Perficient is honored to announce we’ve been named the 2025 Appian Partner Impact and Excellence Award winner for Delivery, marking the second consecutive year we’ve received this prestigious recognition. This award celebrates our continued commitment to delivering rapid, high-quality outcomes on the Appian Platform that consistently exceed client expectations across industries.

With deep expertise across healthcare, automotive, energy, and manufacturing, our Appian practice achieved impressive milestones this year—including a 30% increase in revenue, a nearly 2X growth in pipeline, and a 40% expansion of our offshore delivery capabilities. These results reflect a strong, collaborative partnership with Appian and a relentless focus on value-driven delivery.

“Winning this award two years in a row speaks volumes about the consistency, dedication, and excellence of our global team,” said Mwandama Mutanuka, Managing Director, Automation. “We’ve scaled our Appian practice with purpose—expanding our reach, deepening our expertise, and remaining relentlessly focused on what matters most: delivering outcomes for our clients.”

In 2025, Perficient supported major Appian wins with a leading managed healthcare provider and a U.S. health insurance company, while continuing to drive innovation across commercial, federal, and SLED sectors. Our delivery model, powered by 100% Perficient-owned global centers, ensures seamless execution and high-touch partnership across every engagement.

“This recognition from Appian is not just an award—it’s a reflection of the impact we’re making,” said Craig Peterson, Appian Practice Director. “From accelerating digital transformation in healthcare to modernizing federal applications, our team delivers with precision and purpose. We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished, and even more excited about what’s next.”

Perficient + Appian

As a leading digital consultancy, Perficient helps clients accelerate transformation with Appian’s low-code automation platform. From process optimization to AI-driven workflows, our solutions deliver measurable value across healthcare, financial services, manufacturing, and more.

Learn more about how we partner with Appian at:

https://www.perficient.com/partners/appian

Salesforce Connections 2025 is quickly approaching, and Perficient is excited to be part of it.  On June 11–12, we’re heading to McCormick Place in Chicago and joining virtually on Salesforce+ to connect with marketers, commerce leaders, and innovators shaping the future with AI. 

Here’s what you need to know before the event: 

When and Where: 

• Dates: June 11–12, 2025 

• Location: McCormick Place, Chicago 

• Online Access: Available via Salesforce+ 

Why It Matters:
Connections is where the future of marketing takes shape. This year, the focus is on agentic marketing, using AI agents to free marketers for more creativity, strategy, and impact. It’s about working smarter and delivering more personalized customer experiences at scale. 

What You Can Expect: 

• 270+ sessions on agentic strategies, AI innovation, and customer experience 

• Hands-on demos with Agentforce, Data Cloud, Marketing Cloud, and more 

• Expert insights into blending marketing, sales, and service into connected experiences 

• New ideas to tackle real-world challenges and drive meaningful growth 

Join Us at Our Happy Hour:
We’re kicking off Connections with a private Happy Hour at Fatpour Tap Works – McCormick on Tuesday, June 10. Join us for curated drinks, small bites, and real conversations, steps away from McCormick Place. Space is limited, so send us a note if you would like to attend. 

Stay Tuned for More:
We’re also hosting an exclusive, invite-only dinner during Connections for deeper conversations about the future of marketing and AI. Keep an eye out for more details soon, you won’t want to miss it. 

Why We’re Going:
Salesforce Connections is the perfect place to exchange ideas, showcase new capabilities, and strengthen the partnerships that drive success. We’re ready to explore what’s next, and we look forward to connecting with clients, partners, and peers who are focused on moving business forward. 

Explore Your Salesforce Health with PrecisionIQ
Our new PrecisionIQ assessment is available now to help you evaluate your organization’s marketing maturity and AI readiness. It’s a quick, insightful way to benchmark where you are and identify where to go next. Contact us to learn more.  

If you’ll be at Connections — in Chicago or online — let’s connect. See you there. 

Your Salesforce platform holds massive potential but are you getting the most out of it? 

With our PrecisionIQ Assessment, Perficient gives enterprise teams a clear view of what’s working, what’s not, and what’s next. If AI feels out of reach, adoption is stalling, or ROI is hard to prove, the problem isn’t the platform, it’s the gaps between people, process, and data. 

As business evolves, even strong systems fall out of sync. PrecisionIQ uncovers those blind spots and gives you a strategic roadmap to close them fast. 

A Clear Path Forward for Your Salesforce Platform 

The PrecisionIQ Assessment is a strategic assessment designed to help you realign Salesforce with your business goals. We analyze how your people, processes, and platform work together (or don’t), and deliver a roadmap to optimize performance, reduce inefficiencies, and scale smarter. 

What you’ll gain: 

• A full view of how Salesforce is being used today 

• Clear recommendations to streamline and improve performance 

• A roadmap to prepare for AI, automation, and future growth 

• Actionable insights to reduce technical debt and improve data quality 

• Confidence that your platform is supporting, not slowing, your strategy 

Common Signs You’re Ready for a PrecisionIQ Assessment

Not sure if your Salesforce org needs help? Many of our clients come to us facing familiar challenges: 

• Slow system performance and lagging user experience 

• Technical bloat from years of customization and patches 

• Inaccurate or duplicate data leading to poor reporting 

• Disconnected integrations that disrupt workflows 

• Low user adoption or lack of visibility into platform usage 

• Security risks from outdated governance or access controls 

PrecisionIQ identifies the root causes behind these issues and helps you address them before they affect your outcomes. 

Tailored Solutions for Your Industry 

Every organization is different but most face the same need for better visibility, alignment, and readiness for what’s next. Whether you’re in: 

• Manufacturing, where we improve planning and production performance 

• Healthcare, where we support data-driven decision-making and care coordination 

• Financial Services, where we modernize legacy systems and reduce risk 

We bring cross-industry expertise and a proven framework to deliver results. 

What You Can Expect from a PrecisionIQ Engagement 

Each assessment includes expert guidance, practical recommendations, and measurable outcomes: 

• Scorecards that benchmark your current performance 

• Findings & Recommendations that connect fixes to business goals 

• Customized guide with prioritized, actionable next steps 

We make the invisible visible and give your team a clear plan for making the most of your Salesforce investment. 

Why Perficient 

Perficient brings the strategy, scale, and specialization needed to get Salesforce right. 

As an Agentforce Partner Network member with deep expertise in Salesforce Data Cloud, we help enterprise teams accelerate modernization and unlock real value from their platform. 

• 15+ years of Salesforce experience 

• 1,600+ certifications 

• 595+ enterprise projects delivered 

• 4.8/5.0 CSAT score 

• Trusted by Fortune 1000 companies across healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing 

Ready to see what your Salesforce platform is capable of? 

Get your PrecisionIQ Assessment today.

In the first blog post of this three-part Solution Highlight series featuring a proven leader in defense-grade, high assurance cyber security solutions, I will cover Oracle Revenue Management.  My colleague, Mehmet Erisen will share his views on Global Supply Chain Management including Manufacturing with OSP and intercompany order fulfillment across business units featuring Oracle Supply Chain Management. We’ll round out the series with the third and final blog post focused on Salesforce to Order Cloud integration. 

About Our Client: a trailblazer in the cyber security space, our client needed the ability to automate its complex and manual revenue allocation processes. 

Challenge

• Manual revenue recognition processes leading to errors and delays 

• Difficulty in complying with ASC 606 / IFRS 15 standards 

• Lack of real-time visibility into revenue reporting 

Solution

Implemented Oracle Revenue Management – Managing Bundles and Stand-alone Selling Price (SSP)  

Oracle Fusion ERP provides robust functionality for managing and automating the implementation of product bundles and determining the SSP for revenue recognition under ASC 606 and IFRS 15 standards. Key highlights include: 

• Revenue Management: Automates revenue processing tasks, minimizing manual interventions, allowing organizations to comply efficiently and consistently with the ASC 606 and IFRS 15 core principles 

• Bundling Capabilities: Allows seamless configuration and management of product/service bundles with clear pricing structures 

• Automation and Scalability: Automates complex revenue allocation processes, improving efficiency and scalability 

• Real-time Analytics: Provides insights into sales trends and SSP analysis, enabling data-driven pricing strategies 

Benefits

• Reduced Manual Effort – Eliminated spreadsheet-based tracking 

• Improved Accuracy – Minimized revenue leakage and misreporting 

• Faster Close Cycles – Automated recognition speeds up month-end close 

• Regulatory Compliance – Ensured adherence to ASC 606 / IFRS 15 

• Enhanced Visibility – Real-time insights into revenue performance 

Oracle Revenue Management Cloud enables organizations to automate revenue recognition, reduce compliance risks, and gain real-time financial insights. This solution delivers value for companies with complex revenue streams, such as SaaS, manufacturing, and professional services. 

This solution is particularly effective for companies looking to streamline revenue recognition while maintaining compliance and operational efficiency.  

Let me know if you’d like a deeper dive into any of these features! 

Sitecore Connect is Sitecore’s low-code integration platform designed to easily automate workflows between Sitecore and external systems, without heavy custom coding. If you’re new to Sitecore Connect or want a deeper understanding of when and how to use it, check out these helpful resources:

• When to Choose Sitecore Connect: Solving Integration Challenges
• Understanding Sitecore Connect: Building Integrations with Recipes

In this practical example, we’ll demonstrate how to use Sitecore Connect together with OpenAI to send a page URL and fetch AI-generated meta tags (like meta title and meta description) to enrich the page’s SEO.

We will walk through:

• Setting up a connection to OpenAI using Sitecore Connect’s HTTP app
• Building a recipe that:
  • Triggers when a page is created or updated
  • Sends the page URL to OpenAI with a prompt asking for meta tags
  • Receives and processes AI-generated meta title and meta description

This approach enhances your content creation workflows by generating smart SEO metadata at scale, using minimal manual effort and maximum AI power.

Step 1: Creating a Connection with OpenAI

To start integrating OpenAI with Sitecore Connect, the first step is to create a connection using your OpenAI API key.

Follow these steps:

1. Obtain the API Key:
   • Login to your OpenAI account (such as through OpenAI portal).
   • Navigate to your account settings and generate an API key.
     (Keep this key safe as you will need it for authentication.)
2. Create a New Connection:
   • In Sitecore Connect, click on the Create Connection button.
3. Choose OpenAI from the App Library:
   • A list of available apps will be displayed.
   • Use the search bar to find “OpenAI” and select it.
   • Click on Create Connection.
4. Configure the Connection:
   • Enter the following details:
     • Name: Provide a meaningful name for your connection (e.g., “OpenAI Meta Tag Generator”).
     • Location: Select the workspace or folder where you want the connection saved.
     • API Key: Paste the API key you copied from your OpenAI account.
5. Authenticate and Test:
   • Click on the Connect button.
   • Sitecore Connect will attempt to authenticate with OpenAI using the provided API key.
   • If the authentication is successful, your connection will be created and ready to use.

With the OpenAI connection established, we can now move on to building a recipe to send page URLs and retrieve meta tag suggestions!

Step 2: Building the Recipe Function to Send Page URL and Fetch Meta Tags

Now that the connection to OpenAI is ready, let’s create a Recipe Function in Sitecore Connect.
This allows you to call the function from anywhere (like another recipe or an external system) by passing the page URL dynamically.

Follow these updated steps:

1. Create a New Recipe Function:
   • In Sitecore Connect, go to the Recipes section.
   • Click on Create Recipe.
   • In the trigger selection screen, choose Build a Recipe Function.
     (This creates a callable function, not a direct event-based recipe.)
2. Add Input Parameter for Page URL:
   • After creating the function, Sitecore Connect will prompt you to define input parameters.
   • Add a new parameter:
     • Name: Page URL
     • Type: Text / String
   • This parameter will allow the function to receive any page URL dynamically.
3. Select App and Action:
   • Once the function is ready, click on Add an Action.
   • The App Library will open.
   • Using the connection you created earlier,select OpenAI from the available apps.
4. Choose the Action Type:
   • After selecting OpenAI, you will see a list of available actions.
   • Select the Send a Message action.
   • It provides 2 options Single message and Chat transcript.
   • I chose Single Message as the message type for this case.
   • 

Now, in the Message Content to OpenAI, configure it carefully:

Prompt to OpenAI:

• Here, {Page URL} dynamically uses the Page URL input parameter you defined in Step 2.

This ensures that OpenAI receives the correct URL, understands the task, and responds in a structured JSON output ready for further processing.

After setting this message, you will be ready to handle and use the response in the next steps!

Step 3: Handling the OpenAI Response

Once OpenAI processes the URL and sends back a response, we need to parse the result and map it to usable fields inside Sitecore Connect.
This step ensures the meta title and meta description are correctly extracted and available for further use.

Follow these steps:

1. Parse the JSON Response:
   • After the OpenAI action, add a Parse JSON step.
   • Configure it to parse the body of the response you get from OpenAI.
   • Define the expected schema based on the format you instructed OpenAI to return:
   • {
   •   “meta_title”: “string”,
   •   “meta_description”: “string”
   • }
   • Sitecore Connect will now recognize meta_title and meta_description as separate variables you can use.
2. Use the Parsed Data:
   • After parsing, you can now:
     • Return the meta title and meta description as the output of the Recipe Function.
     • OR, if part of a larger automation, map these fields directly into your Sitecore items.
3. Test the Flow:
   • Use the Test function inside Sitecore Connect.
   • Provide a sample Page URL as input.
   • Run the recipe function and validate that:
     • OpenAI is called correctly.
     • The JSON response contains the expected meta title and meta description.
     • The fields are parsed and mapped properly.

Conclusion

By using Sitecore Connect and OpenAI together, you can create powerful, scalable automations that enhance your content operations.
In this example, it is showed how to send a page URL to OpenAI, fetch SEO metadata, and integrate it seamlessly into Sitecore workflows — all without writing heavy custom code.

This type of automation opens new possibilities for smarter, faster content management at enterprise scale.

There´s no doubt that certifications can speed up and accelerate business growth in many ways. Of course, it´s not the only factor but certainly they play a big part in being a partner-certified consultancy like Perficient is. Certifications provide a reliable technical validation that demonstrates expertise. So, in a competitive market, when a client is looking for a high degree of skill or competence, certifications can contribute as a differentiator in the “big tech ecosystem” showing not only commitment to quality standards but also concern for keeping skills up to date.    

Surviving in the “big tech ecosystem”

In nature, the key to success in ecosystems is the interaction between the parts, linking them to balanced cycles where energy flows and nature flourishes.[1] Technology ecosystems are like natural ones, representing interconnected networks of platforms, applications, developers, partners, and users that collaborate to create greater value than any single part could achieve independently. As in nature, in today’s hyperconnected world, the most successful organizations cannot afford to be isolated. Interaction also is the key to success, leveraged by collaboration, integration and continuous evolution. At Perficient, we know exactly that real impact is always driven through connections among the parts, carefully cultivated to make the difference in the “big tech ecosystem”. Like living ecosystems, we maximize interaction knowing that technology ecosystems outstand whenever they work together so they can thrive on diversity, interdependence, and continuous adaptation.

Creating value through a virtuous cycle

A fundamental part of tech ecosystems is how expertise is being demonstrated. Certifications whenever they are aligned with business projections excel proficiency, elevating business across multiple dimensions to rocket fuel growth. At Perficient, we champion progress through our commitment to certification investments aligned with our market positioning and target client needs, not only because it represents growth for everyone, but also because it vouches our expertise. So, in this virtuous cycle, every time that a colleague takes a certification, value is added for all the parts in favor of the ecosystem.

Where true impact relies

As mentioned, certifications have a direct impact in multiple dimensions. They serve as market differentiators for better positioning when clients are evaluating options, highlighting unique advantages that contribute to standing out from competitors. They can also expand service offerings, as the knowledge gained by a certification leverage for new service lines or enhancing ones. Therefore, they open doors to new co-selling opportunities and accelerate sales cycles as capabilities are easy to verify. And if we´re talking about sales, they can definitely improve profit margins. They are also a powerful tool to help colleagues with upskilling and reskilling with a direct impact on their professional development and adaptability to the market, encouraging their willingness to accredit skills, continue learning and evolving with the industry. They boost professional growth, promoting the adherence of best industry practices through standardized methodologies, contributing to career advancement. Consequently, this conducts to operational excellence that has a direct effect on project outcomes creating consistent quality frameworks, reducing implementation variations, streamline solution development processes and rework costs.

Final Thoughts

Conclusively there´s no doubt that certifications rocket fuel growth for everyone. They play a significant role in tech ecosystems, whenever they are aligned with business projections, demonstrating expertise and acting as differentiators in the “big tech ecosystem”. Certifications not only speed up and accelerate business growth delivering substantial measurable value to clients creating exceptional business results but also have a direct impact on career development for colleagues. So, in the end they´re a win-win for everyone.

[1] Ecosystem – Wikipedia

As my clients start to harness the power of AI to drive innovation and improve operational efficiency, the journey to production is fraught with challenges, including ethical considerations, risk management, and regulatory compliance. Perficient’s PACE framework offers a holistic approach to AI governance, ensuring responsible and effective AI integration. By leveraging IBM watsonx.governance, enterprises can streamline this process, ensuring robust governance and scalability.

Starting Point

The implementation of the PACE framework using IBM watsonx.governance begins with a clear understanding of the enterprise’s AI goals and readiness. This involves:

1. Assessment of AI Readiness: Evaluating the current state of AI within the organization, including existing capabilities, infrastructure, and stakeholder buy-in.
2. Defining Objectives: Establishing clear, measurable goals for AI integration that align with business objectives and ethical standards.
3. Stakeholder Engagement: Ensuring that all relevant stakeholders, from executives to technical teams, are engaged and informed about the AI governance strategy.

Challenges

Several challenges may be encountered during the implementation process:

1. Ethical and Regulatory Compliance: Navigating the complex landscape of AI ethics and regulatory requirements can be daunting. IBM watsonx.governance provides tools to automate compliance management, but continuous monitoring and adaptation are necessary.
2. Risk Management: Identifying and mitigating risks associated with AI systems, such as biases and security vulnerabilities, requires robust oversight and auditing mechanisms. IBM watsonx.governance’s risk management capabilities can help address these challenges.
3. Cultural Resistance: Promoting advocacy and adoption of AI within the organization may face resistance. Continuous education and collaboration are essential to overcome this barrier.
4. Scalability: Ensuring that AI governance processes can scale with the growth of AI initiatives is crucial. IBM watsonx.governance offers lifecycle governance tools to manage this scalability effectively.

Connecting IBM watsonx.governance to the PACE Framework

IBM watsonx.governance offers several features that align perfectly with the principles of the PACE framework:

1. Policies: IBM watsonx.governance helps define and enforce corporate guidelines for AI usage through automated compliance management tools. These tools simplify the identification of regulatory changes and translate them into enforceable policies, ensuring that AI systems adhere to established standards.
2. Advocacy: The platform supports continuous education and collaboration by providing insights and metrics that can be shared across the organization. This fosters a culture of understanding and adoption of AI, aligning with the advocacy component of the PACE framework.
3. Controls: IBM watsonx.governance offers robust risk management capabilities, including automated risk metrics and bias detection tools. These features enable enterprises to conduct thorough audits and maintain oversight of AI systems, ensuring they operate within acceptable risk parameters.
4. Enablement: The platform provides lifecycle governance tools that monitor and manage the complete AI lifecycle, from model selection to deployment, monitoring, and replacement. This ensures that technology teams have the necessary resources and support to innovate responsibly.

Measuring Success with the PACE Framework

Success in implementing the PACE framework with IBM watsonx.governance can be measured through several key indicators:

1. Compliance and Risk Metrics: Monitoring compliance with ethical standards and regulatory requirements, as well as tracking risk metrics to ensure AI systems are secure and reliable.
2. Stakeholder Engagement: Assessing the level of engagement and understanding among stakeholders, including feedback from continuous education initiatives.
3. Operational Efficiency: Evaluating improvements in operational efficiency and innovation resulting from AI integration.
4. Business Impact: Measuring the tangible business impact, such as revenue growth, cost savings, and customer satisfaction, resulting from AI initiatives.

By integrating Perficient’s PACE framework with IBM watsonx.governance, large enterprises can confidently embrace AI, driving innovation while ensuring responsible and ethical AI usage. This combined approach not only mitigates risks but also accelerates the adoption of AI, paving the way for a transformative impact on business operations and customer experiences.

When it comes to cycle counting, the first thing that comes to mind is ABC classifications of the items and then a cycle count program to count items throughout the year on a continuous basis.

There is nothing wrong with the ABC classifications if the organization is mature enough with its items and the classification criteria is going to be somewhat stable during the year. For example, the classification criteria is the on-hand quantities, that classification is only good at the time of creation. Three months later, the classification could be different. What if the company adds new items and starts transacting? There are a few challenges with the traditional ABC Classifications.

Category-based Cycle Counts

Oracle recently rolled out Category-based cycle counts in Oracle Fusion. In my opinion, it’s a powerful tool that could easily replace the ABC model.  I believe that the Category-based Cycle Counts has various advantages over ABC Classification:

• If all items are the same for cycle counting purposes, use an existing catalog, or see if any of the other catalogs can be used
• If none of the existing catalogs work, then create a Cycle Count Catalog
• Assign your items to the catalog: in our experience, this approach is more intuitive for most companies than performing the ABC classifications.
• Create a Category-based cycle count and let Oracle create counts based on the categories

The clear advantage with this approach is the flexibility of adding items and changing the item’s classification or category at any given time without cumbersome setups and IT work.

Another added benefit is that Oracle Fusion Cycle base can be used to perform highly accurate counts, if performing manual counts.

I will cover the newly improved Cycle Count pages with Redwood Experience in my next blog.  As a preview of that blog, Oracle is not improving direct manual classification and that may make the usage of ABC Classification attractive again.

This new approach to perform Cycle Counts in Oracle Fusion Supply Chain is a powerful tool worth exploring.

Contact Mehmet Erisen at Perficient for more introspection of this functionality, and how Perficient and Oracle Fusion Cloud can digitalize and modernize your ERP platform.

In Part 2, we integrated Azure AI Search with Azure Personalizer to build a smarter, user-focused experience in Optimizely CMS. We used ServiceAPI to send CMS content to Azure AI Search. In Part 3, we’ll take things a step further: enabling users to ask natural language questions and get AI-powered answers. But here’s the twist: instead of using ServiceAPI, this time we’ll explore how to query indexed content directly using Azure AI Search’s REST API.

Why Natural Language Q&A?

Sometimes users don’t know the exact keywords. They ask things like:

“How do I return a product?” “Can I book a demo?”

With OpenAI on Azure and the semantic capabilities of Azure AI Search, your website can now understand those queries and provide helpful, contextual responses.

Architecture Overview

1. CMS content is indexed by Azure AI Search (via ServiceAPI or crawler).
2. The search index is enriched with semantic settings.
3. A user types a natural language query.
4. Your backend uses Azure Search’s Semantic Search + Azure OpenAI (chat/completion API) to return a contextual answer.

Using Azure Search API to Extract Content

You can directly access indexed content using the Azure Search REST API. Here’s an example of how to fetch top 5 results:

public async Task<List<string>> SearchAzureContentAsync(string query)
{
    var searchServiceName = "<your-search-service-name>";
    var indexName = "<your-index-name>";
    var apiKey = "<your-api-key>";

    using var client = new HttpClient();
    client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("api-key", apiKey);

    var url = $"https://{searchServiceName}.search.windows.net/indexes/{indexName}/docs?api-version=2021-04-30-Preview&search={query}&$top=5";
    var result = await client.GetStringAsync(url);
    
    var json = JsonDocument.Parse(result);
    var docs = new List<string>();

    foreach (var item in json.RootElement.GetProperty("value").EnumerateArray())
    {
        docs.Add(item.GetProperty("content").GetString());
    }

    return docs;
}

Generate Answer Using Azure OpenAI

Once we retrieve relevant documents, we’ll pass them into Azure OpenAI to generate a contextual answer:

public async Task<string> AskOpenAiAsync(string question, List<string> context)
{
    var prompt = $"""
You are a helpful assistant. Based on the following content, answer the question:

{string.Join("\n\n", context)}

Question: {question}
Answer:
""";

    var openAiKey = "<your-openai-key>";
    var endpoint = "https://<your-openai-endpoint>.openai.azure.com/openai/deployments/<deployment-name>/completions?api-version=2022-12-01";

    var payload = new
    {
        prompt = prompt,
        temperature = 0.7,
        max_tokens = 200
    };

    using var client = new HttpClient();
    client.DefaultRequestHeaders.Add("api-key", openAiKey);
    var response = await client.PostAsync(endpoint, new StringContent(JsonSerializer.Serialize(payload), Encoding.UTF8, "application/json"));

    var result = JsonDocument.Parse(await response.Content.ReadAsStringAsync());
    return result.RootElement.GetProperty("choices")[0].GetProperty("text").GetString();
}

Integrate with Optimizely CMS

You can create a controller like this:

public class QnAController : Controller
{
    [HttpPost]
    public async Task<ActionResult> Ask(string question)
    {
        var docs = await SearchAzureContentAsync(question);
        var answer = await AskOpenAiAsync(question, docs);
        return Json(new { answer });
    }
}

And on your view:

<form method="post" id="qnaForm">
  <input type="text" name="question" placeholder="Ask a question..." />
  <button type="submit">Ask</button>
</form>
<div id="answer"></div>

<script>
  $('#qnaForm').submit(function(e) {
    e.preventDefault();
    const question = $('input[name=question]').val();
    fetch('/QnA/Ask', {
      method: 'POST',
      headers: {'Content-Type': 'application/json'},
      body: JSON.stringify({ question })
    })
    .then(r => r.json())
    .then(data => $('#answer').text(data.answer));
  });
</script>

Summary

This wraps up the final puzzle piece: letting users speak freely with your Optimizely site, while AI interprets and responds in real-time. From content indexing to re-ranking to full-on Q&A, your CMS is now intelligent, conversational, and user-first. Want to see this in action? Stay tuned for the sample repo and video walkthrough!

The blog is also published here Natural Language Q&A in Optimizely CMS Using Azure OpenAI and AI Search

If you are a Game of Thrones fan, you are probably familiar with the “winter is coming” phrase.  When it comes to Oracle Fusion, the Redwood experience has been coming for years, but now it’s almost here.

Oracle is in the process of overhauling the whole fusion suite with what they call the “Redwood Experience.” The newly designed Redwood pages are not only responsive and more powerful than their ancestors, but they bring great capability to the table.

• Redwood pages are built for the future. They are all AI-ready and some come with pre-built AI capabilities.
• They are geared toward a “Journey Guide” concept, so enterprise-level software implementations are no longer full of “technical jargon.”
• The new AI Studio and the Visual Studio give Oracle Fusion clients the ability to modify the application for their business needs.

How to Move Forward with the Redwood Experience

Adopting to Redwood is not a straightforward task.  Every quarterly release, Oracle will add more and more pages with the Redwood design, but how do you adopt and take on to the Redwood experience and explore AI opportunities?

1. First, deploy the setup screens where Redwood experience is available.
2. Second, review quarterly updates and decide what screens are mature enough to be deployed.
3. Third, review is the new design is beginning new functionality or lacking any functionality. For instance, Oracle Work Definition Redwood pages are bringing new functionality, whereas the newly designed Order Management pages won’t support certain flows.  Having said that, Order Management screens brings so much when in comes to AI capabilities, if the “not yet available” features is not a business requirement, moving to the Redwood experience will bring efficiency in customer service and much better user experience.
4. Fourth, have a game plan to roll out with your pace. With the cloud, you are in total control of how and when you roll out the SCM pages. According to Oracle, there isn’t yet a definitive timeframe that Oracle will make the Redwood pages mandatory (04/2025).  Please note that some of the pages are already in play and some made have been mandatory.

User acceptance and adoption comes with time, so the sooner the transition begins, the more successful the implementations will go. Perficient can help you with your transition from traditional Fusion or legacy on-prem applications to the SCM Redwood experience. When you are ready to take the first step and you’re looking for some advice, contact us. Our strategy is to craft a path for our clients that will make the transition as seamless as possible to the user community and their support staff.

New modern looking newly designed Manage Manufacturers Redwood Experience with built-in AI Assist

Below are the Supply Chain features Oracle has released from release 24D to 25B. (2024 Q3- 2025 Q2) only for Inventory Management and yet it is an overwhelming list.  Please stay tuned for our Redwood series that will be talking about select features.

The 2025 Work Trend Index Annual Report, titled “The Year the Frontier Firm Is Born,” explores the transformative impact of AI on business and knowledge work. This comprehensive report delves into how AI is reshaping organizations, creating new roles, and redefining workflows. “Frontier Firms” are redefining how we perceive teamwork by synergizing human judgment and AI agents.

Understanding Frontier Firms

The term “Frontier Firm” refers to companies that are seamlessly integrating AI into their workforce, revolutionizing traditional operations. According to the Work Trend Index, these firms are twice as likely to be thriving as their counterparts. This success is reflected in the optimistic outlook of their employees—93% of workers in these firms feel positive about the future, compared to 77% in other companies.

Becoming a Frontier Firm

The journey to becoming a Frontier Firm involves three different levels of maturity:

1. Human with Assistant: AI acts as an assistant, helping employees work better and faster.
2. Human-Agent Teams: AI agents join teams as digital colleagues, taking on specific tasks at human direction.
3. Human-Led, Agent-Operated: Humans set direction for agents that run entire business processes and workflows.

New Terms for a New World of Work

The report introduces several terms:

• Agent: An AI-powered system that can autonomously complete tasks or workflows with human oversight.
• Agent Boss: A human manager of one or more agents.
• Capacity Gap: The deficit between business demands and the maximum capacity of humans alone to meet them.
• Digital Labor: AI or agents that can be purchased on demand to scale workforce capacity.
• Human-Agent Ratio: A business metric optimizing the balance of human oversight with agent efficiency.

Human-Agent Teams

Human-agent teams are upending traditional organizational structures. The report highlights the importance of getting the human-agent ratio right to ensure optimal performance. Leaders must balance the number of agents per person to avoid underutilization or overwhelming human capacity.

Employee Mindset

The report stresses the need for employees to adopt a thought partner mindset when working with AI. This involves treating AI as a teammate capable of initiating action, managing projects, and adapting in real time.

Rise of the Agent Boss

As AI agents join the workforce, the role of the agent boss emerges. Leaders expect their teams to redesign business processes with AI, build multi-agent systems, train agents, and manage them within five years.

Starting the Journey

The journey towards becoming a Frontier Firm doesn’t require perfection from the outset. The organizations that are thriving today are those that are not only adopting AI but are also intelligently restructuring their workflows around these technologies.

To fully leverage AI’s potential, organizations must play both offense and defense. AI can boost employee productivity and drive cost efficiencies, but it should also be used to grow revenue and cut costs. Here are some considerations as we move forward:

1. Begin with Your Most Significant Pain Point: Determine one or two key processes that, if optimized for speed, cost, or efficiency, would significantly enhance your business operations. This method enables prioritization of AI initiatives that yield the highest impact.
2. Play Offense and Defense: A winning AI strategy requires leveraging AI to grow revenue and cut costs. Organizations that apply AI to enhance their key differentiators will gain a competitive advantage
3. Integrate AI with Your Company Data: For Agents to be effective, they must use your company’s data and knowledge.  It is necessary to have suitable tools like Microsoft Purview to address oversharing concerns, protect against data loss and insider risks, and govern agent activity to enforce regulations and policies.
4. Consider a Growing Number of Agents: AI transformation is accelerating! In the last year many organizations have been focused on giving employees access to an LLM in a way that satisfies security and compliance requirements. As we progress, we will need to consider how we can secure, govern and support a growing number of agents. We should consider how solutions such as the Copilot Control System can support these efforts.

The 2025 Work Trend Index Annual Report underscores the pivotal role of AI in transforming business and knowledge work. Organizations should consider AI’s potential, redefine workflows, and prepare for a future where human-agent teams drive innovation and growth.

What will your first digital employee do?

You can download a copy of the 2025 Work Trend Index report here.

In the ever-evolving world of web development, the term “headless” is as popular today as it ever has been. But what does it really mean, and why should you care? Let’s dive into the concept of headless architecture, its benefits, and why Sitecore is leading the charge in this space.

What is Headless?

At its core, a headless CMS is a software design approach that separates the front-end (what users see) from the back-end (where content is managed). Unlike traditional CMS platforms that tightly couple content management with presentation, headless CMS’s use APIs to deliver content anywhere—web, mobile app, kiosk, or a smart device. In many ways, the originator of headless architecture is Jamstack – which stands for JavaScript, APIs, and Markup. Instead of relying on traditional monolithic architectures, Jamstack applications decouple the web experience from the back-end, making them more scalable, flexible, and high-performing. JavaScript handles dynamic interactions on the front-end, allowing developers to build fast and modern user experiences. API’s provide a way to pull in content and services from various sources and the website can also push data to API’s such as form submissions, custom analytics events and other user driven data. Markup refers to pre-built HTML that can be served efficiently, often generated using static site generators or frameworks like Next.js.

Why Go Headless?

You might be wondering, “Why would I build my website entirely in JavaScript when it’s mostly content?” That’s a valid question and I thought the same when Sitecore JSS first came out. Headless though is less about “building your site in JavaScript” and more about the benefits of the architecture.

Flexibility

Headless CMS’s allow developers to work with any front-end framework they choose, whether it’s React, Vue, Angular, or whatever your favorite framework might be. This means teams are not locked into the templating system of a traditional CMS or the underlying backend technology.

Performance

Speed is everything in today’s digital landscape. Studies show that even a slight delay in page load time can significantly impact user engagement and conversion rates. Headless CMS’s improve performance by enabling static site generation (SSG) and incremental static regeneration (ISR)—both of which ensure lightning-fast load times. Instead of a server processing each request from a user, static content can be served from a global CDN – which is a modern composable architecture. Of course, server side rendering is also still an option and can also by very performant with the right caching strategy.

Omnichannel Delivery

Content today is consumed on more than just websites. Whether it’s a mobile app, smart device, digital kiosk, or even a wearable, headless architecture ensures content can be delivered anywhere through API’s. This makes it easier for brands to maintain a consistent digital experience across multiple platforms without duplicating content.

Security

Traditional CMS’s are often vulnerable to security threats because they expose both the content management system and the front-end to potential attacks. In contrast, headless CMS’s separate these layers, reducing the attack surface. With content served via APIs and front-end files hosted on secure CDNs, businesses benefit from enhanced security and fewer maintenance headaches.

Scalability

Handling high traffic volumes is a challenge for traditional CMS platforms, especially during peak times. Since headless solutions rely on cloud-based infrastructure, they can scale dynamically without requiring expensive hardware upgrades. Whether you’re serving thousands or millions of users, headless architecture ensures your site remains stable and responsive.

Why Sitecore for Headless?

There are plenty of options in the headless CMS market, but Sitecore offers a unique blend of features that make it stand out. With XM Cloud, Sitecore provides a fully SaaS-based solution—no more infrastructure headaches, no more costly upgrades, and uptime and reliability are now handled by Sitecore.

Sitecore’s hybrid headless approach allows organizations to transition at their own pace, leveraging the benefits of headless while maintaining familiar content management workflows. Hybrid headless gives content authors complete freedom and flexibility to build content however they’d like – where most purely headless content management systems are more rigid on how pages are built.

As digital experiences become more dynamic and user expectations continue to rise, headless CMS solutions offer the agility businesses need. If you’re looking to modernize your digital strategy, now is the time to embrace headless.