Articles

Content Management  Article

<a target="_blank" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/michael-spenceley">Michael Spenceley</a> is Leader, Learning &amp; Content Standards - Innovative Medicine at <a target="_blank" href="https://www.jnj.com/">Johnson &amp; Johnson</a> and a CMS Critic Contributor. <hr />If you're a content professional, you've likely spent much of your career focused on how to govern the accuracy and quality of content. As Generative AI (Gen AI) has entered our collective corporate consciousness, our content is now under a microscope. If you have outdated or inaccurate content, Gen AI will bring it into focus for all to see. On one hand, this will lead to uncomfortable conversations for those who are responsible for the accuracy of content, but this also presents a significant opportunity for content professionals. Here's a conversation I’ve had a few times lately: Business Leader: “We have all this content, if we put it in a Gen AI tool, won’t that make it easier for people to get answers, reduce call center volume and create a better experience for our employees and customers?”Technologist: "Yeah, we can do that. We can integrate your CMS or knowledgebase with our Gen AI platform."Business Leader: “Michael, what do you think?”Me: "Well, I think there are more questions we need to ask. Do we have quality content to feed into the Gen AI experience? Do we have the right level of governance to ensure accuracy? Do we have clear roles and responsibilities for those who own content feeding into Gen AI? Is the ROI sufficient to invest the time and money to do this right?”  Business leaders are now recognizing the importance of good content to enable an effective Gen AI experience for employees and customers. Getting content governance right, especially in large organizations, takes lots of people, rigorous processes, clear roles and responsibilities and accountability. Here are three things all content professionals should focus on as Gen AI initiatives take center stage: <h3 id="1.-keep-moving,-even-when-it's-not-perfect">1. Keep moving, even when it's not perfect</h3>Be agile and be okay with imperfection. If you wait to use Gen AI until you've solved all your content governance problems, you will never start. Come up with an approach that works for your organization.  I see it as a two-pronged approach. First, what steps do you take right now to keep Gen AI moving? At this stage, you don't know what will work so keep it simple. Second, while you're doing that, plan for the long-term. To scale your approach, what tech do you need, what integrations and what processes need to be in place? Here’s a real example of what I’ve tried in my organization:When we need content for a new Gen AI use case, we follow this process:<ul><li>Identify – Identify relevant content that already exists. </li><li>Validate – Analyze content to ensure we have the most current version and it’s the correct level of detail.</li><li>Remediate – Work with subject matter experts to update content that is out of date and create new content to fill any gaps.</li><li>Extract – Technical team extracts content from our source system to ingest into Gen AI. </li><li>Monitor &amp; Update – Leverage existing reporting and processes to determine when content needs to be updated in the Gen AI tool.</li></ul>This is a largely manual process, but it works for now and as we refine it, we're planning for how best to scale it in the future and reduce manual effort through integrations and automation. <h3 id="2.-get-the-right-people-involved-">2. Get the right people involved </h3>If you're a content professional or a SME who owns content, speak up and get involved in Gen AI initiatives. You know things that are important to this process that others may not know. If you're not a content professional and you're on the technical side of Gen AI, don't go it alone. While you can probably get your hands on some content to start, there is a chance that there's a lot you don't know about the content. When assessing content for accuracy and relevance, there can be many nuances, especially in large global organizations. Additionally, content teams already have processes in place to source and update content, and they have relationships with the subject matter experts who can validate content. Rely on content professionals and SMEs to tell you which content is ready for Gen AI and what steps need to be taken to prepare content. Here’s a real example of what I’ve tried in my organization:We established weekly touchpoints that include a combination of content, IT and business process owners. The content team drives the identify, validate, remediate, extract, and monitor process. The content team works with SMEs and content owners to validate content accuracy and remediate gaps. Our IT partners ingest content into the Gen AI tool and train the model. This ensures that this work is connected to our existing content governance process and isn't seen as additional work for content and process owners. We have one source of truth, one process and one governance model for content. Gen AI is just an additional channel where the content is being consumed. This could change in the future, but leveraging existing processes and infrastructure is an effective way to get things moving quickly.    <h3 id="3.-seize-the-opportunity-to-get-resources-and-support">3. Seize the opportunity to get resources and support</h3>In large organizations, content governance has often not gotten the time and attention it deserves, beyond a small group of content professionals. In the short time I've been working on this, I have learned that this connection between content and the success of Gen AI, is logical but isn't always obvious. It's on us, as content professionals, to speak up, get involved and make the case. Here’s a real example of what I’ve tried in my organization:We engaged with leaders and content owners to help them understand how our content will make or break our journey with Gen AI and are weaving Gen AI into our strategic vision for the future of content. We’re defining requirements for how our content needs to be structured and stored in the future to enable a good Gen AI experience.  Specifically, how to simplify and componentize content with component-level metadata. We’re also defining future-state content governance and what that takes from a resource standpoint. This includes how we drive greater accountability and create clearer roles and responsibilities for our content professionals and content owners to ensure content accuracy. <h3 id="conclusion">Conclusion</h3>As with anything new, there are still more questions than answers. Here are a few questions that content professionals should be thinking about:<ul><li>I’ve been on a mission to promote the idea that less content is more. Will a minimalist approach to content work in the age of Gen AI? </li><li>Many people challenge the accuracy of information coming from Gen AI. What role might content professionals play to change that perception? </li><li>Will content structure, metadata and governance still matter as Gen AI gets more advanced?</li></ul>I’m sure we’ll continue to debate these questions in the coming years. This space is evolving quickly, and I'm confident there will be advancements to make it easier in the future. Given the technology and resource constraints that all organizations are dealing with, these are some practical things to consider as you embark on your Gen AI journey. For now, it’s going to be messy, and that’s okay. Seize this opportunity to elevate your role as a content professional in your organization.    <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" 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" 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" 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" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

Generative AI is Making Content King Again

michael-spenceley

Is ‘specialization’ the future of CMS? These 3 vendors are embracing it – and finding success

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Matt & Matt, Episode 4: PLAY BALL! Adobe Summit at Bat, Optimizely, HubSpot, and AI Agents on Deck

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AddSearch’s AI Conversations is Giving Website Search a Higher IQ 

<hr /> If you don’t have a membership card in your wallet or purse, you probably have a letter in your mailbox from an organization or association you belong to.  Example: I've supported the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.sierraclub.org/">Sierra Club</a> for years. I'm still fighting off the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.aarp.org/">AARP</a>, but I sense it coming. I’ve heard they offer some pretty great discounts.There are thousands of these bodies across the globe, composed of millions of people from all walks of life. This includes trade and professional associations, labor organizations, social enterprises – the list goes on.As such, these communities of interest are big. So big, in fact, that there’s an organization dedicated to supporting, connecting, and providing the category “glue” for membership-based entities. It’s called <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://memberwise.org.uk/">MemberWise</a>, an independent network for international membership and association professionals. It’s free to become a member of MemberWise (making the whole thing a little meta), and it currently represents over 8,000 individuals working from more than 2,500 UK membership organizations and associations. This includes the British Medical Association, the Royal College of Nursing, and the IET. From a mission perspective, MemberWise enriches its community with access to best-practice guidance, expert knowledge, resources (like webinars), and networking events designed to help professionals improve member engagement, retention, and growth. It also features a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://memberwise.org.uk/how-to-become-a-memberwise-recognised-supplier/">Recognized Supplier Directory</a> with over 170 technology and service providers.Every few years, the MemberWise Network conducts its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://memberwise.org.uk/dx/">Digital Excellence Research Project,</a> a survey-based initiative that offers relevant perspectives on the digital tools, activities, and strategies being employed within the membership and association sector. The research, which is independently written by the network and contains statistically significant findings, is published in its Digital Excellence Report – delivering a clear view of new and emerging trends that can help drive organizational goals. The facts and figures are often used to bolster business cases and increase internal support when facilitating operational or strategic changes. <img style="width:70.51%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/02/image-1772055247658.jpeg" alt="A close-up of a logo

AI-generated content may be incorrect." />Source: MemberWise website <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://memberwise.org.uk/dx/">The 2026 edition was just released</a>, and it reveals some interesting data points about content management systems for membership bodies and associations. For robust entities, having a secure, scalable, and reliable CMS is vital to powering communication and engagement through various channels – specifically an association’s website.For the fifth consecutive year, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="http://www.umbraco.com/">Umbraco</a> was cited as the number one web content management system platform cited by medium and large membership organizations for developing websites and digital experiences, specifically to support their efforts in retaining and attracting new members and growing revenue. That last piece is critical, and the 2026 report doubles down on the compelling need for the sector to engage, retain, and grow memberships. It also highlights the challenge of rising costs and the mandate to counter it, so membership bodies can continue delivering services both online and offline. <figure class="image image_resized" style="width:43.7%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/02/image-1772055247861.png" alt="A person with short hair wearing a blue shirt

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure>Jacob Howell. Source: LinkedIn “We’re delighted to see that the majority of medium and large membership organizations continue to choose the Umbraco CMS platform to support their member acquisition, engagement, and revenue growth,” said <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/howelljacob/">Jacob Howell,</a> Umbraco’s UK Partner Manager.According to the report’s author and MemberWise Network Founder and Chair <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/memberwise/">Richard Gott,</a> growth is now a requirement for all membership bodies – and it’s increasingly dependent on delivering engaging and value-driven digital journeys and experiences. <img style="width:43.21%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/02/image-1772055247878.png" alt="A close-up of a person smiling

AI-generated content may be incorrect." />Richard Gott. Source: LinkedIn “This is why the report focuses on the performance of websites, digital publications, apps, and the technologies that membership organizations and their digital agencies are selecting to create those experiences,” he said. “Over the past five years, we have observed membership organizations and associations adopting more sophisticated content management systems to optimize – and increasingly personalize – online member journeys, engagement, experiences, and purchases.”<h3 id="key-findings">Key findings</h3>The 2026 MemberWise Digital Excellence Report was based on survey responses from 480 individuals across the UK membership and association sector. Segments were defined around subscription revenue, from small to medium to large. The figures are available in the report.There were some notable findings in this year’s research. For example, new member acquisition, engagement, and growth continue to be key priorities for membership organizations, along with increasing revenue from non-subscription activities such as conferences and continuous professional development.Additionally, the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://memberwise.org.uk/influence100/">largest 100 membership bodies in the UK</a> are now spending almost $340 million (£250 million) per year on digital technologies and web-based solutions – a massive investment that gives this market vertical real buying power. As stated, Umbraco is the CMS most commonly used by medium and large membership bodies. But here’s the kicker: more organizations than ever stated that they are satisfied with their CMS (+18%) and are now spending between 2% and 5% of total annual budgets on related technologies.Other layers of the stack are feeling the lift. For example, association management systems and focused industry CRMs are continuing to see increased website integration (+5%), and the path to integration is accelerating. Additionally, a greater number of membership bodies are measuring engagement via website and member portal activity, suggesting that analytics and insights are becoming a central imperative.59% of respondents also said that they’re using their CMS to personalize digital experiences for online members. In tandem, more organizations are personalizing content based on qualifying data such as areas of interest or geographic location. Finally, AI is becoming a more visible mandate. According to the research, adoption of AI-powered website functionality has increased by 21% over the past two years, suggesting that more associations are trusting AI in their digital workflows and operations – and that trend is likely to grow.<h3 id="umbraco’s-agency-partners-activate-growth-and-success">Umbraco’s agency partners activate growth and success</h3>One of the key pillars of Umbraco’s success is its hard-earned, highly-engaged community of more than 250,000 developers and users – buoyed by its well-established global partner network of digital agencies. These diverse shops offer both vertical and horizontal specializations, and several have implemented solutions for membership organizations and associations. According to Jacob Howell, Umbraco’s performance in the 2026 Digital Excellence Report is a testament to the company’s digital agency partners, including <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.cantarus.com/">Cantarus</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.wearewattle.com/clients/clients/">Wattle</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.teambluelight.com/case-studies/?page=1">Bluelight</a>, and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.msqdx.co.uk/en/about">MSQ DX</a>.As he said, these teams have turned ambitious digital strategies into exceptional digital experiences, powered by Umbraco. “We’re proud to provide them with an open-source platform that gives them flexibility to integrate additional technologies, whenever required, while offering an intuitive interface for content editors at membership organizations.” <figure class="image image_resized" style="width:83.5%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/02/screenshot-2026-02-25-at-4.png" /></figure>Source: Cantarus website's membership section Cantarus, Umbraco’s first transatlantic Platinum partner, has been an official part of the MemberWise Network for over a decade. The agency often shares thought leadership, success stories, and best practices for building websites and digital solutions that help organizations to engage and retain members. Boasting more than seventy membership organizations as clients, Cantarus is considered a market leader in the sector, having built websites and digital experiences for The Royal College of Physicians, British Computer Society, and The Law Society of England and Wales.“We’ve been heavily invested in the membership sector for over a decade, and it’s now our most important individual sector,” said Cantarus CEO <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/leeadams/">Lee Adams.</a> “When you’re responsible for the performance, stability, and security of a membership organization’s site, it’s important to have full confidence in the technologies selected to build it.” <figure class="image image_resized" style="width:42.83%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/02/image-1772055247926.png" alt="A person in a suit

AI-generated content may be incorrect." /></figure>Lee Adams. Source: LinkedIn Adams went on to explain how Umbraco allows digital agencies like Cantarus to build websites and digital experiences that are tailored to the immediate requirements of membership organizations – with the flexibility and scalability to extend the platform as they grow. In essence, it’s future-proofing for a shifting landscape.“Because Umbraco is a powerful open source platform, we can tap into that creative ecosystem to offer clients a lower-cost implementation with no risk of vendor lock-in,” he continued, “and without limiting their technology options as members’ digital preferences evolve.”Complementing the report is MemberWise’s signature event, the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/digitalexcellence2026/posts/?feedView=all">2026 Digital Excellence Conference &amp; Exhibition</a>, which exclusively focuses on the membership and association sector.<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>As “The Friendly CMS,” it’s no surprise that Umbraco is a go-to CMS for organizations that focus on building and engaging with vibrant communities. At a granular level, this is a testament to Umbraco’s flexibility, reliability, and ease of use – as well as its end-to-end features for enabling rich functionality across modern digital experiences. Memberships and associations might seem like a niche market, but it’s a much larger segment than you might have realized. Clearly, Umbraco has endeavored to unpack the member journey and elevate the experience in a way that’s endearing to both its partner agencies and end customers – allowing them to build greater retention and loyalty while powering marketing strategies to attract new members.My recommendation: If you’re a membership or association, take a look at this MemberWise research and use it as a point of validation. While this is a regionally specific study, the data regarding content management and digital experiences is extensible. There are many CMSes that could potentially meet diverse requirements, but Umbraco and its partners have invested deeply in the goals and outcomes for this segment, and continue to push forward in areas like AI and personalization. As an open source platform, Umbraco also brings its own community to the table as a resource for innovation and democratized thinking. In this way, it reflects the mission and values of open communities. When you book your demo, ask for adjacent examples of CMS modules and workflows being utilized by similar associations as your own. This also includes transactional features, such as commerce for membership dues, etc. If you’re based in the UK and EU, Umbraco is already meeting data privacy and other compliance requirements, and has a strong sustainability strategy – so it checks many of the big boxes. It would be wise to put them on your shortlist. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:34.15%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/logo_jday_hor.png" /><h4 id="joomladay-usa-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jdayusa.com/">JoomlaDay USA 2026</a></h4>April 29 - May 2, 2026 – Delray Beach, FloridaBe part of the Joomla community in one of the most iconic cities in the world! JoomlaDay USA 2026 is coming to Delray Beach, and you can join us for a dynamic event packed with insights, workshops, and networking opportunities. Learn from top Joomla experts and developers offering valuable insights and real-world solutions. Participate in interactive workshops and sessions and enhance your skills in Joomla management, development, design, and more. And connect with fellow Joomla enthusiasts, developers, and professionals from across the world.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jdayusa.com/"> Book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:30.06%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/cms-summit-26-logo.jpg" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit26">CMS Summit 26</a></h4>May 12-13, 2026 – Frankfurt, GermanyThe best conferences create space for honest, experience-based conversations. Not sales pitches. Not hype. Just thoughtful exchanges between people who spend their days designing, building, running, and evolving digital experiences. CMS Summit brings together people who share real stories from their work and platforms and who are interested in learning from each other on how to make things better. Over two days in Frankfurt, you can expect practitioner-led talks grounded in experience, conversations about trade-offs, constraints, and decisions, and time to compare notes with peers facing similar challenges. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit26/tickets">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:30.13%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/12/image-1765546475634.png" /><h4 id="umbraco-codegarden-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://codegarden.umbraco.com/">Umbraco Codegarden 2026</a></h4>June 10–11, 2026 – Copenhagen, DKJoin us in Copenhagen (or online) for the biggest Umbraco conference in the world – two full days of learning, genuine conversations, and the kind of inspiration that brings business leaders, developers, and digital creators together. Codegarden 2026 is packed with both business and tech content, from deep-dive workshops and advanced sessions to real-world case studies and strategy talks. You’ll leave with ideas, strategies, and knowledge you can put into practice immediately. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://codegarden.umbraco.com/">Book your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:36.69%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/open-source-cms-26.jpg" /><h4 id="open-source-cms-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26">Open Source CMS 26</a></h4>October 20–21, 2026 – Utrecht, NetherlandsJoin us for the first annual edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to making open source CMS better. This event is already being called the “missing gathering place” for the open source CMS community – an international conference with confirmed participants from Europe and North America. Be part of a friendly mix of digital leaders from notable open source CMS projects, agencies, even a few industry analysts who get together to learn, network, and talk about what really matters when it comes to creating better open source CMS projects right now and for the foreseeable future. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26/tickets">Book your tickets today.</a>

Wise Choice: New Survey from MemberWise Puts Umbraco CMS on Top for Membership Organizations

Hard? Hardly. Drupal CMS 2.0 evolves open source content management with AI, visual building – and simplicity

<hr /> When I spoke to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/coremedia">CoreMedia</a> CEO <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/soerenstamer/">Sören Stamer</a> back in December, we were waxing philosophically about the year ahead. He went deep into topics like data and digital sovereignty, a persistent theme at our recent <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">Boye &amp; Company CMS Kickoff</a> conference in St. Petersburg, Florida. Along with the anticipated (and explosive) growth of AI – where Sören sees big potential for agentic commerce and AI-powered interfaces – he also talked about the next wave of personalization and its impact on experiences.“Personalization isn’t new,” he told me. “What’s new is its velocity. Hyper-personalization means connecting intent, data, and content in real time, and anticipating needs before they’re expressed.” Personalization has certainly been one of the more elusive features for digital experience tools. Or, at least, doing it right – both sustainably and at scale. As Sören said, we’ve been talking about platform-centric and third-party personalization tools for the last two decades, but AI and new experience models are finally raising the bar. To realize the promise, CoreMedia has been busy innovating – and today, it launched a major evolution of its CMS that embeds personalization and real-time experimentation directly into the content workflow. This comes at a time when enterprises are swimming in oceans of customer data but struggling to transform it into relevant experiences for consumers. Simultaneously, users are opting for personalized experiences that are clear, transparent, and capable of solving real problems. It’s at this intersection that CoreMedia powers the potential of personalization by reducing or even eliminating the friction between insight and action.With its new native features, CoreMedia will give teams the ability to create, test, and optimize personalized content variants inside its industry-leading CMS. Armed with this added flexibility and insight, brands can now respond to customer intent in the moments that matter most – and turn relevance into measurable growth.“Enterprises don’t have a data problem – they have an action problem,” Sören explained. “Customer intent shows up in real time and needs to be acted upon instantly. When marketing teams are forced to work with disconnected tools and manual processes, they often miss the chance. By making personalization and experimentation native to the CMS, CoreMedia enables teams to respond in the moment intent appears. That’s where experiences are won or lost, and where relevance turns into revenue.”CoreMedia has been actively innovating at the edge of AI for quite some time. Case in point: its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.coremedia.com/coremedia-kio">CoreMedia KIO</a> assistant brings expansive tooling for content and journey experience orchestration. As part of its integrated ecosystem, it adds a bleeding-edge dimension of functionality to help craft CX in new ways – including a conversational interface that transforms user engagement.Along with its strides to make progressive, GEO-ready capabilities part of its elemental playbook, CoreMedia continues to offer foundational CMS features that rank strongly with global retailers that are hyper-focused on delivering world-class experiences. This includes the likes of The North Face, Vans, and Timberland from VF Corporation – as well as B2B stalwarts like Emerson and Sonepar.As Sören told me, one of the big bets CoreMedia is making is that the customer experience of the future will be unified. Clearly, personalization and experimentation will be vital to delivering on that holistic vision.Here’s a bit more detail on how CoreMedia’s evolutionary new capabilities work. <h3 id="bringing-native-personalization-to-the-content-workflow">Bringing native personalization to the content workflow</h3>Often, personalization has been a mixed domain of technologies, cobbled together to deliver a complete solution. But with CoreMedia’s native approach, personalization is no longer a downstream task handled in external tools. Now, content teams can create, manage, and optimize personalized variants directly inside CoreMedia’s CMS, harnessing the same familiar workspace they utilize for content production. CoreMedia already offers an elegant UX, and users will find the addition of audience insights, targeting rules, and variant controls all within arm’s reach. This promises to help teams move seamlessly – and in real time – from creation to activation. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:68.62%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/image-1769540029544.png" alt="Image" /></figure> Personalized content variants are created, tested, and optimized in real time directly within the CMS. Source: CoreMedia One of the biggest benefits is the speed and efficacy. Using the CMS, teams can produce tailored versions of any text block, banner, promotion, or other content asset. In seconds, they can deliver focused messages to the right audience at the right moment – all without duplicating content or managing different versions.There’s also a composable and extensible framework supporting the engine. Segments can be created directly in CoreMedia or synced from CRM, CDP, and other systems, ensuring teams work with the most complete customer profiles. CoreMedia’s targeting also supports real-time signals, including lifecycle stage, browsing behavior, or location. Personalization and performance data can be exported to stay consistent across business intelligence tools, data platforms, and the wider enterprise tech stack of tools and services. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:83.14%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/image-1769540029597.png" alt="Image" /></figure>Segmentation and personalization are integrated directly into the content workflow. Source: CoreMedia For users and teams, having everything in one intuitive platform can ease the personalization challenges while accelerating time to market. Your content variants and targeting rules are all managed in a single, uniform workplace. This eliminates the potential for fragmentation across tools and simplifies the creation, launch, and optimization of personalized experiences at a global scale.<h3 id="a/b-testing-and-real-time-experimentation-–-right-where-content-decisioning-lives">A/B testing and real-time experimentation – right where content decisioning lives</h3>Without question, A/B testing has become a critical asset for marketers. There's a bevy of third-party tools for facilitating test paradigms, but having a solution close to your content workflows is a key advantage. That’s why CoreMedia has embedded A/B testing directly into its CMS, allowing teams to validate ideas and optimize experiences as part of their standard cadence of content production. Instead of exporting content to external testing utilities and waiting for reports, editors can compare variants, monitor performance, and act on results in real time – without ever having to leave the CMS. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:82.21%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/image-1769540029604.png" alt="Image" /></figure>Test ideas, measure impact, and decide faster with CoreMedia’s A/B testing. Source: CoreMedia One of the clear advantages of CoreMedia’s A/B testing is having side-by-side comparisons of variant performance. With quick go-to insights, you can determine which content resonates with customers and make quick, evidence-backed decisions.Live experiment data also shows you how users interact with each variant, enabling fast adjustments when a challenger outperforms the original. There’s also continuous optimization in context, so editors can refine content directly inside the CMS. This leads to a smoother production flow and consistent momentum in experience optimization.<h3 id="semantic-search-delivers-control-and-scalability-to-content-operations-">Semantic Search delivers control and scalability to content operations </h3>We’ve already mentioned CoreMedia’s investment in AI edge innovation, and search has been a key area of focus. And rightly so: as AI accelerates content creation and personalization, enterprises are grappling with the relevance, reuse, and governance associated with rapidly expanding content libraries. Personalization is promising. But without precision, control, and clarity, it can quickly devolve into a slow and inconsistent morass. That’s where CoreMedia’s Semantic Search comes in. Leveraging a natural language interface, it helps teams find, assess, and reuse content efficiently – even as volume and complexity increase.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:80.56%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/image-1769540029638.png" alt="Image" /></figure>Natural-language search enables teams to quickly find, assess, and reuse content directly in the CMS. Source: CoreMedia For users, this is a godsend. Imagine conducting searches using everyday phrases like “winter campaign images” – all without relying on just exact keywords. This makes discovery faster, more intuitive, and more contextual than traditional search.CoreMedia’s Semantic Search also brings a layer of calm to handle your content chaos. When prompted, it automatically surfaces similar or redundant assets, reducing clutter and reinforcing brand consistency. There’s also fierce governance surrounding discoverability, enabling teams to reuse assets, avoid duplication, and maintain structured libraries as content volumes expand.<h3 id="the-verdict">The verdict</h3>The CMS and DXP landscape is both wide and deep, but there’s a growing convergence around features – particularly those imbued with AI or agentic systems. This, in turn, is creating confusion, particularly when it comes to assessing AI features within the broader corpus of capabilities. The fact that CoreMedia is enriching its CMS with onboard personalization, experimentation, and search is building on its strong heritage of foundational features, and it's addressing the real challenges teams face with the exponential growth of content assets.While composable stacks offer an array of third-party tools for things like A/B testing, brands need to move faster than ever – and having a performant, purposefully integrated solution provides a clear advantage for enterprises that are looking to accelerate. This is another check in CoreMedia’s column as a single, accountable, and trusted source that addresses critical requirements like governance and compliance. You’re not just buying enterprise software – you’re buying trust. In my opinion, a modern CMS should offer native testing and experimentation features to leverage content provenance and link marketers closer to actionable insights. To facilitate real-time journey orchestration, speed and efficacy are paramount. As such, CoreMedia is listening to the needs of marketers by providing built-in personalization and semantic search as onboard feature sets that accelerate time to vision. At the same time, offering a composable, hybrid headless posture allows a brand to onboard adjacent integrations that expand the core feature set.My recommendation: CoreMedia already has a strong commerce focus, but this added tooling should present a welcome win for users across a myriad of industries and use cases. If you’re considering a move, CoreMedia’s CMS is a solid platform, but pay close attention to how your various data sources will be handled relative to fueling your personalization. Also, as an integrated DXP, I would consider the scope of your roadmap to see if there’s additional alignment within the ecosystem.If you’re interested in seeing more, the company is offering a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.gqh-2BaxUzlo7XKIuSly0rC39ko2jEDIdJwxcolsDUNbznLFOa0iFUDItIE1EpE2CXIq1KKbIBA7b5SjV14h7GXA-3D-3DOgKO_LYRc62DeCgOg3NLqF-2FA1Nkc-2BB6iSCezTSr7cATVeIt7vbFxqkjj807TkbpGOsHdtP-2FHWYQ8hHG-2Bh0tJIgFVOZO69Re4Ks6syHse342AC9Gvw37kkXSVzTxWGuOeP3fGPq9EXOufW3jPOsSyNAntDgg5r76UG3z9WQ-2B4SeSP2Y8kH6B5Y36WENHz3zspHNwEaDRWiwk-2BO-2BTG1zhj7Gg2FzC7esWi6WuPWJcHfaxfp9-2BXuGLX-2FJVXfSBulQ-2B6jzs4qYy5l-2FNB-2FEN3ANt3TS1abOfO5-2F1nSYji-2B1uzrhzImhavcXNVxQhJVtjg05uNJ58INknrgYXWvk6RmDjmgdYsnJQ-3D-3D">“What’s New” Webinar</a> on January 28th. You can also request a free <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://u7061146.ct.sendgrid.net/ls/click?upn=u001.gqh-2BaxUzlo7XKIuSly0rC39ko2jEDIdJwxcolsDUNbyskU8mw7dKQbCEOpEH5cJkd2DOv6VNuJe-2F1PSX1rYFlg-3D-3Dk5q-_LYRc62DeCgOg3NLqF-2FA1Nkc-2BB6iSCezTSr7cATVeIt7vbFxqkjj807TkbpGOsHdtP-2FHWYQ8hHG-2Bh0tJIgFVOZO69Re4Ks6syHse342AC9Gvw37kkXSVzTxWGuOeP3fGPq9EXOufW3jPOsSyNAntDgg5r76UG3z9WQ-2B4SeSP2Y8kH6B5Y36WENHz3zspHNwEaDRWiwk-2BO-2BTG1zhj7Gg2FzGmk97Kfhpo6s0O7iiDxES-2FnT64AeDLfLwh2LujHv8-2FF7mqpKpNdkb7luHlyXyxnQI9y3U9u34vRTWlFMl-2F7EAHhN6m1ZXhr3rxHa4ZBUPix0RS8yDqvq3Wu-2FvzC-2BTOzvA-3D-3D">demo</a>. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:34.15%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/logo_jday_hor.png" /><h4 id="joomladay-usa-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jdayusa.com/">JoomlaDay USA 2026</a></h4>April 29 - May 2, 2026 – Delray Beach, FloridaBe part of the Joomla community in one of the most iconic cities in the world! JoomlaDay USA 2026 is coming to Delray Beach, and you can join us for a dynamic event packed with insights, workshops, and networking opportunities. Learn from top Joomla experts and developers offering valuable insights and real-world solutions. Participate in interactive workshops and sessions and enhance your skills in Joomla management, development, design, and more. And connect with fellow Joomla enthusiasts, developers, and professionals from across the world.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jdayusa.com/"> Book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:30.06%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/cms-summit-26-logo.jpg" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit26">CMS Summit 26</a></h4>May 12-13, 2026 – Frankfurt, GermanyThe best conferences create space for honest, experience-based conversations. Not sales pitches. Not hype. Just thoughtful exchanges between people who spend their days designing, building, running, and evolving digital experiences. CMS Summit brings together people who share real stories from their work and platforms and who are interested in learning from each other on how to make things better. Over two days in Frankfurt, you can expect practitioner-led talks grounded in experience, conversations about trade-offs, constraints, and decisions, and time to compare notes with peers facing similar challenges. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit26/tickets">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:30.13%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/12/image-1765546475634.png" /><h4 id="umbraco-codegarden-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://codegarden.umbraco.com/">Umbraco Codegarden 2026</a></h4>June 10–11, 2026 – Copenhagen, DKJoin us in Copenhagen (or online) for the biggest Umbraco conference in the world – two full days of learning, genuine conversations, and the kind of inspiration that brings business leaders, developers, and digital creators together. Codegarden 2026 is packed with both business and tech content, from deep-dive workshops and advanced sessions to real-world case studies and strategy talks. You’ll leave with ideas, strategies, and knowledge you can put into practice immediately. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://codegarden.umbraco.com/">Book your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:36.69%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/open-source-cms-26.jpg" /><h4 id="open-source-cms-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26">Open Source CMS 26</a></h4>October 20–21, 2026 – Utrecht, NetherlandsJoin us for the first annual edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to making open source CMS better. This event is already being called the “missing gathering place” for the open source CMS community – an international conference with confirmed participants from Europe and North America. Be part of a friendly mix of digital leaders from notable open source CMS projects, agencies, even a few industry analysts who get together to learn, network, and talk about what really matters when it comes to creating better open source CMS projects right now and for the foreseeable future. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26/tickets">Book your tickets today.</a>

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<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/conor-egan">Conor Egan</a> is SVP Product at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/contentstack">Contentstack</a> and a CMS Critic Contributor.<hr /> In order for <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/platforms/ai">AI</a> to become a truly revolutionary force in life and business, we’ll have to trust it with more than just our grunt work. We’ll have to outsource some of our decision-making as well.That’s where agentic AI comes in.An AI agent is a system you can interact with in plain language that has some amount of capabilities it can manage, including taking actions on your behalf. The simplest AI agents are “helper” agents, such as support agents or virtual assistants. (<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/504767/tragic-life-clippy-worlds-most-hated-virtual-assistant">Clippy</a> was the godfather of this sort of thing). You can ask these agents to book your plane tickets or revise some text, or which barbecue grill would best suit your needs. Other AI agents run when you're not doing anything. They’re constantly listening, and can take some action if they think it's necessary.That makes them close to what we used to call automations. The key difference between an automation and an agent is that the agent has more than one function, and can make its own decisions and interpretations of what it’s supposed to do.  Here are a few thoughts about the value of agentic AI as a force multiplier and facilitator, and why companies that are replacing human beings with AI agents are thinking about this technology the wrong way.<h3 id="why-should-we-use-ai-agents?">Why should we use AI agents?</h3>Not all tasks fit neatly into a simple binary. Think of a governance agent that’s supposed to enforce brand guidelines or highlight when content should get another review. You might want more complexity in its output than a cut-and-dried yes or no. Your AI agent might decide that the problems with a piece of content are egregious enough to block it from being published, or that it needs someone else to review it, or there’s some other review state it should go into. Based on what’s happening, it might decide which tools to apply for the job. There are multiple paths that an AI agent can follow, and it has some agency in deciding what they are. In the Old World, you'd have to account for each of those branching paths, and if the scenario didn't fall into one, then nothing would happen. The advantage of AI agents is that they’re equipped to deal with situations they’ve never seen before. They’re not forced to operate within what they were “programmed” to do.Of course, there's a time-saving aspect as well. Humans are very expensive, and compute is not, so there may be certain repetitive tasks that an agent is better equipped for in terms of resource efficiency.For example, sifting through a great amount of content, summarizing things, identifying outliers — these are all things that can be pretty time-consuming for humans to do. AI agents can do these tasks quickly, and even help you identify opportunities that you might not have discovered yourself.<h3 id="contentstack’s-rule-for-ai-development">Contentstack’s rule for AI development</h3>As <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/">Contentstack</a> prepares to roll out new agentic AI features this fall, our Product team has benefitted from a simple guiding principle: If it doesn’t deliver significant user value, we don’t do it.So, what is “user value”? In my opinion, it’s anything that falls into one of these three buckets:Number one, it does something that you're already doing, but 10 times better. For example, instead of sifting through all my data and having to hand-identify all the audiences, an AI agent can break up my audiences based on lookalike models. I could have done this myself, but with AI I can do it (at least) 10X faster.Number two, it allows me to do something that I literally could not do before. It's not just helping me with what I could have done otherwise. The AI enables some net new capability that was not possible before. And number three, it can turn a regular user into a power user. Let’s say we wanted to add natural language search in our CMS, so you could type in and find what you’re looking for without having to figure it out through advanced search. Rather than having to become a search power user or rely on your developers, the AI functionality gives you the same abilities as the most skilled users of the platform. If an AI concept does not meet one or more of these criteria, then it's not worth our team’s investment. And by the way, none of those criteria boil down to “it allows your company to cut the size of its workforce.” Which brings me to my next point…<h3 id="why-ai-agents-should-enhance-human-effort,-not-replace-it">Why AI agents should enhance human effort, not replace it</h3>So far, companies have taken a couple of different approaches with agentic AI. One is trying to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dude-wheres-my-job-conor-egan-shj6e/">literally replace people</a>. So, if you have someone whose job is to do X, they’ll seek to create an agent that does exactly that.But I think we get a lot more value from AI agents when we use them as facilitators, not workforce replacers. You hired smart people to use their talents, right? If that’s the case, you should probably get rid of all the things they have to do in the course of the day that don't differentiate you and your brand. Are there capabilities that you can give a team member via an agent that provides a force multiplier or allows them to provide more value? Start there.We’re quickly entering a world where AI will be able to put marketing on autopilot. It will create the campaigns, it will write the content, generate the assets, etc. And my question is always, “If everybody has the exact same tools, how is a great marketer going to beat a good marketer?” Because if you have a system that can spit out average content and everybody's doing it, things are going to be very noisy.It's not that AI can't help you develop novel experiences. But if you're creating content for other humans, then humans need to serve as the judge of taste. When AI tools are generating the same campaign ideas, the most successful marketers are the ones who will be better at deciding which ideas to pursue. <h3 id="looking-ahead:-ai-agents-will-eat-more-tasks-from-the-bottom-up-(and-that’s-a-good-thing)">Looking ahead: AI agents will eat more tasks from the bottom up (and that’s a good thing)</h3>Whether it's industrial farming or computers, new technology always eats jobs from the bottom up. It could be literal jobs that you have to do, or those “jobs” could be abstraction layers.In the early days of code, we were interacting directly with the hardware itself and writing in ones and zeros. Then we added operating systems, and now you can use a mouse, which is a layer on top of an operating system. We used to have to manage our infrastructure by taking racks to a server farm and plugging in the cables, and installing the software, and now we have cloud services. We used to write JavaScript and HTML by hand. Then we developed code frameworks where you don't even need to know the underlying JavaScript. AI is the latest layer on top of all this. Soon, you won't necessarily need to know how to use Contentstack. Our platform is an abstraction of an abstraction of a database that you used to have in order to do all these jobs. AI agents are simply the most recent iteration of what technology has been doing for a long time. The real purpose of AI — just like all the advancements that came before it — is to get you to the value part faster. You can now spend most of the hours in your day doing the high-value things that are going to have an impact, and less time figuring out how to learn the software. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <figure class="image image-style-block-align-left image_resized" style="width:28.08%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1759840698475.png" /></figure><h4 id="raise:-lifting-content-into-the-future-with-agentic-cms"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://kontent.ai/events-and-webinars/raise/">RAISE: Lifting Content into the Future with Agentic CMS</a></h4>November 11, 2025 – London, UKJoin Kontent.ai at RAISE: Lifting Content into the Future with Agentic CMS, a premier free event for forward-thinking marketing and technology leaders shaping the way today’s most ambitious brands create and deliver content. Expect bold ideas, discover innovative strategies, engage with industry leaders, and gain insights that will lift your content strategy to new heights. At RAISE, you'll learn how to deliver faster, more engaging content experiences while AI does the busywork of audits, compliance, and localization with Agentic CMS, built to give you and your teams more time on creativity that matters. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://kontent.ai/events-and-webinars/raise/">Reserve your seat today.</a> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1761136749603.png" /><h4 id="live-webinar:-can-we-ever-get-composable-without-complexity?"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/webinar-cmscritic">Live Webinar: Can We Ever Get Composable Without Complexity?</a></h4>November 20, 2025 – 6 PM (CET) / 5 PM (GMT) / 12 PM (EST)Composable architecture promised to simplify digital experience creation by giving organizations the flexibility to combine the technologies that met their needs. But for many enterprises, it’s done the opposite, which has led to complex integrations, spiraling costs, and what some are now referring to as composable regret. In this live conversation, Umbraco CEO Mats Persson joins Matt Garrepy, Chief Content Officer at CMS Critic, for a candid exploration of what went wrong in the first wave of composable and what needs to change. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/webinar-cmscritic">Register for the webinar.</a> <img style="width:29.08%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1761594434824.png" /><h4 id="typo3-conference-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://t3con.typo3.com/">TYPO3 Conference 2025</a></h4>November 25–27, 2025 – Düsseldorf, GermanyT3CON is the premier annual event for web professionals, developers, marketers, and decision-makers. Much more than just a TYPO3-focused conference, T3CON spotlights the latest trends, innovations, and leaders shaping the future of content management, covering everything from grassroots initiatives to new technologies, strategies, and success stories. The event is designed to empower businesses and organizations with the knowledge and tools they need to thrive in the evolving digital landscape. The conference culminates in an awards ceremony celebrating the best TYPO3 projects across various industries. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://t3con.typo3.com/">Get your ticket.</a> <img style="width:31.44%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/cms-kickoff-2026-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">CMS Kickoff 2026</a></h4>January 13-14, 2026 – St. Petersburg, FLMeet industry leaders at our fourth annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS 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, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">so secure your tickets today.</a>

Agentic AI 101: What's an AI agent and when should they be used?

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What's ahead for CMS in the agentic era?

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What's ahead for CMS in the agentic era?