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Michael Spenceley Article

<h4 id="-"> </h4><h4 id="listen-to-the-full-episode-of-“the-critic’s-corner”-podcast-&gt;-"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tinyurl.com/334p4ykt">Listen to the full episode of “The Critic’s Corner” Podcast &gt; </a></h4> <hr /> AI is now an intrinsic part of content operations, and teams are harnessing it at every level. AI agents are performing tasks across the content supply chain, and executives want more automation everywhere. Meanwhile, regulation and compliance are reshuffling the deck, putting risk front and center.In this new landscape, have the foundations of content really changed – or are they simply more exposed?On this episode of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cms-critic-the-critics-corner-podcast/id1801794414">The Critic’s Corner podcast,</a> CMS Critic’s lead analyst and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/matt-garrepy">Chief Critic Matt Garrepy</a> talks with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/mike-spenceley">Mike Spenceley</a>, a veteran of enterprise knowledge management and content operations at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.pwc.com/us/en.html">PwC</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jnj.com/">Johnson &amp; Johnson</a>, and other global, compliance‑heavy enterprises. Mike brings a rare blend of creative and operational perspective – from growing up as a drummer in a deeply musical family to leading large content programs in high‑stakes environments.Matt and Mike trace his journey from economics and finance into knowledge management just as big firms were standing up centralized functions. They unpack the familiar, persistent content cycle he’s seen for nearly two decades (centralizing, decentralizing and sprawling, then wrestling it back under control) and how AI could be the catalyst that makes content king again.<h3 id="the-human-factor-and-why-relationships-still-matter">The human factor and why relationships still matter</h3>Throughout the podcast episode, Mike argues that the foundations of content and content operations haven't changed. Institutions still want clear governance, defined ownership, and a strategy that solves real business problems. As he puts it, even as AI accelerates and tooling gets more sophisticated, the basics are non‑negotiable.“I think the important thing in this space is that the fundamentals don't go away," Mike says. "As the technology evolves and gets better, and we introduce AI to help support some of this work, the fundamentals are still there. Governance. Content ownership. You need subject matter experts from the business who have the knowledge to really contribute the content, review it periodically, and make sure it's accurate and up to date. They really play an active role in that whole process.”That human factor is just as critical on the change‑management side. Mike points out that content teams often know what “good” looks like, but can’t assume stakeholders will simply fall in line. Tools and workflows only go so far without relationships, storytelling, and a clear vision for why things must change. Content operations leaders, he argues, also have to be “relationship‑driven,” meeting business partners where they are and bringing them along on a journey rather than dictating new rules from the center. <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/UjYwXY2VXBc"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/UjYwXY2VXBc" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> Drawing on nearly two decades in content strategy, Mike advocates for treating content more like structured data than just finished pages – providing a record that holds global rules and local nuance for delivering tailored experiences across websites, portals, search, and AI interfaces. Instead of rewriting similar information for every channel and audience, he frames a model where a single record becomes the source of truth, and technology handles how it’s assembled and rendered for different contexts.That philosophy leads directly to one of Mike’s favorite concepts: MVP content. Rather than starting with everything and trying to cover all the edge cases, he suggests flipping the approach and beginning with the smallest possible set of “minimum viable” content that actually solves a problem.“I've always had this idea that you should start with what I call MVP content," he says. "What is the bare minimum amount of content you need to solve this problem? And if that doesn't solve it, you can always add more later.”In large enterprises, that mindset becomes a survival skill. It reduces the volume that needs to be governed, lowers the maintenance burden on subject matter experts, and helps teams avoid the trap of sprawling FAQs and knowledge bases that no one can realistically keep current – especially when regulation and compliance are part of the equation.<h3 id="how-ai-is-making-content-king-again">How AI is making content king again</h3>From there, the conversation shifts squarely into AI. Mike and Matt examine the impact through three lenses: using AI to support the content lifecycle itself, making content readable and consumable by AI and answer engines, and governing the content that actually trains and powers generative chatbots and agentic experiences. In Mike’s view, this is where AI is putting the crown back on content in a very real, enterprise‑grade sense.“I've spoken and written about this concept of how AI is making content king again," Mike explains. “For those of us working in large enterprises, we've all known for years and years that there's just a lot of garbage content out there.”That “garbage” was always a problem, but in a search‑and‑browse world, the damage could be partially contained. Now, as organizations plug AI into those same intranets, portals, and policy libraries, the weaknesses are amplified. Slightly conflicting versions of a policy, audience‑specific nuances that aren’t labeled, or outdated documents that never got retired can all lead to risky or downright wrong answers when an AI becomes the interface.Finally, Mike and Matt dive into AI in 2026 and where it's helping to make content king again by supporting the entire lifecycle. They discuss the importance of rendering content readable for the new audience of answer engines, and governing the content that powers generative chatbots and agentic experiences. They also thread the needle with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://review.content-science.com/what-is-answer-engine-optimization-aeo/">AEO (Answer Engine Optimization),</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/mx-to-the-max-tom-cranstouns-new-book-decodes-machine-experience-for-humans-and-agents">MX (Machine Experience),</a> corporate risk, and why relationships still matter more than any tool.If you’re responsible for knowledge management, content operations, CMS strategy, or AI‑driven experiences, this episode is a practical guide to which fundamentals you can’t outsource to AI – and how these new automated technologies might be putting the crown back on content.<h3 id="articles-by-mike-on-cms-critic:">Articles by Mike on CMS Critic:</h3><ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-roi-trap-why-ai-needs-more-than-individual-productivity-gains">The ROI Trap: Why AI Needs More Than Individual Productivity Gains</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/an-operating-model-to-optimize-content-operations-and-probably-lots-of-other-stuff">An Operating Model to Optimize Content Operations (and Probably Lots of Other Stuff)</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/generative-ai-is-making-content-king-again">Generative AI is Making Content King Again</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-pressure-is-on-tips-for-content-teams-during-challenging-times">The Pressure is on: Tips for Content Teams During Challenging Times</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-it-takes-to-build-a-high-performing-content-team">What It Takes to Build a High-Performing Content Team</a></li></ul><h3 id="“the-critic’s-corner”-podcast-with-mike-spenceley">“The Critic’s Corner” Podcast with Mike Spenceley</h3> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-ai-is-making-content-king-again-with-mike-spenceley/id1801794414?i=1000783928633">Listen to the full episode &gt;</a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/cms-critic-the-critics-corner-podcast/id1801794414">Subscribe on Apple Podcasts &gt;</a> <figure class="image image_resized" style="width:69.05%"><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/how-ai-is-making-content-king-again-with-mike-spenceley/id1801794414?i=1000783928633" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/08/critics-corner-apple-podcast-mike-spenceley.jpg" /></a></figure> <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <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> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.storyblok.com/joyconf"><img style="width:34.57%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/joyconf-2026-logo.png" /></a><h4 id="storyblok-joyconf-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.storyblok.com/joyconf">Storyblok JoyConf 2026</a></h4>October 28 - 29, Rheingoldhalle, Mainz (Frankfurt)JoyConf 2026 is where developers, marketers, and digital innovators come together from all around the world, united by one powerful idea: great content isn’t built by tools alone – it’s built by people who rely on systems to deliver their best work to the world. In an era where technology is increasingly shaped by AI, Content Confidence becomes your competitive advantage. When you can create, manage, and scale content that performs seamlessly across channels, platforms, and AI, you don’t just keep up – you win. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.storyblok.com/joyconf">Book your seats today.</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/"><img style="width:36.36%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/sitecore-symposium-2026.png" /></a><h4 id="sitecore-symposium-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Sitecore Symposium 2026</a></h4>November 10 - 12, Orlando, FloridaWelcome to “Marketing Rewired” at Sitecore Symposium 2026! Sitecore's annual flagship global conference brings together customers, partners, developers, marketers, and digital experience leaders to explore the latest innovations in digital experience, content management, AI, personalization, and customer engagement. This year's event features keynote presentations from Sitecore executives and industry experts, product announcements, hands-on learning, technical sessions, customer success stories, and networking opportunities focused on helping organizations build more intelligent, connected, and AI-powered digital experiences. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Book your seats today.</a>

The Critic's Corner Podcast: Mike Spenceley Brings a Creative Eye to AI and Its Impact on Content Operations

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<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/mike-spenceley">Michael Spenceley</a> is a DX and Content Operations Leader and a CMS Critic Contributor. <hr /> The pressure to extract ROI from AI is being felt in organizations of all sizes and in all sectors. Over the past several years, many leaders have been pleased with the incremental efficiency gains and cost avoidance that their organizations have achieved by using AI tools. However, if the ROI pressure continues, investors, boards, and the C-suite will set a higher bar for what constitutes successful AI implementation.According to PwC’s latest <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/1/issues/c-suite-insights/ceo-survey.html">Global CEO Survey</a>, only 30% of CEOs are confident about revenue growth over the next year. That’s down from 38% last year. To get ROI, AI has to either increase revenue, or reduce costs (hopefully, both). This leaves us with a lot of pressure and some difficult choices to make about how to proceed. Before we talk about what to do about it, let’s talk about what’s happening right now.What most people are experiencing right now are incremental, individual productivity gains through the use of AI tools like Copilot, Claude, and ChatGPT. Unless a company is actively reducing its workforce, re-deploying people to revenue-generating activities, or using AI to accelerate new product development and increase speed to market, they are likely not getting any measurable ROI.To be clear, individual productivity gains are a good thing, and, in a lot of cases, they improve the employee and customer experience. This is also an important step for everyone to build comfort and proficiency with AI. These are all good things, but if the ROI pressure continues, we’ll have to do more to meet expectations.There’s no perfect answer, but I think a good starting point is to move past incremental productivity gains and start reimagining processes with AI at the center.What does it mean to reimagine a process with AI at the center? Well, now that we know what AI can do, how might we change what people do and how they do it at a more fundamental level? How might we implement AI in ways that break down functional boundaries and surface inefficiencies we didn’t know we had?<h3 id="let’s-run-through-a-simple-example…">Let’s run through a simple example…</h3>An organization that sells products has lots of data and information about its products. That product information is used as an input by different functions. A marketing team uses it to create marketing materials, a sales team uses it as a reference when calling on customers, and a training team uses it to train sales and customer support teams.Especially in large organizations, these might be completely different functions that report into different leaders. Each of these teams are probably using AI in their own way, and I’m sure they collaborate and share information. But is that enough? What if we look across the functional boundaries and reimagine how we execute these processes with AI at the center?First, product information needs to be stored and organized in one central place, with a clear process to ensure it’s accurate and kept up to date (many organizations already do this).After assessing all the ways product information is used, imagine building an ecosystem of AI agents trained to handle various tasks that leverage product information.<ul><li>A marketer can prompt an agent to build content for a social media campaign, or a product brochure for a trade show</li><li>A trainer can prompt an agent to build a product training curriculum, including videos, slides, role-play scenarios, and objection-handling guidance</li><li>A sales associate can prompt an agent to pull product details and create a branded one-pager they can share with a potential customer, tailored to that customer’s unique needs</li></ul>Note: These agents will need to be built and trained to do these tasks and, in many cases, the output will require some level of review, at least for now.<h3 id="will-this-approach-lead-to-a-tangible-roi?">Will this approach lead to a tangible ROI?</h3>It depends on what we do next. Using this approach, we’ve saved time across multiple functions and have streamlined handoffs between functions. Using AI in this way can also lower the barriers to entry for some roles, making it easier for people to be redeployed or shared across functions. This might help us go to market faster, reach more customers, and ultimately increase revenue. We may also have the opportunity to shift people between functions and re-skill them for roles that require a human touch (at least for now).The ROI will also depend on how much it costs to build these tools. Implementing AI increases operating costs, and there is a lot of debate over whether we’re seeing the true costs of AI just yet. On the revenue side of the equation, there is a general lack of confidence about growth, so while all this sounds good on paper, both cutting costs and increasing revenue are difficult to achieve, even if we’re using AI in all the right ways.<h3 id="let’s-address-the-elephant-in-the-room…">Let’s address the elephant in the room…</h3>If we reimagine a process with AI at the center, will there still be layoffs?Forrester wrote in its latest <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.forrester.com/press-newsroom/forrester-impact-ai-jobs-forecast/">AI Job Impact Forecast</a> that many companies announcing AI-related layoffs don’t have mature, vetted AI applications that can truly replace people. Additionally, in an <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://hbr.org/2026/01/companies-are-laying-off-workers-because-of-ais-potential-not-its-performance">HBR study</a>, 60% of the more than 1,000 executives surveyed said they made headcount reductions in anticipation of future AI efficiencies.I think the writing is on the wall, and it’s likely that layoffs will continue, whether AI is ready to take over or not. However, if the right tools aren’t in place, companies may not get the results they’re looking for; and quality, employee experience, and customer experience will suffer.There are still a lot of unknowns and a lot to learn, but I think the best next step is to think differently about how we transform a process using AI, moving beyond incremental productivity gains. While layoffs will happen and may bring some short-term ROI; in the long run, companies need to deliver results, either with people or with AI. Hopefully, with a little of both. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26"><img style="width:41.96%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/05/cms-connect-logo-26.jpg" /></a><h4 id="cms-connect-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">CMS Connect 26</a></h4>August 5-6, 2026 – Montreal, CanadaThe 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 Connect 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 Montreal, 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/cmsconnect26">so book your seats 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> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.storyblok.com/joyconf"><img style="width:34.57%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/joyconf-2026-logo.png" /></a><h4 id="storyblok-joyconf-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.storyblok.com/joyconf">Storyblok JoyConf 2026</a></h4>October 28 - 29, Rheingoldhalle, Mainz (Frankfurt)JoyConf 2026 is where developers, marketers, and digital innovators come together from all around the world, united by one powerful idea: great content isn’t built by tools alone – it’s built by people who rely on systems to deliver their best work to the world. In an era where technology is increasingly shaped by AI, Content Confidence becomes your competitive advantage. When you can create, manage, and scale content that performs seamlessly across channels, platforms, and AI, you don’t just keep up – you win. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.storyblok.com/joyconf">Book your seats today.</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/"><img style="width:36.36%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/sitecore-symposium-2026.png" /></a><h4 id="sitecore-symposium-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Sitecore Symposium 2026</a></h4>November 10 - 12, Orlando, FloridaWelcome to “Marketing Rewired” at Sitecore Symposium 2026! Sitecore's annual flagship global conference brings together customers, partners, developers, marketers, and digital experience leaders to explore the latest innovations in digital experience, content management, AI, personalization, and customer engagement. This year's event features keynote presentations from Sitecore executives and industry experts, product announcements, hands-on learning, technical sessions, customer success stories, and networking opportunities focused on helping organizations build more intelligent, connected, and AI-powered digital experiences. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Book your seats today.</a>

The ROI Trap: Why AI Needs More Than Individual Productivity Gains

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The Critic's Corner Podcast: Mike Spenceley Brings a Creative Eye to AI and Its Impact on Content Operations

The ROI Trap: Why AI Needs More Than Individual Productivity Gains