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Brightspot Illuminates the Future of CMS with Human-Controlled, AI-Powered Storytelling 

matt-garrepy

What is a CMS in 2026? Mark Demeny on AI, Content Supply Chains, and the Future of Content Management

Kentico Achieves Big Milestones in 2025, Citing AI Innovation and Xperience by Kentico as Key Drivers

<hr /> <ul><li>Storyblok surveyed 200 senior IT and procurement professionals regarding their AI strategies</li><li>90% of businesses plan to increase their AI investment in 2026</li><li>61% cited data privacy and regulatory concerns as the biggest challenges to successful AI adoption</li><li>91% indicated that AI will improve content management within their organization</li><li>Only 23% have fully integrated GEO-related strategies</li></ul> It’s true: bad news sells. And when it comes to AI, the negative vibes can be particularly potent. Look no further than the often-referenced MIT report that cites a whopping <a href="But%20the%20lesson%20isn’t%20that%20GenAI%20is%20broken.%20It’s%20that%20companies%20are%20trying%20to%20erase%20the%20very%20drag%20that%20creates%20value.">95% of GenAI pilots at companies are failing.</a>Of course, it’s all about context. And if you read more deeply into the research, the MIT study suggests that it’s not AI that’s broken – it’s that businesses and stakeholders are trying to avoid the essential “drag” that creates value. They’re relying on generic, brittle tools that aren’t designed with memory or learning loops.There’s also been <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.newyorker.com/culture/open-questions/is-ai-actually-a-bubble">talk of an “AI bubble”</a> that continues to permeate the zeitgeist. Based on past tech cycles, it’s not out of step to forecast an epic “burst” given the billions poured into the sector since 2022. We’re subjected to a regular dose of fear-mongering around this topic, but there's evidence that some of the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://fortune.com/2025/09/03/what-previous-ai-winters-can-tell-investors-and-executives-about-what-might-be-coming-next-for-ai/">M&amp;A moats could be drying up.</a>Before you start chanting about the coming AI winter – buoyed by the notion that just 5% of GenAI pilots are yielding tangible results – many businesses still seem bullish about AI. That’s the sentiment reflected in new research from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.storyblok.com/">Storyblok</a>, which analyzed the field through the lens of content management. Recently, the CMS vendor surveyed 200 professionals at large-scale enterprises, targeting IT and procurement roles responsible for AI decision-making. The research focused on their 2026 planning, the hurdles faced in successfully adopting these technologies, their views on the major benefits of AI, and how it’s affecting their content management strategies. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:28.6%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/12/dominik-angerer.jpg" alt="Dominik Angerer headshot" /></figure>Storyblok CEO and Co-founder, Dominik Angerer Storyblok uncovered several notable nuggets from the survey, chiefly surrounding budgets and spending. According to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/dominikangerer/">Dominik Angerer,</a> CEO and Co-Founder of Storyblok, companies seem poised to dedicate more funding to their AI initiatives despite any prognostications about an AI bubble bursting. “Our research paints an overwhelmingly positive business view of AI adoption as we look ahead to 2026,” he said. “Budgets look set to continue to grow robustly, and we have seen a significant increase in the number of businesses that say their adoption of AI is mature or fully integrated. There is also growing confidence that AI can and will deliver great ROI."I certainly noted this abundance of enthusiasm at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/joy-to-the-content-world-storyblok-brings-ai-innovation-and-human-connection-to-joyconf-2025">Storyblok's JoyConf event</a> back in October, and the company is building momentum as it introduces more AI features and capabilities in this burgeoning field of AI-enhanced content management. Here are some highlights from the report that are putting wind in its sails. <h3 id="content-management-leads-the-pack-for-genai-impact">Content management leads the pack for GenAI impact</h3>Bullish is the word, and businesses seem prepared to put their money where their mouths are, with the majority leaning into more activity than the previous year.When asked about their AI investment plans for 2026, 57% said they expected it to “significantly increase,” 33% cited a “slight increase,” and 9% believed budgets would remain flat. Only 2% said they expected a reduction in their AI budget. But that’s predicting what’s ahead. For many, the optimistic forecast is built on previously successful outcomes or positive signals coming from existing pilots. For example, respondents said they have seen significant benefits from implementing AI technology, with 54% noting “operational efficiency gains” as the biggest ROI. This was followed by 48% citing a “faster time to value,” 43% noting “enhanced employee productivity,” and 41% stating “streamlined decision making” was the big benefit.Within the pantheon of targeted business applications, content management was cited as one of the top functions that generative AI would impact, with 91% saying it would improve this function within their organization. This makes sense given the strong adoption of AI across CMS tooling and workflows, presenting businesses with proven product features and solutions that already utilize AI to power workflows, drive personalization, orchestrate agents, and other AI-enabled capabilities that are fast becoming requirements of modern content management strategies. “Content management is one of the areas where there seems to be near-complete consensus on the transformational impact of AI,” Dominik said. <h3 id="geo-adoption-is-still-lagging">GEO adoption is still lagging</h3>As consumers shift their search behavior towards answer engines like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chatgpt.com/">ChatGPT</a> or <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://search.google/ways-to-search/ai-mode/">Google’s AI Mode,</a> the harsh realities of decaying website traffic and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://searchengineland.com/zero-click-searches-up-organic-clicks-down-456660">“zero-click searches”</a> are settling in. How bad is it? <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://searchengineland.com/search-engine-traffic-2026-prediction-437650">Gartner predicts</a> that by next year, traditional search engine volume will drop by a breathtaking 25%, with search marketing losing its share to AI chatbots and other virtual agents.To combat this phenomenon, brands are building beyond their current SEO strategies and embracing <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generative_engine_optimization">Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO</a> – the practice of adapting digital content and online presence management to improve visibility in results produced by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generative_artificial_intelligence">generative artificial intelligence</a>. While GEO strategies present a real opportunity for addressing these realities, businesses are still behind. Acccording to Storyblok’s research, 41% had either not started or were in the early stages of adopting GEO, with only 23% saying they had a full strategy implemented. “With less than a quarter of businesses saying they have adapted to these changes,” Dominik codified, “it’s clear there’s a lot of work to be done to ensure businesses can regain confidence in their content.”Without a robust GEO strategy, businesses will struggle to fully optimize their content strategy in an AI-first world of consumer search habits. Clearly, organizations are lagging in this category, but there’s a growing awareness – and a compelling rationale – for getting on board quickly. <h3 id="security-and-data-privacy-are-top-concerns">Security and data privacy are top concerns</h3>AI might be the shining city on the hill, but it’s vulnerable – and that truth is being proven out on a regular basis. Along with performance-based risks relative to guardrails and policy issues, bad actors are exploiting flaws in frameworks and leveraging prompt injections to break walled gardens and elicit brand-damaging behavior. This can range from minor headaches to major security breaches.We’ve also reached a major inflection point in cybersecurity, where AI models have become powerful tools for safeguarding data privacy, but also for conducting state-sponsored attacks. In September, agentic capabilities were <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.anthropic.com/news/disrupting-AI-espionage">used to manipulate Claude Code</a> and infiltrate global targets that included tech companies and financial firms.As such, it’s not surprising to learn that safety was the central concern for respondents in Storyblok’s survey. On a granular level, 61% cited data privacy and regulatory concerns as the biggest challenge in adopting or scaling AI solutions. This was followed by security risks at 58%, and legacy system restrictions at 43%.These hurdles were also reflected in how IT and procurement professionals felt AI adoption could become more successful. 62% said data governance and quality assurance needed to be improved. Meanwhile, 54% wanted better integration with existing systems, and 42% cited increased “vendor transparency.”Notably, only 12% of respondents mentioned “cost-effective pricing” as an area for improvement. This might further underscore that businesses aren’t yet concerned about the cost of AI – or letting the overall price tag stymie their progress.Security is a moving target. As Dominik also noted, despite positive traction, concerns regarding governance and regulatory compliance are likely to grow – and may inhibit AI adoption over the short and medium term. “However,” he said, “it is good news that the professionals in charge of AI procurement have these concerns top of mind.”<h3 id="why-it-matters">Why it matters</h3>As we roll into 2026, Storyblok’s survey provides a glimpse of AI sentiment – and, perhaps, a hopeful one. There are no crystal balls (or at least no reliable ones), and AI’s path has been difficult to gauge on both the foundational and emotional scale. Given the astounding growth and tumultuous rollercoaster of economic and legislative policy headwinds, the last year has proven just how unpredictable things can be.What’s encouraging is to see where the opportunities are for content management, and how stakeholders view it as an area for continued impact. With its intrinsic connection to search, this should light a fire under vendors and agencies to further augment their value and practices regarding GEO, which, based on the data, is not a fully-adopted strategy.Security should be foremost on everyone’s mind. As we rush to drive new AI-powered products and experiences to market, we could potentially expand the surface area for vulnerabilities. Like APIs, this also applies to the fabric of third-party solutions used to compose solutions. The latest example of this came just a few weeks ago, when a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://openai.com/index/mixpanel-incident/">security incident</a> occurred with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://openai.com/">OpenAI</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://mixpanel.com/home/">Mixpanel</a>, a data analytics provider. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.globaldata.com/store/report/agentic-ai-market-analysis/">According to GlobalData,</a> we've now entered the hyper-growth stage of agentic AI. That means everything is accelerating, and that includes the propensity for problems. As the earlier MIT report indicated, friction is a necessary component for assuring the performance of AI – and the same holds true for data privacy and governance. This is not a time to rely on generic, unproven tools; we need performant, well-maintained solutions from trusted sources. This is where vendors like Storyblok are positioning themselves not just as AI-powered platforms – but AI partners in success. <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-more-guidance-on-storyblok?-talk-to-an-expert.">Looking for more guidance on Storyblok? <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to an expert.</a></h4><hr /> <h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.44%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/cms-kickoff-2026-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">CMS Kickoff 2026</a></h4>January 13-14, 2026 – St. Petersburg, FLMeet industry leaders at our fourth annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">so secure your tickets today.</a> <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>

Are businesses bullish on AI in 2026? New research says yes, but security is a top concern

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/dominik-angerer">Dominik Angerer</a> is the founder and CEO of Storyblok and a CMS Critic Contributor.<hr /> For decades, marketers have competed to secure a coveted page-one spot on the search results. But today that landscape has shifted. As AI-driven search experiences dominate, brand discovery is no longer about ranking for blue links; it’s about appearing in AI-generated answers.This shift is rewriting the rules of online strategy. Not too long ago, getting your website noticed revolved around a careful balance of keywords and backlinks. Now, to appear in AI-generated responses, brands need content that machines can interpret as easily as humans. The reality is that many are not prepared.The result? Traffic is declining. Zero-click answers are overshadowing genuine human expertise. Many brands are also finding outdated website content resurfacing inside AI-generated responses. The outcome is a loss of credibility and diminished ownership of their narrative long before a customer even reaches their site.This has led some experts to predict the so-called “death of the website,” envisioning an internet overrun by AI-generated content and bots, where quality information and genuine human interaction are all but extinct.The truth, however, isn’t nearly so grim. As we see it, AI isn’t killing websites; it’s exposing longstanding weaknesses in how organizations manage content. In this light, it should be seen not as an ending, but as a crucial turning point in terms of the way brands create and manage content online. <h3 id="relevance-before-rankings">Relevance before rankings</h3>Previously, brands could get away with a content ecosystem that was outdated and internally inconsistent. Take a look at any one site, and chances are you’re guaranteed to find some old news releases or dusty product specs. But while humans might overlook a stale blog post from 2018 or incorrect pricing buried three levels deep, AI systems do not. Algorithms now crawl and compare information at a scale and speed no person can match. They evaluate how current your content is, whether your messaging stays consistent across pages and channels, and how authoritative your knowledge base looks against competitors. In other words, AI is no longer just reading what you publish – it is judging whether your entire digital presence adds up.Generative Experience Optimization (GEO) is the roadmap for this new landscape. At its core, GEO is about ensuring that content is relevant, coherent, and authoritative so that AI can accurately interpret and surface it. For marketers, this translates into designing content that prioritizes clarity, consistency, and authority: clear language, cohesive messaging, and demonstrable expertise that generative AI can reliably recognize and elevate in its responses.Crucially, GEO also shifts the focus from individual pages to the overall logic of your digital estate. It asks whether every touchpoint, including product pages, help centres, blogs, and social media copy, tells the same story and uses the same definitions. When that ecosystem hangs together, AI systems can more easily map questions to your answers, quote you as a primary source, and elevate your brand in aggregated, AI-generated experiences.<h3 id="legacy-limitations--">Legacy limitations  </h3>This shift, in turn, is placing a sharpened focus on content governance. Across many organizations, individual channels still operate in isolation. Web teams publish one thing, marketing says another, or brand information is fragmented. AI interprets this inconsistency as a lack of authority and reduces trust accordingly. All of this is compounded by legacy CMS systems that were never designed for the dynamic, multi-channel, AI-driven environment we now inhabit, making timely updates slow and consistency nearly impossible.To remain visible and trusted in this new discovery environment, brands need content systems that are flexibly structured and built for speed. This makes the case for composable, API-driven architectures – technology stacks made from interchangeable, best-in-class components rather than rigid, all-in-one systems – even more compelling. This is because composable CMS platforms allow marketers to update information once and distribute it everywhere, ensuring that every channel, region, and touchpoint reflects the same up-to-date source of truth. They also encourage more thoughtful content modelling and governance, which is essential for maintaining accuracy and coherence across increasingly complex digital ecosystems. What’s great, too, is that a composable stack makes it easy to introduce new tools, such as personalization engines, automation layers, AI assistants, or creative workflows, without disrupting the entire system. This granular level of flexibility gives marketing teams the agility they need to operate confidently in an AI-first discovery landscape, where freshness, structure, and adaptability determine relevance.<h3 id="evolve-or-risk-extinction">Evolve or risk extinction</h3>Ultimately, the internet isn’t going anywhere. Take a closer look, and you’ll likely find that smartphones, apps, and social media platforms are doing better than ever. What is changing though is the way people access and interpret information, as the rise of AI causes brands to rethink how they structure, maintain, and distribute content. Those that adapt and seize the opportunity to reclaim control of the narrative will find that the web isn’t dying at all; it’s simply evolving into something more dynamic, more decentralized, and more dependent on the quality and consistency of the content that fuels it. Those that fail to evolve risk being defined by outdated information circulating through systems they can no longer influence. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.44%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/cms-kickoff-2026-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">CMS Kickoff 2026</a></h4>January 13-14, 2026 – St. Petersburg, FLMeet industry leaders at our fourth annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">so secure your tickets today.</a>

AI didn't kill the website: it exposed how broken it was

dominik-angerer

<hr /> When <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/umbraco">Umbraco’s</a> community talks, its HQ listens – and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bolette-kern-2436ab57/">Bolette Kern</a> helps turn those transactions into action. As Senior Product Manager for the legendary open source vendor, Bolette is at the front line with users, embodying what makes Umbraco “The Friendly CMS.” In fact, when news broke that <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/blog/umbraco-17-lts-release/">Umbraco 17</a> was being released last week, she joined me for a call from a partner summit. She’s busy. And rightly so. Umbraco has been blazing trails recently, going back to this year’s <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/sowing-the-seeds-of-love-umbracos-codegarden-2025-celebrates-20-years-of-community-and-innovation">CodeGarden event</a> – where everything from a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/blog/unveiling-umbraco-mcp-server/">new MCP server</a> to orchestration features via <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/products/umbraco-compose/">Umbraco Compose</a> were unveiled.But one of the jewels in the crown has been the hotly anticipated, long-term supported (LTS) version 17 of Umbraco, which Bolette calls a “major and milestone release.” As she noted, it follows the predictable six-month cadence for releases. But it’s also the realization of a two-year journey that began with its new backoffice architecture in Umbraco 14. Now, all of the pieces have aligned in this latest LTS, including a mature backoffice experience, a modernized content platform, and a concurrent ecosystem – from extension APIs to package compatibility. As Bolette said, this LTS version is an ideal fit for agencies and organizations craving stability, longevity, and growth. Making the move will give developers a host of new capabilities and essential updates, which is what makes this leap so critical.“It's really important that we have people moving forward with us on this new LTS, because we’ve introduced quite a lot of necessary changes in 14,” she said. “Going from 13 up to 17, we have a job of making sure that people are joining us on this journey into a more modern platform that also supports what Umbraco is best at, which is being the most extendable and ‘Friendly CMS’ that's out there.”While Umbraco sees this LTS as evolutionary, it still reflects the core pillars of freedom and flexibility, allowing developers to work with their preferred technologies and frameworks to build and customize their digital experiences. It’s the embodiment of a truly composable posture, allowing its community to build in almost any direction.One of the big benefits of this LTS is the glide path to upgrade, and how Umbraco has reduced the friction associated with the move. “Organizations that have built projects on Umbraco 13, our previous LTS version, will have a direct upgrade path to Umbraco 17,” Bolette said. Customers upgrading to Umbraco 17 LTS will also benefit from its new backoffice architecture, extensibility, security, headless capabilities, scalability, and performance enhancements brought into the core CMS over the past two years.Part of the impetus for upgrading is having a future-proofed foundation. As Bolette pointed out, the underlying <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/core/whats-new/dotnet-10/overview">.NET 10</a> is also an LTS version of Microsoft’s software. As such, customers will be on the latest .NET version – ensuring that any optimizations and improvements at the Microsoft layer are also reflected in Umbraco 17. “Both are LTS versions, which means that your Umbraco 17 projects will be future-proofed for at least three years,” she stated.One really great attribute worth elevating: Umbraco has been focused on delivering an accessible backoffice throughout 2025, engaging with an accessibility consultant to review and improve its editor-facing workflows against <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.w3.org/WAI/">WCAG standards.</a> According to Bolette, most issues flagged in the audit have been remediated in 17, or are targeted for 17.1.<h3 id="what’s-new-in-umbraco-17">What’s new in Umbraco 17</h3>Overall, there’s a lot. And if you’re up for a deeper technical review of repository caching or system date migration, I suggest reviewing this <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/blog/release-candidate-umbraco-17/">Release Candidate blog post</a>. It’s a fantastic granular accounting of everything, from small upgrades to big features. Here's a video segment that unpacks the biggest improvements in Umbraco 17, featuring <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/lottepitcher/">Lotte Pitcher,</a> Head of Developer Relations, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/niels-lyngs%C3%B8-01b159272/">Niels Lyngsø,</a> Technical Product Manager, and Senior Developers on the CMS team – <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/laura-neto/">Laura Neto</a> and Nikolaj E. Lauridsen: <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/EfC9jWUaIXk"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EfC9jWUaIXk" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> What really stands out in Umbraco 17 is the introduction of comprehensive backoffice load balancing and enhanced search functionality. While both features will appeal to a range of use cases, they further reflect Umbraco’s tacit focus on growing its enterprise portfolio, especially in the addressable North American market. As Bolette explained, many of the new features in Umbraco 17 are tailored to enterprises, offering advanced capabilities that are fit for large-scale organizations and global teams.“There’s wind in the sails for moving upmarket right now,” she said. “So everything we do, including some of the features that we’re introducing in Umbraco 17, is catering to the more enterprise-scale projects. For example, load balancing in the backoffice really caters to projects that have 100-plus editors.” <h4 id="backoffice-load-balancing">Backoffice Load Balancing</h4>Without question, the ability to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://docs.umbraco.com/umbraco-cms/fundamentals/setup/server-setup/load-balancing">load balance the backoffice</a> in Umbraco is a major step forward – and a big win for enterprise workloads. Previously, only a public-facing website could run across multiple servers, while the backoffice was restricted to a single machine. This killed performance for larger teams that swarmed one server for all content creation and media management, severely impacting scalability and resilience.Now, with Umbraco 17, you have one unified application that can scale horizontally to meet your needs. Effectively, your entire backoffice can run across multiple servers – just like a front-end website. This gives content teams greater confidence over performance, improved resilience by eliminating a single point of failure, and a simpler infrastructure to worry about.Load balancing provides the elasticity that enterprises rely on for performance, particularly in high-volume editorial workflows. The benefit to large, distributed teams and organizations is clear, hence why <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/filip-larsen">Umbraco CTO Filip Bech Larsen</a> called it a “game-changer for enterprises” that have multiple content editors working on their website at the same time. <h4 id="enhanced-search">Enhanced Search</h4>Semantic search is driving a large share of the customer engagement across digital experiences. By some accounts, as much as <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.coveo.com/blog/what-is-site-search/">43% of website visitors opt for the site search</a>, with a clear preference for natural language.Umbraco’s enhanced search is helping to meet this demand. The feature arose from digital agency partners who were tasked with adding semantic search to customer sites. Obviously, there are numerous tools across the market that provide site search, and with Umbraco 17, you can plug in abstractions that deliver those capabilities via your preferred search provider. <h4 id="mcp,-cloud,-and-more">MCP, Cloud, and more</h4>I already alluded to the additional granular features of the updated backoffice, specifically as it relates to the new load balancing capability. On top of that, the Umbraco 17 LTS also benefits from a <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/performance/caching/hybrid?view=aspnetcore-10.0">HybridCache feature</a> that optimizes content loading and multi-site support features introduced in Umbraco 15. Further reflecting the enterprise focus, there are Block Level Variations that enable global organizations to make local language content changes while maintaining their core brand standards with consistency. There’s also role-based permissioning that’s accessible via the Client Credentials feature.Another big change worth noting is the replacement of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/tinymce">TinyMCE</a> with a new open-source rich text editor, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tiptap.dev/product/editor">TipTap</a>. The transition is designed to improve not only the content editing experience, but also handle license compliance out of the box. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/tinymce-releases-2025-state-of-rich-text-editors-report-and-cms-use-cases-are-fading-why-it-matters">I recently wrote</a> about how CMS use cases for RTEs are diminishing, and open source options like this do offer clear advantages.I mentioned MCP earlier, but it’s a vital part of the growing agentic strategy for Umbraco. The final version of the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/blog/umbraco-cms-developer-mcp-for-umbraco-16/">Developer MCP is live,</a> which delivers full API parity with Umbraco’s Management API and a host of refinements. While the Developer MCP is largely designed for technical folks, forthcoming capabilities will be focused on weaving AI across everyday editorial workflows. This includes enhancements like Tools Collections, an Editor MCP, and more.With the rebrand of uMarketing Suite complete, 17 now aligns its backoffice experience with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/blog/introducing-umbraco-engage/">Umbraco Engage,</a> which introduces Deploy support – making it easier to transfer configs like segments, personas, and more while maintaining analytics data in each environment. Umbraco 17 is also available on <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/products/umbraco-cloud/">Umbraco Cloud</a> immediately and provides some key enhancements for enterprises. This includes a Custom Identity Provider support for the Cloud Portal that centralizes authentication and daily bandwidth insights to improve operational visibility and capacity planning.<h3 id="maintaining-openness">Maintaining openness</h3>Umbraco 17 might be a technical evolution, but the company hasn’t changed its fierce commitment to community. Maintaining engagement and supporting open source contributions remain at the heart of Umbraco’s strategy, which firmly roots the trust that users and enterprises rely on. I asked Bolette how the changes in this latest version – or any version for that matter – are telegraphed with the community to build consensus and adoption. “I think it really comes down to being very honest and transparent about what it is that we see as the key benefits,” she said. “When we say we’re the most friendly and most extensible CMS, that’s really true to the bone. Being very transparent about what we do is helping us along the way to get this message out.”The last few years have seen solid growth and expansion for Umbraco. As it looks ahead, partnerships will be a critical ingredient in the recipe for success. As such, the company is focused on reinforcing its relationships to fuel innovation and opportunities.“It’s really been such a great experience seeing how this started in the community,” Bolette said. “Now, we’re sitting in conversations with partners that are building things on top of MCP, and they’re just so proud of showing off what they have built. Having that super close connection to what our ecosystem and what our partners and the community are doing is key.”Like all software, CMS platforms are in a constant state of improvement. What makes Umbraco different is its open source community and the ideation and innovation it brings to the evolutionary track. The resulting DNA offers stronger bonds, passing down the best traits of human thinking, connection, and inspiration – even as technology continues to change. With Umbraco, you're not just leveraging a product or an LTS. You're investing in the people behind it. And that core of community is one of its greatest assets. You can get more details on <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/blog/umbraco-17-lts-release/">Umbraco 17 here.</a>  <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-more-guidance-on-umbraco?-talk-to-an-expert.">Looking for more guidance on Umbraco? <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to an expert.</a></h4><hr /> <h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.44%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/cms-kickoff-2026-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">CMS Kickoff 2026</a></h4>January 13-14, 2026 – St. Petersburg, FLMeet industry leaders at our fourth annual CMS Kickoff – the industry's premier global CMS event. Similar to a traditional kickoff, we reflect on recent trends and share stories from the frontlines. Additionally, we will delve into the current happenings and shed light on the future. Prepare for an unparalleled in-person CMS conference experience that will equip you to move things forward. This is an exclusive event – space is limited, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff26">so secure your tickets today.</a>

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