AI-Driven Smart Tagging and Metadata in AEM Assets

Managing digital assets, such as images, videos, documents, and creative files, is at the core of any modern content marketing strategy.  But as content libraries grow, manually tagging and organizing assets becomes inefficient and error prone. That’s where Adobe Experience Manager (AEM) Assets, combined with the AI power of Adobe Sensei, brings a game-changing solution: Smart Tagging and Metadata Enrichment.

In 2025, Adobe introduced major AI capabilities to AEM Assets, making digital asset management faster, smarter, and more intuitive than ever before.

The Problem: Scaling Content With Manual Tagging

Today’s enterprises manage thousands of digital assets across multiple campaigns, teams, regions, and platforms.  As content velocity increases, the traditional process of manually tagging and classifying each file becomes unsustainable and time-consuming.

Key Challenges:

• Time-Consuming: Manual tagging slows productivity
• Inconsistent Metadata: Varying tag styles cause confusion
• Poor Discoverability: Hard to search without proper tags
• Underused Content: Valuable assets get lost in clutter
• Scalability Issues: Manual methods can’t handle large volumes

The Solution: AI-Powered Smart Tagging With Adobe Sensei

Adobe Experience Manager solves this challenge through Smart Tagging and Metadata Enrichment, powered by Adobe Sensei—Adobe’s artificial intelligence and machine learning platform.

How It Helps:

• Auto-Generated Tags: Tags are instantly created when assets are uploaded
• High Accuracy: Tags are derived using pre-trained AI models with confidence scoring
• Consistent Classification: Uniform tags applied across all users and teams
• Improved Searchability: Tags and enriched metadata enhance asset discovery and reuse
• Scalable and Fast: Works seamlessly across hundreds or millions of assets without performance loss

Adobe Sensei Smart Tags revolutionizes how you manage digital content. This intelligent system auto-generates tag information for images, videos, and documents the moment they’re uploaded. When an asset triggers the “DAM Smart Tag Assets” workflow, Sensei meticulously analyzes everything from visual elements like trees and people to the overall context, such as a beach or hiking trail. It can even assess sentiment or dominant colors. The result? Highly accurate tags, each with a confidence score (e.g., “beach”: 95%), all stored in smarttag:tags and readily visible in the asset’s Smart Tags panel for faster, smarter asset discovery.

Required Packages and Tools for Smart Tagging in AEM

1. AEM Service Packs

• Install the latest AEM 6.5 SP (e.g., 6.5.20.0)
• Include Smart Content Services Feature Pack (com.adobe.cq.cq-scs-core)
• AEMaaCS handles this automatically

2. Cloud Config

• Go to Tools → Cloud Services → Adobe Sensei Smart Content Services
• Use IMS credentials and link config to DAM folders (via UI or CRX/DE)

3. Workflow Validation

• Ensure DAM Smart Tag Assets and DAM Update Asset workflows are active
• Reinstall DAM Workflow Package if missing

4. OSGi Bundles

• Check /system/console/bundles for:
  • Adobe CQ Smart Tagging Impl
  • Smart Content Services Integration
  • cq-dam-scene7-imaging

5. Optional: Custom Models

• For industry-specific tagging, request Adobe-trained custom models
• Upload datasets via Adobe I/O Console

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6. Permissions

• Grant Read/Write to:
  • /content/dam/, /conf/global/, /var/workflow/
• Allow execution of Smart Tag workflow

7. Package Verification

• Visit: http://localhost:4502/crx/packmgr/index.jsp
• Check for:
  • cq-smart-tagging-pkg-<version>.zip
  • cq-dam-core-pkg, cq-scene7-pkg

How Smart Tagging Works in AEM

To demonstrate Smart Tagging and Metadata Enrichment in AEM Assets, you typically work within Adobe Experience Manager as a Cloud Service (AEMaaCS) or AEM 6.5+ with Smart Content Services enabled.

Smart Tagging in AEM – Prerequisites

• AEM Version: Use AEMaaCS or 6.5+
• SCS License: Must be licensed from Adobe
• IMS Integration: Set up via Adobe Developer Console
• Enable SCS: Configure in Cloud Services → Adobe Sensei
• CRX/DE Config: Add smart tagging in .content.xml
• Permissions: Full access to /content/dam/, workflows, and cloud configs
• Workflow: “DAM Smart Tag Assets” must be enabled
• Metadata Schema: Include cq:tags, smarttag:*
• Internet Access: Required for on-prem to connect with Sensei

Here’s how we can structure this:

1. Enable Smart Content Services

In AEMaaCS, you need to integrate Smart Content Services via:

• Adobe IMS integration
• Enable Smart Content Services (SCS) via Adobe Console

2. Configure Smart Tagging via CRX/DE or Admin UI

Sample Configuration in CRX/DE:

json

/path/to/dam/myfolder/.content.xml

XML

<jcr:root
    xmlns:sling="http://sling.apache.org/jcr/sling/1.0"
    jcr:primaryType="sling:Folder"
    cq:tags="custom:campaign/my-campaign"
    smarttag:enable="true"
    smarttag:language="en"
    smarttag:model="default"
/>

3. Using Smart Tagging in AEM Assets

Smart Tagging can be triggered in two ways:

1. Via Assets UI
   • Navigate to Assets > Files
   • Select an asset → Click on “More Actions” > “Smart Tags”
   • Adobe Sensei will auto-generate relevant tags for the asset
2. Via REST API
   Use AEM’s Asset HTTP API to retrieve smart tags programmatically. Below is an example API call,

Bash

GET /api/assets/my-folder/my-image.jpg

Response JSON

{
  "name": "my-image.jpg",
  "smartTags": [
    {"tag": "nature", "confidence": 0.98},
    {"tag": "hiking", "confidence": 0.92},
    {"tag": "family", "confidence": 0.88}
  ],
  "metadata": {
    "resolution": "1920x1080",
    "language": "en",
    "colorSpace": "RGB",
    "theme": "outdoor",
    "sentiment": "positive"
  }
}

4. Smart Tagging Features to Observe in AEM UI

• Asset Upload Panel showing real-time tag preview
• Smart Tags Tab in asset properties (Metadata view)
• Metadata Preview with technical and AI-derived fields
• Search Results using tag filters like: nature, campaign:spring2025, etc.

Less Time Tagging, More Time Creating

Smart Tagging and Metadata Enrichment in AEM Assets aren’t just AI features; they’re a productivity revolution. They automate tagging and enriching digital assets, freeing up marketers, creatives, and developers to focus on innovation instead of tedious file management. This is crucial as demands for content and personalization continue to grow.