Peter Clisby recently re-joined the team here at Remarkable as our VP of Platforms and AI, so we asked him a few questions about his new role, his career so far, and how he plans to ensure that Remarkable uses AI to its full potential.
Working with the old team, meeting new faces, and using AI to transform what we deliver for our clients. Remarkable has big clients and mature processes, while maintaining the agility to innovate – which is more important than ever right now.
Getting into Sitecore was pivotal on my journey to Remarkable. I first got exposed to the platform at a WPP agency called HeathWallace in Reading as a .Net dev. I then worked at an agency which became part of PA Consulting, and another that became part of Capgemini. I was Head of Engineering at the Platinum Sitecore Agency Sagittarius – which merged to become part of Remarkable – and this was a pivotal experience for me.
I then became Regional Architect for EMEA at Valtech (where I led projects for top 50 Fortune 500 clients) and SoftServe (where I was Lead Architect on another Fortune 500 company, and on one of biggest Healthcare companies in the world). I’ve been awarded Sitecore MVP 4 times along the way. Combining this experience with my recent passion for learning about AI use cases for engineering brought me back here.
AI will revolutionise the technology landscape we work in. I foresee our usage evolving from current state of efficiencies in processes and tasks via transactional LLM usage and prebuilt apps. I also think we’ll move to to an agentic usage of LLMs, and even LRMs, where the service layers and applications we traditionally built or integrated with have multiple interactions with AI models within a given agent (or even multiple agents within a given process).
We still need developers to build programs, but instead of programming against an API layer, we are calling the AI Layer via queries written in English language from our code. I firmly believe that there is huge potential to grow our business by bringing clarity to our clients in a world saturated with AI hype and buzzwords.
An AI trend I’ve been excited about is Model Context Protocol (MCP), a standardised way for AI models to interact with external tools which has become widely adopted. It shows how often the biggest advances are via a shift of mindset. A technology which has really excited me is Semantic Kernel by Microsoft, which is a framework for writing AI Agents using C#, Java, and Python. When combined with platforms like AI Foundry, the possibilities for solving client problems excite me.
Realistically, data privacy has been our top concern, and this is something I believe we have the mechanism to control and ensure we deliver on. Our AI Policy is something which ensures our employees and customers are following best practices.
In our implementations, we leverage platforms like Microsoft Azure that host models and give contract-backed assurances around data privacy. We use AI for code analysis to give a high level of confidence way beyond traditional means of security infrastructure for technology.
Regarding bigger picture implications such as the environment, Remarkable uses Ecologi to endeavour to offset our use of technology as much as possible. I’d love to see us one day contribute to solving other challenges, like AI bias or increased societal inequality from access to AI, but I’m not yet aware of how. Not to mention outcomes depicted in films like Terminator, which always seem secondary to positive potential outcomes such as curing cancer and other medical advances.
The global nature of our work presents challenges on top of bringing together different disciplines. In such a landscape, process and culture are two key mechanisms for aligning geo-dispersed teams and skillsets. If you have a clear process around how you work, it gives everyone involved clarity on expectations. Sagittarius had a lot of great processes which it’s good to see having been adopted by Remarkable at larger scale.
You hear provocative statements around the era of SaaS being over, but when you see platforms like Salesforce invest in their Agentforce products, it’s perhaps them who are best placed to leverage AI in a way that makes compliance teams comfortable.
Similarly, with Dynamics 365 agentic capabilities and DXP vendors like Sitecore and Optimizely, we’re seeing multiple clients comfortable with packaged AI products like Sitecore Stream who aren’t ready to build and maintain pro-code AI solutions. Next up, I foresee it will be the widespread adoption of pro-code solutions like Azure with Semantic Kernel, in tandem with low or no-code platforms for prototyping – the relationship between the two being like web development teams building Figma wireframes/designs.
I enjoy spending time with my partner, stepson, and daughter, as well as wider family. I love to travel, and have travelled to around 20 countries since the pandemic, including Colombia, where my partner is from. I love different cultures and foods. I’m also a big sports fan, which I always find a great leveller and something that breaks down cultural divides. I especially enjoy watching live sport in person and going with friends and family. Technology is a big hobby of mine too, where I explore things that take my interest in my spare time.
Remarkable are one of the world’s leading digital experience agencies. As a double Platinum Sitecore and Optimizely partner, we offer technology solutions to help brands build experiences that convert.
