If you know us at ADHDEV, you know we look forward to Kentico Connection like Christmas. This year's conference in Prague was a little different—just for Partners—so some of the news is a bit hush-hush. But we're excited to share updates on the development of Xperience by Kentico, built-in AI tools like AIRA, e-commerce integrations, and migration strategies. Check out our summary from Czech Connection before we fly out to the next Kentico event in Miami next week!
Since the first version of Kentico CMS emerged from its shell over 20 years ago, the digital services market has survived several seismic shifts: the rise of social media, Mobilegeddon, COVID, and the demand for remote work, to name a few. Disruptive innovation related to AI is distinct in that it doesn't create immediate urgency. In his keynote, Kentico CEO Dominik Pinter touched on these observations.
When running a business, you likely recognize the value of integrating AI into various areas. But unlike past technological shifts, it doesn't appear essential for immediate survival—at least, not today. This transformation can be costly and, as a result, often postponed.
It's worth adopting a broader view of the evolving market—not to rush into AI adoption, but to strategically position your business for a world where AI will play an increasingly pivotal role for digital users. Kentico closely monitors market trends and proposes solutions designed to not only future-proof your digital assets but also enable smarter project budgeting.
Since the first version of Kentico CMS emerged from its shell over 20 years ago, the digital services market has survived several seismic shifts: the rise of social media, Mobilegeddon, COVID, and the demand for remote work, to name a few. Disruptive innovation related to AI is distinct in that it doesn't create immediate urgency. In his keynote, Kentico CEO Dominik Pinter touched on these observations. MARKETING TOOLS CONSOLIDATION
One of the big questions in tech in recent years—whether headless is merely a buzzword or, indeed, the future—seems to be finding a clear answer as more vendors move away from the pure headless model in favor of building their digital experience platforms. This is often achieved by acquiring and integrating third-party solutions into the existing system.
Kentico stands out by building its solutions in-house: one architecture, one API, one data model, and one consistent UI. There is no need for custom integrations or tying two separate systems together in a sailor's knot to make them work.
This approach reduces licensing costs—after all, you're using a single platform instead of multiple tools that require separate accounts. It also boosts security and significantly enhances the speed of all functions. In this last area, Xperience by Kentico achieves impressive results compared to the competition.
At the same time, Xperience by Kentico avoids joining the senseless race for feature count. Overbuilt analytics dashboards and excessive personalization tools often inflate platform prices without adding real value, as marketers tend to favor external tools for these tasks. From the outset of building its new platform, Kentico has prioritized honest feedback on the usefulness of its marketing features, ensuring the product remains streamlined and free from unnecessary clutter.
At the same time, Xperience by Kentico avoids joining the senseless race for feature count. Overbuilt analytics dashboards and excessive personalization tools often inflate platform prices without adding real value, as marketers tend to favor external tools for these tasks. From the outset of building its new platform, Kentico has prioritized honest feedback on the usefulness of its marketing features, ensuring the product remains streamlined and free from unnecessary clutter. WILL WEBSITES EVEN STILL BE A THING?
It's estimated that search engines will lose a quarter of their market share to AI solutions within two years, which will gradually take over as the online 'Hermes,' answering questions on everything from local pizza recommendations to complex inquiries.
According to Gartner's forecast, websites could see up to a 25% drop in traffic from browsers as users increasingly turn to AI for answers.
Where Xperience by Kentico truly excels compared to other content management platforms is in its simplified governance across multiple digital channels, ensuring content consistency.
Dominik Pinter provided a real-life example of the painful consequences that content inconsistencies can have on a business. He recounted how an AI consultant on the Air Canada website gave a client outdated information on refunds, resulting in a costly lawsuit for the company. While websites likely won't disappear as quickly as tech gurus predict, the web-centric approach is bound to fail. It makes much more sense to manage content from one centralized hub, distributing it across multiple channels. This is precisely the solution that Xperience by Kentico offers.
Where Xperience by Kentico truly excels compared to other content management platforms is in its
AIRA: AI THAT YOU CAN SIMPLY SWITCH ON
Although AI is The Thing in tech right now, open-source CMSs lag in implementing AI functions, as these capabilities typically rely on third-party solutions—a viewpoint shared at Kentico Connection in the AIRA presentation.
Kentico approaches this issue differently with its virtual AI assistant that supports the platform on many levels and is built and operated by the Kentico company itself.
The solution is designed to simplify life for marketers working across different channels and devices rather than to merely shine on the dashboard like a gold star.
AIRA can help you upload photos directly from your phone, process them, and create variants for various media within the DXP. It relieves content managers from tedious tasks like generating meta descriptions, alt text, or tags by assigning them automatically based on content and image analysis. Additionally, it simplifies the generation of newsletter content based on articles and vice versa.
From a business perspective, this approach saves time, and because AIRA is not an external tool connected to the platform but instead an integrated feature, it also helps reduce costs in the long run. This is yet another excellent example of tool and channel consolidation.
From a business perspective, this approach saves time, and because AIRA is not an external tool connected to the platform but instead an integrated feature, it also helps reduce costs in the long run. This is yet another excellent example of tool and channel consolidation.
E-COMMERCE FEATURES IN XPERIENCE BY KENTICO. SHOPIFY INTEGRATION
Currently, Xperience by Kentico does not (yet?) have native support for e-commerce features. However, Liam Goldfinch delivered an interesting presentation on the next best thing: integration with the currently most popular independent e-commerce platform, Shopify.
In addition to scalability, Kentico's integration with Shopify offers many other advantages that make it an attractive solution for e-commerce companies:
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Shopify is known for its low barrier to entry, thanks to its intuitive interface and no-code configuration capabilities, making it easier for marketers to manage products and promotions.
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Shopify provides flexible pricing models to suit the needs of both small and large businesses, offering subscription-based and transaction-based options.
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Shopify boasts an extensive ecosystem of applications and integrations, allowing companies to easily expand the functionality of their online stores with marketing, analytics, and logistics tools.
MIGRATION TOOLS SAVING REPLATFORMING COSTS
Much attention was given to migration tools during the presentations. There was an example of a partner who saved nearly 90% of the costs of migrating a client from Sitecore to Kentico. This example illustrates that migration tools can be crucial in the platform selection process, particularly for customers with budget constraints.
The availability of these tools significantly simplifies the transition for customers looking to switch from a platform that fails to meet their expectations to Kentico. This group is growing among users of large but often cumbersome systems like Sitecore or Sitefinity. This information is particularly relevant if you belong to this group and consider Xperience by Kentico as an alternative platform. The message is clear: there's no need to delay—replatforming is much easier than it might intuitively seem, and it can save your team time, stress, and costs sooner than you imagine.
XPERIENCE BY KENTICO ROADMAP
Debbie Tuček closed the Connection by reiterating three key areas: consolidation, customer journeys, and marketing effectiveness. In response to the fragmented data and tools marketers often grapple with, Kentico aims to create a unified dashboard for managing all aspects of digital experiences. The goal is to simplify marketers' tasks and provide them with a comprehensive view of their activities' effectiveness.
With increasing pressure on marketers to do more with fewer resources, Kentico offers support by investing in the development of AI-powered features like automatic content generation and personalization. These enhancements are designed to streamline tasks, allowing marketers to concentrate on the strategic elements of their roles.
In two weeks, we will attend the U.S. edition of this year's Kentico Connection in Miami, where we plan to cover the technical aspects of the presentations. We hope to see you there!
Interested in migration to Xperience by Kentico? Consult it with our Kentico Expert Team.
