Sitecore Technology MVP

David Austin

My 2027 Sitecore Technology MVP Supplemental

Who is

David Austin

This year was upgrades. Five Content SDK upgrades across three properties, and a five-version Sitecore XP jump at Carnegie Hall — the kind of work that rarely becomes a conference talk, and that a client feels the moment it lands.

What changed is how I run them. I spent the year building an AI-assisted upgrade practice: not code generation, but a second reviewer that maps the documentation, audits the codebase and works through components alongside me. It is the reason a hundred-plus components come out consistent instead of merely finished. The Field Notes below set out where it earns its place and where the judgement still has to be mine.

The rest goes outward. Seven articles and three videos this cycle, an internal SitecoreAI training environment that takes our developers through headless development and Docker, and a team I would rather see upgrade well than quickly.

Certifications
SitecoreAI CMS DeveloperMay 2026
XM Cloud DeveloperApril 2024
David Austin

Sitecore Projects

Four properties this cycle: five Content SDK upgrades between them, plus a Sitecore XP platform upgrade spanning five major versions. This is the work the Field Notes above describe.

  • William Blair Investment Management

    1

    Content SDK upgrade

    ETF Supplemental delivered as a separate initiative.

    Tech Lead & Senior Developer

    SitecoreAI — Search

    Visit site

  • ENMAX MyAccount

    2

    Content SDK upgrades

     

    Tech Lead & Senior Developer

    SitecoreAI — CDP / Personalize, Search, Content Hub

    Visit site

  • ENMAX WWW

    2

    Content SDK upgrades

     

    Tech Lead & Senior Developer

    SitecoreAI — CDP / Personalize, Search, Content Hub

    Visit site

  • Carnegie Hall

    9.0.2 → 10.4.1

    Sitecore XP platform upgrade

    Five major versions, on traditional XP.

    Tech Lead & Senior Developer

    Sitecore XP

    Visit site

Field Notes

Content SDK upgrades at scale

Five upgrades this year, 100–200 components apiece. AI earned its place as a second reviewer — not the reason the work happened, but the reason it came out consistent at that scale.

Content SDK upgrades
5
components per upgrade
100–200

research

AI covers the ground between one Content SDK version and the next faster than reading it cold — requirements, documentation paths, the breaking changes that actually matter. The value is not that it reads for you; it is that the shape of the upgrade is known early enough to act on.

A Content SDK upgrade isn't a tax to survive — it's how a client reaches capabilities that are already waiting for them.

Sharing More Online

A combination of YouTube videos and community sharing I've taken part in.

Submission year

SitecoreAI Knowledge Sharing

Articles on SitecoreAI and the platform work around it — formerly XM Cloud.

Showing the 2027 cycle. Use the year filter for earlier work.

Content SDK

The upgrade practice that defined this year, written up where it became an article.

Showing the 2027 cycle. Use the year filter for earlier work.

Improving Sitecore Value

External technologies and tooling, and what they bring to Sitecore work.

Showing the 2027 cycle. Use the year filter for earlier work.

Beyond the submission

Giving Back to the Community

Outside the 2027 cycle, but part of the same habit — a longer conversation with the Sitecore community.