What is a DXP in 2026?

What Is a DXP in 2026?

DXP Catalyst's Dan Drapeau explores what the acronym means as AI transforms the category.

Are you caught in an AI ROI trap?

The ROI Trap

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/mike-spenceley">Michael Spenceley</a> is a DX and Content Operations Leader and a CMS Critic Contributor. <hr /> The pressure to extract ROI from AI is being felt in organizations of all sizes and in all sectors. Over the past several years, many leaders have been pleased with the incremental efficiency gains and cost avoidance that their organizations have achieved by using AI tools. However, if the ROI pressure continues, investors, boards, and the C-suite will set a higher bar for what constitutes successful AI implementation.According to PwC’s latest <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.pwc.com/gx/en/1/issues/c-suite-insights/ceo-survey.html">Global CEO Survey</a>, only 30% of CEOs are confident about revenue growth over the next year. That’s down from 38% last year. To get ROI, AI has to either increase revenue, or reduce costs (hopefully, both). This leaves us with a lot of pressure and some difficult choices to make about how to proceed. Before we talk about what to do about it, let’s talk about what’s happening right now.What most people are experiencing right now are incremental, individual productivity gains through the use of AI tools like Copilot, Claude, and ChatGPT. Unless a company is actively reducing its workforce, re-deploying people to revenue-generating activities, or using AI to accelerate new product development and increase speed to market, they are likely not getting any measurable ROI.To be clear, individual productivity gains are a good thing, and, in a lot of cases, they improve the employee and customer experience. This is also an important step for everyone to build comfort and proficiency with AI. These are all good things, but if the ROI pressure continues, we’ll have to do more to meet expectations.There’s no perfect answer, but I think a good starting point is to move past incremental productivity gains and start reimagining processes with AI at the center.What does it mean to reimagine a process with AI at the center? Well, now that we know what AI can do, how might we change what people do and how they do it at a more fundamental level? How might we implement AI in ways that break down functional boundaries and surface inefficiencies we didn’t know we had?<h3 id="let’s-run-through-a-simple-example…">Let’s run through a simple example…</h3>An organization that sells products has lots of data and information about its products. That product information is used as an input by different functions. A marketing team uses it to create marketing materials, a sales team uses it as a reference when calling on customers, and a training team uses it to train sales and customer support teams.Especially in large organizations, these might be completely different functions that report into different leaders. Each of these teams are probably using AI in their own way, and I’m sure they collaborate and share information. But is that enough? What if we look across the functional boundaries and reimagine how we execute these processes with AI at the center?First, product information needs to be stored and organized in one central place, with a clear process to ensure it’s accurate and kept up to date (many organizations already do this).After assessing all the ways product information is used, imagine building an ecosystem of AI agents trained to handle various tasks that leverage product information.<ul><li>A marketer can prompt an agent to build content for a social media campaign, or a product brochure for a trade show</li><li>A trainer can prompt an agent to build a product training curriculum, including videos, slides, role-play scenarios, and objection-handling guidance</li><li>A sales associate can prompt an agent to pull product details and create a branded one-pager they can share with a potential customer, tailored to that customer’s unique needs</li></ul>Note: These agents will need to be built and trained to do these tasks and, in many cases, the output will require some level of review, at least for now.<h3 id="will-this-approach-lead-to-a-tangible-roi?">Will this approach lead to a tangible ROI?</h3>It depends on what we do next. Using this approach, we’ve saved time across multiple functions and have streamlined handoffs between functions. Using AI in this way can also lower the barriers to entry for some roles, making it easier for people to be redeployed or shared across functions. This might help us go to market faster, reach more customers, and ultimately increase revenue. We may also have the opportunity to shift people between functions and re-skill them for roles that require a human touch (at least for now).The ROI will also depend on how much it costs to build these tools. Implementing AI increases operating costs, and there is a lot of debate over whether we’re seeing the true costs of AI just yet. On the revenue side of the equation, there is a general lack of confidence about growth, so while all this sounds good on paper, both cutting costs and increasing revenue are difficult to achieve, even if we’re using AI in all the right ways.<h3 id="let’s-address-the-elephant-in-the-room…">Let’s address the elephant in the room…</h3>If we reimagine a process with AI at the center, will there still be layoffs?Forrester wrote in its latest <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.forrester.com/press-newsroom/forrester-impact-ai-jobs-forecast/">AI Job Impact Forecast</a> that many companies announcing AI-related layoffs don’t have mature, vetted AI applications that can truly replace people. Additionally, in an <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://hbr.org/2026/01/companies-are-laying-off-workers-because-of-ais-potential-not-its-performance">HBR study</a>, 60% of the more than 1,000 executives surveyed said they made headcount reductions in anticipation of future AI efficiencies.I think the writing is on the wall, and it’s likely that layoffs will continue, whether AI is ready to take over or not. However, if the right tools aren’t in place, companies may not get the results they’re looking for; and quality, employee experience, and customer experience will suffer.There are still a lot of unknowns and a lot to learn, but I think the best next step is to think differently about how we transform a process using AI, moving beyond incremental productivity gains. While layoffs will happen and may bring some short-term ROI; in the long run, companies need to deliver results, either with people or with AI. Hopefully, with a little of both. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26"><img style="width:41.96%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/05/cms-connect-logo-26.jpg" /></a><h4 id="cms-connect-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">CMS Connect 26</a></h4>August 5-6, 2026 – Montreal, CanadaThe best conferences create space for honest, experience-based conversations. Not sales pitches. Not hype. Just thoughtful exchanges between people who spend their days designing, building, running, and evolving digital experiences. CMS Connect brings together people who share real stories from their work and platforms and who are interested in learning from each other on how to make things better. Over two days in Montreal, you can expect practitioner-led talks grounded in experience, conversations about trade-offs, constraints, and decisions, and time to compare notes with peers facing similar challenges. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:36.69%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/open-source-cms-26.jpg" /><h4 id="open-source-cms-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26">Open Source CMS 26</a></h4>October 20–21, 2026 – Utrecht, NetherlandsJoin us for the first annual edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to making open source CMS better. This event is already being called the “missing gathering place” for the open source CMS community – an international conference with confirmed participants from Europe and North America. Be part of a friendly mix of digital leaders from notable open source CMS projects, agencies, even a few industry analysts who get together to learn, network, and talk about what really matters when it comes to creating better open source CMS projects right now and for the foreseeable future. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26/tickets">Book your tickets today.</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.storyblok.com/joyconf"><img style="width:34.57%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/joyconf-2026-logo.png" /></a><h4 id="storyblok-joyconf-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.storyblok.com/joyconf">Storyblok JoyConf 2026</a></h4>October 28 - 29, Rheingoldhalle, Mainz (Frankfurt)JoyConf 2026 is where developers, marketers, and digital innovators come together from all around the world, united by one powerful idea: great content isn’t built by tools alone – it’s built by people who rely on systems to deliver their best work to the world. In an era where technology is increasingly shaped by AI, Content Confidence becomes your competitive advantage. When you can create, manage, and scale content that performs seamlessly across channels, platforms, and AI, you don’t just keep up – you win. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.storyblok.com/joyconf">Book your seats today.</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/"><img style="width:36.36%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/sitecore-symposium-2026.png" /></a><h4 id="sitecore-symposium-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Sitecore Symposium 2026</a></h4>November 10 - 12, Orlando, FloridaWelcome to “Marketing Rewired” at Sitecore Symposium 2026! Sitecore's annual flagship global conference brings together customers, partners, developers, marketers, and digital experience leaders to explore the latest innovations in digital experience, content management, AI, personalization, and customer engagement. This year's event features keynote presentations from Sitecore executives and industry experts, product announcements, hands-on learning, technical sessions, customer success stories, and networking opportunities focused on helping organizations build more intelligent, connected, and AI-powered digital experiences. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Book your seats today.</a>

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

Guest Critic Michael Spenceley explores why AI needs more than individual productivity gains.

Presenting the WINNERS of the 14th Annual CMS Critic Awards!

CMS Critic Awards - 2025 Winners

<hr /> Talk about voting your hearts out!!!We had an unbelievable turnout for our <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/vote-your-heart-out-here-are-the-finalists-for-the-14th-annual-cms-critic-awards">14th Annual CMS Critic Awards!</a> We owe a huge thanks to YOU and the thousands of other fans who nominated and voted over the last two months.Once again, you showed us how much you love the products you rely on across every category. You rallied your communities and spread the word, and it was seriously fun to watch.Sure, our little awards program has a streak of competitiveness. But it's really about celebrating our industry and the continued innovation we see from all corners. It's also an opportunity to highlight the power of your users – from marketers to developers – and let their voices sing. Most of all, the CMS Critic Awards is a chance to have some fun in our fast-paced, nose-to-the-grindstone, AI-driven world. It reminds us that people, not platforms, are at the center of everything.This year, one vendor really stole the spotlight across multiple categories, and it was a blast seeing how people were activated to participate across social media. Seeing that passion and enthusiasm is what it's all about. From all of us at CMS Critic, thank you again for being part of this year's program. It was your voice, and your choice!So without further ado…<h3 id="the-winners-of-the-14th-annual-cms-critic-awards">The Winners of the 14th Annual CMS Critic Awards</h3> - Best Free CMS: Joomla- Best Enterprise CMS: Sitecore- Best Headless CMS: Sitecore- Best Open Source CMS: Joomla- Best Flat File CMS: Statamic- Best ECM (Enterprise Content Management): Microsoft SharePoint- Best DXP: Sitecore- Best Website Builder: Webflow- Best Content Marketing Platform (CMP): Sitecore- Best Digital Asset Management (DAM) System: Sitecore- Best Product Information Management (PIM) System: Optimizely - Best Customer Data Platform (CDP): Sitecore- Best e-Commerce Solution: Sitecore- Best Development/Hosting Platform: Azure- Best AI Solution: Sitecore<h3 id="congratulations-to-this-year's-winners!">Congratulations to this year's winners!</h3>What can we say? We’re thrilled to have an incredible community of readers, and we’re already looking forward to next year’s Awards. Remember to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.cmscritic.com/signup">sign up for alerts</a> about additional events this year, and check below for some upcoming conferences that we'll be attending and speaking at.       Vendor Marketing Departments: Looking to promote your win? Email us at <a href="mailto:info@cmscritic.com">info@cmscritic.com</a> to request your exclusive badges and claim your 30-day Product Directory upgrade.  <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <img style="width:34.15%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/logo_jday_hor.png" /><h4 id="joomladay-usa-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jdayusa.com/">JoomlaDay USA 2026</a></h4>April 29 - May 2, 2026 – Delray Beach, FloridaBe part of the Joomla community in one of the most iconic cities in the world! JoomlaDay USA 2026 is coming to Delray Beach, and you can join us for a dynamic event packed with insights, workshops, and networking opportunities. Learn from top Joomla experts and developers offering valuable insights and real-world solutions. Participate in interactive workshops and sessions and enhance your skills in Joomla management, development, design, and more. And connect with fellow Joomla enthusiasts, developers, and professionals from across the world.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jdayusa.com/"> Book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:30.06%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/cms-summit-26-logo.jpg" alt="" /><h4 id="cms-summit-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit26">CMS Summit 26</a></h4>May 12-13, 2026 – Frankfurt, GermanyThe best conferences create space for honest, experience-based conversations. Not sales pitches. Not hype. Just thoughtful exchanges between people who spend their days designing, building, running, and evolving digital experiences. CMS Summit brings together people who share real stories from their work and platforms and who are interested in learning from each other on how to make things better. Over two days in Frankfurt, you can expect practitioner-led talks grounded in experience, conversations about trade-offs, constraints, and decisions, and time to compare notes with peers facing similar challenges. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmssummit26/tickets">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:30.13%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2025/12/image-1765546475634.png" /><h4 id="umbraco-codegarden-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://codegarden.umbraco.com/">Umbraco Codegarden 2026</a></h4>June 10–11, 2026 – Copenhagen, DKJoin us in Copenhagen (or online) for the biggest Umbraco conference in the world – two full days of learning, genuine conversations, and the kind of inspiration that brings business leaders, developers, and digital creators together. Codegarden 2026 is packed with both business and tech content, from deep-dive workshops and advanced sessions to real-world case studies and strategy talks. You’ll leave with ideas, strategies, and knowledge you can put into practice immediately. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://codegarden.umbraco.com/">Book your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:36.69%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/open-source-cms-26.jpg" /><h4 id="open-source-cms-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26">Open Source CMS 26</a></h4>October 20–21, 2026 – Utrecht, NetherlandsJoin us for the first annual edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to making open source CMS better. This event is already being called the “missing gathering place” for the open source CMS community – an international conference with confirmed participants from Europe and North America. Be part of a friendly mix of digital leaders from notable open source CMS projects, agencies, even a few industry analysts who get together to learn, network, and talk about what really matters when it comes to creating better open source CMS projects right now and for the foreseeable future. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26/tickets">Book your tickets today.</a>

Lights, Camera, Community Action! Here are the Winners of the 14th Annual CMS Critic Awards

It was another season of hits. Who stole the spotlight?

Flying the Agentic Skies

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

Everybody needs a co-pilot. easyJet's Paul Curtis on taking off with agents and soaring with MACH.

The Zero-Cost Content Paradox

AI is lowering the cost of content production. Can brands avoid drowning in their own content?

mike-spenceley

<hr /> There’s an undeniable “craftsmanship” that underpins <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://craftersoftware.com/">Crafter Software’s</a> success. The name evokes something handmade, deliberate, and bespoke – which most digital experiences aspire to be. And that's what Crafter has always aimed to deliver.It’s not to say that reusable components and DRY principles aren’t part of the unique recipe. They are – along with a Git-based, developer-centric posture that has made this its headless <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://craftercms.com/">CrafterCMS</a> a preferred choice for notable enterprise brands like MasterCard, Marriott International, and eBay.Founded in 2013 as an open source project, CrafterCMS has long reflected the evolving needs of content operations in a cloud-based, multi-channel, highly personalized ecosystem. By 2019, the product and its community were growing by leaps and bounds. After an acquisition by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.capgemini.com/us-en/">Capgemini</a>, CrafterCMS was “decoupled” from its agency roots with Rivet Logic and spun off as part of the Crafter Software entity. Since then, the company has been innovating hard under the leadership of CEO and co-founder <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikevertal/">Mike Vertal</a>, and a big part of his recent focus has been on AI. The company just unveiled its new <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://craftercms.com/products/craftercms-ai">CrafterCMS AI,</a> billing it as the “Open Source Agentic CMS for the Enterprise.” The new release combines AI skills, content authoring assistance, vector search, MCP integrations, and more. <figure class="image image_resized" style="width:39.69%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/image-1784643823358.png" /></figure>Crafter Software Co-founder and CEO Mike Vertal. Source: LinkedIn Now, Crafter is democratizing AI for any website with <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://crafterq.ai/">CrafterQ</a>, an AI agent platform that promises to transform any existing website or e-commerce store into an intelligent conversational experience. It enables organizations to deploy <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://crafterq.ai/blog/website-ai-agents-the-complete-guide-for-business-leaders">AI agents</a> trained on their own content to answer questions, guide purchases, capture leads, and deliver instant self-service directly on their websites."We're witnessing one of the biggest shifts in the history of the web," Mike said. "For years we've optimized websites around pages, menus, and search. AI changes that. Customers no longer want to hunt for information – they want outcomes. We believe every website will evolve from a collection of pages and search results into an intelligent conversational experience."It’s worth noting that Crafter was recently named to the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://crafterq.ai/blog/crafterq-named-to-the-2026-kmworld-ai-100">KMWorld AI 100 for 2026</a>, which highlights companies that are empowering intelligent knowledge management. For more than two decades, KMWorld has been one of the leading publications covering topics like enterprise search, information management, and AI.<h3 id="evolving-the-web-with-agent-power">Evolving the web with agent power</h3>With the rise of AI chatbots, consumers are engaging with brands using natural language – and they expect to receive an answer that’s personalized to their queries. Browsing page after page of results is so 2020. That’s true across every digital touchpoint, including answer engines like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://chatgpt.com/">ChatGPT </a>and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://search.google/ways-to-search/ai-overviews/">Google AI Overviews.</a> For many brands, delivering this experience at the website level is key, and this is where CrafterQ applies its intelligent conversational layer, helping visitors leap over laborious navigation and avoid sifting through search results. First and foremost, CrafterQ surfaces answers that are trained on your organization's website. That means less hallucinating and more relevant, trustworthy, and brand-consistent experiences. But it can also be targeted at other content sources like your product catalog, documentation, FAQs, and more.CrafterQ supports a broad range of customer-facing use cases like marketing and corporate websites, AI shopping assistants for e-commerce, and product discovery and recommendations. It’s also an easy lift for adding customer support and self-service capabilities and enabling quick answers from sources that are under your organization's control. <h3 id="how-it-works">How it works</h3>In a nutshell, CrafterQ interprets customer intent through a natural language query, identifies the most relevant knowledge, and generates accurate, context-aware responses grounded in your organization's content. As you might guess, this is <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://aws.amazon.com/what-is/retrieval-augmented-generation/">AI RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation)</a> but with a proprietary mix of contextual memory and reasoning technologies.  <figure class="media"><div data-oembed-url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v-XJl9_j2o"><div style="position:relative;padding-bottom:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:56.2493%"><iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5v-XJl9_j2o" style="position:absolute;width:100%;height:100%;top:0;left:0" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe></div></div></figure> Like similar conversational AI products I’ve covered, CrafterQ can be deployed in minutes with almost no technical know-how. After creating an account (which starts for free), you simply enter your website URL, which is then crawled in the background. I went through the entire process, which was pretty darn seamless.Once you arrive at your dashboard, you’ll notice how clean and intuitive the UX is. Super easy to navigate with zero complexity. Even a novice user could start testing in the sandbox without consulting any documentation – <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://crafterq.ai/docs/index.html">but docs are available</a>, and they’re pretty easy to digest.  <figure class="image image_resized" style="width:86.22%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/image-1784643297491.png" /></figure>Source: CrafterQ It works – nicely. I ran it through a few basic queries and was pleased with the overall accuracy. You can also tweak and customize the parameters and refine your agent’s role and responses via CrafterQ’s Playground. <img style="width:85.67%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/image-1784643297504.png" />Source: CrafterQ CrafterQ is designed to continuously learn as your website content changes and evolves. It automatically retrains and provides detailed conversation analytics that reveal what customers are asking, where they struggle, and what information they can't find. What stood out for me was the analytics. With CrafterQ’s dashboard, you get clear data on user chats, geographic trends, and other details that can help you improve your customer experience and journey. "Traditional analytics tell you what visitors clicked," Mike explained. “Conversations tell you what people are actually trying to accomplish. That gives organizations a completely new source of customer insight and a better understanding of how to improve their websites, products, and customer experience.” <img style="width:84.79%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/image-1784643297447.png" />Source: CrafterQ As I said previously, this goes beyond websites. You can also target CrafterQ at documents like PDFs or Microsoft Word files, which you can easily upload into the system. The platform automatically discovers, indexes, and learns from anything you add.When ready, your CrafterQ agent can be embedded into almost any existing website simply by copying and pasting a single line of JavaScript from the “Deploy Agent” tab. You can also adjust the look and feel of the UI and even add your own avatar. Pretty slick.As with any modern AI product, enterprise-grade control and governance are top of mind. Crafter has brokered a lot of trust over the years, and it’s not surprising that CrafterQ has been designed with security and scalability in mind. Along with the built-in layers of analytics and reporting, there’s SOC 2 compliance and deeper admin controls like MFA that make the solution more performant. CrafterQ also gives agencies and partners access to white-label branding and customization features, as well as REST APIs for more expansive integrations. Available in the advanced plans, it enables connections to business systems like CRM or support tools. You can get more details in the product documentation. <h3 id="real-world-success-with-crafterq">Real-world success with CrafterQ</h3>As far as adoption, CrafterQ is already being used across a myriad of industry use cases. From higher education to public sector websites, it’s an ideal fit for information-heavy sources. But given its enterprise posture and focus on security, it’s could be a good fit for regulated sectors like healthcare, financial, and professional services. Of course, this all comes down to specific compliance requirements on a case-by-case basis.CrafterQ is delivering for customers with some measurable impact. One example is <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.buyrailings.com/">BuyRailings,</a> a manufacturer of architectural and industrial railing systems. The company deployed a CrafterQ AI agent that guides visitors through its complex catalog of railing products and systems.  <img style="width:84.36%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/image-1784643297654.png" />The CrafterQ agent customized for the BuyRailings website. Source: www.buyrailings.com According to BuyRailings CEO Ihab Barrawi, CrafterQ transformed its e-commerce website from a catalog into an AI shopping assistant, helping customers find exactly what they need quickly and efficiently. The proof is in the pudding: adding the CrafterQ agent delivered an immediate 12% bump in online sales while helping customers identify the right products more quickly. Impressive.<h3 id="pricing">Pricing</h3>In a word? Simple. I’m a stickler for transparency, and this SaaS-based subscription model offers a range of clear options that should fit almost any website. Try out the Free tier and launch a single agent with some basic limits on messages and storage. It’s just enough to kick the tires. The Solo plan starts at just $29/month, and it’s perfect for small projects or solopreneurs who want real performance and control over agent actions, as well as automated agent retraining for content that’s regularly changing.The Team and Business plans ($99 and $399/month respectively) get serious for serious workloads. You can invite and manage additional users – and the messages, storage, and retraining all step up in size and frequency. And yes, there’s an Enterprise tier with custom options, including private hosting on AWS, your choice of AI model, SSO, advanced analytics, and support with a CSM. You can dig into all the plan details at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://crafterq.ai/pricing">crafterq.ai/pricing</a><h3 id="the-verdict">The verdict</h3>Conversational AI has become an expectation for most website visitors. It’s delivering higher levels of engagement, conversion, and online sales – making the web channel more valuable at a time when answer engines are disrupting search and traffic. Intelligent on-site agents are also mitigating repetitive support requests across industries like retail, manufacturing, restaurants, marketing agencies, and enterprise software. That makes it a must-have for improving productivity across a wide range of applications. I’ve test-driven and reviewed several conversational AI solutions, and the results have steadily improved. They’re addressing a gap in the AI transformation journey by enhancing the web experience with almost zero friction, and making AI attainable for a broader swath of the market. Yes, there’s already parity surrounding the fundamentals, and the performance is fairly on par. But I really like CrafterQ’s ease of use, customizability, and focus on security and scalability. The clean UX further simplifies the build, train, and deploy funnel for new users, and the retraining is automatic, so one less concern to manage. And because it’s backed by Crafter – a respected brand in the CMS and software ecosystem – it marshals greater validation and trust.My Recommendation: If you’re considering options for an on-site chatbot, CrafterQ should be on your list. It’s free to run it around the track, and I encourage you to do so. There are platforms with more robust features, but this one really delivers on the core mission of higher visitor satisfaction and achieving business objectives. If you’re concerned about data ownership and deeper governance, I would recommend a demo and conversation about the Enterprise options. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://app.crafterq.ai/">Start for nothing</a>, or contact <a href="mailto:hello@crafterq.ai">hello@crafterq.ai</a> for details. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26"><img style="width:41.96%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/05/cms-connect-logo-26.jpg" /></a><h4 id="cms-connect-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">CMS Connect 26</a></h4>August 5-6, 2026 – Montreal, CanadaThe best conferences create space for honest, experience-based conversations. Not sales pitches. Not hype. Just thoughtful exchanges between people who spend their days designing, building, running, and evolving digital experiences. CMS Connect brings together people who share real stories from their work and platforms and who are interested in learning from each other on how to make things better. Over two days in Montreal, you can expect practitioner-led talks grounded in experience, conversations about trade-offs, constraints, and decisions, and time to compare notes with peers facing similar challenges. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:36.69%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/open-source-cms-26.jpg" /><h4 id="open-source-cms-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26">Open Source CMS 26</a></h4>October 20–21, 2026 – Utrecht, NetherlandsJoin us for the first annual edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to making open source CMS better. This event is already being called the “missing gathering place” for the open source CMS community – an international conference with confirmed participants from Europe and North America. Be part of a friendly mix of digital leaders from notable open source CMS projects, agencies, even a few industry analysts who get together to learn, network, and talk about what really matters when it comes to creating better open source CMS projects right now and for the foreseeable future. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26/tickets">Book your tickets today.</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.storyblok.com/joyconf"><img style="width:34.57%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/joyconf-2026-logo.png" /></a><h4 id="storyblok-joyconf-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.storyblok.com/joyconf">Storyblok JoyConf 2026</a></h4>October 28 - 29, Rheingoldhalle, Mainz (Frankfurt)JoyConf 2026 is where developers, marketers, and digital innovators come together from all around the world, united by one powerful idea: great content isn’t built by tools alone – it’s built by people who rely on systems to deliver their best work to the world. In an era where technology is increasingly shaped by AI, Content Confidence becomes your competitive advantage. When you can create, manage, and scale content that performs seamlessly across channels, platforms, and AI, you don’t just keep up – you win. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.storyblok.com/joyconf">Book your seats today.</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/"><img style="width:36.36%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/sitecore-symposium-2026.png" /></a><h4 id="sitecore-symposium-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Sitecore Symposium 2026</a></h4>November 10 - 12, Orlando, FloridaWelcome to “Marketing Rewired” at Sitecore Symposium 2026! Sitecore's annual flagship global conference brings together customers, partners, developers, marketers, and digital experience leaders to explore the latest innovations in digital experience, content management, AI, personalization, and customer engagement. This year's event features keynote presentations from Sitecore executives and industry experts, product announcements, hands-on learning, technical sessions, customer success stories, and networking opportunities focused on helping organizations build more intelligent, connected, and AI-powered digital experiences. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://symposium.sitecore.com/">Book your seats today.</a>

Cue the CrafterQ: Crafter Software’s Agent Platform Turns Websites into Conversational AI Experiences

matt-garrepy

Are your AI projects stalling? Acquia Source is priming an agentic engine for marketers

dan-drapeau

MX to the MAX: Tom Cranstoun's New Book Decodes Machine Experience for Humans and Agents

cms-critic-staff

Diving Deep with Palmata: Contentful Uplevels AEO to Help Brands Understand and Influence AI Discoverability

Call Tracking + AI 

Call Tracking + AI that Turns Calls into Leads

#ffffff

<h4 id="-"> </h4><h4 id="watch-the-full-episode-of-the-matt-&amp;-matt-show--&gt;"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://youtu.be/3ob-7QyWk8U">Watch the full episode of the Matt &amp; Matt Show  &gt;</a></h4> <hr /> The summer is heating up, and the Matts are back with some hot takes from the road in this unofficial 2026 Halftime Report! Sure, the World Cup might be scoring big on most screens, but AEO is proving (again) to be the real goal in our industry game. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://youtu.be/3ob-7QyWk8U">In this episode of the show,</a> Matt McQueeny kicks things off with insights from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/vercel">Vercel</a> Ship in New York, driving a conversation about the company’s growth track. From partner momentum to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://openai.com/">OpenAI</a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.meta.ai/">Meta</a> use cases, the two Matts dig into why Vercel continues to be a preferred development platform for building, deploying, and scaling applications. They unpack what this means for agencies, developers, and the growing world of prompt-driven, component-based prototyping.  <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:71.85%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/matt-vercel.png" /></figure>Matt McQueeny at Vercel Ship in New York The conversation then heads to Orlando and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.fullsail.edu/">Full Sail University,</a> the site of the latest <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/groups/cms-experts">Boye &amp; Company CMS Experts and Digital Leaders</a> meeting. The Matts were joined by a diverse group of participants and treated to a campus tour that featured world-class facilities for training the next generation of builders. In the pod, they talk about the school’s unique curriculum, the intersection of physical and digital experiences, the growing focus on AI literacy, and the urgent need for better-prepared practitioners in disciplines like cybersecurity (oh, and drone operation!) <figure class="image image-style-align-center image_resized" style="width:70.85%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/full-sail-meeting.jpg" /></figure>Matt Garrepy and Matt McQueeny in Orlando at the Boye &amp; Company Digital Leaders meeting at Full Sail University During the meeting, Matt Garrepy facilitated a deeper conversation around AI’s impact, with some fantastic use cases across industries like healthcare – where attendees like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephanie-coyne-55565615a/">Amba’s Stephanie Coyne</a> shared how AI and automation are making an impact in elder care. The group also discussed everything from AI governance and compliance to adtech, making for a truly dynamic session. Throughout the episode, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/in-the-race-to-ai-visibility-are-aeo-and-geo-really-delivering-97-of-digital-leaders-say-yes">AEO – Answer Engine Optimization</a> – is a major throughline, and the Matts discuss how bots now own the largest share of traffic, how websites are adapting, and what AEO success looks like in practice. Matt and Matt also dig into the AEO race in the wake of some high-profile industry moves. From <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/crunch-time-for-ai-visibility-sitecores-acquisition-of-scrunch-gives-brands-an-edge-beyond-aeo">Sitecore’s acquisition of Scrunch,</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/bland-brands-beware-optimizelys-new-identity-brings-human-creativity-to-its-agentic-ai-and-aeo-ambitions">Optimizely’s partnership with Conductor, </a>and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/no-more-kicking-the-cms-tires-as-salesforce-acquires-contentful-can-it-keep-the-wheels-on-the-ai-road">Contentful’s</a> launch of Palmata, the landscape is growing at both the top and bottom as more downstream startups like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/as-ai-generated-search-grows-otterly-is-utterly-awesome-for-marketers-heres-why">Otterly.ai </a>and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.surfacegx.com/">SurfaceGX</a> attempt to challenge this nascent space.  <figure class="image image_resized" style="width:75.01%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/codegarden-image-1783344921770.jpg" /></figure>Umbraco Codegarden 2026 in Copenhagen Matt Garrepy also reviews his recent stops covering the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://summit.typo3.com/">TYPO3 North American Summit </a>in Atlanta, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://codegarden.umbraco.com/program/">Umbraco’s Codegarden 26</a> in Copenhagen, and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/how-to-thrive-at-25-as-sitecore-charts-an-ai-future-community-remains-its-greatest-asset">Sitecore’s 25th Silver Anniversary</a> event at the Tivoli Gardens in Denmark. It’s a tour of how open source and commercial CMS and DXP platforms are making a stronger play in a competitive marketplace, and where AI is transforming the roadmap for every vendor.  <figure class="image image_resized" style="width:75.96%"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/sitecore-tivoli-event.png" /></figure>Sitecore's 25th Silver Anniversary event at Tivoli Gardens Finally, Matt and Matt explore the reinvigoration of PR, video, podcasting, and other multimedia channels as new engines for AEO and (maybe) even a new CPM measurement: “cost-per-mention.” From transcripts and clips to earned media and “earnfluencing,” they dig into why these content streams are further fueling the answer engines that shape discovery.It’s a packed hour with a ton of insights, a few offside calls, and only a couple of penalties for opinions. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://youtu.be/3ob-7QyWk8U">Listen here and subscribe,</a> and let us know what you want us to talk about on the next episode!<h3 id="check-out-our-latest-stories">Check out our latest stories</h3><ul><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/bland-brands-beware-optimizelys-new-identity-brings-human-creativity-to-its-agentic-ai-and-aeo-ambitions">Bland Brands Beware: Optimizely’s New Identity Brings Human Creativity to its Agentic AI and AEO Ambitions</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/ai-and-accessibility-incredible-potential-inconvenient-questions">AI and Accessibility: Incredible Potential, Inconvenient Questions</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/how-to-thrive-at-25-as-sitecore-charts-an-ai-future-community-remains-its-greatest-asset">How to Thrive at 25: As Sitecore Charts an AI Future, Community Remains its Greatest Asset</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/kentico-opens-its-site-of-the-year-2026-awards-as-first-major-dxp-with-a-best-use-of-ai-category">Kentico Opens its Site of the Year 2026 Awards as First Major DXP with a ‘Best Use of AI’ Category</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/without-cogs-no-machine-moves">Without Cogs, No Machine Moves</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/how-cms-and-dxp-teams-can-use-generative-engine-optimization-to-increase-visibility-in-ai-generated-answers">How CMS and DXP Teams Can Use Generative Engine Optimization to Increase Visibility in AI-Generated Answers</a></li></ul><h3 id="matt-&amp;-matt-meetups">Matt &amp; Matt meetups</h3>The Matts are on the road! Check out where they’re at – and drop us a line if you’re able to join some of our <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/groups/cms-experts">Boye &amp; Company meetings</a> for CMS Experts and Digital Leaders. <ul><li>August 4-5 – Montréal <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">CMS Connect 26 Conference</a></li></ul><h3 id="enjoying-the-matt-&amp;-matt-show?-stay-connected!">Enjoying the Matt &amp; Matt Show? Stay connected!</h3> <ul><li>Subscribe today on YouTube: <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.youtube.com/@MattMattShow">@MattMattShow</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthew-mcqueeny-9732493/">Follow Matt McQueeny on LinkedIn</a></li><li><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattgarrepy/">Follow Matt Garrepy on LinkedIn</a></li></ul><h3 id="have-an-idea-for-a-topic?-wanna-be-on-the-show?-">Have an idea for a topic? Wanna be on the show? </h3>We love our audience, and we want your input. Send us your ideas for future episodes! And if you’re willing, maybe we’ll have you on to talk CMS, DXP, AI, and more! <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/contact">Contact us.</a> <figure class="image image_resized" style="width:28.7%"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/@MattMattShow" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><img src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/03/image-1774291050198.png" /></a></figure> <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3>  <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26"><img style="width:41.96%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/05/cms-connect-logo-26.jpg" /></a><h4 id="cms-connect-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">CMS Connect 26</a></h4>August 5-6, 2026 – Montreal, CanadaThe best conferences create space for honest, experience-based conversations. Not sales pitches. Not hype. Just thoughtful exchanges between people who spend their days designing, building, running, and evolving digital experiences. CMS Connect brings together people who share real stories from their work and platforms and who are interested in learning from each other on how to make things better. Over two days in Montreal, you can expect practitioner-led talks grounded in experience, conversations about trade-offs, constraints, and decisions, and time to compare notes with peers facing similar challenges. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:36.69%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/open-source-cms-26.jpg" /><h4 id="open-source-cms-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26">Open Source CMS 26</a></h4>October 20–21, 2026 – Utrecht, NetherlandsJoin us for the first annual edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to making open source CMS better. This event is already being called the “missing gathering place” for the open source CMS community – an international conference with confirmed participants from Europe and North America. Be part of a friendly mix of digital leaders from notable open source CMS projects, agencies, even a few industry analysts who get together to learn, network, and talk about what really matters when it comes to creating better open source CMS projects right now and for the foreseeable future. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26/tickets">Book your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:35.73%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/05/image-1778200565145.png" /><h4 id="contentstack-contentcon-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">Contentstack ContentCon 2026</a></h4>September 30 - October 1, Amsterdam  /  October 27-28, 2026 – ChicagoContentstack’s annual customer conference is the premier event for executives, marketing leaders, and developers to redefine their digital experience strategy. This is your opportunity to step out of the "status quo" and into "elite" status, learning exactly how the world’s most successful brands are using the technology you already own to do the impossible. Enjoy a full day of interactive workshops, certifications, and inspirational on-stage sessions designed to help you become an expert on cutting-edge digital strategies and how to turn Contentstack's CMS and adaptive personalization tools into your greatest competitive advantage.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jdayusa.com/"> </a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">Book your seats today.</a> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.storyblok.com/joyconf"><img style="width:34.57%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/07/joyconf-2026-logo.png" /></a><h4 id="storyblok-joyconf-2026"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.storyblok.com/joyconf">Storyblok JoyConf 2026</a></h4>October 28 - 29, Rheingoldhalle, Mainz (Frankfurt)JoyConf 2026 is where developers, marketers, and digital innovators come together from all around the world, united by one powerful idea: great content isn’t built by tools alone – it’s built by people who rely on systems to deliver their best work to the world. In an era where technology is increasingly shaped by AI, Content Confidence becomes your competitive advantage. When you can create, manage, and scale content that performs seamlessly across channels, platforms, and AI, you don’t just keep up – you win. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.storyblok.com/joyconf">Book your seats today.</a>

Matt & Matt Show Episode 7: 2026 Halftime Report! Vercel Ship to Full Sail, the AEO Goal, and More

Bland Brands Beware: Optimizely’s New Identity Brings Human Creativity to its Agentic AI and AEO Ambitions

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/antonia-fedder">Antonia Fedder </a>is a digital designer, consultant, and speaker working at the intersection of accessibility, inclusion, and sustainability. She is also a CMS Critic contributor. <hr /> AI is either the greatest opportunity for the future of digital accessibility or a fast track to cementing existing exclusions. It all depends on who you ask. I honestly think both are happening at the same time, and the decisions that are being made right now will determine where we end up. The disability market remains both chronically underserved and one of the most severely underestimated in the world, and that’s before you consider the much bigger community of people who use the digital world differently: neurodivergent users, senior citizens, people with temporary impairments, anyone who’s ever encountered a digital interface that wasn’t built for them. Getting AI and accessibility right is a market question, a rights question, and a design question. This is not a niche problem. <h3 id="two-kinds-of-ai,-two-kinds-of-possibility-">Two kinds of AI, two kinds of possibility </h3>Before we go further, we need to be clear about what we’re actually talking about. "AI" covers a lot of ground. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.thehackettgroup.com/glossary/discriminative-ai/">Discriminative AI </a>works through recognition and classification. That’s the technology behind speech recognition systems like <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.voiceitt.com/">Voiceitt</a>, which learns the unique speech patterns of people with cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s, or Down syndrome, so that they can be understood by voice interfaces made only for standard speech. It supports <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/garage/wall-of-fame/seeing-ai/">Microsoft’s Seeing AI</a>, which has enabled blind and low-vision users to manage millions of independent tasks using just a smartphone camera. Generative AI creates. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.bemyeyes.com/bme-ai/">Be My AI,</a> built into the Be My Eyes app, goes beyond describing images. It enables actual conversations around them. You can ask follow-up questions and explore what you are seeing. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://machinelearning.apple.com/research/personal-voice">Apple’s Personal Voice</a> allows people living with ALS or other speech-affecting conditions to create a synthetic version of their own voice in 15 minutes on a device they already own. Voice banking was available before this function, but it was expensive, time-consuming, and required specialist equipment. AI moved it to the iPhone. To me, one of the most vivid descriptions of what this access actually means came from <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://tink.uk/">Léonie Watson</a>, a blind developer and accessibility specialist, in her talk at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://2024.ffconf.org/">FFConf 2024. </a>She described how generative AI has allowed blind users to go back through photo albums and actually experience what is in those photos: the expressions, the context, the memories. Access to personal history that had been visually inaccessible. One of the most extraordinary things this technology has opened up is that kind of agency and independence, being able to access your own life, on your own terms. <h3 id="when-the-picture-gets-complicated-">When the picture gets complicated </h3>The same tools make mistakes, and they make them confidently. AI image descriptions are hallucinating. They describe what is not there, or they miss what is. That’s a lot to be asking a blind user to decide in real-time based on what the AI is telling them about their surroundings. The gap between "this is a bit annoying" and "this is a safety issue" is precisely the gap that an intersectional lens helps us see. The term <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intersectionality">intersectionality</a> was coined by legal scholar <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kimberl%C3%A9_Crenshaw">Kimberlé Crenshaw.</a> The key insight is what many people with multiple marginalised identities already know from experience: structural discrimination does not happen in neat, separate categories. Ableism, racism, sexism, class, and language access all intersect and build on each other, and the effects combine in certain ways based on who you are and what systems you are navigating. I use this lens whenever a tool is described as “neutral” or “universal,” because in reality, those words usually mean "designed for the default user" (who doesn't exist). Bias in AI systems is well-documented, and has real-world consequences. Facial recognition has long had much higher error rates for women with darker skin than for men with lighter skin. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.media.mit.edu/people/joyab/overview/">Joy Buolamwini's research at MIT Media Lab </a>made this impossible to ignore, though many have tried. Imagine a blind male user relying on facial recognition to tell him who’s standing in front of him, and getting an error. Then ask what it means to a Black blind woman with the same tool. The tool fails on both, but not to the same degree. That’s the intersectional question: who carries what risk when this goes wrong?  Who built a dataset, who it centres, who it was tested on – these are things that are important to critically question, both for accessibility and equity. If disabled people were not in the room when these systems were built, then you see the gaps in the product. The <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ray-Ban_Meta">Meta Ray-Ban glasses</a> are a telling illustration of how the same technology can exist in completely different realities at once. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://afb.org/aw">The American Foundation for the Blind's AccessWorld publication</a> described them as an accessibility tool only by coincidence, designed for social media users with assistive features that exist because of the hardware and AI integration, not because disability access was ever part of the brief.  But for many blind and low-vision users, they’ve become a true independence tool: hands-free environmental description, text reading, and navigation support in a form factor that doesn’t look like medical equipment. Simultaneously, these same glasses are used to film women in public without their consent, which is harmful and violating. Technology doesn’t pick its context, and its unintended consequences tend to fall on the people who already carry the most risk. <h3 id="ai-as-barrier-shifter-">AI as barrier-shifter </h3>AI moves barriers. It doesn’t remove them. The benefits of AI accessibility tools tend to be concentrated on disabilities that are well-represented in training data, languages with large datasets, voices and bodies that systems were designed around, and hardware that people can afford. Coverage that treats these as tools that solve the whole problem ignores the structural question of who still can’t get access – and why. <h3 id="the-gap-in-governance-">The gap in governance </h3>Accessibility expertise is still called in late, consulted briefly, then dropped – a structural problem that is, once again, accelerated by AI. Automated checkers can tell you about missing alt text (alternative text) and low color contrast, but they can’t tell you if a real person using real assistive technology will actually be able to use what you’ve built. A direct word on AI-powered overlay tools: Don’t use them. In the accessibility community, they are widely seen as bad practice because they clash with assistive technology. I recently did an audit of a website for an organization that is very active in advocating for inclusion and runs a blind sports team. They thought the overlay had them covered. It missed big chunks of alt text. It hadn’t tagged the paragraph elements, so a screen reader skips right over the paragraph content. The organisation’s own blind athletes cannot read the articles written about them. Good accessibility practice is based on the principle of “Nothing About Us Without Us.” Disabled people should be included as designers, researchers, consultants, and decision-makers in all stages of design, development, and testing – and they should be involved from the start. AI can’t replace that involvement. If used well, it could free accessibility professionals to do the work that really matters and make accessibility a default built into the process from the beginning. Unfortunately, we're not there yet. <h3 id="this-is-also-a-‘market-power’-question-">This is also a ‘market power’ question </h3>The industry still views accessibility as a cost center, a compliance checkbox, or an edge case. AI can fundamentally change that equation, but only if the tools are built to be accessible, tested with real people, and governed with accountability. And the case goes far beyond the disability market. Captions were invented as a deaf accessibility feature, and became de facto for anyone watching video in a public space. Voice control, born of the need for motor accessibility, is now used by millions who just find it convenient. Neuroinclusive content is more usable, more memorable across the board, and performs better in AI-driven search contexts, with a clearer hierarchy and less cognitive load. Accessible design leads to better products, for everyone, every time. Disabled people have always been among the first to embrace and push technological innovation. Many interfaces we now take for granted originated in assistive technology. Getting AI, access, and innovation right is an opportunity to do that again, at a scale and speed that has not been available before. The returns aren't just about equity. They’re about what kind of digital world we build, how well it works, and for how many users. Both the optimistic and the dystopian scenarios are perfectly plausible. Which one we get depends on decisions being made right now, mostly by people without disabilities, in organizations that haven’t yet asked the right questions.  <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3>  <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26"><img style="width:41.96%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/05/cms-connect-logo-26.jpg" /></a><h4 id="cms-connect-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">CMS Connect 26</a></h4>August 5-6, 2026 – Montreal, CanadaThe best conferences create space for honest, experience-based conversations. Not sales pitches. Not hype. Just thoughtful exchanges between people who spend their days designing, building, running, and evolving digital experiences. CMS Connect brings together people who share real stories from their work and platforms and who are interested in learning from each other on how to make things better. Over two days in Montreal, you can expect practitioner-led talks grounded in experience, conversations about trade-offs, constraints, and decisions, and time to compare notes with peers facing similar challenges. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:36.69%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/open-source-cms-26.jpg" /><h4 id="open-source-cms-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26">Open Source CMS 26</a></h4>October 20–21, 2026 – Utrecht, NetherlandsJoin us for the first annual edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to making open source CMS better. This event is already being called the “missing gathering place” for the open source CMS community – an international conference with confirmed participants from Europe and North America. Be part of a friendly mix of digital leaders from notable open source CMS projects, agencies, even a few industry analysts who get together to learn, network, and talk about what really matters when it comes to creating better open source CMS projects right now and for the foreseeable future. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26/tickets">Book your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:35.73%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/05/image-1778200565145.png" /><h4 id="contentstack-contentcon-2026">Contentstack <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">ContentCon 2026</a></h4>September 30 - October 1, Amsterdam  /  October 27-28, 2026 – ChicagoContentstack’s annual customer conference is the premier event for executives, marketing leaders, and developers to redefine their digital experience strategy. This is your opportunity to step out of the "status quo" and into "elite" status, learning exactly how the world’s most successful brands are using the technology you already own to do the impossible. Enjoy a full day of interactive workshops, certifications, and inspirational on-stage sessions designed to help you become an expert on cutting-edge digital strategies and how to turn Contentstack's CMS and adaptive personalization tools into your greatest competitive advantage.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jdayusa.com/"> </a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">Book your seats today.</a>

AI and Accessibility: Incredible Potential, Inconvenient Questions 

antonia-fedder

How to Thrive at 25: As Sitecore Charts an AI Future, Community Remains its Greatest Asset     

<hr /> As an industry analyst, CMS geek, and all-around digital design nut, I’m fortunate to review and sometimes judge various awards competitions. It’s one of the best parts of my job because I get to look at what people and agencies make – and do it through a number of different lenses. Yes, it often involves a deep dive into architectures, but it also means I get to play with digital experiences. Who doesn’t love exploring an exquisite mobile UI or ogling over a stunning homepage template? There’s simply no replacement for how we – as humans – can be inspired by good design. But when you combine an awards competition with compelling stories about complex migrations and multichannel applications, you get a range of impressive submissions that go beyond just the visual appeal.Kentico has been running its annual <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.kentico.com/discover/kentico-awards-winners/archive">Site of the Year</a> competition since 2017, and I’ve <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/kentico-announces-winners-of-2023-site-of-the-year-awards">covered it in the past.</a> The platform highlights some “swoon-worthy” projects built on Kentico, demonstrating the flexibility and extensibility of what’s possible when partners push the boundaries.The DXP just announced its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.kentico.com/discover/kentico-awards-winners/site-of-the-year-2026">Site of the Year 2026 program</a> last week, offering an updated awards structure that reflects the direction of modern digital experiences. This edition consolidates ten vertical categories into six while introducing a slate of new bonus awards like “Best SaaS Project,” “Best Multichannel Project,” “Best Upgrade Project,” and “Best Migration Project.”There’s one more, and it’s arguably in the spotlight: Kentico has added a “Best Use of AI” award to the roster, the first of its kind from a major category vendor.This is a smart move – and it complements the awards program in an area where many partners and enterprises are doubling down. According to Kentico, the new category will recognize and celebrate the work of brands and teams in deploying agentic and generative AI in production.It also aligns to the capabilities Kentico has been shipping across its <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.kentico.com/CMSModules/Newsletters/CMSPages/Redirect.ashx?linkguid=1c0eda97-ac92-42bf-b5fd-5acf9b5ead34&amp;email=matt%40cmscritic.com&amp;hash=be0d1d8f19e0858f5111492f222eca952b1f9d98aaaeebe1c4c04b9dec830ced">Xperience by Kentico</a>, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.kentico.com/CMSModules/Newsletters/CMSPages/Redirect.ashx?linkguid=7bf2d6a7-2052-4f00-b58a-3084ce60c4f1&amp;email=matt%40cmscritic.com&amp;hash=be0d1d8f19e0858f5111492f222eca952b1f9d98aaaeebe1c4c04b9dec830ced">AIRA</a>, and the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.kentico.com/CMSModules/Newsletters/CMSPages/Redirect.ashx?linkguid=57081f58-7b0c-4976-bf1a-bf02cca136d9&amp;email=matt%40cmscritic.com&amp;hash=be0d1d8f19e0858f5111492f222eca952b1f9d98aaaeebe1c4c04b9dec830ced">Agentic Marketing Suite</a>. I recently broke down the platform’s rollout of four specialized agents that operate as a virtual marketing team, and you can <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/meet-the-agents-kentico-fields-an-ai-dream-team-to-win-the-new-game-of-marketing">read my analysis here.</a>"Awards programs should be a mirror of where the industry is actually moving, not where it was two years ago," said <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/petrklouda/">Petr Klouda</a>, VP of Strategic Partnerships at Kentico. "Agentic AI is no longer experimental; it is in production, shipping real outcomes for real customers. With Site of the Year 2026, we are putting that work on the leaderboard, alongside the SaaS, migration, and consolidation projects that are reshaping how organizations operate. The partners and customers building this future deserve to be recognized for it." <h3 id="a-new-awards-structure-for-a-changing-industry">A New Awards Structure for a Changing Industry</h3>It goes without saying that AI is rippling across the CMS and DXP toolscape and transforming everything. Still, the value of websites remains steadfast, even as they evolve to serve both humans and agents. Kentico’s Site of the Year competition is an opportunity to celebrate the efforts of the people behind these amazing experiences. It highlights the partners and customers who continue to elevate design and harness Xperience by Kentico to deliver uniquely inspiring results. As AI shifts the horizon, these practitioners are leveraging its capabilities to explore what’s next.The 2026 Site of the Year program introduces three changes to reflect the realities of how leading digital teams are working today. As mentioned, Kentico has consolidated the vertical structure from ten categories to six, clustering industries with a natural alignment. This includes: <ul><li>Government, Associations &amp; Education</li><li>Sport, Entertainment, Travel &amp; Tourism</li><li>Financial Services</li><li>Healthcare</li><li>Industrial Manufacturing</li><li>B2B &amp; Consumer Brands</li></ul>One important change: commerce is no longer a standalone category, and will be evaluated within the industry that each project aligns with. The five new bonus awards hit every vertical and reflect the focus of modern digital experience. This includes agentic and generative AI integration, true SaaS implementations, multichannel and consolidation projects, in-place version upgrades, and migrations from competing platforms. And bonus awards aren’t exclusive, meaning a single project can win both a vertical category and one or more bonus awards. <h3 id="site-of-the-year-2025-set-a-high-bar">Site of the Year 2025 Set a High Bar</h3>You can read my review of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/websites-still-rock-kenticos-2025-site-of-the-year-winners-push-the-boundaries-of-digital-experience">Kentico’s Site of the Year 2025 competition</a>, which featured ten category winners and twenty honorable mentions across financial services, commerce, education, hospitality, healthcare, government, B2B, manufacturing, and nonprofit sectors. Submissions came from North America, EMEA, and APAC.For me, there were certainly some standouts. For example, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.kentico.com/CMSModules/Newsletters/CMSPages/Redirect.ashx?linkguid=2352b3f4-ad18-4695-b4cf-9fea119232c4&amp;email=matt%40cmscritic.com&amp;hash=be0d1d8f19e0858f5111492f222eca952b1f9d98aaaeebe1c4c04b9dec830ced">LeShuttle Freight’s</a> elegant, high-performance, multilingual experience was top-notch. In addition to simple, intuitive navigation, it has a tricked-out, real-time service update that provides critical visibility for time-sensitive logistics. The mobile experience is also lightweight, prioritizing the right elements in the UX. You can also read my review of the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://bobw.co/">Bob W. </a> and <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.kentico.com/CMSModules/Newsletters/CMSPages/Redirect.ashx?linkguid=d26dfe6c-b389-43aa-a623-daa701b4b192&amp;email=matt%40cmscritic.com&amp;hash=be0d1d8f19e0858f5111492f222eca952b1f9d98aaaeebe1c4c04b9dec830ced">Oppenheimer</a> projects, and why they really made the grade. The full list of winners is available on the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.kentico.com/CMSModules/Newsletters/CMSPages/Redirect.ashx?linkguid=e1050167-fe25-4ff7-990d-71fec88be870&amp;email=matt%40cmscritic.com&amp;hash=be0d1d8f19e0858f5111492f222eca952b1f9d98aaaeebe1c4c04b9dec830ced">Kentico Awards page</a>. <h3 id="2026-is-already-taking-shape">2026 is already taking shape</h3>Kentico’s 2026 Site of the Year competition is already underway, with early entries crystallizing the value and impact of its new award categories. According to Kentico, every project that wins Site of the Month automatically qualifies for Site of the Year consideration, and thus far, the projects encompass work that would have been difficult to place in last year's structure. For example, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.integralife.com/">Integra LifeSciences</a>, a global medical technology leader specializing in neurosurgery and surgical solutions, is a model project for the new “Best SaaS Project.” With a hard deadline driven by an impending CMS sunset, Integra worked with Kentico partner <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/bizstream-acquires-refactored-adds-strategic-digital-services-and-headless-cms-accelerator">BizStream </a>to migrate to Xperience by Kentico delivered as SaaS.Additionally, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.tescomobile.com/">Tesco Mobile</a> Ireland, a consumer mobile brand, replatformed from a custom e-commerce build onto Xperience by Kentico. Delivered by <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.wearegranite.com/">Granite</a>, the new site features a native phone comparison tool, a bundling and add-on checkout flow, and prepaid top-up functionality.<h3 id="criteria-and-timeline">Criteria and timeline</h3>Kentico’s “Site of the Year” entries are evaluated across four key pillars: <ul><li>Design and user experience</li><li>Content &amp; engagement</li><li>Technical excellence &amp; performance</li><li>Complexity &amp; fuctionality</li></ul>For more granular detail, you can <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.kentico.com/discover/kentico-awards-winners/site-of-the-year-2026">visit the 2026 Awards website.</a>As for the schedule, Site of the Year 2026 follows the Site of the Month–based qualification model that was introduced in 2025. Kentico has a complete timeline on the awards website. Submissions open on January 1st, and the international Kentico judging committee will evaluate finalists in tournament-mode knockout rounds in January 2027. Winners will be announced the first week of February 2027. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3>  <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26"><img style="width:41.96%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/05/cms-connect-logo-26.jpg" /></a><h4 id="cms-connect-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">CMS Connect 26</a></h4>August 5-6, 2026 – Montreal, CanadaThe best conferences create space for honest, experience-based conversations. Not sales pitches. Not hype. Just thoughtful exchanges between people who spend their days designing, building, running, and evolving digital experiences. CMS Connect brings together people who share real stories from their work and platforms and who are interested in learning from each other on how to make things better. Over two days in Montreal, you can expect practitioner-led talks grounded in experience, conversations about trade-offs, constraints, and decisions, and time to compare notes with peers facing similar challenges. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:36.69%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/open-source-cms-26.jpg" /><h4 id="open-source-cms-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26">Open Source CMS 26</a></h4>October 20–21, 2026 – Utrecht, NetherlandsJoin us for the first annual edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to making open source CMS better. This event is already being called the “missing gathering place” for the open source CMS community – an international conference with confirmed participants from Europe and North America. Be part of a friendly mix of digital leaders from notable open source CMS projects, agencies, even a few industry analysts who get together to learn, network, and talk about what really matters when it comes to creating better open source CMS projects right now and for the foreseeable future. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26/tickets">Book your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:35.73%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/05/image-1778200565145.png" /><h4 id="contentstack-contentcon-2026">Contentstack <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">ContentCon 2026</a></h4>September 30 - October 1, Amsterdam  /  October 27-28, 2026 – ChicagoContentstack’s annual customer conference is the premier event for executives, marketing leaders, and developers to redefine their digital experience strategy. This is your opportunity to step out of the "status quo" and into "elite" status, learning exactly how the world’s most successful brands are using the technology you already own to do the impossible. Enjoy a full day of interactive workshops, certifications, and inspirational on-stage sessions designed to help you become an expert on cutting-edge digital strategies and how to turn Contentstack's CMS and adaptive personalization tools into your greatest competitive advantage.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jdayusa.com/"> </a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">Book your seats today.</a>

Kentico Opens its Site of the Year 2026 Awards as First Major DXP with a ‘Best Use of AI’ Category

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/tom-cranstoun">Tom Cranstoun,</a> “The MX Guy,” is the principal consultant at Digital Domain Technologies Limited, author of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://mx.allabout.network/books/">MX: The Handbook</a>, and a CMS Critic contributor. <hr /> Content operations and content design are doing the right things. They're providing governance frameworks, taxonomy, structured authoring, and lifecycle management. Over time, the disciplines have matured.Up until now, content ops has focused on human readers. Now, in an era where <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/bots-now-outnumber-humans-on-the-internet-heres-what-that-actually-means/">bot traffic is outnumbering humans,</a> the dynamic has shifted. Machines have become the predominant audience, and they have different requirements. The gap is narrower than it looks – and more specific. That gap is where most organizations are going to get stuck. Cogs that don’t mesh don’t move anything. They just grind. But there's hope, and it starts by understanding the crucial role of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://mx.allabout.network/">MX: Machine Experience.</a><h3 id="what-machines-need-that-humans-don’t">What Machines Need That Humans Don’t</h3>A human reading a page infers context. They notice tone, recognize brand, and understand that a press release from 2019 probably doesn’t reflect current pricing. They bring judgment.Machines don’t. And they’re not one thing.An on-device model with a small context window reads raw HTML and sees nothing beyond what’s in the initial server response. A foundation-model agent with browsing tools sees the rendered DOM. A scraper never runs a model at all. A coding agent fetches once over HTTP and moves on. Each reads a different projection of the page, and none of them sees the visual rendering. The publisher can’t know which kind arrives, so designing for a specific agent is designing for a guess.Despite these differences, every machine type does one of two things: It finds a declaration, or it guesses. What is this document? Who made it? What’s it for? What can be done with it? What’s still accurate?Good content ops structures pages so humans can navigate them. That’s necessary. But it’s not sufficient. The metadata is in a database that the agent can’t reach. The relationships are implicit. The provenance isn’t embedded. The agent (whichever kind it is) fills the gaps with confidence it hasn’t earned.That’s not a failure of content design. It’s an extension that hasn’t been built yet.Now, take it one step further. A machine doesn’t always read your content inside your environment. For example, a PDF getting ingested by another organization’s LLM, or a page being scraped and stored in a vector database. A document travels through three systems before an agent even acts on it. At that point, the CMS is gone. The database is gone. The metadata that lived in the platform’s tables is gone. What’s left is the file. If the file carries nothing (no provenance, no authorship, no permissions, no declared scope), the agent has nothing to work with except the words. It guesses the rest.This is the old problem, made new and urgent. Documents have always lost context when they leave their environment. MX is built specifically for that moment.<h3 id="governance-built-into-the-document">Governance Built Into the Document</h3>A CMS isn’t just software. It’s a controller of a publishing point. It has an implicit contract with the data owner to make content visible to humans in a way that benefits the owner. That obligation now implicitly includes machines, whether anyone asked for it or not. When it fails, the data owner blames the vendor. The vendor blames the agency. Nobody owns the failure because nobody wrote machines into the contract.A plugin doesn’t close this gap. Neither does a model upgrade or an <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://modelcontextprotocol.io/docs/getting-started/intro">MCP (Model Context Protocol)</a> endpoint. Those wrap the content. They don’t change it. What makes the difference is governance built into the document itself. Not bolted on, not held in a separate system. That’s what a COG is: Community Owned Governance. It's a portable, self-describing document standard that carries its own context wherever it travels. It includes vital details like what it is, who made it, what it’s for, and what an agent is and isn’t permitted to do with it.Take a cog out of a machine, and it stops. Take governance out of a document, and the machine that's reading it stops working, too. It doesn’t issue an error. It hallucinates. And that's even worse. The work that content ops and content design have already done – the taxonomy, the schema, the approval chains – is exactly the right foundation. A COG is how that work travels with the content, instead of staying behind in a CMS database that the agent can never query.<h3 id="ownership-only-works-with-structure">Ownership Only Works With Structure</h3>The organizations getting real value from AI aren’t pouring content into shared infrastructure and hoping for the best. They’re running models on their own data and building agents against their own knowledge base.That only works if the data has structure – and as stated, that structure can travel. Ownership without portable structure is a hard drive full of files nobody can act on safely. A document with provenance (where the relationships are explicit and the records are verifiable) is something you can point a machine at and trust the result.<h3 id="the-asset-that-compounds">The Asset That Compounds</h3>Within a few years, most online content will be machine-generated. Volume is already cheap. So is velocity.What becomes scarce is authorship. Content that a human wrote, edited, argued over, and signed off on. Content that has a history. That doesn’t depreciate when generation gets cheaper. In fact, it appreciates – because it’s the thing machines can’t produce and audiences can distinguish.The right home for that content is a system where governance is built into every document: structured, provenance-intact, and verifiable. Pointing a model at well-governed content produces something qualitatively different from pointing it at an undifferentiated pile.Content ops and content design got us here. COGs take it the rest of the way. The organizations that understand this aren’t waiting for the next release note. They’ve already got the cogs turning.<h3 id="is-your-pdf-mx-compatible?">Is your PDF MX Compatible?</h3>See what the gaps are in practice! <ol><li>Visit <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://mx.allabout.network/tools/pdf-inspector.html">https://mx.allabout.network/tools/pdf-inspector.html</a> </li><li>Drop in a PDF sample where instructed. Your browser reads it locally, and the PDF never leaves your machine. </li><li>The inspector reports what the file carries, what it lacks, and what a regulator or AI agent would find if they tried to verify it.</li></ol> <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3>  <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26"><img style="width:41.96%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/05/cms-connect-logo-26.jpg" /></a><h4 id="cms-connect-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">CMS Connect 26</a></h4>August 5-6, 2026 – Montreal, CanadaThe best conferences create space for honest, experience-based conversations. Not sales pitches. Not hype. Just thoughtful exchanges between people who spend their days designing, building, running, and evolving digital experiences. CMS Connect brings together people who share real stories from their work and platforms and who are interested in learning from each other on how to make things better. Over two days in Montreal, you can expect practitioner-led talks grounded in experience, conversations about trade-offs, constraints, and decisions, and time to compare notes with peers facing similar challenges. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:36.69%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/open-source-cms-26.jpg" /><h4 id="open-source-cms-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26">Open Source CMS 26</a></h4>October 20–21, 2026 – Utrecht, NetherlandsJoin us for the first annual edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to making open source CMS better. This event is already being called the “missing gathering place” for the open source CMS community – an international conference with confirmed participants from Europe and North America. Be part of a friendly mix of digital leaders from notable open source CMS projects, agencies, even a few industry analysts who get together to learn, network, and talk about what really matters when it comes to creating better open source CMS projects right now and for the foreseeable future. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26/tickets">Book your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:35.73%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/05/image-1778200565145.png" /><h4 id="contentstack-contentcon-2026">Contentstack <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">ContentCon 2026</a></h4>September 30 - October 1, Amsterdam  /  October 27-28, 2026 – ChicagoContentstack’s annual customer conference is the premier event for executives, marketing leaders, and developers to redefine their digital experience strategy. This is your opportunity to step out of the "status quo" and into "elite" status, learning exactly how the world’s most successful brands are using the technology you already own to do the impossible. Enjoy a full day of interactive workshops, certifications, and inspirational on-stage sessions designed to help you become an expert on cutting-edge digital strategies and how to turn Contentstack's CMS and adaptive personalization tools into your greatest competitive advantage.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jdayusa.com/"> </a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">Book your seats today.</a>

Without Cogs, No Machine Moves

tom-cranstoun

Power your CMS on AWS

Manage your websites & apps in the most trusted cloud.

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/leah-nurik">Leah Nurik</a> is CEO at <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/brandi-ai">Brandi AI</a> and a CMS Critic contributor. <hr /> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/what-is-a-content-management-system-cms">Content management system (CMS)</a> and digital experience platform (DXP) teams face a new visibility challenge: buyers are no longer discovering information only through search results, website navigation, or traditional content journeys. They are increasingly asking AI systems for direct answers.The shift toward AI-mediated discovery changes what content has to do. It is no longer enough for brand content to be well-governed, well-designed, personalized, or optimized for search. Content also has to be easy for AI systems to understand, interpret, trust, and reuse.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generative_engine_optimization">Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)</a> helps content teams meet that challenge. By structuring content for AI extractability, brands improve the chances that their information is accurately represented, selected, and cited in AI-generated answers.For CMS and DXP leaders, content is no longer competing only for rankings or clicks. It is competing to become part of the answer. When content is difficult for AI systems to parse, even strong brand assets can become less visible. The result is not just lost traffic. It can mean less authority, less control over brand language, and fewer opportunities to shape how buyers understand the company.<h3 id="defining-generative-engine-optimization">Defining Generative Engine Optimization</h3>Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of creating, structuring, and optimizing content so AI systems can accurately interpret, trust, reuse, and cite it in generated answers. Traditional search optimization focuses largely on helping webpages rank in search results. GEO focuses on making content understandable and usable within AI-generated responses, where users may receive direct answers rather than lists of links.<h3 id="key-differences-between-generative-engine-optimization-and-traditional-seo-">Key Differences Between Generative Engine Optimization and Traditional SEO </h3>Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is related to <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Search_engine_optimization">Search Engine Optimization (SEO),</a> but it is not just SEO with a new name. Traditional SEO focuses on helping search engines crawl, index, rank, and surface pages so users click through. GEO focuses more directly on whether the information inside those pages can answer a prompt.SEO is still heavily tied to rankings, clicks, backlinks, and page-level discoverability. GEO puts more weight on extractability, factual clarity, structural consistency, and alignment with real user questions. Put simply, SEO asks whether a page can perform well in search results. GEO asks whether a content block can survive contact with an AI system and still emerge intact, accurate, and attributable.<h3 id="three-core-principles-of-generative-engine-optimization-for-cms-and-dxp-operators">Three Core Principles of Generative Engine Optimization for CMS and DXP Operators</h3>For CMS and DXP operators, three principles matter most: trust, clarity, and usefulness:<ol><li>Content needs to be easy to verify. Strong content uses specific facts, clear attribution, named sources, dates, and evidence where needed. Unsupported claims are easier to ignore, misunderstand, or misrepresent.</li><li>Content needs to be easy to understand. A well-designed page is not always a well-structured page. Clear headings, focused sections, concise summaries, and direct answers help readers quickly grasp the point. They also make content easier to interpret and reuse accurately.</li><li>Content needs to match what people actually want to know. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) works best when content answers real buyer questions in plain language. The goal is not to force awkward search phrases into the copy. The goal is to anticipate the question, answer it clearly, and make each section useful on its own.</li></ol><h3 id="how-modular-content-architecture-in-a-dxp-enhances-ai-extractability">How Modular Content Architecture in a DXP Enhances AI Extractability</h3>Imagine a B2B software company launching a new automation feature. In a traditional workflow, the team might publish one long launch post supported by a landing page and a few campaign assets. In a Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)-aware DXP workflow, the team still creates those assets. Still, it also breaks the information into modular, reusable content blocks within the CMS: a short feature explainer, a pricing block, an implementation how-to, a benchmark proof point, and an FAQ.Each block is written to answer a likely prompt. One explains what the feature does. Another question is how it integrates with an existing platform. Another addresses pricing or deployment requirements. The proof point is phrased with precision: a dated benchmark, a named test condition, a measurable result. Modular content structure provides AI systems with clear, extractable units of information. Instead of extracting fragments from a long, loosely organized page, the model can pull from precise units of content that are already built to stand on their own. That is where modern CMS and DXP architecture becomes an advantage rather than just an operational convenience.<h3 id="five-practical-generative-engine-optimization-strategies-for-a-content-operations-roadmap">Five Practical Generative Engine Optimization Strategies for a Content Operations Roadmap</h3>For teams that want to act now, five Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) moves belong on the roadmap.<ol><li>Start by understanding the questions buyers are actually asking. Look beyond keywords and listen to the language customers use in sales conversations, support requests, search behavior, and AI tools. Build content around those real questions.</li><li>Make your content easy to quote and trust. Use clear sentences, concise summaries, and direct answers. A strong sentence should make sense even when it appears outside the original page.</li><li>Break complex topics into smaller, focused sections. Long pages can still work, but each section should have a clear purpose and answer a specific question.</li><li>Keep claims current and supported. Attribute important facts, link to credible evidence, and show when content has been updated.</li><li>Connect related content across your site. Buyers rarely evaluate one page in isolation. Strong internal connections help people, search engines, and AI systems understand how your expertise fits together.</li></ol><h3 id="why-ai-citation-tracking-is-now-a-critical-kpi-for-digital-experience-leaders">Why AI Citation Tracking is Now a Critical KPI for Digital Experience Leaders</h3>Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is moving from theory to day-to-day content operations. As AI-mediated discovery becomes a larger part of how buyers find and evaluate information, CMS and DXP teams will need to measure success beyond rankings, sessions, and clicks. A growing part of content performance will depend on whether brand content is being recognized, trusted, and cited in AI-generated answers.Treating GEO as a gimmick would be a mistake. It is not about stuffing pages with question phrases or writing for machines instead of people. GEO focuses on making high-quality content easier for AI systems to understand, verify, and reuse without distortion. Brands that do this well will not only be easier to find. They will be more likely to shape the answer itself. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3>  <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26"><img style="width:41.96%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/05/cms-connect-logo-26.jpg" /></a><h4 id="cms-connect-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">CMS Connect 26</a></h4>August 5-6, 2026 – Montreal, CanadaThe best conferences create space for honest, experience-based conversations. Not sales pitches. Not hype. Just thoughtful exchanges between people who spend their days designing, building, running, and evolving digital experiences. CMS Connect brings together people who share real stories from their work and platforms and who are interested in learning from each other on how to make things better. Over two days in Montreal, you can expect practitioner-led talks grounded in experience, conversations about trade-offs, constraints, and decisions, and time to compare notes with peers facing similar challenges. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:36.69%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/open-source-cms-26.jpg" /><h4 id="open-source-cms-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26">Open Source CMS 26</a></h4>October 20–21, 2026 – Utrecht, NetherlandsJoin us for the first annual edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to making open source CMS better. This event is already being called the “missing gathering place” for the open source CMS community – an international conference with confirmed participants from Europe and North America. Be part of a friendly mix of digital leaders from notable open source CMS projects, agencies, even a few industry analysts who get together to learn, network, and talk about what really matters when it comes to creating better open source CMS projects right now and for the foreseeable future. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26/tickets">Book your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:35.73%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/05/image-1778200565145.png" /><h4 id="contentstack-contentcon-2026">Contentstack <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">ContentCon 2026</a></h4>September 30 - October 1, Amsterdam  /  October 27-28, 2026 – ChicagoContentstack’s annual customer conference is the premier event for executives, marketing leaders, and developers to redefine their digital experience strategy. This is your opportunity to step out of the "status quo" and into "elite" status, learning exactly how the world’s most successful brands are using the technology you already own to do the impossible. Enjoy a full day of interactive workshops, certifications, and inspirational on-stage sessions designed to help you become an expert on cutting-edge digital strategies and how to turn Contentstack's CMS and adaptive personalization tools into your greatest competitive advantage.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jdayusa.com/"> </a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">Book your seats today.</a>

How CMS and DXP Teams Can Use Generative Engine Optimization to Increase Visibility in AI-Generated Answers

leah-nurik

‘Crunch Time’ for AI Visibility: Sitecore’s Acquisition of Scrunch Gives Brands an Edge Beyond AEO

<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/soren-stamer">Sören Stamer</a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/critics/dan-drapeau"> </a>is Co-Founder and CEO of <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://cmscritic.com/products/coremedia">CoreMedia</a> and a CMS Critic contributor. <hr /> AI now often sits between your brand and your customer, deciding what it tells them about you. The risk that it misrepresents you, or leaves you out of the answer altogether, is real. If a buyer researching their next purchase asks an AI assistant for a shortlist, and the answer attaches a wrong price to your offering, cites an outdated policy, or names a competitor as the better option, the damage is done before you even notice. There is no page to correct and no customer to email, because the person on the other end never visited your site and never will. The only place to influence it is upstream, in the infrastructure your content lives in.<h3 id="the-cms-has-a-new-job:-trust-infrastructure">The CMS has a new job: trust infrastructure</h3>You cannot police what an AI says about your brand at the moment it speaks. But you can shape what it draws on at the root, in the content the model reads before it ever forms an answer. When an AI decides whether to surface your brand, it does not read a web page the way a person does. It looks for signals in your content:<ul><li>Machine-readability: Is the content explicitly modeled?</li><li>Structure: Are the entities, your products, prices, and policies, clearly defined?</li><li>Consistency: Do the claims align across pages, channels, and markets?</li><li>Freshness: Is the content current and up to date?</li><li>Provenance: Is the source authoritative and traceable?</li></ul>How content is structured directly shapes whether an AI can find it, interpret it, and trust it enough to cite you. If your price says one thing on a product page and another in a PDF, an AI cannot tell which is true, so it trusts neither. Meeting these signals in practice means turning marketing prose scattered across sources into defined fields, managed centrally: product attributes, pricing components, and policy blocks an agent can read directly. Get the data right, and it flows straight to brand trust, conversions, and revenue. Get it wrong, and the AI works with whatever it can find and repeats the mess across every answer it gives about you, if it includes you at all. That is why content infrastructure now belongs at the board level, because you want to stay in control of how your brand is represented by AI agents.<h3 id="content-governance-is-mission-critical,-and-ai-makes-it-more-so">Content governance is mission-critical, and AI makes it more so</h3>Governance is the framework that makes sure the right rules are in place and applied: what content can exist, who can change it, how it is structured, and what needs approval before it goes out.It often used to be a checkpoint at the end: route the content through legal, compliance, and marketing, then ship. That worked while people wrote everything, at human speed and human volume. AI changes both: it produces a thousand variants in the time a person reviews one, personalized in real time for every audience and channel, and it does it without judgment. On its own, the model generating that content is context-blind, a confident guesser with no idea what your prices are today or what your brand would never say. At that speed and scale, a person checking each piece after the fact has no chance of keeping up. The rules can no longer live in a review step at the end; they have to be enforced by the system as the content is generated:<ul><li>Brand rules, so it sounds like you, not the internet's average.</li><li>Live proprietary data, so it quotes accurate prices, specs, and policies.</li><li>Compliance boundaries, so it never says what you legally cannot.</li><li>Human handoff, so high-risk content gets a person's sign-off before it ships.</li><li>Ongoing checks, so content that goes stale or off-brand gets caught and corrected.</li></ul>People set those rules at the source, and the platform applies them to everything generated against it, and to everything downstream that draws on it, from LLMs to personalization engines to automated campaigns. Get that source right and the advantage compounds quickly: everything built on top of it stays accurate by default. Teams across the organization, from marketing to sales to support, move faster because they work off one centralized source, delivering a consistent experience that humans and AI alike can trust. The human role shifts from polishing words to steering the system, freeing people for what only they bring to the table: taste, judgment, and accountability. Left to itself, AI is generic; it takes a human touch in the process to make a brand worth choosing.<h3 id="what-enterprises-should-demand-from-an-ai-ready-cms">What enterprises should demand from an AI-ready CMS</h3>Every CMS now claims to be AI-ready. Most mean they have added a few features on top: a copilot in the editor, auto-tagging, and a chat box. Those lift productivity, but that’s no longer the differentiator. The mistake is treating AI as a set of add-ons. It is infrastructure, and it only delivers quality results when it works as a system built on a reliable content foundation:<ul><li>One omnichannel content platform as a source of truth that every channel and agent draws on.</li><li>Content structured for machines, not just for human eyes.</li><li>Governance AI can rely on, enforced as content is generated and optimized.</li><li>Workflows that keep humans in control, at AI-velocity.</li></ul>This is what we built the CoreMedia Experience Platform to be: an <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.coremedia.com/content-management-system/ai-powered-cms">AI-first CMS</a>, a centralized content platform for every touchpoint with governance at its core. Make your CMS that trust infrastructure, not just a publishing tool, and that is where you win the customer the AI is choosing for. <hr /><h3 id="upcoming-events">Upcoming Events</h3>  <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> <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26"><img style="width:41.96%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/05/cms-connect-logo-26.jpg" /></a><h4 id="cms-connect-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">CMS Connect 26</a></h4>August 5-6, 2026 – Montreal, CanadaThe best conferences create space for honest, experience-based conversations. Not sales pitches. Not hype. Just thoughtful exchanges between people who spend their days designing, building, running, and evolving digital experiences. CMS Connect brings together people who share real stories from their work and platforms and who are interested in learning from each other on how to make things better. Over two days in Montreal, you can expect practitioner-led talks grounded in experience, conversations about trade-offs, constraints, and decisions, and time to compare notes with peers facing similar challenges. Space is limited for this exclusive event, <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/cmsconnect26">so book your seats today.</a> <img style="width:36.69%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/01/open-source-cms-26.jpg" /><h4 id="open-source-cms-26"><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26">Open Source CMS 26</a></h4>October 20–21, 2026 – Utrecht, NetherlandsJoin us for the first annual edition of our prestigious international conference dedicated to making open source CMS better. This event is already being called the “missing gathering place” for the open source CMS community – an international conference with confirmed participants from Europe and North America. Be part of a friendly mix of digital leaders from notable open source CMS projects, agencies, even a few industry analysts who get together to learn, network, and talk about what really matters when it comes to creating better open source CMS projects right now and for the foreseeable future. <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.boye-co.com/conferences/opensourcecms26/tickets">Book your tickets today.</a> <img style="width:35.73%" src="https://cmscritic.com/ms-content/uploads/2026/05/image-1778200565145.png" /><h4 id="contentstack-contentcon-2026">Contentstack <a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">ContentCon 2026</a></h4>September 30 - October 1, Amsterdam  /  October 27-28, 2026 – ChicagoContentstack’s annual customer conference is the premier event for executives, marketing leaders, and developers to redefine their digital experience strategy. This is your opportunity to step out of the "status quo" and into "elite" status, learning exactly how the world’s most successful brands are using the technology you already own to do the impossible. Enjoy a full day of interactive workshops, certifications, and inspirational on-stage sessions designed to help you become an expert on cutting-edge digital strategies and how to turn Contentstack's CMS and adaptive personalization tools into your greatest competitive advantage.<a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.jdayusa.com/"> </a><a target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.contentstack.com/contentcon">Book your seats today.</a>

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Presenting the WINNERS of the 14th Annual CMS Critic Awards!

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Without Cogs, No Machine Moves

Power your CMS on AWS

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CMS Critic - The leading news source for CMS, DXP, and beyond

What is a DXP in 2026?

Are you caught in an AI ROI trap?

Presenting the WINNERS of the 14th Annual CMS Critic Awards!

Flying the Agentic Skies

The Zero-Cost Content Paradox

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The easiest way to translate a website

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