AI tools are introduced on top of existing workflows rather than embedded into how organisations plan, deliver, test, and optimise digital experiences.
As a result, early productivity gains tend to fade, teams revert to old habits, and executive leaders struggle to connect AI investment to business outcomes.
For digital leaders, the question is no longer whether to use AI in the CMS. It is whether the CMS is designed to support better business decisions.
From a publishing platform to decision-support system
Traditionally, CMS platforms have been treated as execution tools. Content is created, approved, and published, often with limited feedback loops and little connection to experimentation, performance, or optimisation.
Opal changes this dynamic. Rather than sitting outside the platform, it is embedded directly into Optimizely’s CMS, experimentation, and analytics tools. Campaign planning, content creation, experimentation, and optimisation happen within a single environment, guided by AI agents that can be further customised to understand context, performance, and intent of your target audience, business and industry.
This matters because executive leaders are not investing in AI to produce more content. They are investing to achieve outcomes such as:
- Faster speed to market
- Higher conversion and engagement
- Better use of existing teams
- Reduced operational risk
- Clearer return on digital investment
Opal’s value lies in how it supports these objectives across the full digital experience lifecycle.
How can you deliver better business outcomes with Opal
1. Reduce time from ideation to live experiences
One of the most common constraints we see is the delay between strategic intent and execution. Campaign ideas stall while briefs are written, tasks are coordinated, and dependencies are resolved across digital teams.
Forrester’s Total Economic Impact study of Optimizely One, commissioned by Optimizely, found that organisations improved productivity in creating digital experiences by up to 40 percent over time, contributing to a 446 percent ROI over three years. These gains are driven not by isolated automation, but by reducing friction across workflows.
Opal’s planning and campaign agents help teams translate objectives into structured briefs, task plans, worflows and channel recommendations directly within the CMS. This reduces manual setup and keeps teams aligned as work progresses.
2. Lower the barrier to experimentation whilst improving performance
Most organisations recognise the importance of experimentation, yet very few have operationalised it at scale. The challenge is not lack of ideas, but the effort required to plan tests, define metrics, analyse results, and act on insights.
Forrester’s research shows that organisations using Optimizely achieved digital conversion improvements of up to 8 percent by year three. Strategically, this reflects a shift from episodic testing to continuous optimisation.
Opal’s experimentation agents support teams by proposing test ideas, recommending success metrics, and summarising outcomes. This lowers the barrier to experimentation and allows more teams to participate in evidence-based decision-making.
3. Scale digital output consistently without increasing risk
As content production accelerates, many organisations struggle to maintain consistency across regions, teams, and channels. Review cycles become heavier, and governance slows delivery.
Opal’s content and tone agents help address this by generating content aligned to predefined brand guidance and trusted source material. This allows teams to move faster while maintaining control.
From an executive perspective, this is not about creative automation. It is about enabling scale without increasing risk, and ensuring that AI-supported content remains usable, compliant, and on-brand.
4. Improve team effectiveness and confidence
Another consistent finding in the Forrester study was improved employee experience and confidence. Teams using Optimizely One felt more empowered to act, with less dependency on specialist resources for routine tasks.
Because Opal is embedded within the CMS and analytics environment, marketers can ask questions, generate ideas, or summarise performance without switching tools. This reduces context switching and helps teams focus on decision-making rather than administration.
For leadership teams, this is a critical enabler of scale. Confident, autonomous teams move faster and make better decisions.
Where to start with Opal agents: strategic checklist
1. Align your Opal Strategy to clear experience outcomes
Define what success looks like, such as improving conversion on priority journeys, reducing time to market, increasing experimentation quality, or improving consistency across regions.
2. Map your core digital journeys
Focus first on acquisition journeys, campaign landing pages, key content hubs, and conversion paths. This creates faster learning and visible impact.
3. Start with planning and experimentation agents
Campaign planning and experiment ideation agents improve decision quality upstream and reduce wasted effort later.
4. Establish governance before scaling content
Define tone, terminology, compliance requirements, and trusted content sources early to avoid rework and build confidence.
5. Embed Opal into existing workflows
Use agents inside the CMS and experimentation tools rather than as separate steps. Treat AI as decision support, not final authority.
6. Measure impact beyond output
Track metrics such as time to launch, experimentation velocity, conversion uplift, and reduced reliance on development or external support.
7. Review and evolve usage
As teams mature, refine where agents add value and retire workflows that do not support outcomes.
AI as part of the digital operating model
AI will not fix broken processes or poor data. And it will not deliver growth if it sits outside the way teams actually work.
What Opal represents is a shift where AI becomes part of the digital operating model. When agents are embedded into the CMS, experimentation, and analytics stack, they help organisations plan better, move faster, and make decisions with greater confidence.
For senior leaders, the real question is not whether AI belongs in your digital platform. It is whether your platform is designed to turn insight into action, and action into measurable outcomes.
At DotCentric, we work with organisations to do exactly that. As an Optimizely Gold Partner, we help teams move beyond implementation and features, and focus on experience strategy, governance, experimentation, and measurable impact.
Are you considering how AI agents can improve your digital performance more consistently?
