The State of Content Operations and an Expensive Way to Be Stupid Episode
September 12, 2026 · 55:51 · Episode 339
This week, Ian and Cathy McKnight, Chief Problem Solver at Seventh Bear, discuss some research that she’s just published covering the State of Content Operations in 2026.
But first, they discuss Optimizely's recent retirement of the Digital Experience Platform (DXP) label, a prominent vendor in this category, but is the switch to an agent platform any better?
They then dig into Cathy’s research and discuss five key points:
Speed went up. ROI did not
AI wins here. Falls flat there
Three bottlenecks. None of them AI
It was never the AI.
Five reasons. None of them intelligence.
Then Ian moves to our virtual bar, The Rose and Rockstar, and joins Robert Rose, Chief Trouble Maker at Seventh Bear, to ask about something he heard Dr. Margaret Heffernan on the Uncensored CMO say: “AI is a very expensive way to be stupid.”
This leads them to explore the nuances of AI's impact on decision-making, industry knowledge, and marketing strategies. They discuss how AI can both enhance and hinder critical thinking, the importance of industry expertise, and the risks of over-reliance on technology.
Enjoy!
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The Links
The people:
Mentioned this week:
Brice Dunwoodie’s LinkedIn Post about retiring DXP
Optimizely Retires DXP Label, Bets Everything on Agent Platform
Robert’s article: Why AI Demands That Marketers Have Industry Expertise
Robert’s newsletter: Lens, his websites, robertrose.net and seventhbear.com
Rockstar CMO:
The Beat Newsletter that we send every Monday
Previous episodes and all the show notes: Rockstar CMO FM.
Track List:
We’ll be right back by Stienski & Mass Media on YouTube
Piano Music is by Johnny Easton, shared under a Creative Commons license
You can listen to this on all good podcast platforms, like Apple, Amazon, and Spotify.
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