This article was based on the interview with Featuring insights from Mark Wheeler, CMO at Storyblok by Greg Kihlström, AI and MarTech keynote speaker for The Agile Brand with Greg Kihlström podcast. Listen to the original episode here:
Marketers have never had more data, more tools, or more pressure to move fast. And yet, most are still waiting days—sometimes weeks—to publish a web update, launch a campaign, or fix a typo. Why? Because the CMS they depend on is a legacy system built for a slower, simpler digital world.
Mark Wheeler, CMO of Storyblok, thinks it’s time for marketers to reclaim their agility. In this conversation, he explains how API-first, composable CMS platforms are putting marketers back in control, why the developer vs. marketer bottleneck is finally being broken, and how AI and content architecture are converging to define the next era of digital growth.
Legacy CMS: A Drag on Creativity and Conversion
Wheeler doesn’t mince words when it comes to the state of most CMS platforms.
“We’ve created a latency that’s really holding us back,” he says. “Most marketers would love the opportunity to get stuff posted in about an hour. That isn’t today’s reality”
In the current model, everything from a homepage tweak to a product launch requires a ticket, developer time, and a waiting period that kills momentum. The result? Frustrated teams, missed opportunities, and marketing departments that feel more like traffic control than growth engines.
Add to that the increasing complexity of omnichannel delivery—content now needs to show up consistently across mobile, apps, digital signage, AI assistants, and yes, still the web—and the cracks in traditional CMS platforms become impossible to ignore.
Composability Flips the Power Dynamic
Storyblok is built on the idea that marketers shouldn’t have to wait for developers to move. With a composable, API-first architecture, developers define reusable components—templates that house images, headlines, copy, and structure. After that, marketers are in the driver’s seat.
“It’s a win-win,” Wheeler explains. “Marketers are empowered to publish themselves. Developers get to focus on the cool stuff instead of removing commas and changing headlines”
It’s a shift in mindset and workflow. Developers aren’t being replaced—they’re being freed up. And marketers aren’t just getting faster—they’re gaining the confidence to experiment, iterate, and tailor experiences without friction.
This model also makes it easier to manage personalization, localization, and experimentation. Content isn’t locked in a single format or channel. It’s structured, portable, and scalable.
API-First: The Key to Omnichannel and AI Search
As digital surfaces multiply, content consistency becomes more important—and more difficult. API-first systems offer a solution by centralizing content and distributing it wherever it’s needed.
“The move to headless and API-first means a singular source of content can span every screen and touchpoint,” Wheeler says
He tells the story of a department store offering an iPad discount online but not honoring it in-store—because the POS system didn’t sync with the marketing email. That disconnect erodes trust. With an API-first CMS, the content is consistent because it comes from one source, delivered dynamically to each endpoint.
And then there’s the AI piece. As generative search becomes more mainstream, API-first systems make content discoverable by AI agents—whether it’s Copilot, ChatGPT, or future search models. Wheeler warns that without this foundation, your content may become invisible.
“If you’re not thinking in API-first terms, you run the risk of being left out of the next wave of discovery,” he says
Context Is the New Creativity
Wheeler sees a creative renaissance happening—not in spite of all this technology, but because of it. With structured content, better data, and AI co-pilots, marketers can finally focus less on publishing logistics and more on shaping meaningful narratives.
“When you start to have this type of data and these types of tools, creativity can take you to a whole bunch of new places,” he says
His team is working on a propensity model that maps intent data to audience personas. The result? Nurture flows that adjust dynamically based on behavior. Low-intent contacts receive educational content. High-intent prospects get CTA-driven, time-sensitive messages.
And this goes beyond personalization—it’s about contextualization. Right content, right time, right tone.
“Personalization has been purchased by 8% and used by 0%,” Wheeler says, citing Storyblok’s CEO. “Too many campaigns are based on a single data point. That’s how personalization fails”
A Practical Path to Change
Of course, few companies can flip a switch and abandon their current CMS. Wheeler recommends a more realistic approach: start with a pilot.
“Pick the projects that matter—new campaigns, new product launches. Add a modern CMS in parallel. Show success, build confidence, and expand from there”
This allows teams to modernize gradually, retire legacy content in phases, and revisit outdated material with fresh eyes. It also avoids the trap of investing in shelfware—a common fate for many overhyped martech tools.
Conclusion
The CMS used to be a publishing tool. Now, it’s a strategic growth platform. And as Mark Wheeler makes clear, the brands that succeed going forward will be the ones that treat it that way.
Composable architectures, API-first content, and AI-assisted workflows don’t just make teams faster—they make them freer. Freer to experiment. Freer to personalize. Freer to meet customers where they are—no matter the channel, screen, or search engine.
Because in a world where timing is everything, the real advantage isn’t just content.
It’s control.orld where everyone is moving faster, the real edge belongs to the ones who are also thinking deeper.
