SitecoreAI

How to Integrate Gradial with Sitecore XM Cloud: A Practical Guide for Faster Campaign Automation

Gowtham

19 Nov 2025 — 4 min read

Sitecore + Gradial

If you’ve been working with Sitecore XM Cloud (now evolving into the broader SitecoreAI platform as of November 2025) and wondering how to take your marketing automation to the next level, the strategic partnership with Gradial — announced on July 14, 2025 — is a game-changer you don’t want to miss.

Gradial brings agentic AI orchestration directly into the Sitecore ecosystem, transforming simple marketing briefs into fully executed, hyper-personalized campaigns with far less manual intervention.

This guide incorporates the latest details from official announcements, Gradial/Sitecore documentation, and real-world client testing. The efficiency gains are substantial — especially now with SitecoreAI’s Agentic Studio and unified platform that launched in November 2025.

Why the Sitecore + Gradial Partnership Changes Everything

Traditional campaign setup is fragmented: content authoring in XM Cloud/Pages, segmentation in CDP/Personalize, asset management in Content Hub, rules configuration, testing, and deployment. Powerful, but slow and labor-intensive.

Gradial acts as an AI-powered orchestration layer that securely integrates with Sitecore XM Cloud, Content Hub, and the full SitecoreAI suite. It automates the entire execution layer:

Pulls audience segments and data
Selects and matches content variants and assets
Generates personalization rules and experiences
Optimizes in real-time based on performance signals
Complements (does not replace) Sitecore Stream and the new SitecoreAI features like Agentic Studio

Key advantages:

Campaigns that took days or weeks now launch in hours
70–90 % reduction in operational handoffs, tickets, and delays
All data and operations stay secure inside the Sitecore ecosystem
Scales personalization without scaling headcount
Dramatically lowers total cost of ownership

Best fit: XM Cloud Plus or full SitecoreAI tenants with Personalize/CDP enabled. As of November 2025, all existing XM Cloud customers are automatically upgraded to SitecoreAI.

Prerequisites

Active Sitecore XM Cloud / SitecoreAI environment with Deploy app access
Automation Client credentials (Authoring + Rendering scopes)
Gradial account (sign up at gradial.com or via your Sitecore rep)
Basic familiarity with XM Cloud GraphQL/REST endpoints and Rendering Hosts

Create credentials: XM Cloud Deploy → Credentials → New Automation Client

Step-by-Step: Connecting Gradial to Sitecore XM Cloud / SitecoreAI

Gradial connects via Sitecore’s official GraphQL and REST APIs — no custom code required.

Log into Gradial → Settings → Integrations
Add Integration → Sitecore XM Cloud
Fill in the details:
- Connection Name: e.g., “Prod-SitecoreAI”
- Hostname: your XM Cloud / SitecoreAI host (e.g., xmcloud-myorg.sitecorecloud.io)
- Author API Client ID & Secret (from Deploy)
- Preview Rendering Host (found in Content Editor → Rendering Hosts)
(Optional but recommended) Connect Content Hub separately for asset workflows
Test the connection — Gradial will validate and list your projects/environments
For advanced flows: Enable Sitecore’s Agent API or use the new SitecoreAI Agentic Studio (November 2025+)

Example configuration:

Connection Name: Production-SitecoreAI
Hostname: xmcloud-myorg-prod.sitecorecloud.io
Client ID: abc123...
Client Secret: xyz789...
Preview Rendering Host: preview-myorg.sitecorecloud.io

Auth errors? Double-check scopes include Authoring, Rendering, and appropriate Content Hub REST permissions.

Creating Your First AI-Powered Campaign

In Gradial, start a new Agent or pick a template (“Campaign Orchestrator”, “Hyper-Personalization Flow”, etc.)
Gradial’s agents will:
- Query SitecoreAI for content, items, and assets
- Pull segments from CDP/Personalize
- Auto-generate variants, rules, and decisions
- Push everything to Pages/Experience Editor or Content Hub for review
Review → tweak (human-in-the-loop) → approve → deploy with one click

Submit a natural-language brief, e.g.:

“Launch a holiday promotion for returning EU visitors — personalize banners, CTAs, and product recommendations based on past purchases and browsing behavior.”

Verification is instant: new components appear in Pages, decisions in Personalize, assets tagged in Content Hub.

With the November 2025 SitecoreAI release you can now extend this further using Agentic Studio — visually build or customize agents, no code required.

Common Issues & Quick Fixes

Rate limits/delays → SitecoreAI limits are generous; throttle bulk operations
Initial sync on large repos → 5–15 minutes is normal
Permissions → Gradial service account needs read/write on target folders/projects
Content Hub quirks → Use a dedicated API user with DAM/CMP roles
Deeper customizations → SitecoreAI Agent API or Sitecore Studio Marketplace

The Long-Term Vision

The July 2025 partnership was just the beginning. The November 2025 SitecoreAI launch — with Agentic Studio, unified licensing, and 20+ pre-built agents — takes everything to the next level.

We’re moving from manual personalization to truly agentic systems where AI does the heavy lifting and marketers focus on strategy and creativity.

If you’re still on legacy Sitecore XP/XM or cobbling together disconnected tools, migrating to SitecoreAI + Gradial is the logical next step.

Spin up a dev environment and try it .

Questions or roadblocks? Drop a comment below or ping me on LinkedIn. Happy to help!

If you’d like to dive deeper into the Sitecore + Gradial integration, Prabhu Ranganathan and I recently presented a full session on exactly this topic at SUGCBE (Sitecore User Group Coimbatore).

Here’s the recording