Martech Interview with Xun Wang, Chief Technology Officer, Bloomreach

Businesses strive to make their presence in their target markets. Is there a technology that can support this effort?

The rise of data technologies has enabled marketing software to be more efficient than ever.  We are no longer constrained by only using small bits of data to gain insights.

1. Could you tell us about yourself and your career before joining Bloomreach?

Throughout my career, I’ve always had a deep passion for technology, innovation and building disruptive products. My technology leadership and people leadership track record across industry-leading companies have set me up for success as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Bloomreach. Before becoming Bloomreach’s CTO, I was the former VP of Engineering at Medallia, where I led the team which modernized Medallia’s cloud to adopt the microservices paradigm.  Prior to that, I served as a VP of Engineering at Nvidia, where I invented key technologies behind cloud game streaming and led the team that built the Geforce Now cloud gaming service.  My passion for new applications of artificial intelligence, large-scale mission-critical distributed systems and e-commerce led me to my role at Bloomreach.

2. Could you tell us more about Bloomreach?

Bloomreach is the world’s #1 Commerce Experience Cloud, empowering brands to deliver customer journeys so personalized they feel like magic. We offer a suite of products that drive true personalization and digital commerce growth through the application of artificial intelligence and big data technologies, including Discovery, offering AI-driven search and merchandising; Content, offering a headless CMS; and Engagement, offering a leading CDP and marketing automation solutions. Together, these solutions combine the power of unified customer and product data with the speed and scale of AI optimization, enabling revenue-driving digital commerce experiences that convert on any channel and every journey. Bloomreach serves over 850 global brands, including Albertsons, Bosch, Puma, FC Bayern München, and Marks & Spencer. 

3. What does it mean for Bloomreach to be a part of the MACH Alliance?

Bloomreach’s road to MACH certification began 24 months ago and it’s given us the unique opportunity to evaluate each aspect of our technology — from newer products to ones that have been around for a while — through the lens of today’s commerce landscape. With that evaluation complete, we’re proud to now meet MACH standards and demonstrate our full commitment to the modern, cloud-native and headless future.

4. What is the “why” behind Bloomreach’s certification standards?

We believe the Alliance has a responsibility to the market to approach MACH certification with a high degree of objectivity and scrutiny. We know how challenging it can be for a buyer to cut through industry jargon to understand if a vendor or agency is truly following composable architecture principles. Fundamentally we believe that the MACH principles are necessary to enable our products to deliver industry-leading innovation quickly and with high quality for our customers. Being a member of the MACH Alliance is our way of proving that we meet all the criteria and the alliance has recommended us as part of a future-proof technology stack.

5. What does the MACH Alliance do for marketing, customer experience and other tech buyers?

The MACH Alliance’s seal of certification gives enterprises confidence that they are choosing the best-in-class vendor that can deliver future-proof technology. Think of it as an insurance policy for companies who want an extra layer of protection around technology innovation. With this certification, we’re showing existing and potential customers that our solutions are built to adapt as their business and technology needs evolve. The majority of tech vendors at scale are moving toward MACH, but only MACH certification will show who is truly adhering to the standards that make enterprise software best in breed and able to maintain that lead. We believe marketing teams, customer experience and other tech buyers should always have a tech stack that drives the best results for your business and the best experience for your customers. 

6. What are the technological advancements in the marketing space that have led to easy product reach to customers?

The transformation of software to be delivered as SaaS through the cloud has dramatically transformed adoption in the broader software industry, and the marketing space is no different.  With cloud-native SaaS solutions like Bloomreach, we have significantly shortened the time to value of being able to use the software, and in turn, this has led to much faster customer adoption.

Users today also expect and demand to interface with modern and intuitive UX.  We no longer rely on training or reading manuals to use software products.  Advances in powerful open-source front-end frameworks like Angular and libraries like d3, HighCharts, MapboxGL give users responsive, interactive user interfaces that they enjoy using.

The rise of data technologies has enabled marketing software to be more efficient than ever.  We are no longer constrained by only using small bits of data to gain insights.

With the advancement of faster computing, expansive storage technologies, accessibility through an elastic public cloud, and powerful distributed frameworks like Spark, Hadoop; BigTable; GCS; end users can now utilize petabytes of data behind the scenes to crunch numbers that aid in generating accurate automated targeting of customers and clear insights for enterprise users with just a few clicks of a button. Finally, advanced AI technologies using GPU-trained models that use this more extensive data set allow us to make better individual and cohort user behavior predictions. This saves time for the user and reduces wasteful campaigns that may not have yielded results.

There was a time when people had to sit in a lab beside rows of supercomputers waiting for a day for results to do the kind of work that now anyone can do from home through a simple browser interface within seconds.  That’s how far we’ve come.

7. What is the most important part to keep in mind when it comes to tracking your customer’s journey?

Maximizing your personalization strategy. When marketers personalize and direct the right message to the right customer at the right time, this creates a seamless customer journey that could mean the difference between a purchase and an abandoned cart.
Developing a meaningful relationship with your customers from start to finish requires the use of data and software tooling to make use of that data which is what ultimately leads end customers through a highly relevant journey that establishes customer loyalty and unlocks new growth opportunities.

The other area becoming increasingly important is the compliance of systems to data privacy regulations and just doing the right thing for our customers.  At Bloomreach, we believe in the highest level of adherence to consumer consent and privacy regulations. We have built our systems to enable our customers to build that trust with their customers.

8. Could you highlight some top use cases of Bloomreach solutions that have supported businesses to drive growth? 

• N Brown Uses Bloomreach Discovery Across Brand Portfolio
• Jenson USA Sees +8.5% RPV with Bloomreach
• Woolworths Metro60 Ensures Fast Grocery Delivery with Bloomreach

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