Sitecore Symposium 2025: Day 2 Recap

Sitecore Symposium Day 2: Key Insights on SaaS Without Compromise

If Day 1 defined the "what" (SitecoreAI and Agentic Orchestration), Day 2 was all about the "how"—and the deep focus was on uncompromising flexibility, and the importance of the human connection. My immediate takeaway from COO Dave Tilbury’s session, Marketing on Your Terms, was that Sitecore is serious about giving enterprises absolute SaaS freedom.

Tilbury introduced the concept of custom SaaS, effectively saying that the platform is no longer a one-size-fits-all product; it’s yours. This means you can go from scheduled publishing and multi-channel releases to:

• Tailoring the platform itself: Build your own custom logic and design proprietary AI agents.
• Creating extensions: Design and integrate your own extensions to give internal teams agility.
• Monetizizing solutions: Even more powerfully, you can monetize those custom solutions through the Marketplace.

This unparalleled flexibility is all centralized within SitecoreAI, the complete AI-enabled SaaS platform built on Microsoft Azure. It’s where the four connected environments converge within the innovation layer called Sitecore Studio. These environments are the Agentic Studio (for marketers to find, design and govern AI agents), the App studio (where developers and partners configure custom or public apps, extensions and AI agents), the Marketplace (where marketers and partners find and install public apps and AI agents), and Sitecore Connect (where customers integrate their tech stack using a library of built-in connectors).

Designed Intelligence: Purpose, Empathy, and the Frontier Firm

The next session provided the essential human counter-balance to the raw speed of AI. In a great fireside chat, Sitecore CMO Michelle Boockoff-Bajdek and Microsoft’s Talisha Padgett discussed how organizations adopt AI responsibly and creatively.

My analysis of their conversation boils down to the concept of the "Frontier Firm":

• Human direction: In the age of AI, humans aren't replaced; they become the directors. The core role of a human is to set the direction for AI agents to carry out.
• Amplification, not replacement: The focus must be on using AI to extend human imagination and design, not just to replicate. This reinvents the customer experience by generating insights, helping marketers be smarter and faster, and ultimately amplifying purpose and empathy.
• The single most important step: To thrive in this human-AI collab era, the biggest thing we can do differently is to be open to experimentation and let our role boundaries be permeable. Don't just use AI to fix the old process, but to reimagine the entire journey.

The Human Side of Digital: Client Stories That Change Lives

The power of Sitecore was truly validated by the client stories shared on Day 2. The customer panel, hosted by Dave Tilbury, felt more like a masterclass in impact—it showcased digital experiences that are actively changing lives in crucial sectors like healthcare and education. This session reminded me that the technology is ultimately about real, lasting human connection.

• General Assembly: Jourdan Hathaway (Chief Business Officer) shared a truly inspiring story of a former janitor who took their course and became a back-end developer at Shutterstock. This shows Sitecore is about more than scale; it's about purpose. They detailed how their AI agent, “Gabby,” converses with website users to solve their skill gaps and lead them to the right course—delivering people to a better future at scale.
• American Heart Association (AHA): Amelia Clark Cox (National VP of Digital Marketing) highlighted the necessity of human relevance at every single point of need. AHA uses Sitecore to personalize outreach, ensuring every person who visits the site finds the exact answers to their specific health questions immediately.
• WellSpan Health: This was, arguably, the most powerful story of the day. Mark Kandrysawtz (SVP & Chief Innovation Officer) showcased their autonomous AI chat agent, "Anna." Anna has surpassed 2 million interactions with zero errors that could cause harm. The emotional high point came when Anna engaged a gentleman about a colon cancer screening. He revealed he was scared due to a family loss. After a 12-minute conversation, the individual agreed to be screened—a success far exceeding human callers. My big takeaway here is that success must be measured on experience, not time.

These are truly changemakers. Their stories reminded me why we build and innovate—Sitecore is a catalyst for real-world change.

Looking Ahead: Reimagining Work with Paul Roetzer

The day closed with the highly anticipated keynote Paul Roetzer (Founder & CEO, SmarterX & Marketing AI Institute), who offered a necessary look at the future impact of AI on the marketing function itself. Roetzer also highlighted that businesses must leverage AI to open and create entirely new jobs—roles focused on AI Innovators, AI Operators, and AI Translators—rather than just efficiency.

• Marketing is fundamentally changing: Roetzer’s message was that AI will impact every knowledge worker. He drew a clear distinction: Optimization is using AI to do the same things better, faster, and cheaper. Transformation is teaching and guiding AI to reinvent the process entirely.
• The AI toolkit: He stressed that Generative AI—text, images, video, audio, code—is accelerating awareness and adoption everywhere. My final thought on his session is that marketing leaders need to focus less on small-scale efficiency (optimization) and more on creating an adaptable, resilient strategy (transformation).

Final Takeaway From Day 2

What did I learn on Day 2? The importance of the human connection through the power of Sitecore.

After seeing powerful client stories—from career transformations to life-saving healthcare experiences—it’s clear the future lies in using technology and the power of SitecoreAI to amplify excellent digital experiences and empathy.

Ready to define your strategic path. Contact us to discuss and assess building a plan to unlock the full value of SitecoreAI for your organization.