
I treat software development as a process that leaves traces — in version control history, issue trackers, and middleware logs. My specific contributions include process mining applied to git repositories (detecting side-tracking, co-evolution patterns, and developer behavior); file and project completion prediction using time-series models that embrace the lifecycle structure of software artifacts; and multi-dimensional process analysis of development projects.
Research code and datasets are shared on GitHub (github.com/s41m1r). Feel free to open issues or reach out if you want to build on this work.
Selected Publications
Full list available on
Google Scholar
Journal — Business Process Management Journal, 2023
Enhancing decision making of IT demand management with process mining. Open Access
C. Novak, L. Pfahlsberger, S. Bala, K. Revoredo, J. Mendling. Business Process Management Journal, 29(8), 2023.
Conference — MODELSWARD/MBSE, Springer, 2025
Analyzing Side-Tracking of Developers Using Object-Centric Process Mining. Preprint
S. Bala, T. Nguyen, J. Mendling. Model-Based Software and Systems Engineering, CCIS 2547, Springer, 2025.
Workshop — ICPM, Springer, 2024
A Classification of Data Quality Issues in Object-Centric Event Data
M. Basmer, M. Kabierski, K. Sahling, A. Patecka, S. Bala, J. Mendling. ICPM Workshops, LNBIP 533, Springer, 2024.
Teaching
My approach to teaching combines theory with hands-on practice: students work with real datasets, process models, and software repositories to develop both analytical skills and research intuition. I have supervised Bachelor and Master theses, proseminars, and project-based courses across three universities, and I am happy to supervise motivated students at HPI.
Hasso Plattner Institute (HPI), University of Potsdam
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU)
Academic Service
Editorial Board
Program Committee
Reviewer — Journals
Reviewer — Conferences
Get in Touch
Office Address
Prof.-Dr.-Helmert-Str. 2-3, Room C-2.8
D-14482 Potsdam, Germany