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Sweet FlowMotion: Storyblok Transforms Content Updates into Automated Workflows

matt-garrepy

Sanity’s AI Content Operating System Powers Intelligence with Structure and Agents with Context

<h4 id="-"> </h4><h4 id="highlights">Highlights</h4>You’ll learn about how AI transforms enterprise CMS platforms.<ul><li>Automation: AI CMS streamlines tagging, metadata, and content workflows</li><li>Insights: Predictive analytics guide content planning and performance optimization</li><li>Personalization: Real-time insights enable the creation of tailored experiences</li><li>Compliance: Guardrails ensure governance and security at scale</li></ul>Adopt an <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/blog/all-about-headless/content-management-artificial-intelligence-content-ops?utm_campaign=&amp;utm_medium=paid-affiliate&amp;utm_source=cms-critic&amp;utm_content=smarter-content-management-with-an-ai-cms">AI CMS</a> to drive efficiency, insights, and smarter engagement across your enterprise.<hr /> Content management today is not what it was in the 90s or early 2000s. The modern customer values personalized interactions. They are also more tech-savvy, privacy-aware and expect seamless experiences across all channels.Traditional CMS platforms lack the speed, agility and flexibility required to deliver these demands. That makes them redundant for the needs of modern B2B customers. This is why an AI CMS, usually <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/resources/report/complete-headless-cms-guide?utm_campaign=&amp;utm_medium=paid-affiliate&amp;utm_source=cms-critic&amp;utm_content=smarter-content-management-with-an-ai-cms">headless</a>, is becoming more popular.An AI-powered CMS enables <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/blog/personalization/how-can-personalization-enhance-your-brand?utm_campaign=&amp;utm_medium=paid-affiliate&amp;utm_source=cms-critic&amp;utm_content=smarter-content-management-with-an-ai-cms">real-time personalization</a>, automates repetitive tasks, and powers predictive analytics. It integrates AI into content workflows, enabling faster content publishing while improving accuracy and user experience. This shift is changing how large organizations think about content management.<h3 id="what-makes-a-cms-intelligent?">What makes a CMS intelligent?</h3>An intelligent CMS is a content management system that learns from data and adapts content based on behavior and context. It also offers automation — you can create, optimize and publish hyper-personalized content at scale. With traditional CMS platforms, you are bogged down with manual inputs, built-in templates and predefined workflows. An AI CMS does not have these limitations. They are built on headless and API-first principles, making them flexible to handle modern content needs. Its key features:<ul><li>Machine learning for predictive analytics</li><li>Automated tagging and categorization via AI</li><li>AI-powered search and discovery</li><li>AI-assisted authoring workflows and predictive content performance insights</li></ul> <hr /> Overcome traditional CMS issues with Contentstack Are you tired of slow development times and rising costs due to legacy monolithic suites? Contentstack offers a modern, component-based solution designed for the needs of today's enterprises. Discover agility and improved ROI. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/request-demo?utm_campaign=&amp;utm_medium=paid-affiliate&amp;utm_source=cms-critic&amp;utm_content=smarter-content-management-with-an-ai-cms">Request a demo</a> to learn more. <hr /><h3 id="benefits-of-ai-powered-cms-for-large-enterprises">Benefits of AI-powered CMS for large enterprises</h3>An AI CMS offers speed and flexibility. When a<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/blog/all-about-headless/cms-change-management-best-practices-for-seamless-enterprise-implementation"> </a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/blog/all-about-headless/cms-change-management-best-practices-for-seamless-enterprise-implementation?utm_campaign=&amp;utm_medium=paid-affiliate&amp;utm_source=cms-critic&amp;utm_content=smarter-content-management-with-an-ai-cms">modern CMS is implemented with proper change management</a> practices to support its adoption, it also supports better governance, data-driven optimization, and automation. Here are other benefits.<ul><li>Faster content creation and delivery: AI authors’ workflows, ensuring faster editing. It applies the brand’s guidelines, eliminating human errors. Also, its automated tagging, categorization, and metadata generation feature ensures you can publish faster.</li><li>Smarter personalization at scale: An AI CMS tracks data in real-time and adjusts content for relevant audience segments. Delivering on-brand content ensures you can convert more and engage your audience better.</li><li>More efficient search and content discovery: Search and discovery feature powered by conversational AI enables editors and marketers find content quickly, even in large, complex repositories.</li><li>Data-driven optimization: An AI CMS also supports predictive content performance insights, enabling teams to be proactive.</li><li>Improved compliance and governance: An AI-powered CMS can flag missing disclosures, ensure accessibility standards, and apply consistent terminology.</li></ul><h3 id="how-ai-is-transforming-content-management-within-enterprise-cms">How AI is transforming content management within enterprise CMS</h3>AI integration into content workflows goes beyond using generative AI to create content. It can be applied in other areas, such as SEO, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/resources/report/enterprise-ai-search-playbook?utm_campaign=&amp;utm_medium=paid-affiliate&amp;utm_source=cms-critic&amp;utm_content=smarter-content-management-with-an-ai-cms">AIO/GEO</a>, personalization, and predictive analytics. Here are some of those ways. <h4 id="content-intelligence-for-planning">Content intelligence for planning</h4>AI scans competitor content, search queries, and your own content library. That allows you to identify gaps and opportunities in your content strategy and that of your competitors. Based on that insight, AI can also suggest high-performing topics, and align new content with buyer journeys, so content production supports pipeline and sales goals. <h4 id="ai-assisted-content-creation-and-editing">AI-assisted content creation and editing</h4>With generative AI, you can generate content drafts, outlines and briefs. The AI is trained on your company’s audience persona, style guide and brand voice — hence, it can enforce the right tone of voice and style across your content. <h4 id="automated-content-tagging-and-classification">Automated content tagging and classification</h4>AI-powered DAMs integrated in an intelligent CMS can scan your assets and suggest tags. It can further map those assets into your enterprise taxonomy, ensuring your assets fit into a structured content model. By doing so, marketers can easily search and reuse content. <h4 id="personalization-at-scale">Personalization at Scale</h4>It is no secret that enterprise customers prioritize brands that deliver tailored, one-to-one experiences. You can integrate a real-time CDP to track customer data and create profiles. Then, use an AI-powered CMS to analyze the data and recommend the most relevant content. That way, you can tailor experiences to different accounts, industries or decision-makers. <h4 id="seo-and-aio-optimization-support">SEO and AIO optimization support</h4>AI can analyze search intent and suggest relevant keywords, topics and FAQs. It can be used to find internal linking opportunities, write meta titles and create schema markup. In essence, it becomes your SEO/AIO co-pilot, enabling you to find opportunities, match content to audience persona and optimize existing content. <h4 id="knowledge-assistant-for-internal-teams">Knowledge assistant for internal teams</h4>Internal teams can also deploy AI-powered search and Q&amp;A over enterprise content libraries. That way, teams within the organizations, such as sales and product teams, can quickly find answers backed by approved sources. <h4 id="governance-and-compliance-guardrails">Governance and compliance guardrails</h4>AI can be deployed to manage policy and style enforcement, as well as regulatory compliance checks. AI guardrails act like a compliance officer inside your CMS. By doing so, it prevents risky or off-brand content from being published. It also ensures that assets are safe, accurate and ready for regulation.<h3 id="governance,-security,-and-compliance-in-an-ai-cms">Governance, security, and compliance in an AI CMS</h3>AI CMS platforms automate governance and security processes. However, team leaders still need to set approval workflows that AI should follow. They must apply built-in permissions to allow access to specific authorized users who can check and approve AI outputs.The CMS offers intelligent security that can flag suspicious usage and trigger reminders for compliance audits. Still, content teams must keep to data privacy and safety regulations, such as GDPR and CCPA. They must also verify AI-generated metadata and tags to ensure compliance requirements are met and use audit logs to track changes made by AI features.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:83.96%"><img src="https://images.contentstack.io/v3/assets/blt7359e2a55efae483/blt49eb52225d026692/68a9891e5075c355e79fb708/image.png" alt="AI CMS features compared to a traditional CMS" /></figure><h3 id="ai-integrations-that-transform-content-workflows">AI integrations that transform content workflows</h3>An intelligent CMS supports AI integration, and that goes beyond automation. It makes your workflows smarter, so you can produce and publish content with more consistency and speed. Here are specific AI integrations that enable that.<ul><li>Automated AI tagging and categorization</li><li>AI-powered search and discovery</li><li>Automated metadata generation</li><li>Automated A/B testing for content variants  </li></ul>These features enable enterprises to reduce repetitive work and focus teams on high-impact, creative and strategic tasks. <hr /> Fast-track digital experiences with Contentstack Need to create digital experiences quickly? Contentstack's content and editorial engine enables you to reach new markets and create digital experiences faster. Manage content with ease and speed. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/try-for-free?utm_campaign=&amp;utm_medium=paid-affiliate&amp;utm_source=cms-critic&amp;utm_content=smarter-content-management-with-an-ai-cms">Start your free trial today</a>. <hr /><h3 id="comparing-ai-cms-options">Comparing AI CMS options</h3>Most CMS platforms now embed some sort of AI integration or service. However, that, on its own, does not necessarily make such CMSes intelligent or AI-driven in the actual sense. Here are some of the top AI CMS you will find today.<ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/?utm_campaign=&amp;utm_medium=paid-affiliate&amp;utm_source=cms-critic&amp;utm_content=smarter-content-management-with-an-ai-cms">Contentstack</a>: Contentstack’s AI CMS supports intelligent content workflows and scalable personalization. It is API-first and headless, offering native AI integration, making it ideal for omnichannel delivery.</li><li>Arvow: Arvow uses AI to automate the content creation and publishing process. It offers AI-driven features like content syndication, Google indexing, and SEO-optimized writing. It supports high-quality content at scale targeted at B2B companies.</li><li>Strapi: Strapi is an open-source headless CMS that supports the integration of AI tools and services for seamless content management, optimization, and delivery.</li><li>Adobe Experience Manager: This enterprise CMS uses AI to personalize content, automate workflows, and support data-driven insights. It supports content creation using its built-in generative AI.</li></ul>While other AI-powered CMS platforms offer great features and support AI integration, Contentstack comes with AI baked in. It offers native AI integrations that require less customization, making it easier to roll out across large enterprises.<h3 id="case-study">Case study</h3> <img style="width:36.22%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/02/image-1771247859224.png" /><h4 id="golfbreaks">Golfbreaks</h4>Golfbreaks struggled with managing content across multiple international markets. This prompted them to sign up for Contentstack's <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/academy/content/ai-accelerator?utm_campaign=&amp;utm_medium=paid-affiliate&amp;utm_source=cms-critic&amp;utm_content=smarter-content-management-with-an-ai-cms">AI Accelerator</a>. The training exposed them to the benefits of the AI assistant, brand kit and automation tool. The solutions automated translation workflows, content optimization, and personalization rules. Today, they can launch on-brand content and campaigns faster than ever.Golfbreaks Digital Product Owner Jack Simkins said, "With Contentstack’s help, our AI use case has been expanded into a much more powerful tool that’s helping us to save time and move faster."<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/resources/case-study/golfbreaks-leverages-contentstacks-ai-accelerator-for-78-faster-time-to-market?utm_campaign=&amp;utm_medium=paid-affiliate&amp;utm_source=cms-critic&amp;utm_content=smarter-content-management-with-an-ai-cms">Learn more about Golfbreaks' success</a> with Contentstack’s AI.<h2 id="faq-section">FAQ section</h2> <h4 id="what-is-the-difference-between-a-headless-cms-and-an-ai-cms?">What is the difference between a headless CMS and an AI CMS?</h4>A headless CMS is a type of CMS where the architecture separates content from its presentation. So, you have a backend that you can connect to any front-end framework via APIs. An AI CMS is a CMS with built-in AI integration to automate and enhance content creation, personalization, and management. <h4 id="is-an-ai-cms-secure-for-enterprise-use?">Is an AI CMS secure for enterprise use?</h4>An AI CMS is considered secure if it features enterprise-grade security, role-based permissions, audit logging, and compliance capabilities. The security of an intelligent CMS also depends on how AI integrations are configured and whether they comply with privacy laws. <h4 id="what-skills-do-teams-need-to-work-with-an-ai-cms?">What skills do teams need to work with an AI CMS?</h4>Content teams should understand content strategy, governance rules, and how to review AI outputs for accuracy and compliance. Technical teams may need to understand AI prompts, workflow automation, and how to manage AI integrations.<h3 id="learn-more">Learn more</h3>AI CMS platforms are redefining enterprise content management. They automate repetitive work, improve personalization and support data-driven decision-making. However, most CMS platforms only support AI integration — they are not truly AI-powered in the real sense.This is where Contentstack stands out. With native AI integrations, you get an intelligent CMS right out of the box. You do not need extra configurations or endless integrations with third-party AI solutions. If you are serious about leveraging AI for smarter content management, then Contentstack offers the best solution in the market today. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/request-demo?utm_campaign=&amp;utm_medium=paid-affiliate&amp;utm_source=cms-critic&amp;utm_content=smarter-content-management-with-an-ai-cms">Talk to us</a> today to get started.

The intelligent CMS: Smarter content management with an AI CMS

contentstack

<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

Welcome to the ‘Collaborative CMS’: Directus Breaks the Bottlenecks with its Native MCP

JoyConf Stories: Netlify’s Matt Biilmann on the Power of the Storyblok Partnership

<hr /> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jina-zohori/">Jina Zohori</a> is a customer fanatic. OK, maybe customer-centric is more corporately apropos. But given her passion and gusto, fanatic feels a little more on target. It reflects her enthusiasm for championing success at a human level – and bringing <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/agility">Agility CMS's</a> powerful yet simple solutions to content creators and developers.She also sees this rabid customer commitment as a holistic calling, one that marshals an entire organization's collective efforts.“Being customer-centric isn't just marketing's job, or sales’ job, or customer success,” she said during our chat at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-deep-dish-on-composable-6-tasty-takeaways-from-the-mach-alliances-2025-conference">“The Composable Conference”</a> a few weeks ago. “It's an engineering job. It's everybody's job. Technology is for everybody. And that experience, driven through our technology, doesn't have to stop at our customers.”That attitude is one of the many reasons why Jina is a rockstar leader – and exactly what Agility CMS needs to navigate the dense and fiercely competitive jungles of the headless CMS landscape. As president, she combines her tech savviness and business acumen to drive strategy and meet the needs of her users, especially those in the deep trenches of digital experience and content creation.When I met with Jina at the recent <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-composable-conference-2025-takes-shape-as-mach-alliance-announces-speakers-and-new-events">MACH Alliance conference in Chicago,</a> I was eager to talk to a headless CMS that was a member of the open, best-of-breed cabal. This year’s conference modified the formula a bit, and I wanted some perspective on what’s changed through the CMS lens – and how the Alliance is continuing to support the goals of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">content management systems. </a>This is a key question, especially as the market wrestles with questions about the ROI of composable strategies. As stories of failures and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7310313384015511552/">contradictory posts by VTEX</a> color the decision-making, customers are looking to their trusted SIs and vendors to help them navigate the complexities.As a 22-year veteran of the space, Agility is taking it all in stride. A big part of their success? You guessed it: customer centricity. And as Jina explained, that’s manifested through Agility’s focus on meaningful outcomes.“Our bread and butter isn’t just our content management system as a platform,” she said, “but the experience you gain through that as an editor, as a developer, and of course as an end user consuming that content on the front end.”<h3 id="the-evolution-to-headless-cms">The evolution to headless CMS</h3>While we didn’t go deep into the archives, Agility’s heritage is arguably one of its key advantages. With more than two decades under their belt, they’ve seen market opportunity and turmoil – and continued to persevere. Over the years, the Canadian-born and bred platform has earned a stellar reputation, powering large-scale enterprise brands like Cineplex, Scotiabank, and Mitsubishi Electric with its headless CMS. Like many of its legacy peers, life began as a solution to a common agency problem.“When we were building sites for our customers, we realized, 'Hey, it'd be really great if we had a CMS for this,'" Jina said. "Not only would we be able to have everything housed in one really nice package, but it would give the customer more autonomy, so they're not reliant as much on the developers, which would be us at that point.”As a consultancy, building websites opened more doors for implementing their homegrown CMS. As the footprint expanded, the mission shifted from easing the burden for their internal developers and giving more ownership and domain to their customers.The pivot to a headless CMS architecture came later, as CEO and co-founder <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jonvoigt/">Jon Voigt</a> and CTO <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelvarty/">Joel Varty</a> saw the advantages of decoupling to provide even greater control and autonomy for developers. According to Jina, this journey began before the headless “Gold Rush.”“Prior to ‘headless’ being coined as a term, we were already looking at how we become more cloud-native, API driven, and decoupled,” she said.It wasn't quite SaaS at that time, but as Jina explained, Agility was aiming for greater flexibility and optionality, so the front end – whatever it might be, whatever channel the presentation layer should be – provided greater freedom and control.“It allows users to just be able to do more.” And the rest, as they say, is history. From an architectural perspective, Agility’s scalable and flexible posture makes it a seamless solution for composable stacks. I’ve spent a lot of time in the Agility UX, and it reflects thoughtful and persistent innovation. The company makes a conscious effort to engage customers around product betas to help perfect their tooling, which has resulted in its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://agilitycms.com/product/web-studio">rock-solid Web Studio</a> and other features that put the headless CMS over the top. <h3 id="the-road-to-mach">The road to MACH</h3>Agility has been a member of the MACH Alliance since mid-2023. Since then, the Alliance has ballooned to well over 100 member technologies, many of which have aligned to deliver a myriad of composable solutions. As Jina described, the MACH ecosystem of partners – and the resulting collaboration – has really made an impact for Agility.“What MACH does for us is it gives us that sense of community,” she said. “Not just headless in the CMS space, but all these other vendors that come together and provide a full composable solution. Which, again, gives more autonomy to our customers to be able to easily plug and play with different technologies to fit their stack and their needs to better service their customers.”<h3 id="mapping-the-future-with-ai">Mapping the future with AI</h3>AI was on everyone’s mind at “The Composable Conference,” from agentic AI to agentic commerce and beyond. Like all of its other endeavors, Agility has been careful and intentional around its AI roadmap, blocking and tackling around the hype and engaging with customers around their practical and “blue sky” wish lists.Being at the conference helped crystallize things for Jina – and reinforce Agility’s approach.“Obviously, AI is a big part of what our future roadmap looks like,” Jina said. “But being really strategic and listening to these kinds of stories helps refine that for us. So there's an idea of what you think your customers would want, and you're like, okay, I'm gonna give them AI. But really, how is it impacting their day-to-day experience in our platform to do more with less?”As Jina explained, Agility’s AI play is focused beyond the low-hanging fruit, focusing on tangible ways to make their product experience easier, smoother, and more enjoyable to use.“You're on the platform for eight hours a day sometimes,” she reminded me. To that end, usability is key, and AI should help simplify everything from block editors to manipulating pages and templates. “We're really focused on that day-to-day usage and how we enhance and make that better for our users.”<h3 id="takeaways-from-“the-composable-conference”">Takeaways from “The Composable Conference”</h3><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/the-deep-dish-on-composable-6-tasty-takeaways-from-the-mach-alliances-2025-conference">As I've written about previously,</a> this year’s MACH Alliance confab provided different tracks for attendees, designed for the early “MACH Curious” to “Active” and “Pro” practitioners. Obviously, Agility falls into the latter, and I wanted Jina’s perspective on what stood out.“I've been hearing some of the stories from potential customers, and a lot of the MACH Alliance members are telling us about their pain in the beginning of moving towards a composable stack,” she said. I heard this from attendees as well. She noted that some of this angst might have come from the lackluster promise of easy-to-use software combined with a gap in proper training – or even the introduction of “green” staff with limited experience.One of the big changes Jina zeroed in on was the shift in narrative surrounding use cases. Based on her observation, last year’s content focused more on vendors and how their composable tech stacks were central to solving problems. This year, brands took center stage, and customer experience was the focal catalyst for composable transformation. Interestingly, Jina gained a lot of perspective on this from attending the “MACH Curious” sessions.“I wanted to [know] what triggers people to want to move to a composable solution,” she said. “If they're solving these problems with their monolithic solution, and it’s doing the thing it's supposed to do – the website's up, it's running, it's great, it's converting – what's triggering you to think about what else you can do to make things easier?”Smart. And as Jina noted, uncovering the factors requires a deeper dive with the people working on the product and the solution, and the brands in attendance were openly sharing their lessons on a multitude of dimensions. She found this to be incredibly refreshing.“I love that we're [putting] customers first,” she said exuberantly. “It's not all about how I use these really great brands to build out my tech stack, and now we're making X/Y dollars. A lot of the presentations actually had some of the metrics completely wiped out. Because it wasn't about that – it was about the customer experience.”An “agile” conclusion if there ever was one. Here’s six minutes with Jina:  <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtu.be/dIXrxCrTBho"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dIXrxCrTBho" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-agility-cms?-talk-to-an-expert.">Looking for guidance on Agility CMS? <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:33.07%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/05/contentcon25-logo-1747412490394.png" /><h4 id="contentstack-contentcon-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">Contentstack ContentCon 25</a></h4>June 3-5, 2025 – Chicago, USAThe future of digital is waiting for you! Contentstack presents ContentCon, the premier event for digital teams and industry leaders who are reimagining the future of digital experiences. Join us for two days of transformative presentations and workshops designed to help you put personalization and AI strategies into action. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://contentcon2025.site.zuddl.com/">Register today! </a> <img style="width:31.83%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/01/cms-connect-2025-logo.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-connect-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">CMS Connect 25</a></h4>August 5-6, 2025 – Montreal, CanadaWe are delighted to present the second annual summer edition of our signature global conference dedicated to the content management community! CMS Connect will be held again in beautiful Montreal, Canada, and feature a unique blend of masterclasses, insightful talks, interactive discussions, impactful learning sessions, and authentic networking opportunities. Join vendors, agencies, and customers from across our industry as we engage and collaborate around the future of content management – and hear from the top thought leaders at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference exclusively focused on CMS. Space is limited for this event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect25">so book your seats today.</a>

MACHtales: Voices from “The Composable Conference” with Jina Zohori of Agility CMS

Power your CMS on AWS

Manage your websites & apps in the most trusted cloud.

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<hr /> During a recent <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/agility">Agility CMS</a> “Ask Me Anything” webinar, I was subjected to a trifecta of “dad jokes” – courtesy of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/playing-to-win-in-the-headless-cms-game-interview-with-joel-varty-cto-at-agility">Joel Varty</a>. In addition to his part-time standup vocation, Joel is the Chief Technology Officer of the Toronto-based headless <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">content management system</a>, where he’s spent almost two decades innovating around digital experiences and supporting notable brands like Cineplex, Mitsubishi Electric, and ScotiaBank.As a comically blessed father myself (IMHO), I appreciated his technique and material – especially the closer about a sad math book that couldn’t solve its own problems. Insert rimshot.Dad jokes aside, Joel is as cool as they come on stage. I’ve seen him bake under the hot lights of the now-famous <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/blog/2024/8/kajoo-wins-cmsidol24-montreal">“CMS Idol” competition</a>, and from my perspective, he’s one CTO who keeps his demo muscle in solid shape (I’m sure there’s a dad joke in there). As advertised, Agility’s AMA session effectively “pulled back the curtain” on its new <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://agilitycms.com/product/web-studio">Web Studio,</a> which promises enhanced features for customers to create, preview, and collaborate on web content. Web Studio reflects a tacit transformation we’ve been seeing across the headless CMS market, one where pure-play platforms have been bridging the visual gap. Content creators want a simple UI that enables them to see exactly what their stuff will look like when it’s live. At the same time, they need to collaborate with team members to preview, review, comment on, and approve their pages before publishing. Agility's Web Studio delivers the full monty and then some – with dynamite features already penciled in on the roadmap. The company has flown Web Studio with a few test pilots as part of what it calls its “Ambassador Program,” and the solution is getting solid reviews. As part of the AMA, I got a first-hand tour of Web Studio, and I concur. As billed, it’s a heckuva lot more than just a WYSIWYG editor. The entire experience feels intuitive, elegant, lightweight, and easy to navigate – and fits seamlessly into Agility’s clean, minimal framework while providing easy access to all the essential tooling. <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:66.45%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/joel-brendan-headshots.jpg" alt="" /></figure>Agility's AMA presenters: Joel Varty, CTO (left), and Brendan Cooney, Senior Manager Joel conducted the webinar with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/bmcooney/">Brendan Cooney</a>, Senior Manager at Agility. They showcased how content creation and teamwork are central to the new experience and woven into its new attributes.A bit of history on the genesis of Web Studio: It began as a feature called Preview Center, which made its debut at the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://aarhus25.boye-co.com/">Boye Aarhus 2023 Conference</a> and ended up <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/blog/2023/11/agility-wins-the-2023-small-feature-award">winning the event's coveted “Small Feature Award.”</a> The achievement sparked some new thinking – both practical and blue sky – which Joel crystallized during the AMA.“What if Brendan’s typing in a field, and then I’m typing in a field? What happens there? That snowballed into ‘now we need Figma-style comments,’ [and] ‘now we need Google Docs style content editing.’ So it kind of turned into a whole lot of things, which is really exciting for us.”Here’s a snapshot of what I saw, and what you can expect as it rolls out.<h3 id="it’s-a-lot-less-lonely-with-presence">It’s a lot less lonely with Presence</h3>One of the coolest new features in Web Studio is the Presence Indicator, which visually displays an icon of who’s online in the system. With a click, you can jump to the specific page or asset that a person is working on and collaborate in tandem. It’s simple but super handy – and editors are sure to love it.  <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:83.64%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/agility-web-studio-presence.jpg" alt="" /></figure>The Presence Indicator (appearing at the top of the Agility UI) shows other team members actively working in the system As Joel and Brendan noted, Presence accentuates collaboration in a personal way, making the experience feel like hanging out with friends. By reducing the friction to share and connect within the system, Agility is offering a more human (er… humane?) experience – one that can reduce the challenges around communicating and collaborating.<h3 id="instant-field-locking-and-built-in-commenting">Instant field-locking and built-in commenting</h3>Content collisions are a pain, but version conflicts might be a thing of the past with Web Studio’s slick new field locking feature. Simply slide the lock button into place and you effectively control your session. At the same time, your collaborators can see what fields you’re working on and what changes you’re making in real time. Users can also leave comments with total ease. Just tag a team member with an “@“ and leave a notification, comments, or even reactions. You can also resolve the comment once you reply, making the function more like a task assignment or project management feature. You can also access a full history of comments. All around, it’s definitely a win for users and teams.Once you see the commenting and collaboration tools, it’s logical to thread the needle with other communication tools in the broader ecosystem. As Joel indicated, users can expect both email and Slack notifications in the near future.<h2 id="previews">Previews</h2>Out of the box, Web Studio provides both a staging and preview environment in addition to your live view. It’s all easily within reach. You can also leverage the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://github.com/agility/web-studio-sdk">Agility Web Studio SDK</a> to decorate the fields and components. Previews also work with pages and content items. A big upgrade: you’ll be able to switch between multiple deployments, an action that's been less flexible in the past in Agility.  <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:86.64%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/agility-web-studio-preview.jpg" alt="" /></figure>Web Studio provides a seamless preview within Agility as well as easy-to-use commenting features You can also manually expand or collapse your window to preview and inspect different device sizes. That might sound like a simple expectation with most modern CMS UIs, but it's more fluid than you think. The word “silky” comes to mind, and it's worth seeing in action.One other cool benefit is the commenting mode, which allows you to click anywhere and leave comments on your preview. It's just another example of how collaboration has been baked into the foundation of Web Studio.<h3 id="decorating-components">Decorating components</h3>This is where developers can customize their components for editors. As Joel demonstrated in real time, you can access code in Agility to decorate your component fields, making it easier for developers to render changes and empower content creators to do their thing. Once his changes were complete, it was all pushed to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://vercel.com/">Vercel</a>, and… presto. Ready in minutes.As he noted, it takes a little more time to set up new components the right way, but doing so ultimately enhances the editor experience. Joel reinforced the importance of this vital relationship between developers and content creators, and how it can unleash greater value.  <h3 id="the-critic-consensus">The Critic Consensus</h3>Visual editing and preview capabilities have become an expectation for every headless CMS. But delivering the right mix of capabilities – wrapped in a simple yet satisfying experience – is the real dealmaker. Agility Web Studio offers a differentiated visual experience and a fantastic upgrade to the platform’s easy-to-use interface. With trick features like the Presence capability, users should find it intuitive and (dare I say) fun to interact and collaborate around content. And in the high-pressure, high-stakes world of accelerating your marketing content, finding more productive and rewarding ways to make the journey is a win-win.The collaboration enhancements are slick, and the in-app commenting and task resolution capabilities are sure to please marketers, developers, and content creators alike. The seamless ability to share, review, and approve within Agility should help reduce bottlenecks and laborious back-and-forth emails.From a broader market perspective, headless CMSes continue to appreciate steady demand as fixtures across many RFPs. That’s also why we continue to see new platforms entering the market. While the noise has dampened from the peaks of 2023 and early 2024 (I must have been talking to a new headless platform every week), opportunity and choice continue to drive persistent growth.Generally speaking, choice is good for buyers. But above all, they want confidence and trust – and that’s where platforms like Agility have a key advantage in a sea of sameness. As a veteran player, they’ve amassed a solid track record with globally recognized brands, powering workloads with mission-critical performance and compliance considerations. <h3 id="one-last-note-on-the-‘art-of-the-live-demo’">One last note on the ‘Art of the Live Demo’</h3>No one wants to code in front of other people. It’s a bit like using a public restroom – which, for many people, is fraught with anxiety. When Joel started to manually update a component on the fly, he demonstrated how easy it is to customize. That said, when a few tags went off the rails, he kept his cool and made the whole process feel smooth and authentic. Call it Murphy’s Law, but there’s always a bump or two in the road. The “agility” (see what I did there?) to keep rolling when things don’t go as planned is, in itself, a testament to the presenter. If you’re evaluating a CMS, I still stand by the impact of a live demo from a qualified practitioner – bumps and all. Yes, good documentation is a must-have; ultimately, we're trying to empower our users and get out of the way. But a solid CMS in your composable stack is a critical decision, and Agility is doing it right by emphasizing the human part of its proposition.Speaking of which, you can learn more about Web Studio <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://agilitycms.com/product/web-studio">here</a>. Dad jokes not included. <hr /><h4 style="text-align:center" id="looking-for-guidance-on-agility-cms?--talk-to-us.-">Looking for guidance on Agility CMS?  <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Talk to us. </a></h4><hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:29.58%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/01/cms-kickoff-2025-logo.png" /><h4 id="cms-kickoff-2025"><a href=" https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmskickoff25">CMS Kickoff 2025</a></h4>January 14-15, 2025 – Tampa Bay Area, FloridaMeet industry leaders at our third 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/cmskickoff25/tickets">so secure your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:30.46%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2024/11/cms-summit-25.png" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-25"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">CMS Summit 25</a></h4>May 13-14, 2025 – Frankfurt, GermanyDon't miss the first European edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to the global content management community! CMS Summit 25 will bring together top-notch speakers, our renowned learning format, and engaging social events. Hear from leading practitioners like Deutsche Bahn, Dr. Oetker, and more – and join customers, agencies, and CMS vendors as we discuss current trends and what's ahead for the content and digital experience fields. Connect and network at the only vendor-neutral, in-person conference focused on CMS. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit25">so book your seats today.</a>

Agility CMS Web Studio Aims to Streamline Content Creation and Collaboration

Your Next CMS Decision Could Make or Break Your AI Strategy

katie-austin

Joy to the Content World: Storyblok Brings AI Innovation and Human Connection to JoyConf 2025

<hr /> AI has already changed the way you work. You plan with it, write with it, maybe even build prototypes with it. Everything feels faster now, except your CMS.Somehow, the very system designed to keep digital experiences moving still takes hours, sometimes days, to bring ideas to life. Delays caused by complex workflows, overlapping handoffs, and unclear ownership continue to slow teams down.That’s the irony of the AI era. Companies pour resources into “AI-powered” tools, yet most don’t see the promised outcomes. AI has transformed how we generate content, but not yet how we deliver it. And nowhere is that gap more visible than in content management.AI in CMS should come with governance and outcomes, and that’s the vision behind <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://bit.ly/velocitylaunch">Velocity</a>, Hygraph’s approach to bringing real, sustainable speed to content operations.<figure class="image image-style-align-center"><a href="https://hygraph.com/velocity-at-scale?utm_source=cmscritic&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_campaign=velocity&amp;utm_content=blog" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/velocity-at-scale-promo.png" /></a></figure><h3 id="the-hype-that-got-us-here">The hype that got us here</h3>AI may feel like a sudden revolution, but it’s been a long time in the making. Years of progress in data, computing, and accessibility have brought it to everyone’s fingertips.When Google introduced the transformer architecture in 2017, it changed the way machines understood language and relationships, paving the way for models like GPT. Massive open datasets, from Wikipedia to GitHub, gave those models real-world fluency. Cloud platforms and GPUs made training them feasible for more teams. Then, public APIs removed the final barrier, letting anyone integrate intelligence into their products.Once generative tools like ChatGPT and Copilot arrived, AI became part of everyday work. It started helping with content creation, design, code generation, and analytics. Headless CMSs became the proving ground for practical AI. With APIs at their core and content flowing through every channel, they sit at the perfect intersection of data, design, and delivery, exactly where AI can create real impact.<h3 id="the-promise-vs.-reality">The promise vs. reality</h3>AI promised to reinvent content management around three pillars: time to market, intelligence, and personalization.In theory, it sounded perfect. Teams could ideate, generate, and publish faster than ever. Content would be smarter, more adaptive, and more relevant. But in practice, most organizations haven’t reached that point. Around 71% still say they lack the structure and best practices needed to get tangible results from AI.The problem is coordination. AI accelerates creation, but it doesn’t automatically fix how teams collaborate, approve, and launch. In most organizations, content and development still run on separate timelines and tools, which means every update turns into a negotiation instead of a workflow. Without a system that manages all that complexity, the benefits stall.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:85.54%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1761149163545.png" /></figure>Source: Hygraph Virtual Keynote. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://bit.ly/velocitylaunch">Register to see the full demo</a>.<h3 id="what-makes-an-ai-powered-cms-work">What makes an AI-powered CMS work</h3>AI can write, tag, translate, and analyze at impressive speed. But speed alone isn’t the metric that matters. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://hygraph.com/blog/ai-content-management">A modern CMS needs to make that speed reliable</a>.That means <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://hygraph.com/blog/ai-content-governance">putting governance first</a>: defining who can use AI, what it can change, and how every action is reviewed. It means designing collaboration so editors and developers work in parallel, not in sequence. And also focusing on outcomes instead of features: how much friction was removed, how quickly a campaign went live, and how clearly results can be measured.Hygraph’s CPTO, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mariolenz/">Dr. Mario Lenz, </a>describes the gap:“Without governance, AI stays a demo. With it, it becomes a business accelerator.”A truly AI-powered CMS functions like an operating system for business velocity. Every part of the content lifecycle: modeling, creation, collaboration, and delivery, runs faster because it’s connected, governed, and measured.<figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:85.78%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1761149163447.png" /></figure>Source: Hygraph Virtual Keynote. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://bit.ly/velocitylaunch">Register to see the full demo</a>.<h3 id="building-velocity-that-lasts">Building velocity that lasts</h3>A recent Forrester study found that faster time to market has overtaken customer acquisition as the top driver of CMS investment. Speed now is strategy.But velocity isn’t about automation for its own sake. It’s about giving teams the freedom to move faster without losing control. When design, development, and editorial teams can move together, ideas reach the market while they still matter.AI is already helping that happen. You can see it in <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://hygraph.com/blog/why-visual-builders-dont-fit-the-ai-era">the rise of prompt-based design</a>, where intent replaces manual configuration, and in structured content that adapts instantly across channels. These shifts are reducing complexity and closing the gap between creativity and delivery.This is the foundation Hygraph is built on. The platform brings developer flexibility and editorial autonomy together so both sides can move at full speed. Developers work with GraphQL, schema as code, and open APIs. Editors work with AI Assist, Variants, and Visual Preview—tools that make publishing faster and safer. Every AI action follows permissions, approvals, and version control, ensuring that speed never comes at the expense of governance.That balance between creativity and control is what makes velocity sustainable. It’s how organizations move from experimenting with AI to actually scaling with it. <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://youtube.com/watch?v=NHuUSei5O0k&amp;feature=youtu.be"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/NHuUSei5O0k" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure><h3 id="see-velocity-in-action:-hygraph’s-virtual-keynote-on-october-29">See velocity in action: Hygraph’s virtual keynote on October 29</h3>Hygraph’s upcoming virtual keynote explores this next stage of AI and velocity, where you’ll see, during a live demo, how a multi-brand retailer builds and launches experiences in real time, guided by AI.The session brings together our leadership team to share the vision behind it, followed by a panel with Vertu Motors, Ancestry, and partners from Intelliact and Datrycs on scaling velocity across enterprises.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://bit.ly/velocitylaunch">Register to watch the keynote</a> and explore how the next generation of CMS turns AI speed into real business momentum. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:31.61%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/storyblok-joyconf-2025-logo.jpg" /><h4 id="storyblok-joyconf-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://joyconf.storyblok.com/">Storyblok JoyConf 2025</a></h4>November 4, 2025 – New York, NY November 6, 2025 – Los Angeles, CAJoin us at JoyConf 2025, where the future of content meets the people shaping it. Built for developers, marketers, and digital innovators, this free conference goes way beyond product updates or yet another strategy playbook. It’s where you’ll get inspired, get real, and get connected – to ideas, to the community, and to what’s possible when you build joyfully. Whether you're building lightning-fast frontends or launching cross-channel campaigns, this is where content becomes connection and collaboration becomes second nature. Come for the talks. Stay for the community. Leave with joy. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://joyconf.storyblok.com/">Save your spot.</a> <img style="width:28.9%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/08/sitecore-symposium-2025.jpg" /><h4 id="sitecore-symposium-2025"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Sitecore Symposium 2025</a></h4>November 3-5, 2025 – Orlando, FLAt Sitecore Symposium, you’ll learn how to meet your customers where they are – across channels, moments, and touchpoints that didn’t exist a year ago. You’ll hear how the boldest brands in the world are transforming content into outcomes and creating experiences that are fast, relevant, and human. Join 1,500 marketers, digital leaders, and technologists in Orlando to see what’s possible when personalization scales, AI accelerates creativity, and trust becomes your competitive edge. This is the Third Wave of the Internet. And this is your moment to lead in it. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Get your tickets today.</a> <figure class="image image-style-block-align-left image_resized" style="width:28.08%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1759840698475.png" /></figure><h4 id="raise:-lifting-content-into-the-future-with-agentic-cms"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://kontent.ai/events-and-webinars/raise/">RAISE: Lifting Content into the Future with Agentic CMS</a></h4>November 11, 2025 – London, UKJoin Kontent.ai at RAISE: Lifting Content into the Future with Agentic CMS, a premier free event for forward-thinking marketing and technology leaders shaping the way today’s most ambitious brands create and deliver content. Expect bold ideas, discover innovative strategies, engage with industry leaders, and gain insights that will lift your content strategy to new heights. At RAISE, you'll learn how to deliver faster, more engaging content experiences while AI does the busywork of audits, compliance, and localization with Agentic CMS, built to give you and your teams more time on creativity that matters. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://kontent.ai/events-and-webinars/raise/">Reserve your seat today.</a> <img style="width:29.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/10/image-1761136749603.png" /><h4 id="live-webinar:-can-we-ever-get-composable-without-complexity?"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/webinar-cmscritic">Live Webinar: Can We Ever Get Composable Without Complexity?</a></h4>November 20, 2025 – 6 PM (CET) / 5 PM (GMT) / 12 PM (EST)Composable architecture promised to simplify digital experience creation by giving organizations the flexibility to combine the technologies that met their needs. But for many enterprises, it’s done the opposite, which has led to complex integrations, spiraling costs, and what some are now referring to as composable regret. In this live conversation, Umbraco CEO Mats Persson joins Matt Garrepy, Chief Content Officer at CMS Critic, for a candid exploration of what went wrong in the first wave of composable and what needs to change. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://umbraco.com/webinar-cmscritic">Register for the webinar.</a> <img style="width: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 Made Everything Faster. It’s Time Your CMS Caught Up

cms-critic-staff

The Next Great DXP Will Sell Transformation, Not Software

andycohen

Hotjar - Spot what confuses

Spot what confuses your users with Hotjar & AI

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