Our short answer

For most Gulf enterprises, SitecoreAI scores highest. It leads on the criteria this region weighs most: an announced in-Kingdom hosting path, documented bilingual content operations, AI included in the subscription and, for Sitecore estates, the shortest route to a new platform.

Adobe and Optimizely are stronger in experimentation and in the breadth of the wider marketing suite. If those drive your business, the guide shows when they should win. Arcsen is a Sitecore partner and a Salesforce Summit partner, and does not sell Adobe Experience Manager or Optimizely, so every score comes with its reason and a source.

• 79SitecoreAI, Arcsen’s Gulf-weighted score out of 100
• 65Optimizely, on the same weights
• 58Adobe AEM, on the same weights
• 9AEM as a Cloud Service regions on Adobe’s list, none in the Middle East

What each chapter concludes

1. 01

   What changed

   In twelve months all three vendors rebuilt their story around AI agents. The names on your 2024 shortlist now describe different products.

   If you only read one thingAsk each vendor to demo the product you would buy in 2027, by its current name, on your content. Slides from 2024 describe something else.

2. 02

   The Gulf test

   Four questions decide most Gulf shortlists before features do: where data lives, how Arabic runs, what AI costs, and how the website talks to your CRM.

   If you only read one thingPut the hosting question to every vendor in writing before the demo. A platform that cannot answer it should not reach the final round.

3. 03

   Up close

   One page per platform: what you buy, where it is strong, where it is weak, and the questions to ask its sales team.

   If you only read one thingEach platform is excellent at something. Your job is to find the one that is excellent at what your team does every week.

4. 04

   Cost and switching

   Enterprise prices for all three come from quotes. What you can compare is the shape of the cost, and what a switch forces you to rebuild.

   If you only read one thingCompare three-year totals on one set of assumptions. A cheap licence with expensive AI usage and a full rebuild is not cheap.

5. 05

   Score it yourself

   Our scores show our reasoning. Yours should show your priorities. This chapter gives you the sheet, the rules that outrank it, a demo script and the questions to ask.

   If you only read one thingAgree the weights before any vendor demo. Weights chosen after the demos tend to favour the best presenter.

Summarized from Sitecore, Optimizely or Adobe?, an Arcsen guide, 29 pages, November 2026. Every figure in the full guide has a numbered source, checked on 6 November 2026.