The essence
- The early potential of AI. While AI is being integrated into digital experiences, practitioners remain cautiously optimistic as we are still in the early days of implementation.
- Important integrations. Acquia introduced AI-powered digital asset management (DAM) tools, making strides in content accessibility and personalization.
- Future of AI. The future of AI in digital experiences includes advancements in voice technology, image generation, and AI agents for more complex business processes.
NEW YORK CITY – The Acquia Engage 2024 conference at the Dotdash Meredith Events Center in Lower Manhattan was buzzing with excitement about the latest AI innovations in digital experiences (DX).
Okay, that was a big lie. It sounded great though. It’s New York City. City of opportunity, no sleep and endless folding, great, greasy pizza, the best in the world. Exciting things.
However, here’s the truth about our bot friends from the digital customer experience software world, which has been evident all year long and here at this two-day conference in the Big Apple: As cool as generative AI is, right now we’re in a Country of cautious optimism.
Even as Acquia, a Boston-based provider, debuted a number of AI integrations into its Digital Asset Management (DAM) capabilities, the real buzz in the halls at the conference from a few hundred practitioners was that AI has insane potential – and yet it is still only an early stage. 694 days after OpenAI’s ChatGPT debuted.
And here’s something else: huge changes are coming, and we are not prepared for them.
‘The mistake I see time and again in business, government and education is that everyone tries to keep track of where the models are now, but it is actually very clear where they will be in twelve to eighteen months. ,” said Paul Roetzer, CEO of the Marketing AI Institute, in his keynote on Thursday morning, October 24. “And I don’t know any organization that is really prepared for that. I’ve met some of the biggest companies in the world in the last six months, and I have yet to see a change management plan that says what will happen next.”
AI integration: the present and challenges
Kristen Bednar, associate director of digital experience at Mars, shared her views on integrating AI into website development. She confirmed that it is definitely still early on the ground floor.
“I think we’re starting to explore the space and also be very aware of some brand safety concerns so that we always have a human in the loop,” Bednar said. She emphasized that while the promise of productivity gains is clear, especially behind the scenes in coding and automation, it will take time to realize AI’s full potential.
“There’s training, processes and other things to bring it to life, and that takes time, which is appropriate,” Bednar added.
Bednar also noted that there is a live experimentation environment across all industries.
“I think we’ve seen some of that today, as part of that innovation, that kind of workflow, and it’s becoming a significant commitment at some level,” Bednar said. “I don’t think you can log into anything now without having the stars on the side and it saying, ‘Use your AI copilot.’ So I think it’s starting to get everywhere.”
However, she added: “I don’t think we know enough yet about the areas where it is most effective, or how to build it into the UX in a user-friendly way. …I think through experiments” We will all find the right path.”
Related article: How AI is transforming user experience design
AI’s Disruption and Opportunities: Build an AI Roadmap, AI Council
Roetzer said the AI models are moving and improving so quickly, and organizations don’t really have a choice to wait as the models keep getting smarter.
He outlined the challenges businesses face, especially in managing the disruption AI can cause. Roetzer urged leaders to be proactive, emphasizing that those who “fight through the uncertainty and the unknown and figure this out” will be the ones who thrive.
He also highlighted that AI adoption is accelerating, with data showing that 75% of people are using AI at work, although not all organizations are yet scaling this effectively. Roetzer’s advice for companies? Build an AI roadmap, initiate internal education, and form an AI council to responsibly assess and manage the impact of AI.
“It could be a marketing AI council. It could be an organizational AI council,” he said. “The key to that board is curious and passionate people. You can have people on it who don’t like AI or are afraid of it. That’s good. Welcome those opinions. Don’t rule out CMOs. I can’t tell you.” how many companies I go to that are building an AI board, and it’s the C-Suite without the CMO, without a salesperson, without a customer service rep. You have to have those people in the room accountable.
Related article: Is your marketing organization ready for generative AI?
AI: the role of personalization and content creation
At the Acquia Engage conference, several Acquia partners and third-party vendors shared their thoughts on how AI is transforming digital experiences. From personalization to content creation, the role of AI is significant, they told CMSWire.
One partner, Joshua Hover, director of DXP platforms Sitecore, Acquia and Optimizely, for Perficient, noted: “AI plays a critical role in the DX space as we see it transforming content and making content more accessible to users. More than ever, it delivers content that is relevant and helps drive engagement throughout our customer journey.”
Another key area where AI is proving useful is personalization. Another partner, Frederick Faulkner, VP of strategic marketing at Bounteous, explained: “Where I see the biggest impact of generative AI on DX platforms in 2025 will come down to personalization, whether it’s generative AI text running in the personalized content or image generation. That’s where marketers and DX platforms will find the biggest impact in 2025.”
The Future of AI: What’s Next?
As AI continues to evolve, its applications will become even more integrated into digital experiences, with technologies such as natural language processing (NLP), natural language generation (NLG) and AI-based customer journey optimization.
In 2022, we entered the generative AI phase where AI machines could suddenly create things, and this fundamentally changed the way we interact with technology, Roetzer said. The future of AI will include advances in voice technology, image generation, and even AI agents that will help with more complex business processes.
However, as Roetzer noted, there is still a lot of work to be done, especially when it comes to things like AI agents.
“They are unreliable today,” Roetzer said. “They’re going to make mistakes. They’re not accurate. They’re not secure. Fundamentally, I wouldn’t recommend that companies race to integrate AI agents today. We’re basically in experimentation mode, but they’re going to do that. ” become more reliable.”
As AI continues to reshape the landscape of digital experiences, one thing is clear: organizations must take a responsible approach to AI adoption. Education and proactive planning will be critical for companies that want to remain competitive and innovative.
“Regardless of your goal,” Roetzer said, “you have the ability to go the extra mile because we can make the future abundant and incredible, but it must be done in a responsible and people-centered way.”
