Why the World’s Biggest Enterprises are Reclaiming Their Tech Stacks through Digital Sovereignty (and Why Your Agency Should Care)
Every few years, the pendulum of the digital world swings. For the last decade, we’ve been in the era of “convenience over control,” where proprietary SaaS platforms and “black box” solutions promised to make our lives easier. But if my recent conversation with Matt Garrepey, Chief Critic at CMS Critic, is any indication, the pendulum is swinging back and hard.
We are entering the era of Digital Sovereignty.
Digital Sovereignty: The Shift Toward Open Source & Control
Matt joined my co-host, Robbie Adair, and I to talk about where the industry is headed, and he dropped a fascinating insight: enterprise-level organizations, and even entire countries like Switzerland, are moving toward “Open Source First” mandates.
Why? Because they are tired of being held hostage by licensing fees and, more importantly, they want to own their data. For us as agency owners, this is a massive opportunity. As I discussed with Robbie, there are two types of agencies right now: those who lead with a philosophy of freedom (Open Source) and those who are tool-agnostic.
If you are an agency that can help a client navigate “Digital Sovereignty”, ensuring they aren’t just renting their digital presence but actually owning it, you aren’t just a vendor anymore. You’re a strategic partner in their long-term security.
Agentic Workflows: Moving Beyond the AI Hype
We couldn’t have a conversation in 2026 without mentioning AI, and Matt’s take was refreshing. While everyone is obsessed with AI generating text or images, the real “Intel” is in Agentic Workflows. We’re moving toward a world where AI doesn’t just “chat”; it performs tasks. Imagine platforms like Content Stack or Optimizely where AI agents handle the heavy lifting of content migration, tagging, and SEO optimization autonomously. For agencies, the goal isn’t to “use AI”, it’s to build the systems that allow these agents to work for your clients.
Roger That: The “Boring” Secret to Growth
In our “Roger That” segment, I wanted to get real about the internal “engine” of your agency. We all want to talk about the big wins and the creative pitches, but the agencies that survive the next decade are the ones that master the Profit and Loss (P&L) analysis.
It’s easy to look at a high bank balance and feel successful. But your P&L is the only thing that tells you if your growth is actually sustainable. Are your margins shrinking as you scale? Is one “whale” client actually costing you money in overhead? If you don’t know your numbers, you don’t know your business. It might be the “boring” part of the job, but it’s the only part that ensures you stay in business long enough to do the fun stuff.
Robbie’s Radar & R&R
Robbie brought us a game-changer for content production: Descript. If you are still editing podcasts or video by moving blocks of audio around, you’re working too hard. Descript lets you edit video by editing text, making the “intel” we gather much easier to distribute.
Finally, we closed with a bit of R&R (Rest & Relationships). If you’re heading to a conference soon, do yourself a favor: arrive 24 hours early. Use that day to unpack, find a local gym or coffee shop, and decompress. Walking into a high-stakes networking event feeling grounded rather than rushed changes your entire energy.
Watch the full episode
Check out the full episode on Youtube below or subscribe with your favorite Podcast tool here(RSS).