An AI prompt is not a product demo in 2026

Mathias in action presenting his live demo at the CMS Idols contest at CMS Kickoff 26

Sorry folks. An AI prompt is not a product demo in 2026. It’s no longer magic, and we’ve seen it all before. It certainly isn't content management, and it distorts customers’ perception of value. We need something else.

CMS Kickoff is a fantastic event that provides me with the insights and perspectives I need for a year in the CMS industry. However, I think I was the only person to demo a content management UI this year.

You can achieve great things with AI, but in a sea of workflow automations and wait animations, two things seem to have disappeared from the agenda. It’s hurting the industry.

When I see a CMS vendor demo an AI prompt, I wonder what they've done to their product. Is it gathering dust on the shelf? Where is the search for improved content management and governance?

It is missing from the equation:

  • Content management: While more content and personalization is great, it’s not content management. The sheer quantity of content begs for tools that ensure best practice. Well-managed content will live longer than any single campaign or website iteration.

  • Content governance: Consent fatigue is not the only risk. A CMS should support stewardship through the entire content lifecycle. A growing pool of content is not governed by a prompt; it is managed with a user interface.

These are essential needs for clients in the AI era, just as they were before. CMSs should continuously evolve and adapt to new realities, but the narrative has become warped.

This week in Florida, Karla Santi from Blend Interactive showed how agency customers are struggling to make decisions and plan effectively. I believe this is because they are being presented with AI workflows and content generation misconstrued as content management.

AI is changing quickly, but the need for real content management and content governance remains constant. With a flexible, adaptable, and sustainable CMS platform, customers get what they’ll always need, backed by confidence that their investment is future-proof.

Thanks to Janus Boye and Matthew Garrepy for hosting an event that renewed my purpose for the year ahead!