The secret's out!

We're excited to share our vision for the future—one where Hum serves as an intelligent "brain and nervous system" of the modern publishing ecosystem.

Here’s the plan:

  1. Help publishers unify and act on their data
  2. Build AI tools to make sense of that data
  3. Create AI and data-fueled applications
  4. Become the brain and nervous system for publishers

Beyond Reach

The last seismic shift in publishing was from print to digital, focused on “reach”. How could I get my content to as many people as possible? It didn’t matter if you were hurling content at strangers. The more strangers the better!

Publishers today need to know their audiences. 

You can’t serve people well if you don’t know them; but many publishing platforms and websites don’t have this capability built-in.

Hum acts as the real-time feedback loop for all publisher data, content, and audience interactions. We plug into key systems. We help you know your content and people. We help you act on your data.

When you know your people, you can personalize. You can hyper-target in marketing and advertising. You can learn from how groups behave. What’s working, what’s not? 

Hum gives you the ability to learn and understand, but also to act. Or, in marketing speak, to “activate” your audience.

There’s an Alchemist Inside 

We had to build a lot of data and AI infrastructure to make the CDP both powerful and easy-to-use:

  • High-quality data foundation (cleaned content, behavioral data, rich metadata)
  • AI-native understanding (interpreting past interactions and user interests)
  • Predictive intelligence (surfacing the right content to the right person at the right time)

This is not just slapping an LLM on top of some data. In fancy terms, it’s a “compound AI system.” In non-fancy terms, it's like a team of chefs in a dazzling commercial kitchen.

How Alchemist works:

  • Gathering ingredients: Alchemist goes around your pantry (all your content sources) to collect every possible ingredient—articles, audience data, events, etc.
  • Cleaning & sorting: before cooking, Alchemist checks expiry dates, removes rotten bits, and labels everything so it’s clear what’s what (author name, topics, journal title).
  • Prepping & mixing: Alchemist understands which ingredients work best together (it sees patterns, popular topics, who’s interested in what).
  • Cooking up insights: Alchemist then “cooks” something new from these ingredients—a summary, a recommendation, a custom marketing campaign—whatever the user needs.
  • Serving & tasting: Finally, Alchemist delivers the result on a plate so publishers (or their audiences) can taste-test, get feedback, and adjust recipes for next time.

Collect → clean → understand → create → deliver.

For those more technically inclined, here’s the system blueprint:

Hum's Platform of the Future

We’ve essentially built a flexible, compound AI system that can do far more than content tagging or generating copy. It has real benefits today:

  • Reduce tedious tasks: let the AI handle the grunt work of cleaning and sorting.
  • Sharpen editorial focus: get instant insights on trending issues or knowledge gaps.
  • Boost engagement: serve up personalized content to each audience member.
  • Increase quality: connect readers to the content that really matters to them 
  • Speed time to market: reduce bottlenecks between idea and publication

Up next, we’re letting Alchemist out of the kitchen—and into every part of publishing.

Letting Alchemist out of the Kitchen

Until now, Alchemist has only been available in the Hum CDP. 

We're delighted to announce that we're now making Alchemist-powered products available as standalone solutions. This expansion is possible because we've already built the foundation—a sophisticated AI infrastructure with powerful capabilities.

Alchemist Taxonomy 

  • What: An intelligent tool to create and apply custom tags (or “taxonomies”) to any piece of content, so it’s consistently organized and up to date
  • Why: Easier for you (and your readers) to find related articles, spot gaps, recommend relevant content, and discover new angles worth exploring. Think of it as giving each ingredient a proper label, so you always know what’s in the fridge.

Learn more about Alchemist Taxonomy >>

Alchemist Insight

  • What: Real-time analysis of your content’s performance and trending topics, based on fresh, first-party data.
  • Why: Helps you quickly adapt your content strategy—like noticing that “gluten-free recipes” are blowing up and deciding to publish more of those while the topic is hot. Also retrofits older CDPs (BlueConic, Omeda, etc.) with content intelligence capabilities.

Alchemist Search (Beta)

  • What: A universal, smarter search across your entire content library—combining both “semantic” understanding and classic keyword matching.
  • Why: Fuels advanced AI experiences (like conversational search boxes) so users don’t need the perfect phrase to find what they want. Let’s skip the guesswork and get them straight to the good stuff.

Alchemist Review (Beta)

  • What: An AI-powered assist that evaluates manuscripts, helping editors with quick “desk reject” decisions or suggesting the best path for peer review.
  • Why: Editors see at a glance which manuscripts warrant a closer look, slashing hours of manual triage so they can focus on truly high-impact decisions.

Learn more about Alchemist Review >>

By liberating these tools from the Hum CDP, we’re empowering every publisher—big or small—to whip up next-level experiences. From audience insights to editorial strategy, Alchemist’s compound AI approach transforms raw data into something fresh and inventive. Think of it as giving your publishing operation its own team of digital sous chefs—ready to chop, season, and serve at a moment’s notice.

Visions of the Future

What’s life like in the bright Alchemist future?

Read

Dr. Mei Wong, a biophysicist, opens her “liquid web”. 

Unlike the static journal websites of the past, her interface dynamically adjusts to her evolving research interests. Three months ago, she began exploring quantum effects in protein folding. As she reads, Hum identifies conceptual gaps in her understanding based on her engagement patterns and suggests foundational content that would enhance her research goals—drawn intelligently from the publisher's back catalog.

Edit

The editorial team gathers around a dashboard that shows topic clusters representing real-time reader engagement across their portfolio. The Chief Content Officer notes, "Hum's predictive model shows an emerging intersection between quantum computing and biological systems that's gaining traction."

"Yes," adds the AI Research Editor, "and it's identified three researchers publishing groundbreaking work in adjacent fields who haven't yet collaborated. Hum suggests we commission a perspective piece bringing them together."

The commissioning editor nods. "Hum has already drafted personalized outreach emails based on each author's publication history and engagement patterns with our content. The system indicates an 87% likelihood of acceptance if we frame it as extending their recent work on quantum coherence in photosynthesis."

Connect 

Based on interaction patterns and expressed interests, Hum automatically forms "project incubation pods"—small groups with complementary expertise united around specific challenges identified during the summit.

"What's different," notes the Community Director, "is that these aren't general networking groups. Hum has precisely matched people based on their demonstrated knowledge gaps and strengths, then provided each pod with a structured collaboration framework customized to their specific challenge."

Each pod receives a Hum-curated knowledge package that includes relevant content from the event, external resources specific to their focus area, and a continuously updated synthesis of related conversations happening across the community.

Pioneering the Future of Publishing

What began as a customer data platform has evolved into something far more transformative. 

Hum is now poised to become the intelligence layer that connects all aspects of the publishing ecosystem—understanding and creating content, engaging audiences, and building community. 

The future of publishing isn't just about reaching more people—it's about creating deeper, more meaningful connections with the right people. As we unveil these new capabilities, we invite you to join us in reimagining what's possible when AI and human expertise work in harmony. 

Want to co-create the future of publishing?

Help shape Alchemist with your insights, feedback, and wildest ideas. Let’s build the next chapter together! 

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Ok, what now?