Articles

Agentic AI for Agencies in 2026

bmckeiver

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/dserrano">Geetha Rajan</a> is a strategy executive advising Fortune 500 companies on AI adoption, AI transformation, and organizational change, and a CMS Critic contributor. <hr /> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.media.mit.edu/groups/nanda/overview/">MIT’s NANDA Initiative</a> dropped a number last year that made a lot of people uncomfortable: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonsnyder/2025/08/26/mit-finds-95-of-genai-pilots-fail-because-companies-avoid-friction/">95% of generative AI pilots deliver zero measurable impact on the P&amp;L.</a> Not “underperform.” Zero. Based on 150 executive interviews and analysis of 300 public deployments, the picture is clear: billions spent with little measurable impact.Then <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/agentic-panic-new-study-finds-ai-agents-in-production-face-infrastructure-and-reliability-challenges">Cleanlab’s survey</a> of nearly 1,900 tech executives and engineers added another layer: only 5% had AI agents in production, and 60–70% were changing their entire AI stack every three months. Not iterating. Replacing.If you’re building on platforms like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/vercel">Vercel</a> or shipping with AI-assisted tools like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cursor.com/">Cursor</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://github.com/features/copilot">GitHub Copilot,</a> these numbers should stop you cold. The instinct in the development ecosystem is to treat this as a technical problem—bad models, immature tooling, infrastructure that can’t keep up. Those things are real. But they’re not what’s killing your projects.<h3 id="the-misdiagnosis">The Misdiagnosis</h3>Here’s what the MIT data shows when you look past the headline. The 5% that succeeded weren’t using better models. They were operating within organizations that had solved a different set of problems—problems unrelated to code.Successful deployments shared three traits: they empowered line managers to drive adoption, integrated tools into existing workflows rather than requiring wholesale changes, and built distinct enablement strategies for different parts of the organization. They treated AI adoption as an organizational problem, not a technical one.This is the core premise behind Pilots to Scale™: scaling AI is not about model performance, but about aligning people, workflows, and metrics so experimentation becomes sustained execution.This distinction matters in software development. Consider<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://v0.app/"> Vercel’s v0,</a> now used by over 3.5 million people. The tool is impressive—describe what you want, and the agent plans, builds, and deploys. But even Vercel has acknowledged the emerging challenge: vibe coding is quickly becoming “the world’s largest shadow IT problem.” Employees ship security flaws alongside features, credentials get copied into prompts, and company data goes public with no audit trail.That’s not a Vercel problem. That’s what happens when powerful tools get adopted faster than organizations can absorb them.<h3 id="where-engineering-teams-actually-get-stuck">Where Engineering Teams Actually Get Stuck</h3>Across hundreds of organizations in the Pilots to Scale™ research, a consistent pattern emerges: the failure point lies between the tool and the team. Organizations fail to recognize that their workforce doesn’t adopt new technology as a monolith. Across any organization—including engineering teams—you find roughly four segments with fundamentally different relationships to AI tools.<ul><li>Champions (about 20%) are already experimenting. They’ve been using Copilot since day one. </li><li>Explorers (about 40%) are curious but stuck. They’ve seen the demos but don’t know how to go from “that’s cool” to “this is how I work now.” </li><li>Skeptics (about 25%) aren’t irrational. They’ve watched previous tooling waves come and go, and they’re waiting for proof. </li><li>Experts (about 15%) have deep technical fluency but may focus on custom builds when off-the-shelf tools would scale faster. </li></ul>Recognizing and enabling these segments differently is one of the central design principles of Pilots to Scale™. It’s also where most enterprise rollouts quietly fail.Most engineering leaders treat all four groups the same. Universal rollouts. One training program. A single Slack channel. Then they wonder why adoption stalls at 15%—exactly the size of the group that was going to adopt anyway.The 40% in the middle—the Explorers—is where scale comes from. Reaching them requires structured experimentation with guardrails, protected time to learn, and clear definitions of success beyond “ship faster.” Exhibit 1: The four workforce segments that determine AI adoption outcomes. Most organizations treat their teams as a single population. The Pilots to Scale™ research identifies four distinct cohorts—each requiring a different enablement strategy. The 40% in the middle is where scale breaks through or stalls.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:78.99%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/02/image-1771348091753.png" /></figure>Source: Independent research by Geetha Rajan, including quantitative survey data (n=100) and in-depth interviews (n=200) with operational leaders responsible for AI implementation.<h3 id="what-the-5%-do-differently">What the 5% Do Differently</h3>The organizations that successfully scale AI build three capabilities that have nothing to do with model selection or infrastructure.First, they translate AI capabilities into actual workflow changes. They don’t bolt Copilot onto existing processes and hope for improvement. They redesign how work gets done—code review, testing, deployment—around what AI makes possible. Most teams skip this entirely.Second, they mandate cross-functional coordination. AI-powered development touches security, compliance, product, and design. Successful deployments had cross-functional governance from day one, not bolted on after a security incident. As <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/cgnorthcutt/">Cleanlab’s CEO, Curtis Northcutt </a>put it: the moment you think you’ve figured it out is the moment you fall behind. That’s an organizational insight, not a technical one.Third, they invest in segment-specific enablement. Champions become peer coaches. Explorers get structured 30-day experiments with weekly check-ins. Skeptics are paired with champions who demonstrate concrete value. One enterprise software company I studied segmented its team this way and saw adoption jump from 12% to 73% in one quarter. Same tools. Same org. Different strategy.<h3 id="the-agentic-refactoring-loop">The Agentic Refactoring Loop</h3>Cleanlab’s data about constant stack refactoring is real—and it creates a vicious loop. Teams build an agent; it breaks on messy enterprise data. They refactor. A better LLM drops. They rebuild. Workflows shift. They refactor again. Between 60% and 70% of executives surveyed were swapping out their entire AI stack every three months. That’s not iteration. That’s a treadmill.The organizations that break out of this loop aren’t the ones with more stable technology. They’re the ones that built organizational infrastructure to absorb churn—teams that evaluate, adopt, and sunset tools in structured ways. When your people trust that AI adoption is being managed, not just mandated, they refactor faster and flag problems earlier. The constraint isn’t the technology’s speed. It’s the organization’s ability to metabolize it.<h3 id="the-bottom-line">The Bottom Line</h3>The tools are here. Vercel’s v0, Cursor, Copilot, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://windsurf.com/">Windsurf</a>—capable and improving rapidly. The 95% failure rate isn’t a verdict on the technology. It’s a verdict on how organizations adopt it.If you’re a development leader wondering why your team’s AI adoption looks great in demos and stalls in production, stop looking at the stack. Start looking at your people—who they are, what they need, and whether you’re building the organizational muscle to let them actually use these tools. The code problem is largely solved. The organizational problem is just getting started. <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>

Why AI-Powered Development Tools Fail After Launch

geetha-rajan

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/dserrano">Daniel Serrano</a> is the CEO of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/griddo">Griddo</a> and a CMS Critic contributor. <hr /> Most universities don't have one website. They have dozens – sometimes over a hundred. Engineering has its own site. So does Business. Admissions runs campaign landing pages while Alumni Relations maintains a separate portal. Each school, department, and initiative accumulates its own digital presence over time.Managing this ecosystem with legacy tools isn't just an operational headache. It's costing institutions students.<h3 id="the-hidden-cost-of-digital-fragmentation">The Hidden Cost of Digital Fragmentation</h3>The root cause is structural: universities are decentralized by design. Different schools control their own budgets and naturally select their own technology. Over the years, this has produced a patchwork of WordPress instances, aging Drupal installations, and department-specific tools that don't communicate with each other.For IT teams, this means maintaining multiple platforms, each with its own security requirements, update cycles, and vendor relationships. For marketing teams, it means duplicated effort, inconsistent messaging, and constant requests to IT for changes that should take minutes but take weeks <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.caylor-solutions.com/data-silos-stop-hoarding/">(Caylor Solutions).</a>But the real damage shows up in the student experience. Recent data from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.educause.edu/">Educause</a> reveals the scale of the problem:<ul><li>57% of students report that their institution's digital experience causes them stress at least "sometimes"</li><li>47% have missed a critical deadline – a payment, registration, or assignment – because they couldn't find the information they needed across siloed systems</li><li>41% say this confusion negatively affects their ability to learn or succeed academically</li><li>60% spend more than five minutes trying to locate essential items</li></ul>These aren't minor inconveniences. Missed payment deadlines affect revenue. Missed registration deadlines affect retention. And when nearly half of students struggle to navigate the institution's digital presence, that's a brand problem with enrollment implications.<h3 id="why-traditional-multisite-approaches-fall-short">Why Traditional Multisite Approaches Fall Short</h3>The conventional response to this fragmentation has been multisite architectures – spinning up WordPress or Drupal instances from a shared codebase. This gives institutions limited scale and no governance.You can deploy 50 sites from a central installation. But ensuring brand consistency across all of them? That still requires manual oversight, style guide enforcement, and expensive agency rework when departments inevitably drift. The underlying content remains siloed. The user experience remains fractured.Meanwhile, according to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.cbord.com/">Transact + CBORD (soon to be Illumia)</a>, 44% of higher education leaders cite implementation complexity as their biggest technology challenge when modernizing. Generic CMS platforms weren't designed for the specific governance requirements of higher education, where you need centralized control over brand and data while preserving departmental autonomy over content.<h3 id="a-different-architectural-approach">A Different Architectural Approach</h3>Solving this problem requires rethinking the relationship between governance and autonomy. The goal isn't to centralize everything — that would create bottlenecks and kill the agility that departments need. The goal is to centralize what must be consistent (brand, data, security) while decentralizing what should be autonomous (content creation, campaign execution).This is the approach we took when building <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://griddo.io/en/">Griddo</a>. The platform emerged from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.secuoyas.com/en/">Secuoyas</a>, an agency with 18 years of experience working with institutions like IE University. That experience revealed a consistent pattern: universities needed a "connective tissue" that could wrap around their existing systems while providing governance at the ecosystem level.Two architectural decisions proved essential: Embedded Design Systems: Brand Consistency Without BottlenecksThe most visible symptom of fragmentation is inconsistent brand appearance. Even when institutions have comprehensive brand guidelines, enforcement across dozens of sites maintained by different teams is nearly impossible with traditional tools.Griddo addresses this by incorporating a fully brand-tailored Design System directly into the platform core. This isn't a style guide that teams reference – it's a structural constraint that makes brand drift architecturally impossible. Departments get full autonomy over their content while working within components that guarantee visual consistency.The result: marketing teams stop policing brand compliance and start focusing on strategy. Centralized Multi-Site Governance: One Dashboard, Full VisibilityFor institutions managing large ecosystems – some of our clients operate 45+ websites – administrative overhead compounds quickly. Updates that should be instantaneous require coordination across multiple platforms and teams.Griddo's architecture provides a single administrative layer across the entire ecosystem. Marketing campaigns, news, events, faculty profiles, and institutional data can be managed from one location and deployed instantly across every relevant site. This centralization works because of an API-first architecture (MACH: Microservices, API, Cloud, Headless) that integrates with existing university systems – Student Information Systems, CRMs, ERPs – rather than replacing them.<h3 id="measured-results">Measured Results</h3>This isn't theoretical. IE University, operating a complex multi-site ecosystem across multiple languages and programs, has documented concrete outcomes:<ul><li>40% reduction in site management overhead – time previously spent on coordination and maintenance is now redirected to marketing activation</li><li>70% reduction in infrastructure costs – consolidating from multiple platforms to a unified architecture eliminated redundant licensing, hosting, and maintenance expenses</li></ul>These metrics matter because they translate directly to capacity. A 40% reduction in management overhead means the existing team can execute more campaigns, respond faster to market opportunities, and focus on strategic work rather than platform maintenance.<h3 id="the-strategic-imperative">The Strategic Imperative</h3>Digital fragmentation in higher education isn't a technical inconvenience – it's a strategic liability. When students can't find information, they miss deadlines. When they miss deadlines, institutions lose revenue, and retention suffers. When brand presence is inconsistent across dozens of sites, institutional reputation erodes.The solution isn't more platforms or more manual oversight. It's an architecture designed specifically for the governance requirements of higher education: centralized control where it matters, decentralized autonomy where it counts. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:68.13%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/02/griddo-daniel-serrano-article-featured.jpg" alt="A person holding a tablet PC with Griddo software on it. In the background, there's a university campus." /></figure><h3 id="see-centralized-governance-in-action">See Centralized Governance in Action</h3>If your institution is managing multiple websites with inconsistent technology, fragmented data, and brand drift across departments, the complexity won't resolve itself.To see how a purpose-built DXP handles multi-site governance across a real university ecosystem, request a demo at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://griddo.io/">griddo.io</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>

Why Universities With 50 Websites Are Losing Students – And What to Do About It

dserrano

A Tale of Two Phils: Exploring Umbraco’s Open Source Vision for AI, MCP, and the Agentic Future of CMS

matt-garrepy

Flying the Agentic Skies: easyJet’s Paul Curtis on Taking Off with Agents and Soaring with MACH

Putting the Human Touch on Hosting: Kinsta’s Matt Reid on Powering the Future of WordPress

<hr /> No doubt about it: 2025 was a BIG year of change for CMS. Agentic AI raged across the digital experience stack, and context was front and center. Platforms transformed before our eyes, but one thing remained the same: the passion and creativity of practitioners. Every day, marketers, editors, and developers rely on the tools they love to get the job done. And, as every year, we take the opportunity to celebrate the continued innovation and hard-fought loyalty of CMS and DX vendors in supporting their customers, partners, and communities. With that in mind… You nominated some amazing platforms for our 14th Annual CMS Critic Awards!Once again, your participation was off the charts. We had some big names make the grade, but a few challengers stirred things up. We had loads of individual suggestions across all of our categories – from CMS to DXP, e-Commerce to CDP – and now YOU get to pick the winners from the top five contenders! Now's your chance: You have until February 27th, 2026 to cast your vote! So get out there and share the news! Activate your communities and bring the rain. Most of all, have fun celebrating the incredible contributions coming from all corners of our industry. Keep reading for the nominee list, or start picking your winners at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/vote">www.cmscritic.com/vote </a> <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/e2tAX1XiSro"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/e2tAX1XiSro" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> <h3 id="the-nominees">The Nominees</h3>Raise the curtains…. <h4 id="best-free-cms">Best Free CMS</h4><ul><li>Joomla </li><li>Statamic </li><li>TYPO3 </li><li>Umbraco </li><li>Wagtail </li></ul> <h4 id="best-enterprise-cms">Best Enterprise CMS</h4><ul><li>Joomla </li><li>Sitecore </li><li>Storyblok </li><li>TYPO3 </li><li>Umbraco </li></ul> <h4 id="best-headless-cms">Best Headless CMS</h4><ul><li>Contentstack </li><li>Sitecore </li><li>Statamic </li><li>Storyblok </li><li>Umbraco </li></ul> <h4 id="best-open-source-cms">Best Open Source CMS</h4><ul><li>Joomla </li><li>Statamic </li><li>TYPO3 </li><li>Umbraco </li><li>Wagtail </li></ul><h4 id="-"> </h4><h4 id="best-flat-file-cms">Best Flat File CMS</h4><ul><li>11ty </li><li>Grav </li><li>Hugo </li><li>Kirby </li><li>Statamic </li></ul> <h4 id="best-enterprise-content-management-(ecm)">Best Enterprise Content Management (ECM)</h4><ul><li>Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) </li><li>Alfresco </li><li>Box </li><li>Microsoft SharePoint </li><li>OpenText </li></ul> <h4 id="best-digital-experience-platform-(dxp)">Best Digital Experience Platform (DXP)</h4><ul><li>Contentstack </li><li>Kentico </li><li>Optimizely </li><li>Sitecore </li><li>Umbraco  </li></ul> <h4 id="best-website-builder">Best Website Builder</h4><ul><li>SP Page Builder </li><li>uSkinned </li><li>Webflow </li><li>Wix </li><li>YOOtheme </li></ul> <h4 id="best-content-marketing-platform-(cmp)">Best Content Marketing Platform (CMP)</h4><ul><li>Contentstack </li><li>HubSpot </li><li>Optimizely </li><li>Sitecore </li><li>Umbraco </li></ul> <h4 id="best-digital-asset-management-(dam)-system">Best Digital Asset Management (DAM) System</h4><ul><li>Cloudinary </li><li>Contentstack </li><li>Optimizely </li><li>Sitecore </li><li>Umbraco </li></ul> <h4 id="best-product-information-management-(pim)-system">Best Product Information Management (PIM) System</h4><ul><li>Akeneo </li><li>DynamicWeb </li><li>Optimizely </li><li>Pimcore </li><li>Struct </li></ul> <h4 id="best-customer-data-platform-(cdp)">Best Customer Data Platform (CDP)</h4><ul><li>Contentstack </li><li>Microsoft Dynamics 365</li><li>Optimizely </li><li>Segment </li><li>Sitecore </li></ul> <h4 id="best-e-commerce-solution">Best e-Commerce Solution</h4><ul><li>HikaShop </li><li>Shopify </li><li>Sitecore </li><li>Umbraco </li><li>VirtueMart </li></ul> <h4 id="best-development/hosting-platform">Best Development/Hosting Platform</h4><ul><li>Azure </li><li>e-Base </li><li>Laravel Forge </li><li>Netlify </li><li>Vercel </li></ul> <h4 id="best-ai-solution">Best AI Solution</h4><ul><li>Contentstack</li><li>Optimizely </li><li>Sitecore</li><li>Storyblok</li><li>Umbraco</li></ul><h3 id="ready-to-vote-your-heart-out?-">Ready to vote your heart out? </h3>It's you voice, your choice! Tell us which platforms you really love – and who should take home the prize. Remember, you have until February 27th to get your votes in!Do it today at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/vote">www.cmscritic.com/vote </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>

Vote your heart out! Pick the winners for the 14th Annual CMS Critic Awards

cms-critic-staff

Shopify - The global commerce platform

Build your business with Shopify to sell online, offline, and everywhere in between.

The global commerce platform

#ffffff

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/chad-gilbert">Chad Frederick Gilbert</a> is Vice President of Content Marketing at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://npdigital.com/">NP Digital </a>and a CMS Critic contributor.<hr />People are changing the way they search for information online. Previously, they would launch their browser and enter a phrase or keyword into a search engine, then review the list of search results, looking for the most relevant source that met their needs. Sometimes, this process required a substantial amount of time.With the advent of AI, all that has changed. People now explain what they need to large language models (LLMs) and ask them to search, comb through the results, and produce executive summaries. This enables users to locate information simply by having a conversation. As a result, the new science of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://neilpatel.com/blog/generative-engine-optimization-geo/">Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)</a> has emerged, in which marketers craft content to appeal to LLMs. Showing up in those conversations can create new leads, drive traffic to the website, and ultimately lead to increased revenue.Here’s how these changes are affecting content teams, their content management systems (CMSs), digital experience platforms (DXPs), and the types of tools businesses should consider incorporating to improve their GEO results.<h3 id="what-today’s-llms-want">What today’s LLMs want</h3>Marketers now have a new goal: not only attracting AI models to their website but also having AIs cite it in responses to user queries. Publishing content that achieves this requires a different approach.First and foremost, today’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.19421">AIs prioritize content that is accessible</a> and offers clear value to the audience. They evaluate pages for the accuracy, reliability, and trustworthiness of their content through fact-checking. They also consider the site’s cybersecurity, transparency, and honesty. Any deceptive tactics or misinformation count against websites.Another element that current AIs are looking for is substance. Today’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.14436">AI models still like SEO keywords</a> and phrases, but only when they are used in a natural way. Attractive content also demonstrates the depth and richness of true mastery. It not only covers the fundamentals clearly and concisely but also answers common follow-up questions.In addition, authority arguably matters more now. Today’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://neilpatel.com/blog/llm-seeding/">AI models consider the source</a>. Authors who have official credentials or qualifications to back up their position, or some kind of lived experience with the topic, have an advantage. The same is true for sources who have been quoted in top-tier publications. If a site has no clear authorship, LLMs recognize this as a bad sign, which has ramifications for the kinds of content that businesses need to produce today.<h3 id="how-to-attract-today’s-ai-models">How to attract today’s AI models</h3>AI models pull from sites that offer authoritative content presented in a clear, structured way that addresses users’ needs. For this reason, content teams now <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcontentmanagement/tip/How-to-integrate-GEO-with-an-SEO-strategy">organize information differently</a> so AI can interpret it more easily. For instance, it’s advisable to use more headings and subheadings, as well as lists marked off with bullet points. It’s also a good idea to use a question-and-answer format or include a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) section.To meet the criteria for thoroughness, the text should be thorough, detailed, and concrete. Include definitions of key terms, as well as real-world or hypothetical examples. Backing claims up with supporting evidence is also important, as it reinforces trust. LLMs also appreciate content that explains its own reasoning.To establish authority, use your content to showcase your business leaders, their credentials, and any relevant lived experience. Pursue a PR strategy of earning media coverage in reputable publications to build visibility and credibility. Embed external URLs only from high-quality, disinterested sources like academic studies or industry research in your content.<h3 id="how-ai-makes-marketing-easier">How AI makes marketing easier</h3>While the demands of producing such high-level content might seem daunting, today’s AI technologies also alleviate some of the burden from human staff. Content teams that have implemented AI assistance can work faster and more effectively than ever. AI resources can conduct research, generate ideas, perform quality checks, and even provide preliminary drafts of potential content.The good news is that it’s often not necessary to invest in a whole new CMS or DXP to stay abreast of these changes. Supporting tools that help businesses improve their digital presence are readily available on the market.<h3 id="what-tools-improve-geo">What tools improve GEO</h3>Most businesses don’t need the most advanced CMS or DXP to succeed. They just need a tech stack that supports the production of high-quality content, provides telling insights about the audience, and can measure real-world performance.Here are the tools that most business leaders should incorporate into their workflows:<ul><li>AI-driven content tools: These AIs help produce content, from conducting the underlying research to generating possible outlines and even coming up with potential copy. They can scale your existing content quickly while ensuring consistency and a positive consumer experience.</li><li>GEO optimization tools: These resources optimize your content for today’s LLMs. They find good URLs — both external and internal — to embed in your copy and suggest appropriate metadata and tags. They also analyze the structure of your content and propose improvements, ensuring the page is easy for both humans and AIs to understand. This not only improves the customer experience but also boosts the business’s online visibility.</li><li>Audience insights and analytics platforms: These help you understand your audience. They track how users engage — or fail to engage — with your website. They also sense the patterns that underlie the conversions your business makes. Moreover, they can tell you what your ideal customers search for, steering you toward the right messages.</li><li>Quality-control tools: AI models’ ability to process large amounts of information quickly enables them to spot problems with your content’s quality or consistency. For instance, they can identify broken links and other issues on your website and suggest practical solutions.</li></ul>Having a suite of such tools would help future-proof your enterprise, even as the next AI iteration promises further changes.<h3 id="position-your-business-for-the-future">Position your business for the future</h3>While GEO requires content teams to rethink their approach, having the right resources enables them to create compelling content for humans and AIs alike at scale. By delivering clarity, substance, authority, and trust, marketers can position their organizations to dominate the future. <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>

How Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and AI are Transforming Content and Human Strategies

chad-gilbert

Delivering hyper-personalized B2B content with a modern CMS

contentstack

<hr /> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sassafras">Sassafras</a> is a genus of aromatic, deciduous trees in the Laurel family – Lauraceae, for you nature nerds – which is native to eastern North America and parts of Asia. Known for its distinct, fragrant smell, Sassafras trees have these uniquely variable leaves that can be unlobed, two-lobed (kind of mitten-shaped), or even three-lobed. Funky, but beautiful.Living in the Southeastern U.S., I’ve experienced Sassafras in real life, often a fixture along dense forest trails. They produce a lovely yellow pistillate, and the leaves, twigs, and bark have an almost citrusy or spicy note to them. It’s delightful. Alluring, even. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:62.04%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/02/sassafras_leaves_june_nbg_261691941.jpg" /></figure>Sassafras Leaves. Source: June Nbg, Wikipedia/Creative Commons Once upon a time, the bark of the Sassafras tree was the primary ingredient in root beer. It’s hence been recreated using artificial flavorings, partly because the oil derived from it – <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.healthline.com/health/sassafras-drug">called Safrole</a> – has hallucinogenic properties as a mild empathogen. Translation: you feel closeness and affection as it coerces your brain to release serotonin and dopamine.Right now, people could use a dose of Sassafras as they melt down over the “SaaSafras” – a more-than-mild tech selloff seemingly induced by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.anthropic.com/">Anthropic’s</a> new plugins for its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.anthropic.com/webinars/future-of-ai-at-work-introducing-cowork">Claude Cowork</a> agent, which were launched last Friday. In simplest terms, Claude Cowork is an agentic AI workspace that goes beyond answering questions. It can perform CRUD functions (create, read, update, delete) on files and folders on your computer, helping you execute tasks and not just engage in Q&amp;A conversations. Less like a chatbot, more like a digital coworker that can get stuff done.The real buzz is around those plugins, which are designed to automate specialized tasks across departments like marketing, legal, and customer support. Imagine drafting an email in your brand voice, then having a legal agent review it for risk.That sounds cool. But as we’ve seen, it’s hammering stocks as investors weigh the potential for organizations to just rely on these agents over traditional software. Enterprise giants like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/salesforce">Salesforce</a> are feeling a major pinch. Professional services and advertising firms like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.publicisgroupe.com/en/splash-en">Publicis</a> are taking a hit as faster automation and shrinking demand for traditional IT services become a shadowy specter along the growth highway.<h3 id="more-fear-in-the-ai-forest-">More fear in the AI forest </h3>Like we haven't had enough anxiety from the likes of AI. Fact is, we've been talking about a “SaaS implosion” as a byproduct of the agentic evolution for quite some time.The impact is being felt broadly. This includes the categories of CMS, digital experience, and martech vendors, all rolling in a hyperbolic field of “SaaSafras,” anxious that their software might be rendered obsolete by Claude – which, ironically, has been a common companion in the evolution of their own tools.As expected, software business leaders have pushed back, hoping to quell the fear – but offering sage points. As <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/cognizant-ceo-reacts-after-anthropic-claude-cowork-crashes-saas-stocks-says-ai-is-not-magic-2863547-2026-02-05">Cognizant CEO Ravi Kumar</a> said today, AI isn’t magic. It’s not a “plug-and-play switch” that delivers results overnight. If that were the case, we would have seen more economic gains over the last three years. Instead, we’ve been served consistent data that tells a different story: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://fortune.com/2025/08/18/mit-report-95-percent-generative-ai-pilots-at-companies-failing-cfo/">95% of AI projects fail</a> before reaching production. 5% of active agentic systems are <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/agentic-panic-new-study-finds-ai-agents-in-production-face-infrastructure-and-reliability-challenges">being refactored every 30 days.</a> And a recent survey from PwC indicates that 56% of CEOs are getting “nothing” from their AI adoption efforts. Investments have been costly, and boards are beginning to focus hard on ROI.By all accounts, AI isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. At least not yet. But we’re still spooked by Claude. Why? Because we thrive on hype. So let’s take a step back to see the forest through the trees. Enterprises don’t just buy software – they buy trust. They buy assurances around HIPAA compliance and FedRAMP. They buy accountability and a single throat to choke. They buy performance, security, and scalability for critical workflows. They don’t just buy products. They buy outcomes.I’m sure Claude’s plugins will make an impact on productivity. It might be enough to rock some of the overall boat away from big, multi-year software licenses. But they can’t replace a system of authority that provides control, governance, and confidence. With AI, code might become a commodity, but context is the real goldmine. Legacy players like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/adobe-experience-manager">Adobe</a> have customer data that provides an irreplicable scaffolding for their own LLM ambitions. Meanwhile, hyperscalers like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/aws">AWS</a> are adding services that will enable SaaS players to accelerate their agentic AI strategies. That could level the playing field and create opportunities.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://pitchbook.com/news/reports/q1-2026-pitchbook-analyst-note-clash-of-the-titans">As Pitchbook said,</a> this is like the era of laying fiber before the internet boom, and there are durable moats. We just need to know where to dig them.<h3 id="is-this-the-end-of-saas?">Is this the end of SaaS?</h3>It's a loaded question. Clearly, we're seeing challenges and pressures to the prevailing models. But will this erase the companies behind them, or just force an evolution of how they monetize their services? And what happens to the people behind the products in this great reckoning?I agree with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://fortune.com/2026/02/04/jensen-huang-demanding-roi-from-ai-strategy-testing/">Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang,</a> who dismissed the idea that AI will make software obsolete. He called it illogical, doubling down on how SaaS tools will use and be used by AI, not replaced by it. He even said that “demanding ROI from AI is like forcing a child to make a business plan for a hobby.”He went on to say that AI tools have freed up employee time and hasn’t wiped out roles. In fact, from his vantage point, it’s enabling teams to focus on more forward-thinking initiatives and improving core strengths. Despite Amazon’s recent <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.crn.com/news/cloud/2026/aws-layoffs-hit-u-s-and-canada-employees-as-amazon-sheds-16-000-jobs">gutting of 16,000 mid-level workers,</a> large-scale displacement didn’t happen as it was predicted (at least not yet). I wrote about this in my <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/backoff-on-the-ai-layoffs-domos-chris-willis-on-the-future-of-work-in-2026">interview with Domo’s Chris Willis,</a> where companies that have downsized with AI have quietly hired back skilled workers.But labor is, indeed, shifting on all sides. The old model of paying for SaaS software is dying on the Sassafras vine as single-seat software paradigms are replaced by AI agents performing high-value tasks. This is where software companies could move up the ladder as a replacement mechanism – and with that growth, create more of the jobs and opportunities of the future. I say might, because it’s anyone’s guess.Is there reason for concern? Absolutely. CMS is changing in profound ways as content transforms. Licensing models are being disrupted. Composable patterns have made it easier to move from one technology to another. And yes, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cursor.com/">Cursor</a> can vibe code its way to a working website using markdown and sidestep its need for a market-leading headless CMS.But even if an app can be replaced with a vibe-coded tool or a Claude Cowork plugin, is that the best decision for your business? In some cases, it could be. The cost savings and efficiencies will be there. In others, having a solid, proven system of record is the only way to go. <h3 id="smell-the-‘saasafras’?">Smell the ‘SaaSafras’?</h3>There’s a lot of choice emerging in all of this, but it’s been building. Incrementally. We didn’t just arrive here yesterday. And it’s true: some vendors won’t survive what’s ahead. But hasn't that always been the case? Do we really need <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chiefmartec.com/2025/05/2025-marketing-technology-landscape-supergraphic-100x-growth-since-2011-but-now-with-ai/">15,384 tools</a> on the Martec Supergraphic? <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:78.12%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/02/screenshot-2026-02-05-at-3.png" /></figure>The 2025 Martec Supergraphic. Source: Chiefmartec.com So how do we move forward? Here are some things to focus on:<ul><li>Innovate on the agentic edge but concentrate on productive, workflow-critical solutions where AI can act as a control plane for real work and deliver tangible impact.</li><li>Make governance your moat. Enterprises will always experiment, but in 2026, they’re trading AI novelty for security, scalability, compliance – and, of course, board-worthy results.</li><li>Turn proprietary context into leverage, not just training data. Use the hard-earned structural fundamentals that surround your valuable data – things like schemas and history. They're one of the most important pillars of your IP.</li><li>Kill seat-based pricing before agents kill it for you, and move to outcome- and value-based models.</li><li>Win on orchestration, not generation, because the future belongs to platforms that can manage chaos – not just create more stuff. This is one of the keys to enduring business value.</li></ul><h3 id="the-strongest-roots-will-survive">The strongest roots will survive</h3>That smell in the air today is panic. An emotional sweat that’s a little disorienting and easy to mistake for something more pungent than it actually is. But this “SaaSafras” moment we’re in isn’t a signal to flee the forest. It’s a reminder to pay attention to what’s growing beneath the canopy. AI agents are absolutely reshaping how software is built, bought, and used. But they won’t replace the need for trust, context, and systems of real accountability.The vendors that survive this moment won’t be the ones clinging to the old models. They’ll be the ones cultivating deep roots or growing new lobes of innovation. When the hype fades, durable platforms will adapt in the wild – and remain standing. <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>

Smell the 'SaaSafras'? Anthropic’s new AI tools are a reminder that change is in the air, but panic stinks

Orchestrate and Create: Umbraco Compose Streamlines Integration of New Technologies and Agentic AI

MVPs Assemble: Sitecore Recognizes 213 Digital Innovators as ‘Most Valuable Professionals’ for 2026

<hr /> When I first saw <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominik-xperience-pinter/">Dominik Pinter</a> at the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">Boye &amp; Company CMS Kickoff 26</a> in St. Petersburg two weeks ago, he was running on the pier under cool but balmy skies.This wasn't at all out of character. We've covered some miles together at previous conferences. He’s a man on the move, constantly looking ahead and chasing what’s on the horizon. Endurance is an asset in tech. Just try keeping up with him.That said, you can’t get very far as a distance runner if you’re not grounded in the present. And in many ways, that’s what defines his leadership at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.kentico.com/">Kentico</a>: a clear focus on the future grounded in world-class support for customers and partners in the here and now.That’s a good formula for winning a race – even if you’re facing serious headwinds. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/kentico-achieves-big-milestones-in-2025-citing-ai-innovation-and-xperience-by-kentico-as-key-drivers">In a recent article,</a> the Kentico CEO echoed the challenges that many CMS and DXP vendors faced in 2025, but quickly noted that it was a “transformative year” that saw over <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.kentico.com/CMSModules/Newsletters/CMSPages/Redirect.ashx?linkguid=0192112e-93c7-4bd7-b015-f29c33f4fadd&amp;email=matt%40cmscritic.com&amp;hash=be0d1d8f19e0858f5111492f222eca952b1f9d98aaaeebe1c4c04b9dec830ced">100 new digital projects</a> launched on its stellar <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.kentico.com/platform">Xperience by Kentico</a> platform. The evolution to its new multichannel content management, marketing, and digital commerce solution has been a long one, but it’s paying off in new opportunities and growth. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:36.54%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/12/image-1765977570953.png" /></figure>Kentico CEO Dominik Pinter. Source: Kentico website Along with its investment in the AI horizon – crystallized by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.kentico.com/platform/aira">AIRA</a>, Kentico’s native AI agent that streamlines the creation, optimization, and time to deploy for digital experiences – Dominik and his company are embarking on the next chapter in its 20-plus-year history. One that focuses on empowering brands, builders, and marketers in entirely new ways.That excitement level was amplified today as the company announced a major leap forward in its AI ambitions: the launch of its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.kentico.com/platform/agentic-marketing-suite">AIRA Agentic Marketing Suite.</a> As the name implies, it’s powered by specialized agents built to execute defined marketing and content tasks, reinforcing Kentico’s vision that AI should be operational, transparent, and embedded directly into how teams work. “Marketers have no shortage of ideas,” Dominik said. “What they need is the bandwidth to bring them to life. With the Agentic Marketing Suite, we’re giving teams a way to scale their expertise, cut through complexity, and deliver results faster.”Kentico’s AIRA Agentic Marketing Suite is a reflection of the evolution that marketers are experiencing: higher velocity. More noise. Too many tools. It gives marketing teams more space, allowing them to move from planning to live experiences without the very real drag of delays or cumbersome tools. And because it’s built directly into Xperience by Kentico, it has the essential AI-powered workflows to support a full lifecycle of activities – from planning, content creation, testing, and optimization – all in one place.The goal: turn marketing ideas into measurable results faster. <h3 id="leveraging-aira-as-the-foundation-of-an-ai-powered-marketing-suite">Leveraging AIRA as the foundation of an AI-powered marketing suite</h3>As mentioned, AIRA (Artificial Intelligence Recommendations &amp; Assistance) is at the heart of Kentico’s AI strategy, providing marketers with easily accessible tools that cut down on repetitive work and simplify daily tasks. At its core, Kentico’s Agentic Marketing Suite is an evolution of AIRA, transforming it from the role of a digital assistant and into an orchestrated system of specialized AI agents that support the full marketing lifecycle, from strategy and content creation to optimization and campaign execution. What really shines with AIRA is that it’s easy to use and always within arm’s reach. As a digital companion, it works across your Kentico DXP, automating content on the go and providing task-specific guidance through an in-product conversational chat interface and intuitive in-context icons.  <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/qxKEIGpJh2c"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qxKEIGpJh2c" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> ARIA offers <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.kentico.com/discover/blog/new-in-aira">a wide range of features,</a> from automatic translation and content tagging to campaign ideation, customer journey insights, instant product guidance, and more. It’s everything you expect from an AI copilot in your platform, and it’s secure and scalable on <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/microsoft-azure">Microsoft Azure.</a> All of these capabilities have enriched AIRA as the foundation for Kentico’s Agentic Marketing Suite, serving as an automation engine for marketers. <h3 id="what’s-in-the-agentic-marketing-suite?">What’s in the Agentic Marketing Suite?</h3>Kentico is framing its new platform as marketing’s “virtual team,” enabling users to create, test, and optimize without switching tools. It helps you turn your ideas into action, simply by telling it what you want to do with natural language.In the Agentic Marketing Suite, AI “teammates” support your strategy, content creation, and optimization tasks. These agents function as dedicated virtual collaborators, designed to assist with specific tasks. You can add teammates as your needs evolve, from content applications to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generative_engine_optimization">Generative Engine Optimization (GEO),</a> sidestepping the need to hire specialists for every specialized role. And you get real outputs you can take to the bank – not just partial snippets that require additional heavy lifting.  <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/HIUKAIFv_08"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HIUKAIFv_08" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> Among the first available in the Suite is the Content Strategist, which helps shape and refine content strategies through intelligent analysis and recommendations. Additional agents will be introduced as part of Kentico’s ongoing release, expanding support into areas such as campaign management, market analysis, and workflow optimization. Each addition will focus on improving speed, precision, and impact for marketing teams. The central benefit is clear: marketers can now accelerate their path from idea to execution. With automation as part of the technical DNA, the Suite can help mitigate the arduous back-and-forth between various marketing functions like SEO and UX. It’s also designed to work seamlessly with your content and business context – something Kentico’s VP of Product <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/debbie-tucek/">Debbie Tucek</a> has emphasized as a key tenet for making AI work for organizations. Embedded in Xperience by Kentico, the Agentic Marketing Suite is also imbued with many of the foundational competencies you would expect from a hardened system of authority – things like clear roles and permissions, and built-in safeguards that maintain reliable and performant automations ar scale. <h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>More than ever, marketers are in a high-pressure vice grip to perform. Plagued by tool fatigue, cognitive overload, and a growing anxiety around the pace of change with AI, they need reliable solutions to help them feel more in control while achieving measurable outcomes. Translation: they need real solutions, not hype.Kentico continues to prove itself as a go-to technology and dedicated partner for building, supporting, and managing enterprise workloads across a bevy of use cases. The platform has endeared itself to a growing number of partners, proving to be incredibly extensible – and committed to an ambitious innovation arc with its transition to Xperience by Kentico.Now, with its AI evolution in full thrust and its AIRA assistant driving positive user feedback, the introduction of an Agentic Marketing Suite holds real promise. I like the clear focus on agents personified as “teammates” that can accomplish high-utility tasks, and having a system of authority that helps facilitate the complete marketing lifecycle is key. With brands and teams struggling to keep up with change, having a strong, natively-integrated solution is becoming a more attractive play.Kentico has also been nurturing a strong global partnership channel, so agencies could provide another dimension of community resource and validation when it comes to harnessing these capabilities as part of a more holistic implementation. We'll be connecting with some of them as well. My recommendation: This is a fresh announcement, and we'll be doing a deeper dive into the features, capabilities, and licensing options. Stay tuned. But as a marketing suite, it looks sweet – and it's certainly a promising track for Kentico as it looks to expand its value in a tight market where the ROI surrounding AI and software investments is under the microscope. With a proven track record and a vetted entity in AIRA, they have all the right pieces to make this a solid offering and provide a stronger market alternative to upstream competitors. Marketers should bring a scrutinizing eye to any demo, but concentrate on the use cases for agent tasks and how they align with your specific needs. My guess is that Kentico’s elegant approach to UX could make adoption even easier.  <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>

Introducing the Agentic Marketing Suite: Kentico Extends its AI Strategy to Power Marketing Teams

Call Tracking + AI 

Call Tracking + AI that Turns Calls into Leads

Explore a wide range of informative articles, insights, and industry updates. Stay informed and ahead of the curve with our diverse collection of news and posts covering the latest trends and developments in the industry. 