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matt-garrepy

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Sorry, Eurovision. The real music was at CMS Summit 25. Here’s what made it a hit

<hr /> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jared-smigelski-1b0023163/">Jared Smigelski</a> isn’t a dentist, but he’s doing his part to improve smiles.That’s not easy when you’re modernizing a digital ecosystem that’s been in place for decades. It’s a bit like performing dental work that’s long overdue. Where do you start? How do you ensure a pain-free outcome?When I met Jared at “The Composable Conference” a few weeks ago, I was immediately drawn into his career arc at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/benco-dental/">Benco Dental. </a>He's spent the last 13 years supporting and incrementally improving his company’s digital properties, starting as a software engineer and moving into product and application ownership. Now, he and his team are embarking on a “composable cleaning” that aims to transform his company’s IT posture with a MACH architectural approach – a move that could improve Benco’s competitive agility while future-proofing it for the next wave of tech innovation.“We’re a hundred-year-old company, maybe more, and the site’s been around since there’s been a site,” Jared said. “So it’s heavily monolithic, heavily legacy. All the logic is all over the place, and a lot of it lives on the front end, so we’re looking to pull a lot of that apart. In theory, MACH principles are perfect for what we’re trying to do.”This initiative is exactly why Jared and two of his key practitioners were attending the annual <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-composable-conference-2025-takes-shape-as-mach-alliance-announces-speakers-and-new-events">MACH Alliance event in Chicago</a>. They had already started down the composable path by assessing a move to the cloud, embracing an API-first approach, and even procuring several tools to begin “drilling” into their strategy. “We’re in a position right now where we’re integrating a lot of these tools that are already within the Alliance,” he explained, mentioning <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.bloomreach.com/en">Bloomreach</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/contentstack">Contentstack</a> by name.But going composable can be like pulling teeth, fraught with challenges and mired by the looming potential of failure. For Jared, the MACH Alliance community provided a bit of Novocain for his concerns, and hearing the successful use cases from other practitioners made him hopeful about their prospects. For me, this is a fantastic story and a compelling use case. First, it’s an opportunity to hear from a digital leader at the very beginning of his MACH journey, starting with an aging monolithic legacy system – and one that’s homegrown. It's brownfield with a bit of green on the edges. It’s also an example of an enterprise application within the B2B healthcare vertical, which gives it a differentiated spin from the typical retail examples we’re accustomed to in MACH. Finally, Jared’s frankness captured some of the real stakes at play when considering a composable path. In our chat, we delved into his selection of Contentstack as a CMS foundation and what influenced his decision. We also discussed how their roadmap for AI is already beginning to take shape as they consider the possibilities of a MACH-powered future.Will it be easy to realize this vision? Not likely – and he knows this is a years-long gamble for both his team and the company. Getting there could, at times, feel like a mouth full of braces. But with the right planning, mindset, and execution, a more structured and (dare I say) beautiful smile awaits. <h3 id="avoiding-digital-“tooth-decay”">Avoiding digital “tooth decay”</h3>Benco is a storied brand in the dental industry. As the largest privately owned, full-service distributor of dental supplies, equipment, consulting, and equipment services in the US, it has a rich heritage built on almost a century of success. Founded by Benjamin Cohen, the company has remained family-owned and laser-focused on its mission of "delivering success smile after smile."​ Based in Pittston, Pennsylvania, Benco is also the nation's fastest-growing dental distributor with more than 50 regional showroom locations and five distribution centers servicing more than 30,000 dental professionals in all 50 states.As you might imagine, this unabated growth is driving more dependency on Benco’s digital properties, which feature e-commerce shopping capabilities. And while legacy and longevity are key attributes for a brand, Benco’s aging website and infrastructure have been a key source of pain as it looks to scale. To avoid this digital “tooth decay” and get to the next step of digital transformation, Jared has embraced a composable strategy – and tapping the MACH Alliance and its community of expertise is one way he’s hoping to achieve success as he begins to execute.   “The principles, they’ve been around since modern development architecture has been around,” he said, referencing the tenets of MACH. “But actually having some place that pulls it all together is really helpful. We’re here to try to learn more about these principles, get some actionable content when we go back, so we can implement a CMS successfully on the first try.”<h3 id="the-mach-community:-a-retainer-for-knowledge">The MACH community: A retainer for knowledge</h3>As Jared mentioned, the goal of attending “The Composable Conference” was to seek insight and walk away ready to take action. The education piece continues to be a shining example of where the Alliance excels, and that came through in spades during the first day’s keynote sessions and focused workshops. That said, I spoke to a number of attendees who felt that the conference's content was on point, but that “actionable” component might not have been fully realized. This is one area where the Alliance can continue to improve its value to members and the market at large. This year’s session tracks did provide a clear and concise framework for attendees, allowing them to select a path that best fits their current status – from early-stage “MACH Curious” to “Active” or “Pro.” I asked Jared what sessions stood out for him and why they made an impact. “Hearing Andrew talk from Zoro on that first day, that keynote was really pertinent because we’re a similar company,” he said. “We’re a B2B selling to offices, and hearing about that transformation was truly impressive.”He was referring to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/goodfellow/">Andrew Goodfellow</a>, CTO at Zoro – an online provider of tools, parts, and supplies. As CTO, Andy took attendees through the digital retailer’s early adoption of MACH, and how it ultimately enabled Zoro to go from 2 million SKUs to 15 million and double revenue. You can read more about it <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-deep-dish-on-composable-6-tasty-takeaways-from-the-mach-alliances-2025-conference">in my conference overview</a>. Jared also mentioned how <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.vfc.com/brands">the use case for VF</a>, the company behind brands like The North Face and Timberland, struck a chord. It was real and relatable, and gave him perspective on where things are at – and the potential for them to go off the rails. “They had a 1.0 version of a MACH approach, which is where I feel we’re at,” he reflected. “We’re kind of new to this, and you hear the candid truth about their story, right? He said it took them three years to release one site the first time, because they jumped in, rushed it, and didn’t do it right. So it’s cool to hear that other companies are having these same challenges.”<h3 id="a-new-cms-crown-with-contentstack">A new CMS crown with Contentstack</h3>Benco doesn't have an actual CMS – and never has. Instead, they have what Jared described as a homegrown “CMS-like” solution. So the prospect of moving to a mature platform is novel… and even a little nerve-racking.“I almost wish we could skip past that first phase where we picked the wrong one and we try to migrate to another,” he said, laughing. “We’re in the very first phase of this. We’ve never integrated a CMS.”Jared mentioned that he had already settled on Contentstack, a composable DXP with a headless CMS as its foundation. While the platform already presented key advantages based on their goals, some soft attributes added confidence to his decision.“We had some really good experiences with their sales team and technical folks,” he said. Relying on experienced voices has been key for Benco as early questions arose like, Where’s your data map? or Where’s your architecture diagram? They simply weren't prepared.The MACH Alliance community has been pivotal to supporting education within the composable category, and platforms like Contentstack have helped bridge the awareness gap from the very beginning. “The Composable Conference” helps to crystallize things over a two-day period, but <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-taps-dylan-valade-of-abbott-to-drive-expanding-ridemach-education-program">programs like rideMACH</a> are shepherding the cause throughout the year with courseware, certifications, and real-world insights from people who have done the work. “This has been really helpful to see and get to connect with people who’ve had those experiences," Jared remarked, "and help talk through what you do the first time.”<h3 id="removing-the-legacy-plaque-to-make-way-for-ai">Removing the legacy plaque to make way for AI</h3>Composable is already proving its value as a key conduit for AI innovation and adoption. Enterprises that have a composable posture are arguably better equipped to shift, experiment, and deploy new AI solutions, and the MACH Alliance is focusing more attention on this – specifically with the advent of its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-launches-new-mach-ai-exchange-to-help-enterprises-streamline-ai-adoption">new MACH AI Exchange.</a>  While Jared and his team are consumed with the elemental steps of their composable strategy, I asked him about AI and where it fits with his organization’s plans. From his perspective, he sees early gains within Benco’s content operations practice and how they leverage the new CMS.“The biggest use case that comes right to mind for AI, especially in something like a CMS, is getting our titles, blog posts, articles, all that stuff SEO optimized,” he said, reflecting how humans aren’t the best at knowing how to game the algorithms for search. This is one way that AI could have a solid impact on performance in the near term.But the future? With a composable architecture, Benco could certainly dive into the realm of more advanced personalization and optimization, akin to what Zoro achieved – something Jared and his team are eager to sink their teeth into.Here’s five minutes of brain floss to sharpen your smile: <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/BuUbmrwne-I"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/BuUbmrwne-I" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:33.07%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/05/contentcon25-logo-1747412490394.png" /><h4 id="contentstack-contentcon-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">Contentstack ContentCon 25</a></h4>June 3-5, 2025 – Chicago, USAThe future of digital is waiting for you! Contentstack presents ContentCon, the premier event for digital teams and industry leaders who are reimagining the future of digital experiences. Join us for two days of transformative presentations and workshops designed to help you put personalization and AI strategies into action. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://contentcon2025.site.zuddl.com/">Register today! </a> <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>

MACHtales: Voices from “The Composable Conference” with Jared Smigelski of Benco Dental

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/tom-cranstoun">Tom Cranstoun</a>, “The AEM Guy,” is the principal consultant at Digital Domain Technologies Limited and a CMS Critic contributor. <hr /> The Frankfurt skyline, the only city in Germany with skyscrapers, provided a fitting backdrop for two days of intense conversation about content management systems at the CMS Summit 2025, organized by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25/program">Boye &amp; Co. </a>This first European installment brought together a diverse mix of CMS practitioners, vendors, agencies, and analysts from across Europe and North America. My experience at the summit changed how I view the intersection of AI, CMS, and web technologies—areas that directly connect to my professional focus.<h3 id="the-state-of-content-management-in-2025">The State of Content Management in 2025</h3>What struck me most was not the technical specifications of various platforms, but the rich dialogue about how organizations actually use these systems. A common challenge emerged across multiple sessions: the search for a perfect "all-in-one" solution often leads to disappointment.Several presentations addressed this directly, noting that good technology alone doesn't guarantee success. Speakers described how quickly new requirements can reveal limitations in even the most promising systems. This observation was reinforced by cautions against purchasing tools before clearly defining the problems they should solve. The recommendation to view technology "not as a solution but as an enabler" resonated with many attendees, myself included.<h3 id="ai-integration:-substance-over-spectacle">AI Integration: Substance Over Spectacle</h3>The discussion around AI and content management stood out for its practicality. Rather than focusing on theoretical applications, presenters addressed real implementation challenges.Sessions on AI integration cut through typical enthusiasm with a focus on creating genuine value. Speakers emphasized that successful AI implementation depends less on impressive features and more on building user trust and achieving measurable outcomes.Several talks provided valuable insights on how AI systems interact with CMS-powered content, highlighting current limitations and offering concrete approaches to help AI better understand structured content—a critical consideration as these technologies become more deeply integrated. In full transparency, I was one of the speakers and I moderated one of the workshops, “Trust in AI”.<h3>"How Did I Not Know This?"</h3>The most profound insight came during the "Trust in AI" and "Building Products with AI" workshops, where a startling realization emerged that changed my understanding of AI in multilingual content management: Non-English speakers experience AI differently. And those of us in the English-speaking tech world rarely understand this. <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="-"> </h4><h4 style="text-align:center" id="“non-english-speakers-experience-ai-differently.-and-those-of-us-in-the-english-speaking-tech-world-rarely-understand-this.”">“Non-English speakers experience AI differently. And those of us in the English-speaking tech world rarely understand this.”</h4> <hr /> As someone familiar with AI bias discussions, I thought I understood the landscape. Yes, AI has a Western tilt. Yes, models reflect dominant ideologies. But what I hadn't fully grasped until this summit was the structural exclusion of non-English perspectives from the foundation upwards.In the European context, where linguistic diversity is lived rather than theoretical, this observation gained immediate traction. As we discussed AI implementation in content management systems, participants from various countries shared starkly different experiences with the same AI tools—experiences shaped primarily by language.The technical explanation proved equally eye-opening. Most large language models powering today's AI features in CMS platforms are trained on Common Crawl, a public dataset that scrapes vast portions of the web. Approximately 44% of this content is in English, with no other language exceeding 6%. German, Spanish, French, Russian, Japanese, and Chinese are present, but minimally so. The remaining global languages are virtually absent.A couple of anecdotes from the side chatter further underscore this challenge in both artificial intelligence and machine translation, particularly when dealing with nuanced languages like German.  <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/trieloff/">Lars Trieloff's</a> remark, "His English is Better than AI's German," while perhaps humorous, highlights the limitations of AI in achieving natural and idiomatic language proficiency. This suggests that even with advancements in AI, human expertise remains essential for tasks requiring linguistic finesse.  <figure class="image image_resized" style="width:86.85%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/05/image-1747664039114.png" alt="A person speaking into a microphone

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/trieloff/">Lars Trieloff</a>, principal at Adobe. Photo Source: Marta Cukierman <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelika-gust-5a4192205/">Angelika Gust's</a> experience further emphasizes this point. Her workflow, involving an "Experiment in AI," necessitated the active participation of native German speakers. Their role was crucial in rectifying the "stilted German" generated by the AI, indicating that while AI can be a useful tool in translation, it often falls short of producing text that is both grammatically correct and stylistically natural.  <figure class="image image_resized" style="width:85.83%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/05/image-1747664039107.png" alt="A person in a dress with her hands up

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/angelika-gust-5a4192205/">Angelika Gust</a>, Senior Product Manager, Digital Channels at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.bahn.de/">DB Regio</a>. Photo Source: Marta Cukierman These real-world examples serve as a potent reminder that achieving truly human-quality language generation and translation remains a hurdle for artificial intelligence. The need for human oversight and correction is not just a matter of preference but a practical necessity for ensuring accuracy and quality. <figure class="image image_resized" style="width:84.04%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/05/image-1747664038840.png" /></figure> This imbalance creates models that "think" in English—not just linguistically, but culturally and contextually. For CMS implementations serving multilingual audiences, this poses significant challenges. Content created or augmented by AI in non-English languages often exhibits lower quality, cultural misalignments, and reduced effectiveness.Don’t forget that the system prompt is also written in English, the UI and front end often sneak in tricks by looking for text like ‘think deeply” in the prompt and then adjust the model's output.Wow. Perhaps everyone should prompt in English! I hope not.Common Crawl's architecture compounds the problem by prioritizing highly-linked domains, which overwhelmingly come from the English-speaking West. Already-dominant voices are further elevated, while content from smaller, less networked communities is ignored. This is particularly problematic for CMS implementations serving diverse global audiences.The contrast with established institutional approaches was striking. The United Nations publishes all official documents in six languages. The European Union recognizes 24 official languages and mandates linguistic equity across communications. Yet our content management systems, increasingly powered by AI, lag significantly behind this standard despite serving the same diverse populations.Another layer of systemic imbalance arises in how AI systems are fine-tuned. Reinforcement <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinforcement_learning_from_human_feedback">Learning from Human Feedback (RLHF)</a>, the technique used to refine language models, is overwhelmingly English-centric. This creates:<ul><li>Perspective Narrowing: Models reflect Anglophone values and social assumptions</li><li>Language Exclusion: Many global languages receive no feedback at all</li><li>Digital Colonialism: While the Global South provides labour and data, the benefits and governance remain concentrated in the Global North</li><li>Outdated non-native English: The global south was decolonised in the 1950s, their English language was often a second language, used as a link language; it has not kept up with modern English.</li></ul>What made this revelation particularly impactful was its obviousness in retrospect. As someone who has worked extensively with content management systems, I found myself wondering:  “How did I not know this?”<h3 id="digital-sustainability-emerges-as-a-core-concern">Digital Sustainability Emerges as a Core Concern</h3>The conference marked a shift toward acknowledging the environmental impact of digital solutions. Presentations offered compelling data on the growing carbon footprint of websites, applications, and AI systems.Speakers noted that building more climate-friendly digital experiences benefits both the planet and business outcomes. Several vendors and agencies have begun incorporating sustainability metrics into their development practices, signaling a potential industry-wide shift in priorities. <figure class="image image_resized" style="width:86.08%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/05/image-1747664039089.png" alt="A person giving a presentation to a group of people

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/speakers/thorsten-jonas">Thorsten Jonas</a> presenting “The Time is Now for Web Sustainability.” Photo Source: Marta Cukierman This focus on sustainability connects directly to questions about resource allocation and efficiency—particularly relevant as content management systems grow more complex and data-intensive.<h3 id="collaborative-problem-solving-">Collaborative Problem-Solving </h3>The second day shifted from presentations to working groups addressing pressing industry questions. Topics included building products in the age of AI, future-proofing content across multiple platforms, and establishing accuracy and trust with AI systems. <figure class="image image_resized" style="width:87.11%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/05/image-1747664277914.png" /></figure><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/julianmills/">Julian Mills</a> facilitating one of the day two workshop sessions. Photo Source: Janus BoyeThis format created space for substantive cross-organizational dialogue, allowing participants to share challenges and strategies from different perspectives. Many attendees noted this collaborative approach as particularly valuable compared to the experience of traditional conferences.<h3 id="reflections-and-forward-movement">Reflections and Forward Movement</h3>Looking back on the summit, what remains most valuable are the connections formed with other practitioners facing similar challenges. The conversations during breaks and social events often yielded insights as valuable as the formal sessions.For those working at the intersection of content management and emerging technologies, the path forward requires both technical expertise and strategic vision. We're navigating an industry-wide transformation driven by technological changes that pressure vendors, agencies, and clients alike.The multilingual AI revelation particularly calls for a shift in how we approach AI integration in content management. If we truly want AI-enhanced CMS to serve global audiences, then we need:<ul><li>Training data that's representative, multilingual, and culturally nuanced</li><li>Evaluation processes that account for linguistic diversity</li><li>Governance structures that include voices from all markets served</li><li>More inclusive, ethically curated datasets</li><li>Feedback systems reflecting a genuinely global range of human values</li><li>Movement beyond tokenism into structural equity</li></ul>The next European CMS Summit is scheduled for May 12-13, 2026, again in Frankfurt. Based on the quality of this year's event, it promises to provide another opportunity for meaningful exchange across the global CMS community. If you're based in North America, you can also join <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect in August</a> or <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25">CMS Kickoff in January.</a> And finally, the conversation continues in the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/groups/cms-experts/">CMS Expert Groups,</a> where <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/matt-garrepy">Chief Critic Matt Garrepy</a> is also an active community leader. This post represents my personal takeaways rather than a comprehensive report. I extend my gratitude to all speakers, demonstrators, and fellow attendees for two days of inspiring dialogue and discovery. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:33.07%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/05/contentcon25-logo-1747412490394.png" /><h4 id="contentstack-contentcon-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">Contentstack ContentCon 25</a></h4>June 3-5, 2025 – Chicago, USAThe future of digital is waiting for you! Contentstack presents ContentCon, the premier event for digital teams and industry leaders who are reimagining the future of digital experiences. Join us for two days of transformative presentations and workshops designed to help you put personalization and AI strategies into action. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://contentcon2025.site.zuddl.com/">Register today! </a> <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>

'How did I not know this?’ CMS Summit 25 changed my understanding of AI

tom-cranstoun

<hr /> In French, sur la table rolls off the tongue like a light-bodied Beaujolais, beckoning for another pour. Translated to English, it means “on the table” – the place where we break bread and cultivate conversation. As such, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.surlatable.com/">Sur La Table</a> is a fitting name for a company that focuses on food and dining. The upscale retailer specializes in selling high-quality kitchenware, cookware, cutlery, bakeware, and other home goods. They even offer cooking classes and a popular blog with all kinds of food tips.For <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mokshika-sharma-profile/">Mokshika Sharma</a>, the company’s Vice President of Product and Technology, the latest dish on the menu is composability. As she shared during our discussion at “<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-deep-dish-on-composable-6-tasty-takeaways-from-the-mach-alliances-2025-conference">The Composable Conference”</a> in Chicago, Sur La Table is already adopting a more modular posture across its stack, allowing Mokshika to expand and grow PE holding company <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.cscgeneration.com/our-companies">CSC Generation’s</a> investment in the kitchenware retailer. “My job is really the full umbrella of anything that has electrons and supporting retail,” she said, laughing about the atomic reference. Her role also encompasses some big-ticket requirements like defining the e-commerce product vision, growth and revenue optimization, cost and operational enhancement, and more.The even bigger mandate: Supporting CSC Generation’s mission to help distressed brands and organizations climb out of their technical debt and achieve the next level of technical competency. CSC brings a platform of retail practices into automation and AI, supporting a portfolio that includes Backcountry, One Kings Lane, Touch of Modern, and more. Based in Austin, Texas, Mokshika is a passionate technologist with a heart for brand engineering. She's amassed a deep background in digital retail, an area where MACH principles have proven their potential. She also has the industry chops to back it up, serving as a CIO Council Member at the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://nrf.com/">National Retail Federation (NRF).</a>Retail has long been a sweet spot for the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-launches-new-mach-ai-exchange-to-help-enterprises-streamline-ai-adoption">MACH Alliance,</a> which clearly attracted Mokshika to its message. As you'll glean from our conversation, she had some key takeaways from the conference that might set the table for future success.<h3 id="a-varietal-that’s-composable-forward">A varietal that’s composable forward</h3>Aligning with the session tracks at “The Composable Conference,” Mokshika admitted to being “MACH Curious” – and as a first-time attendee, that makes sense. But a few minutes into our conversation, it was evident that she’s more capable than curious – and the journey to the MACH Alliance community was a codifying moment.“It really helped me understand how the Alliance is supporting the initiatives we’re already doing in our organization,” she said. This maps to some of the existing best practices Sur La Table is already engaging in around headless and other resources. The conference, in her mind, was more relevant because it reinforced that momentum while providing access to a community that could help drive the next steps. <h3 id="legacy-recipes?-c’est-la-vie">Legacy recipes? C’est la vie</h3>“I think the dream of every technologist is, of course, to be composable 100%,” Mokshika said lightly, although she admitted this dream won’t likely be fully realized. But that’s not the point. In her view, it’s about creating and investing in reusable components – building blocks, so to speak – that can be leveraged well into the future.Of course, one of the roadblocks to composability is the reality of legacy systems. According to Mokshika, there are many legacy processes and tools in her line of work, and much of it is heavily siloed. Breaking it apart takes a lot of careful thought and consideration.“Sometimes it’s a composable answer,” she said. “And sometimes, you don’t need to build the rocket ship, and you can think about what the early starting point is to get to composable.”Mokshika also pointed out the realities of what she called “operational hazards.” These occur when you create a system that is inherently more complex, ultimately driving the need for more people and oversight. To that end, digital leaders and practitioners need to plan carefully as they dive into composable waters. “Now you have to support all these pieces,” she explained. “It’s a very thoughtful exercise you have to do in retail.”<h3 id="setting-the-table-for-success">Setting the table for success</h3>There were a number of ah-ha moments for Mokshika, but she really zeroed in on some key activators around the community collaboration, and where the MACH Alliance has focused its human expertise to support a successful knowledge transfer. “I think the big takeaway is how much people are actually pushing the boundaries of what companies are building for legacy brands to consider and take care of other people’s roadmaps,” Mokshika said. “They’re here, talking to you, asking for advice – and at the same table.”Being at a more focused event also resulted in more substantive conversations. “I’ve obviously been to a lot of retail conferences that are very large, and you don’t have this chance to do a one-on-one conversation as much as I was able to do here,” she commented, “and more so, I didn’t get to do it through a technical lens.”That last point was codified in sessions that featured slideshows with architectures, where Mokshika noted that people were taking pictures of the diagrams and schematics. “I guess the magic here is that they’re actually talking about how to think about your whole ecosystem, and not just the one thing that I’m trying to sell.”While still new to the community, Mokshika’s composable maturity might already be well ahead of the curve. But the point of the conference is to move people and brands to the next step – and that seemed to be the outcome in her case. “I wish I had come here earlier when first joining retail,” she says. “It would have been a great start of my journey.”Take five minutes and join Mokshika at the MACH table. C'est si bon. <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/d4IL8-XkSag"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/d4IL8-XkSag" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:30.46%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/cms-summit-25.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">CMS Summit 25</a></h4>May 13-14, 2025 – Frankfurt, GermanyDon't miss the first European edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community! CMS Summit 25 will bring together top-notch speakers, our renowned learning format, and engaging social events. Hear from leading practitioners like Deutsche Bahn, Dr. Oetker, and more – and join customers, agencies, and CMS vendors as we discuss current trends and what's ahead for the content and digital experience fields. Connect and network at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference focused on CMS. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">so book your seats today.</a> <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>

MACHtales: Voices from “The Composable Conference” with Mokshika Sharma of Sur La Table

The ‘Deep Dish’ on Composable: 6 Tasty Takeaways from the MACH Alliance’s 2025 Conference

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<hr /> As we turn the corner towards summer in the Northern Hemisphere, things are heating up in the composable world.Fresh off the publication of chiefmartec's <a target="_blank" href="https://martechmap.typeform.com/MartechDay2024">2024 State of Martech Report</a> – where composability was a key topic across the 14,106 products in the marketing technology landscape – we're also a month away from the industry's premier composable conference: <a target="_blank" href="https://machalliance.org/events/mach-three">MACH THREE</a>.This is the third edition of the annual event hosted by the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.machalliance.org/">MACH Alliance</a>, a group of independent tech companies dedicated to advocating for open, best-of-breed technology ecosystems. Buoyed by an array of sessions that aim to educate and elevate the understanding of MACH (Microservices, APIs, Cloud-first SaaS, Headless), the MACH THREE event promises to inspire attendees to “supercharge their composable journey."Today, the organization announced some juicy details regarding the roster for MACH THREE, which will be held in New York City from June 17 - 18. This is the first time the conference is slated for North America, signaling an important shift in focus toward the U.S. – which has been slower to adopt MACH but is now showing accelerated growth. In fact, an analysis provided in the <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-publishes-first-annual-report-showcases-industry-impact-and-plans-for-2024">MACH Alliance's first annual report</a> – published in January of this year – underscores the opportunities ahead for the addressable U.S. market, and where the Alliance sees future potential to expand the MACH footprint. <a target="_blank" href="https://register.machalliance.org/hubfs/Agenda%20MACH%20THREE.pdf">The MACH THREE agenda</a> will feature heavy hitters like IKEA, MARS, and Ulta Beauty. But it will also include presentations from influential global brands like H&amp;M, Kraft Heinz, Mattel, Rally House, Clarks, Saks Fifth Avenue, and OBI. During the two-day conference, these industry leaders will discuss the innovative digital experiences they have created using MACH architectures, as well as the many benefits and challenges of embracing digital transformation with a composable strategy. “MACH THREE is not about technology providers sharing sales pitches or demos, it’s about brands showcasing their digital strategies, what worked and what didn’t,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/holly-hall-4b14a945/">Holly Hall</a>, managing director at the MACH Alliance. “MACH THREE is an essential part of the MACH Alliance’s commitment to being a facilitator of education and advocacy around MACH principles, especially in the U.S. as this market becomes a strong advocate and adopter of MACH technologies.”The conference is free, and <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-two-conference-wrap-six-takeaways-from-the-composable-event-of-the-year">registration is open</a> to business and technology leaders by application. They even offer a rebate program to cover travel expenses, which is a limited offer but nonetheless an attractive give (better act quickly on this one).CMS Critic attended last year's MACH TWO conference in Amsterdam and covered it in detail. For a glimpse at what to expect in New York, <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-two-conference-wrap-six-takeaways-from-the-composable-event-of-the-year">read what this world-class event offered in 2023.</a><h3 id="a-packed-agenda-focused-on-mach">A packed agenda focused on MACH</h3>As retailers and brands strive to create a flexible, future-proofed digital ecosystem that promotes the best customer experience possible, MACH architecture has emerged as a leading differentiator. According to the 2023 MACH Alliance Annual Report, 85% of respondents have increased MACH investment in the past 12 months – and the U.S. has now surpassed Europe in the rate of MACH adoption. This trend was already being felt at last year's MACH TWO Conference. During the media session, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/kellygoetsch/">Kelly Goetsch</a> – former MACH Alliance Chair and CSO of <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/commercetools">commercetool</a> – observed that MACH “now feels like the default,” and that “we’re no longer advocating from the sidelines.” The MACH Alliance's annual conference series provides the connective tissue for the MACH movement, bringing together a community of members and customers to highlight successful use cases and real-world applications. This year's MACH THREE promises to explore and educate about the continued evolution of MACH through the voices of industry-leading brands. This includes mainstage keynotes from Kraft Heinz, H&amp;M, and more that will showcase MACH successes from initial deployment to long-term results.Along with the keynotes, MACH THREE will feature leadership sessions and peer-to-peer discussions that will provide insights into how brands can succeed in their composable journeys with unparalleled agility. As with previous events, there will be focused “MACH in Practice” workshops to help educate attendees on real-world MACH implementations that foster competitive advantages.Attendees will also have access to “MACH Creates” sessions, which will highlight how a MACH foundation can give brands the flexibility to experiment with the next generation of AI-driven SaaS.“From listening to the head of digital experience at The Kraft Heinz Company talk about the CPG revolution to hearing the senior director of digital engineering at Ulta Beauty explain how to innovate under pressure, MACH THREE will be an educational and inspirational experience for attendees,” said <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-future-is-composable-a-conversation-with-new-mach-alliance-president-casper-rasmussen">Casper Rasmussen</a>, president of the MACH Alliance. “By being open and transparent about all facets of MACH technology, attendees will leave feeling confident they have the 360-degree picture needed to approach their own digital transformations.”<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>Despite its meteoric rise, MACH continues to be an exotic topic in the annals of techdom. While it has appreciated significant growth, it still represents a small piece of the overall pie. The trend of composability is certainly more ubiquitous, but it, too, struggles to be clearly understood due to a myriad of mixed marketing messages. As we've reported, this is visible in the competitive morass betwixt legacy monolithic DXPs and headless CMSes, many of whom claim to be composable, though not all MACH. In an open letter to the market, the Alliance <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-openly-invites-companies-claiming-mach-to-apply-for-certification">openly invited companies</a> that are claiming to the MACH (affectionately referred to as “MACH Washing”) to apply for certification in an effort to reduce confusion for buyers. That's why education is so important – and why it continues to be a key pillar of the MACH Alliance. Expressing this through digital content is table stakes, but live events provide a tangible backdrop for focusing on solutions, sharing ideas, and experiencing the real people behind the successes and failures (it's true, not all MACH stories have a happy ending). As Holly Hall also pointed out, this isn't a typical tradeshow where the primary motion is sales – and that's a refreshing distinction. Networking and the precipitous “elbow-rubbing” are par for the course; as such, connections and deals may emerge effervescently. But the agenda is laser-focused on learning, and that makes the experience more enriching. With over <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-alliance-surges-past-100-members-caps-2023-as-a-milestone-year">100 members in its composable cabal</a>, the MACH Alliance keeps demonstrating its relevance to the market. That said, it isn't without its detractors, and that feedback has resulted in a heightened commitment to transparency and a resolve to open its membership to products within larger brands. It's evolving, and the vision for its roadmap is best experienced by inspirational leaders like Casper Rasmussen during an interactive keynote with Q&amp;As.  The bench of brands on display will provide robust examples of MACH at scale. More importantly, these industry leaders lend greater credibility to the adoption of MACH, and having so many assembled in one place is a great opportunity to learn and reflect, regardless of where you might be on your MACH journey. It will be difficult to one-up the MACH TWO event from an experiential perspective. Last year's conference was world-class in every dimension, from substance to location to accouterments. Even the food reinforced the organization's commitment to DEI with catering from a European B-corp focused on sustainable practices. Hosting the event in a cosmopolitan city like New York aligns with the tenets of the MACH Alliance, announcing its focus on U.S. soil with an elevated level of sophistication. The Big Apple is at the epicenter of technology and retail, and multiple industry brands are headquartered here. It's also a city of experiences, and we can be assured that many of its best features will be on display when the event kicks off next month.<h3 id="mach-takes-manhattan">MACH takes Manhattan</h3>Will we see you at MACH THREE in NYC? If so, we'd love to hear about your experiences with MACH and composable.CMS Critic's <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/matt-garrepy">Matt Garrepy</a> is judging the MACH Impact Awards for the second year in a row. These awards celebrate the best of the best in composable use cases, with some incredibly innovative examples of MACH in action. <a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/mach-two-conference-wrap-six-takeaways-from-the-composable-event-of-the-year">Check out an overview</a> of last year's awards and the winners. To learn more about MACH THREE and register to attend, visit <a target="_blank" href="http://www.machalliance.org/events/mach-three">www.machalliance.org/events/mach-three</a> <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-conferences">Upcoming conferences</h3> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-connect-2024-logo.png" alt="CMS Connect 24 logo" /><h4 id="cms-connect-24"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect24">CMS Connect 24</a></h4>August 6-7, 2024 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present our first annual summer edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community. Join us this August in Montreal, Canada, for a vendor-neutral conference focused on CMS. Tired of impersonal and overwhelming gatherings? Picture this event as a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-25"><a target="_blank" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25/tickets">CMS Kickoff 25</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaJoin us next January in the Tampa Bay area of Florida for the third annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, so secure your tickets today.

IKEA, MARS, Ulta Beauty and Influential Brands to be Featured at MACH THREE Conference

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<a href="https://www.contentstack.com/" target="_blank">Contentstack</a>, a leading composable digital experience platform, has announced the details of its annual customer conference <a href="https://hopin.com/events/contentcon-2023-b457f92b-1b36-4b14-ab98-2e9997fd6326/registration" target="_blank">ContentCon</a>, which will be held May 8-10, 2023. The conference will host in-person attendees at the <a href="https://www.hotelvanzandt.com/?gclid=CjwKCAjwov6hBhBsEiwAvrvN6BrprCkd8CfhkkHMLTmec3hO_vjpADrx_azcyRskPIA22yckdrggGhoCUDIQAvD_BwE" target="_blank">Hotel Van Zandt</a> in Austin, Texas, with an exciting lineup of speakers, workshops, and networking opportunities.
Attendees who cannot make the trip to the Lone Star state can also register to attend virtually and for free.
<h2>Who’s who at ContentCon?</h2>
Contentstack just revealed its keynote speakers for the event, which include an all-star lineup of strategic business leaders, thought leaders, and composable evangelists.
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/heylgo/" target="_blank">Laura Gassner Otting</a> – Best-Selling Author, Catalyst, and Executive Coach
Laura inspires people to push past the doubt and indecision that keep great ideas in limbo by helping audiences think bigger and accept greater challenges that reach beyond their current, limited scope of belief.
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/julietteolah/" target="_blank">Juliette Olah</a> – Senior Senior Manager, Editorial Content at <a href="https://www.booking.com/?aid=2062892&amp;label=147268094501561094234084590185684619184&amp;anid=147268094501561094234084590185684619184" target="_blank">Booking.com</a>
Juliette leads and inspires happy teams who delight audiences with awesome content. Juliette's keynote will cover The Art and Science of Content Strategy.
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardbilton/" target="_blank">Richard Bilton</a> – Director of Technology at Leesa Sleep
With a background in sales, development, and eCommerce, Richard helps businesses see the value of the website as their superstar salesman that never sleeps. Richard will share How Leesa Sleep is Realizing the Personalization Dream.
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mjmontgomery/" target="_blank">Mindy Montgomery</a> – Associate Director, Product Management, ASICS
Mindy has deep expertise in consulting and transforming industries through technology. Mindy's keynote will be a guide to surviving RFPs, titled It Takes a Village to Raise a Platform.”
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jurrevanruth/" target="_blank">Jurre van Ruth</a> – Strategic Program Manager, ‘Composable DXP’, at PostNL
Jurre helps PostNL, a mail and logistics solutions provider, build the future of delivery from the Benelux (Belgium, Netherlands, and Luxembourg). Jurre's keynote will address Headless as an Accelerator for Innovation.
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/nehasampat/" target="_blank">Neha Sampat</a> – Founder and CEO at Contentstack
An outspoken advocate for equality &amp; women leaders, Neha was named Female Tech Trailblazer in 2020, CEO of the Year by Aragon in 2018, and an “SF Business Times 40 under 40” honoree in 2015.
<h2>What to expect</h2>
While promoting the event on its website, Contentstack stated it is “calling all status-quo-busters to join the composable future.” This customer-focused event promises to empower new Contentstack users or seasoned veterans to elevate their skills and expertise in composable technology and composable leadership.
Contentstack knows something about customer satisfaction. One of its promises to users is <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/contentstack-launches-new-marketplace-to-accelerate-composable-digital-experience-innovation/">“Care Without Compromise,”</a> which helps customers find solutions often using cross-vendor resolutions.
Throughout the event, attendees can stop by the Contentstack Help Bar for expert advice or attend an expert-led workshop to hone their knowledge about the composable space. Participants can also expect vibrant discussions at one of the many networking events.
For more information on logistics and details of the event, please <a href="https://hopin.com/events/contentcon-2023-b457f92b-1b36-4b14-ab98-2e9997fd6326/registration" target="_blank">register here</a>.
<h2>About Contentstack</h2>
<a href="https://www.contentstack.com/" target="_blank">Contentstack</a> – the Content Experience Platform (CXP) category leader – empowers marketers and developers to deliver composable digital experiences at the speed of their imagination. Companies such as ASICS, Chase, Express, Holiday Inn, Icelandair, Mattel, McDonald's, Mitsubishi, Riot Games, and Shell trust Contentstack to power their most critical content experiences with uncompromising scale and dependability. Famous for its Care without Compromise™, Contentstack has achieved the industry's highest customer satisfaction rating. Contentstack is also a founder of the MACH Alliance, setting the industry agenda for open and composable technology that is Microservices-based, API-first, Cloud-native SaaS, and Headless. Learn more at <a href="http://www.contentstack.com/" target="_blank">http://www.contentstack.com</a>.

Contentstack Presents the ‘Future of Composable’ at ContentCon, May 8-10

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When acclaimed country singer <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willie_Nelson" target="_blank">Willie Nelson</a> penned his biopic song <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_the_Road_Again_(Willie_Nelson_song)" target="_blank">"On the Road Again,"</a> he wasn't crooning about the Composable Revolution.
Or was he? 
In his epic ode to a musical odyssey, Nelson proclaimed his love for "making music with his friends." And what is a band, if not a collection of musical microservices... an orchestra of orchestrated instruments playing in harmony? 
Speaking of taking the band on the road, <a href="https://uniform.dev/about-us">Uniform</a> will be rocking and rolling this spring as it launches its first-ever <a href="https://uniform.dev/composable-roadshow" target="_blank">Composable Roadshow.</a> The event will debut in London on March 14th and move to New York on March 21st, with plans to expand to more cities.
The Composable Roadshow will feature discussions on the state of the market related to composable architectures and their growing impact. It will also provide opportunities for guests to learn about implementing composable through expert speakers, panelists, and session leaders.
The roadshow series, held in partnership with <a href="https://www.bigcommerce.com/dm/mm-gtm/?utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_source=google&amp;utm_campaign=dig_amer_all_all_acq_core_brand_oa_2023_q1_sem-brand-alpha&amp;utm_content=Big+Commerce+%3E+Exact&amp;utm_term=big%20commerce&amp;lqid=engine:google|campaignid:933821213|adid:635224001507|gclid:Cj0KCQiA6fafBhC1ARIsAIJjL8nF-R32uSS1bgg7J8crzhBzNbjCL6jf8R8tITSRvLJHEowjfnnmHSMaAkg-EALw_wcB&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQiA6fafBhC1ARIsAIJjL8nF-R32uSS1bgg7J8crzhBzNbjCL6jf8R8tITSRvLJHEowjfnnmHSMaAkg-EALw_wcB" target="_blank">BigCommerce</a>, <a href="https://www.contentful.com/" target="_blank">Contentful</a>, <a href="https://www.codeandtheory.com/" target="_blank">Code and Theory</a>, and <a href="https://www.kinandcarta.com/en-us/" target="_blank">Kin + Carta</a>, will help to promote composable accessibility and deliver real-life use cases from companies and agencies that are successfully on the road to composable. 
<h2>Leading the Way for DXC</h2>
Without question, Uniform has been one of the leading innovators in the burgeoning <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/8-cms-trends-to-watch-in-2023-from-mach-to-metaverse/">Digital Experience Composition (DXC)</a> space. While still a nascent category (<a href="https://www.boye-co.com/blog/2023/1/whats-the-real-story-about-digital-experience-composition" target="_blank">Gartner coined the TLA</a> but has yet to officially bless it), composable and MACH have stolen the air from the digital experience room – and created a groundswell of interest and activity across the market.
Along with the excitement and intrigue, confusion has emerged with the rise of DXC. Enterprises are struggling to understand the role and value of DXC platforms in the composable stack and even where it fits. Uniform and its contemporaries are working diligently to educate and illuminate the market about the benefits of DXC. The effort is paying off as vendors report growing demand and the presence of DXC in RFPs.
The Composable Roadshow is yet another experience channel for elevating awareness. The traveling series is designed to appeal to marketers, customers, and partners – all focused on unlocking the value that composable aims to solve. 
<h2>A Uniform that fits in a composable world</h2>
Unlike a traditional digital experience platform, the architecture behind Uniform DXC allows legacy programs to implement composable or <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-headless-commerce-platforms/">headless</a> systems without a complete overhaul. This helps when juggling the labor and costs of re-platforming on an entirely new system and allows enterprises to scale faster when deploying composable components bit by bit. It also eliminates the "glue code" synonymous with connecting systems by streamlining everything with APIs. 
Uniform also wants to give power back to marketers at a time when headless has reigned supreme for developers. In the race to omnichannel, marketers and UX have often taken a backseat to functional considerations – and Uniform's strategy is chiefly focused on bringing marketers back to the fold. 
Earlier this year, Uniform participated in the heralded <a href="https://kontent.ai/events-and-webinars/mach-haus-new-york/" target="_blank">MACH Haus New York</a>, a live event presented by the <a href="https://machalliance.org/insights/staying-focused-why-we-re-expanding-the-mach-alliance-advisory-board">MACH Alliance</a> during the <a href="https://nrfbigshow.nrf.com/" target="_blank">National Retail Federation 2023</a>. Uniform joined the MACH Alliance in 2021, making them an earlier adopter to the MACH member community. 
During MACH Haus, Uniform participated in several panels, including a tantalizing segment entitled "The Death of DXP: Stepping Off the Monolith Bit by Bit" that featured <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dguarnaccia/" target="_blank">Uniform President Darren Guarnaccia</a>. The session focused on the benefits of composability within your tech stack and the challenges of maintaining the monoliths. 
Uniform is continuing to take suggestions for additional roadshow destinations, and you can contact the company with your suggestions <a href="https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeVTLYBrPpSDV9FqHDaAzs5PwNup2r2pNVM7KWN1bSUMowScg/viewform" target="_blank">here</a>. We'll continue to monitor and post updates as news is released.
In the meantime, crank some Willie, read more about composable, and <a href="https://uniform.dev/composable-roadshow#book-for-free-now" target="_blank">reserve</a> your tickets. This is one show you won't want to miss. 
<h2>About Uniform</h2>
Uniform digital experience composition (DXC) platform speeds up time to value for composable-experience architecture, lowers development costs, and makes it easy for business users to build digital experiences. A composable orchestration layer for legacy systems and headless APIs in Uniform DXCP eliminates the need for custom integration code, which delivers no business value. Instead, available for marketers, merchandisers, and other business users are no-code tools to build digital experiences with content from any source—without submitting tickets for developer assistance. Furthermore, Uniform DXCP’s high-performance personalization capability, delivered at the edge, raises conversion and CX for all channels.

Save the Dates for Uniform's Composable Roadshow 2023

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<h4>The two-day conference will be held January 17-18 in St. Petersburg, Florida, and feature keynotes and workshops with leading global experts in the CMS field. </h4>
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If only there were a vendor-neutral conference dedicated to CMS...
That was the vision guiding <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/critics/janus-boye/">Janus Boye</a> of <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/" target="_blank">Boye &amp; Company</a>, a leading peer group organizer, to create a new kind of live experience – one that focuses exclusively on Content Management Systems.
The <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff23" target="_blank">CMS Kickoff 2023 Conference</a> will offer attendees a fresh and unique perspective on the continuously evolving CMS space. The two-day event promises diverse opportunities for learning and networking, as well as keynotes from top industry speakers and thought leaders.
Aptly named a “kickoff” and held in January, the conference will look back at the previous year’s challenges and trends. But as Boye pointed out, event speakers will emphasize what’s ahead for the CMS community in 2023.
<h2>A program featuring global brands and industry experts</h2>
The CMS Kickoff 2023 will share learnings, insights, and best practices from leading brands that are utilizing CMS, including <a href="https://www.aetna.com/" target="_blank">Aetna</a>, <a href="https://dia.org/" target="_blank">Detroit Institute of Arts</a>, <a href="https://www.jnj.com/" target="_blank">Johnson &amp; Johnson</a>, and <a href="https://www.wellsfargo.com/" target="_blank">Wells Fargo</a>.
Attendees will also have an opportunity to hear from CMS industry experts like <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/deane/" target="_blank">Deane Barker</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bartomlo/" target="_blank">Bart Omlo</a>, and <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/from-legacy-to-composable-whats-the-best-way-forward/">Sana Remekie</a> (to name a few). These respected thought leaders will interpret market trends and discuss topics that range from <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/top-free-headless-cms-platforms/">headless CMS</a> to digital experience composition.
<h2>Exclusively focused on CMS</h2>
Boye has long been a respected voice within the CMS community, conducting peer groups that tackle a range of topics. Along the way, Boye &amp; Company has built a global cabal of experts representing a multitude of vendors and integrators, and many have been yearning for a CMS event.  
“The CMS industry does not currently have a dedicated conference,” said Boye. “This event aims to change that while remaining focused on helping customers and ultimately moving the industry forward – without sales pitches.”
The CMS Kickoff 2023 will offer curated talks, workshops, and a “perfect mix” of presentations and discussions. Along with Boye &amp; Company’s legendary learning format and social events, the conference promises something for every CMS user, builder, or enthusiast – regardless of skill level.  
“Think of this conference as a mixture of world-class masterclasses, relevant lectures, enlightening discussions, high-impact learning, and down-to-earth networking,” said Boye.
<h2><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2022/12/don-cesar.jpg" alt="Don Cesar Hotel image" /></h2>
<h2>Hosted at the Don CeSar Hotel in St. Petersburg, Florida</h2>
To top it off, the CMS Kickoff 2023 will be hosted at the legendary <a href="https://www.doncesar.com/" target="_blank">The Don CeSar</a> Hotel in beautiful St. Pete Beach – giving many attendees from around the globe an opportunity to leave winter weather behind and enjoy the Florida sunshine. Built in 1928 to resemble a Mediterranean-style castle and known as Florida’s "Pink Palace," the Don CeSar is the only historic hotel on Florida’s Gulf Coast.
CMS Kickoff will be held from January 17-18, 2023. Registration is now open, and you can visit the website to <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff23/program" target="_blank">explore the event</a>, <a href="https://lnkd.in/dy_cSrhe" target="_blank">see the speakers</a>, and <a href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff23/tickets" target="_blank">book your seat</a> today.

CMS Kickoff 2023 Brings Laser Focus to Content Management, Offers Sessions with Industry Leaders

CMS Kickoff featured image with palm trees and logo

<a href="https://uniform.dev/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Uniform</a> has been anything but uniform. And that's a good thing. Since the company's inception, it has frequently challenged conventional industry thinking and elevated the conversation around composability.
As a certified member of the <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/the-future-is-composable-a-conversation-with-new-mach-alliance-president-casper-rasmussen/">MACH Alliance</a>, Uniform has been trumpeting its vision for integrating modern composable systems with legacy monoliths, allowing customers to smooth out the rough patches with delivery and update their architectures "through evolution, not revolution."
Along with an array of platform products that include personalization, Uniform has been carving a new niche that has DXPs and analysts rethinking the digital experience landscape. It's the kind of bold thinking that helped the company <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/uniform-raises-28m-in-series-a-funding-round-for-composable-dxp/">raise $28 million</a> in Series A funding last December, just 15 months after breaking ground. 
Now, Uniform is launching a new kind of industry event that focuses on digital experience composition – or DXC (add it to your list of three-lettered acronyms to remember).
The virtual conference, dubbed <a href="https://uniform.dev/dxc-assembly?utm_campaign=marketing&amp;utm_source=uniform-blog&amp;utm_medium=DXCA-web-banner-link-for-uniform-page" target="_blank" rel="noopener">DXC Assembly</a>, will be held on November 15th and promises a unique mix of speakers that are leading the charge in the emerging field of digital experience composition. The conference will also feature breakout sessions, AMAs, and demos that will be announced in the coming weeks.
<h2 class="text-lg sm:text-2xl font-semibold text-blue-ribbon mb-4 md:mb-8">Building the future for developers and business teams</h2>
According to Uniform, DXC offers fast, robust, and highly adaptable tools that allow businesses to build lightning-fast experiences that are engaging and immersive. DXC-powered experiences are also designed to respond to changing business needs, customer behaviors, and market conditions. 
The DXC Assembly will feature a mix of speakers and attendees from across the development and business tracks. This includes engineers, architects, and marketers that work extensively in the digital experience arena.
While the agenda continues to evolve, the festivities will begin at 9 AM Eastern with a keynote from <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lars-birkholm-petersen/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lars Birkholm Petersen</a>, cofounder and CEO of Uniform. Immediately following, Uniform's CTO and cofounder <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexshyba/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Alex Shyba</a> will demonstrate how to build a composable solution by taking a project from early development and quickly delivering it to business teams. 
In addition to the Uniform leadership, attendees will hear from a panel of speakers including <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/pierre-burgy-88671673/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Pierre Burgy</a> of <a href="https://www.cmscritic.com/strapi-releases-v4-of-headless-cms-enhances-plugins-and-api-performance/">Strapi</a>, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/patriciakunth/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Patricia Kunth</a> of Cobham Satcom, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lars-orum-andersen/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lars Ørum Andersen</a> of Kruso, and <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/workingmom/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Beth Torrie</a> of Tercera. 
If you're interested in attending DXC Assembly, you can get a free ticket for access to all workshops, live streams, and expos <a href="https://hopin.com/events/dxc-assembly-2022" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>. 
<h2>About Uniform</h2>
Uniform is the world's first composable DXP, built for today's performance and scalability demands. A frictionless, pre-integrated composable digital experience platform gives companies the choice to continuously adopt traditional and headless best-of-breed technologies without ever replatforming, allowing businesses to deliver omnichannel orchestration with built-in high-performance testing and personalization – regardless of how their tech stacks evolve over time. Several top brands use Uniform to power their digital experiences, including Cirque du Soleil, Life Extension, Sunweb and Trimble. Visit <a href="https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&amp;l=en&amp;o=3376641-1&amp;h=192194015&amp;u=https%3A%2F%2Fc212.net%2Fc%2Flink%2F%3Ft%3D0%26l%3Den%26o%3D3344227-1%26h%3D2537620590%26u%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Funiform.dev%252F%26a%3Duniform.dev&amp;a=uniform.dev" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">uniform.dev</a> for more.

Uniform to Host DXC Assembly, Offers First Virtual Conference on Digital Experience Composition

Image of DXC Assembly artwork - a series of geometric shapes that form the letters "DXC" against a solid colored blue background.

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