A method, computer program product, and system for de-centralized stream processing is provided. The method may include providing a plurality of processing nodes each of said processing nodes configured to transmit and receive a stream of data. The method may further include adding one or more new processing nodes to the computing system. The method may also include determining a source node based upon, at least in part, an activation level being above or below a particular threshold. The method may additionally include, for each of the one or more added processing nodes, automatically determining an appropriate role, based upon, at least in part, a neighboring processing node.