BloomReach Appoints Brian Walker as CSO
As an API-driven DXP platform, BloomReach is always working towards driving their market strategies to the next level. A big part of what makes BloomReach able to continue to excel and reach their goals is due mainly to their expertly built executive team.
Last week, BloomReach announced the newest member of their executive team, Brian Walker. Brian will be stepping into the role of Chief Strategy Officer, a dual strategy and marketing role. CMSC Media was given an opportunity to connect with Brian last week about what he is bringing into this position and where he sees the market going. Continue reading to see what Brian shared with us!
You have twenty-plus years of experience in digital commerce. What is unique about BloomReach and what inspired you to join the team?
“I joined BloomReach for a few key reasons. One, this is a market going through a tremendous amount of change. Companies out there - be they B2C or B2B - are looking for a new type of solution. They need flexibility, agility, and solutions that help them achieve real business outcomes. That is BloomReach. Our API-first 'headless' solutions are uniquely infused with BloomReach's unique AI and intelligent search indexes. In fact, BloomReach has always been headless and combined with their long-standing investment in AI; this sets them apart. We are not just a CMS, we optimize business with our personalization, search, and augmented merchandising tools, and as such are uniquely able to serve commerce customers.
Two, for me this is the culmination of what some call ‘a slow hunch’. Back in 2000 or 2001, I met the team from Endeca and led the implementation for eddiebauer.com. Ever since then, I saw the opportunity to drive personalized experience that lead to meaningful business results. The promise of Endeca was derailed by Oracle's acquisition, but at BloomReach, we do that with a cloud-service that scales and can take advantage of modern AI techniques. It is a great team, a great platform, and a great time to bring this to market. Very happy to be here.”
What are some of the challenges facing digital commerce right now?
“Digital commerce is at an inflection point. Core commerce capabilities and many best-practices are now commoditized. Businesses need to focus on the experience and be creative in order to differentiate and inspire. And of course, this has to be relevant and consistent to the customer everywhere they interact. The bar is higher to serve the customer what she wants and make it easy. Fortunately, we are in a good position to help.”
In a press release, BloomReach CEO and co-founder Raj De Datta spoke of you, saying you have a “strong vision for how digital experience and commerce solutions must evolve, and above all, he committed to building something really big.” Can you tell us how you see the industry evolving?
“From a platform market standpoint, 'inside baseball' if you will, the market is changing very fast. We are in a post-platform market, all the while recovering from an era of consolidation. Customers now are quickly moving headless and looking to leverage lightweight Javascript frameworks like React.js, Angular, or Vue. They want to leverage APIs and on-demand capabilities, so they can be far more agile and adapt to the market and their customers faster. This is having a major impact on the market. Businesses now are open to best-of-breed cloud services and bringing that together with some of their legacy investments they may isolate behind services, or they may also write some of their own services.
The web is no longer the most important channel, and businesses seem to have learned the lessons of the past and now want APIs. We are fortunate to have a platform that was arguably the first headless CMS and long-standing leadership with our search solutions, which have also always been headless. I expect the market to evolve quickly over the next few years. There will be winners and losers, so stay tuned.”
BloomReach’s Continued Innovations
Brian makes it clear that he sees success in BloomReach’s future. Raj De Datta has said that Brian is “very sharp, strategic, with a strong knowledge of the market, and a great leader of people. Brian understands the challenges of our customers and partners intimately.” Clearly, Brian will be a great addition to the strong team of executives that BloomReach currently has.
We know from our recent interviews with the current BloomReach C-suite executives that they are focusing on scalability while still offering the best-of-breed solutions that they are known for. There is a lot of excitement emanating from this organization, and it’s easy to foresee a year of growth and continued success for this DXP team.
Click here to watch our interviews with the BloomReach executives.
Erika Jones
Erika Jones is a Tech Reporter and Content Marketer with CMSC Media. Erika enjoys combining her creativity with her technical skills through graphic design. She has a background in communications and marketing and has a flair for social media and content creation. Erika is an avid traveller and enjoys seeing firsthand how technology connects us all in business and pleasure.