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<hr /> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/sitecore">Sitecore’s</a> annual SKO landed squarely in the summer heat of Orlando, Florida, this week – a fitting backdrop for a tempest of hot announcements. Under the hypnotic sway of palm trees and the predictable torrid of July showers, the digital experience leader continues to turn up the heat on AI innovation.To that end, the company just announced a strategic partnership with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.gradial.com/">Gradial</a>, an AI agent platform designed to accelerate the content supply chain for enterprises. The collaboration aims to speed up and simplify how marketers deliver personalized campaigns at scale while monetizing engagement – all at a fraction of the current cost. Armed with Gradial’s capabilities, Sitecore aims to evolve agents beyond baseline recommendations and suggestions, enabling them to act autonomously on the marketer’s behalf to achieve new levels of productivity. According to Sitecore, the Gradial partnership is another milestone in its innovation horizon for agentic AI, which is explored in detail at the new <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.sitecore.ai/">Sitecore.ai</a> (we <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/accelerating-the-agentic-future-sitecoreai-gives-marketers-an-inspiring-roadmap-for-their-ai-journey">covered the launch</a> at the end of June). More than a website, this center of excellence illustrates how content, data, and intelligence can be synthesized to power the next era of digital engagement, and agentic AI is at the center of it.“Gradial brings a unique blend of engineering precision and marketing empathy,” said <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/sitecore-taps-veteran-eric-stine-as-ceo-to-lead-next-phase-of-growth-and-innovation">Eric Stine,</a> CEO of Sitecore. “Their AI-powered orchestration capabilities enhance Sitecore’s composable digital experience platform by automating the execution layer marketers need most to deliver the kinds of personal, predictive experiences that drive leads and revenue growth, but which historically have been costly and laborious. Together, we’re helping marketers move faster and smarter, using AI to transform delivery and stay anchored in creativity and brand purpose.”<h3 id="empowering-marketers-with-ai">Empowering marketers with AI</h3>It goes without saying that today’s marketing teams are overwhelmed. Data is fragmented and siloed, and tools are often disconnected – making the rigors of campaign management difficult under the best of circumstances. To cope with these challenges, marketers resort to extraneous apps and complicated workflows to help design, launch, deliver, and optimize campaigns. The whole rigmarole slows everything down and diverts attention from strategic initiatives and compromises time to market.According to Sitecore, the partnership with Gradial is effectively “reinventing” marketing operations. Gradial’s AI-powered orchestration platform integrates with Sitecore’s DXP to automate the execution layer, turning marketing briefs into live campaigns without the handoffs, tickets, or delays.“At Gradial, we see content operations as a systems challenge – complex, dynamic, and in need of intelligent automation,” said <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-tallmadge-14166075/">Doug Tallmadge,</a> CEO of Gradial. “Sitecore’s vision for agentic AI aligns perfectly with our mission: to build adaptive systems that do the heavy lifting, so marketers can lead with insight, not infrastructure. Together, we’re enabling a new era of marketing execution that is precise, scalable, and deeply human.”Gradial has already achieved a strong reputation as an agentic platform for the enterprise. As marketing teams struggle to deliver on-point omnichannel experiences, Gradial’s unique model automates content operations, from authoring to production – enabling organizations to leverage agents to govern site health, brand compliance, and even QA and accessibility concerns. Gradial’s agents are also being positioned as activators for enabling CX optimization and automating a host of functions that have traditionally created friction within content operations. <h3 id="new-chapter,-new-leadership">New chapter, new leadership</h3>Since assuming command in May, I’ve spoken with Sitecore CEO Eric Stine a few times. In our calls, he’s been exceedingly clear about the company’s focus on AI, and much of that vision has been crystallized in the new Sitecore.ai website.  To match the pace of change in an AI marketplace, Stine is tapping a newly appointed executive team with deep expertise in AI, cloud, and CX – all with the goal of empowering marketers to deliver the future of digital experiences. <img style="width:26.96%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/07/image-1752583805404.png" /><h4 id="michael-bannon-–-president-and-chief-administrative-officer"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-bannon-077a296/">Michael Bannon – President and Chief Administrative Officer</a></h4>Bannon has been with Sitecore for less than a year, moving swiftly from CFO to the President’s chair to lead strategy, people, finance, legal, and enterprise technology. Bannon’s career spans high-growth technology companies, private equity, and investment banking with firms like Accel Starter. Previously, Bannon ran Typeform as President and CFO. With his leadership experience within high-growth environments and innovation-led organizations, he will support Sitecore’s next phase of growth. <img style="width:28.86%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/07/image-1752583843497.png" /><h4 id="michelle-boockoff-bajdek-–-chief-marketing-officer"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michellebb/">Michelle Boockoff-Bajdek – Chief Marketing Officer</a></h4>Boockoff-Bajdek is a transformational CMO, digital storyteller, and undisputed trailblazer in AI-powered marketing. As CMO of IBM Watson, she oversaw the Watson brand, helping to translate the value of AI. As CMO at IDC, she reimagined marketing as a “strategic growth engine,” launching a new brand identity, leading the firm’s first GenAI initiatives, and aligning brand, demand, and strategy to drive global impact. A frequent speaker on marketing leadership and purpose-led growth, Michelle will advance how Sitecore communicates the transformative power of AI in marketing. <img style="width:30.04%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/07/image-1752583889763.png" /><h4 id="dave-tilbury-–-chief-operating-officer"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/davetilbury/">Dave Tilbury – Chief Operating Officer</a></h4>Tilbury brings more than 20 years of global business experience and a proven track record of driving growth, transforming commercial outcomes, and elevating customer impact. Most recently, as EVP and Chief Sales Officer at Capgemini, he led the sales, marketing, and product teams. At Sitecore, he will oversee all customer-facing functions, including sales, pre-sales, revenue operations, unified customer support, and customer value realization.<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>The Gradial partnership will undoubtedly provide a more robust content marketing experience for Sitecore’s customers, giving teams more power and automation to execute campaigns faster and with more precision and insight. It’s a clear win – and a force multiplier that will enable Sitecore to compete more effectively with similar offerings. Seeing how users engage with the features will be telling, but it’s a step in the right direction.The new leadership team is a cabal of heavy hitters, each bringing a solid background of experience and forward-thinking potential. We always anticipate change when new leadership enters the top of the C-Suite, but it’s clear that Stine has been thoughtful in his selections – particularly with AI talent that will help shape the next steps in the agentic race. More will likely be revealed at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Sitecore Symposium</a> – the company’s showcase of innovation and insight – taking place this November in Orlando. Stay tuned. <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-sitecore?-talk-to-an-expert.">Looking for guidance on Sitecore? <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to an expert.</a></h4><hr /> <h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

Sitecore Sharpens AI Focus with Strategic Partnership and New Leadership Appointments

matt-garrepy

<hr /> Online video is exploding at an unimaginable rate. Globally, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://siteefy.com/video-marketing-statistics/">over 90% of internet users</a> watch online videos at least once a month, and more than 50% of video marketers are now using AI tools to create or edit their videos. As you might predict, this combination will translate into more videos, more viewers, and faster delivery – especially as AI continues to disrupt production capacity. With so much content being created, brands need better tools and easier ways to glean insights from their videos. This is where AI can be a transformative resource.   To that end, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/ai-agents/">AI agents</a> are becoming commonplace in every corner of the digital stack, bringing a host of possibilities to the table. There is, of course, a lot of hype associated with generative AI features, but there are layers where the agentic promise is tangible – and the platform investment might be paying off in a big way. That’s certainly the case when it comes to scalable automation in tools that amplify the reach of human users and teams. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/wowza">Wowza</a> is the latest to join the agentic revolution. A trusted name in video streaming infrastructure for mission-critical applications, the platform provider is bringing intelligent, agent-based capabilities to the forefront with the recent acquisition of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://avaintellect.com/">AVA Intellect,</a> an AI-native startup specializing in intelligent and embedded agent technology for video platforms.I’ve been tracking Wowza for a while now (having used it extensively in customer solutions with web and CMS applications), and this acquisition aligns firmly with the company’s commitment to embed AI across the entire video lifecycle – starting with capabilities that drive immediate value for customers. According to the company’s press release, this move positions Wowza as the first established video infrastructure software company to introduce intelligent agent technology at the point of configuration and support, providing valuable innovation in a well-established market. Building on Wowza’s industry recognition as a reliable infrastructure streaming partner for mission-critical applications at scale, the acquisition of AVA also reinforces its continuous commitment to innovation. This investment will potentially be felt across its customer ecosystem – which includes broadcasters like Astral, higher ed institutions like the University of Maine, globally recognized brands like Macy's, and government agencies like NASA.  <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:33.59%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/07/image-1752534146288.png" /></figure>Krish Kumar, CEO of Wowza “AVA joins Wowza at a pivotal time as we accelerate innovation on the foundation that has made Wowza such a reliable streaming infrastructure partner for so many mission-critical applications,” said <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kumarkrish/">Krish Kumar,</a> CEO of Wowza. “We’re integrating AVA Intellect’s agent framework into our platform to deliver video insights and real-time configuration support that adapts to customer needs. It’s a practical step forward in making video delivery more intelligent and responsive."<h3 id="evolving-video-streaming-capabilities-with-agentic-ai">Evolving video streaming capabilities with Agentic AI</h3>Prior to the acquisition, AVA Intellect positioned itself as an AI platform for seamless enterprise collaboration, combining AI, voice, video, and automation. It offered what it called AI-powered “virtual teammates,” or agents designed to collaborate like real colleagues in a workspace – something we've seen take off recently in the banking and financial industries.  <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:89.52%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/07/ava-intellect.png" /></figure>AVA Intellect dashboard. Source: AVA Intellect website. With the integration of AVA Intellect, Wowza is trumpeting two major product innovations that could be game changers. First, AVA’s stream intelligence will detect key markers and pull real-time insights directly from video. This could prove decisive from a productivity standpoint, making it even easier to process and manage video content at scale. Second, AVA’s AI technology will be leveraged to unlock agent-powered experiences, enhancing every stage of the user journey and bringing more intelligence and automation to Wowza’s video infrastructure. This new agent resource is designed to help Wowza’s customers realize greater value by accelerating their work and exploring solutions more intuitively. Taken together, these resources could enhance usability, reduce friction, boost productivity, and elevate the overall streaming experience. Users can even access personalized support on demand, providing an added layer of confidence for enterprise customers. <h3 id="bringing-ai-leadership-into-the-fold--">Bringing AI leadership into the fold  </h3>As part of the acquisition, AVA’s co-founder <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeljohnvitale/">Mike Vitale</a> joins Wowza as Head of Intelligence, accelerating Wowza’s shift toward an AI-first product strategy. With over twenty years of experience that encompasses enterprise streaming, cloud-native architecture, and AI product development, Vitale brings deep domain experience and a track record of innovation at the intersection of media and machine intelligence. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:31.83%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/07/image-1752534011953.png" /></figure>Mike Vitale, co-founder of AVA Intellect and new Head of Intelligence at Wowza “What drew me to Wowza was the chance to pair next-gen AI with a platform that already powers some of the most demanding video infrastructure in the world,” said Vitale. “We’re building on that foundation with new intelligence that’s embeddable and aligned with how developers and product teams want to work today - across industries, use cases, and environments.”<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>In the niche layer of enterprise video infrastructure providers, Wowza has a lot going for it. As a streaming engine, it’s super adaptable and feature-rich. From a performance perspective, it consistently delivers high-quality live and on-demand video (VOD) experiences for a broad range of customers across industries, including media, public safety, healthcare, IoT, and more. It also powers content delivery networks (CDNs), hosting and streaming providers, ISPs, and other service providers with licensed options. In my own experiences deploying Wowza, I can tell you that it’s reliable and flexible, making it a solid choice for powering your video workloads. It also sports a bench of developer-centric tools, allowing organizations to build and scale custom video infrastructure based on their needs. This could be anything from live government agency meetings to dedicated brand-focused streaming channels. AI is transforming every tool in the digital stack, and we’ve seen a concerted effort by enterprise vendors to weave AI and agentic capabilities throughout their ecosystems. As I said, there’s been a lot of hype with generative AI features, but there are bright spots worth pursuing. That’s certainly been the case for data-focused automation in places like DAMs, CDPs, and other tools where automation and insights can really benefit from the force multiplication of AI and the promise of agent-based functions.Wowza’s acquisition of AVA is a smart move, and signals the next step in its platform evolution. By injecting AI deeper into the streaming experience, Wowza is investing in a more intelligent and responsive infrastructure that can help customers be more agile while accelerating the deliver of better video experiences – all at scale.I recommend keeping an eye on these features as they roll out.  <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-wowza?-talk-to-an-expert.">Looking for guidance on Wowza? <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to an expert.</a></h4><hr /> <h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

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