From Isolated Tests to Intelligent Optimisation: Monetate on the Future of Experimentation

We spoke with Maarten Plokker, Senior Leader at Monetate, about how the newly merged organisation (Monetate and SiteSpect) is redefining experimentation, and what the future holds for AI-driven optimisation.

Building a foundation for continuous optimisation

Maarten has worked in the experimentation and personalisation space for over a decade. In his role at Monetate, he focuses on building and managing strategic client relationships across EMEA, helping organisations embed experimentation as a structural part of their operations.

The recent merger between Monetate and SiteSpect under the unified Monetate brand marked an important step in that journey.

“Unifying under the Monetate brand signals our commitment as a leader in digital experience optimisation,” Maarten explains. “Every interaction is an opportunity to build loyalty. By combining two pioneers in personalisation and experimentation, we help businesses move beyond isolated tests to continuous optimization, where every interaction is guided by data and intelligence.”

That combination has strengthened Monetate’s ability to deliver what modern enterprises need most: AI-driven personalisation, secure, enterprise-grade experimentation, and the performance and scale to optimise complex environments across channels.

Embedding experimentation across the business

For Maarten, experimentation can no longer be treated as a side project. It needs to live at the heart of how a company operates.

“Experimentation must be part of an organisation’s operations, not a one-off initiative. The companies that succeed are those that embed optimisation into everyday decision-making, across every team.”

At Monetate, this means enabling organisations to design, test, and optimise real customer interactions from classic A/B tests to dynamic, AI-driven personalisation. By combining personalisation, advanced recommendations, and testing in a single platform, experimentation becomes repeatable, scalable, and relevant to every function. And it’s precisely that cross-functional value that ensures buy-in beyond marketing.

“Experimentation resonates when it delivers value to every function. For marketing, it’s about personalising journeys; for product, validating new features; for sales, reducing friction in the buying process; and for IT, ensuring methods are secure and reliable.”

To make this shift sustainable, Maarten emphasises alignment and empowerment over restructuring. Clear governance ensures teams are working toward shared goals, while tools and training empower them to test, learn, and apply insights independently.

“When leaders champion experimentation and teams see real results, it naturally becomes part of everyday decision-making,” he adds.

The rise of AI in experimentation

Few developments have accelerated experimentation as much as artificial intelligence. At Monetate, AI acts as a catalyst, not a replacement for human creativity.

“AI strengthens experimentation by making it faster and smarter,” says Maarten. “It helps identify opportunities, refine segments, accelerate analysis, and deliver relevant experiences in real time. But it’s still humans who shape the strategy and creativity behind it”

Within Monetate’s platform, AI works hand in hand with testing and recommendations to turn insights into action. It can surface new test ideas, identify granular audiences, adapt traffic allocation in real time, and personalise experiences at the individual level.

But Maarten cautions against relying on AI blindly:“Transparency and governance are essential. AI should enhance decision-making, not replace it. The goal is to remove repetitive manual work so teams can focus on higher-value contributions, while ensuring that user experiences remain relevant, trustworthy, and valuable.”

Looking ahead: hybrid ecosystems and AI agents

Predicting the future of experimentation has become more complex and more exciting. Maarten believes the next five years will bring a fundamental shift.

“Experimentation will evolve beyond human-centric digital experiences to hybrid ecosystems where AI agents play an active role. These agents will transact, compare, and even advocate on behalf of users, often through APIs and service layers rather than traditional interfaces.”

In this new environment, companies will compete not only on brand and design but on how well their systems, data, and trust signals are exposed and optimised for AI consumption. That means experimentation will increasingly extend to APIs, metadata, and personalisation logic -optimising both human and AI interactions.

Monetate’s offering, which unites personalisation, recommendations, testing, and AI-native intelligence, is designed for exactly that future.

“Organisations that start preparing now for experiences tailored to both people and AI agents will be in the best position to build loyalty, trust, and differentiation.”

Advice for scaling experimentation today

For companies looking to grow their experimentation maturity, Maarten’s advice is simple: focus on impact, not volume.

“Prioritise the areas of your customer journey where optimisation and personalisation will have the biggest effect on loyalty, revenue, and retention. Start small, scale fast, and invest in a platform that can grow with you.”

Equally important is building a culture where results are shared openly.

“When teams across the organisation see that experimentation drives outcomes, not just tests, it becomes part of everyday thinking. That’s when you see exponential returns.”

The bottom line

Experimentation, personalisation, and AI are converging. For Maarten Plokker and Monetate, the future of optimisation lies in creating a continuous, intelligent loop – where data, insight, and creativity work together to drive growth.

“AI doesn’t replace experimentation,” Maarten concludes. “It supercharges it making it smarter, faster, and more meaningful. The future belongs to organisations that embrace that combination.”

Maarten Plokker

Director, Customer Success EMEA | Monetate