Window 24 - The Future of CMS in the Era of AI
Welcome to Advent of Strife and Window 24! 🎄✨ As we open this final window of the Advent of Strife, we can’t help but ask: What does “content management” really look like when AI can handle most of the workload?
What is a CMS, Really?
At its core, a Content Management System (CMS) is built on a few fundamental components:
Content Database: Where content is stored.
Management API: A way for systems and developers to interact with the content programmatically.
Management UI: The interface humans use to manage and organize content.
Delivery API: Enables content delivery to various platforms and devices.
Delivery Layer: Determines how content is presented and experienced by end-users.
Traditional CMS platforms tightly coupled these components, while Headless CMS systems separated them and put emphasis on structured content, offering developers and marketers greater flexibility. Simply put, a CMS is a content database with CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) capabilities and business logic embedded in the management UI and delivery layer. These tools empower users to create digital experiences, from websites to apps.
Today’s CMS Workflow
Currently, most content management tasks are still manual:
Marketers log into the CMS to create or update content.
Content delivery relies on templates and rules designed by developers.
While the Management UI supports many changes, certain tasks—like redesigning templates, updating business logic, or integrating with other systems—still require developers.
This “human-first” approach reflects the limitations of today’s CMS architecture, which is designed around manual input, human decisions, and collaboration.
Enter the AI Era
Now imagine AI taking over 50% of this workflow:
AI drafts, updates, and personalizes content.
Templates adapt automatically to improve user experience.
AI handles repetitive tasks, leaving humans to oversee and refine its work.
Fast forward further: AI manages 90% of the workflow. At this stage, the very need for a traditional Management UI comes into question. What remains essential? How do humans interact with a system where most work is automated or intelligently handled?
This shift isn’t limited to CMS. It’s happening across software categories—ERP, CRM, eCommerce. If AI can seamlessly manage databases and automate workflows, do we still need distinct applications for each domain? Or do they evolve into modular databases with AI agents orchestrating everything?
The AI Layer and CMS
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, describes AI as a “universal layer” that connects and transforms software. His thoughts on this are worth exploring—check out his interview on the BG2 podcast for insights into how rapidly this shift is happening.
The Headless CMS movement was an important step in preparing for an AI-driven future. Decoupling components, structuring content, and exposing content via APIs made it easier for AI to interact with CMS platforms. However, many CMS architectures—especially the Management UI and Delivery Layer—remain rooted in human-first design.
In an AI-first world, CMS platforms need to evolve:
Management UIs’ new scope: Instead of manual CRUD operations, the UI becomes an oversight tool where AI handles suggestions, executes changes, and learns from human feedback.
Delivery Layers become adaptive: AI dynamically generates and personalizes content delivery templates based on user behavior, removing much of the developer dependency.
Content becomes conversational: AI bridges the gap between humans and databases, responding to natural language commands, suggesting improvements, and automating updates.
Beyond CMS: AI as a Unifying Force
Zooming out, AI blurs the boundaries between software systems. CMS, ERP, CRM, and eCommerce platforms no longer need to be distinct tools. Instead, AI could orchestrate data and processes across these domains seamlessly.
For CMS vendors, this means embracing an AI-first architecture:
APIs built for AI: Beyond exposing content, APIs must optimize for AI-driven interactions.
Training the AI: Every human interaction is an opportunity to improve AI’s accuracy and capabilities, gradually making our input more and more valuable.
Redefining the UI: The Management UI may no longer be the centerpiece of CMS platforms, as AI takes over much of the workload across boundaries today expressed by software categories.
The Year Ahead
The Headless CMS movement brought flexibility, structure and scalability, but the rise of AI calls for a more fundamental transformation. The question isn’t just how we manage content anymore—it’s how AI can manage it for us and across domains. The good news is, as long as we haven’t reached Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) there are work to do for us CMS nerds 🙂