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For years, industry observers have predicted intranets would fade into irrelevance — yet these workplace staples have proven remarkably resilient. Now intranets face their most existential challenge yet: generative AI.
Will AI render traditional intranets obsolete, or can these platforms evolve quickly enough to remain relevant in an AI-powered digital workplace? The answer may determine the fate of an entire industry that's currently attracting significant investor confidence despite the looming disruption.
In this second of two articles looking at the intranet industry, we look at how intranet vendors including LumApps, Oak Engage, Omnia and Unily are evolving their product roadmaps and related services, and what this spells for the future of intranets.
Table of Contents
- The Shift From Intranet to Employee Experience Platform
- Supporting Internal Communications Needs
- Roadmaps Now Focus on the AI-Powered Intranet
- Not All AI-Powered Intranet Features Are Equal
- Can Intranets Survive Generative AI?
- Customer Success Programs Become an Intranet Vendor Differentiator
- The Future of Intranets Won't Stand Still
The Shift From Intranet to Employee Experience Platform
Over the 30 years since the introduction of the intranet, the set of typical intranet features has expanded, sometimes going beyond delivering a “classic” intranet experience to one that enables a wider focus on employee experience (EX).
Solutions have also rebranded or partially rebranded themselves as “Employee Experience Platforms,” although arguably the difference between an intranet and an employee experience platform (EXP) is somewhat fuzzy.
Similarly, LumApps has just acquired Beekeeper, and the resulting platform is again focused on EX. “What we’re building together isn’t just a better version of the old model,” said Beekeeper CEO Christian Grossman. “It’s a whole new generation of employee experience that connects everyone, empowers real work and drives impact at every level of the organization.” This is where the market is headed, and the new solution would offer a “one platform approach” to employee experience, he added.
This wider focus on EX and beyond is critical for intranet vendors to remain competitive, said Kaz Hassan, principal, community and market insights at Unily. “The winners in the market will be those that anchor the product into enabling core work for employees, and delivering genuine transformation anchored into fast-moving business objectives,” he said. “The new intranet is an enablement layer for organization.”
Supporting Internal Communications Needs
Intranet solutions are also extending functionality to provide tools that focus on the needs of internal communicators — a key buyer in the intranet space — to help them deliver coordinated digital communications and campaigns across multiple channels.
“Intranet products focus a lot on an internal comms audience,” said Suzie Robinson, analyst at ClearBox Consulting and primary author of its Intranet and Employee Experience Platform Report. “We're seeing a lot more newsletter features being generated, as well as better integration with tools like digital signage and even employee advocacy, so that organizations don't necessarily need a separate platform.”
These kinds of features are also quite mature in some of the platforms. It’s an area that Microsoft has dabbled in with the Viva Amplify product, which helps communicators coordinate and orchestrate campaigns across the Microsoft stack.
This orchestration aspect is the key to delivering value for internal communicators, said Anders Fagerlund, CMO at Omnia. “Most of the vendors support multi-channel messaging, delivering content in Teams, digital signage, email or a mobile app,” he said. “The real differentiator lies in how well you orchestrate that messaging across platforms and audiences.”
Roadmaps Now Focus on the AI-Powered Intranet
The evolution of intranets to becoming EXP solutions and adding features for internal comms are, to a certain extent, a side show. Current and future intranet product roadmaps are dominated by the introduction of generative AI features.
AI-powered intranet features currently focus on specific needs of users and content creators: chatbots that support employee self-service, AI-powered searches with intelligent recommendations, content generation and optimization for publishers, and more, with AI agents on the horizon.
“AI is at the core of our product,” said Élie Mélois, co-founder and CPTO of LumApps. “It plays a role in every aspect of the platform and supports every type of usage. It helps employees find information faster, improves and encourages content creation, simplifies task management and personalizes the experience. It also prepares the path for automation and the arrival of intelligent agents.”
Vendors are also using AI to help intranet teams manage their platform more effectively and drive improvement. “We’re expanding our capabilities even further to ease the load for IC and HR teams by automating manual, time-consuming tasks so they can focus on strategy, connectivity and engagement with data-driven improvements,” Murray said.
Not All AI-Powered Intranet Features Are Equal
Although intranet AI features are becoming the norm, the detail and level of maturity differ across individual solutions. “The range and sophistication of AI tools that are now available within individual platforms is forever growing and improving,” Robinson said. “Some of the leading market players in the market have some really compelling AI features.”
Some vendors are still quite early in their AI journey, Fagerlund said. “Today, many vendors promote the idea of an AI-powered intranet, and while the promise is compelling, the reality often looks different,” he said. “In most cases, AI is primarily used for generating content — an approach that certainly supports more effective communication.” There is still some way to go before we can speak of a fully AI-powered intranet, he added.
The implementation of AI features also differs in design philosophy. Omnia intranet has adopted a “subtle AI strategy,” where AI features don’t try to grab your attention, Fagerlund said. Instead, AI is embedded across the product as a layer that enhances specific intranet features where it can add value.
In contrast, a solution like Unily is more explicit and upfront about its AI approach, including going to market as the “#1 AI-powered enterprise employee experience platform” and regularly highlighting the launch of new AI features.
Can Intranets Survive Generative AI?
The big unanswered question is if GenAI will ultimately replace intranets. While that’s tricky to ascertain, vendor's embracement of AI in their product roadmaps suggests intranet solutions are evolving to fit within an AI world rather than standing still.
Unily, for example, is introducing capabilities that anticipate the coming wave of AI agents, with the intranet acting a potential place to orchestrate agent activity. Hassan said, “We've just launched 'Unily's Agent Orchestrator' — a native intelligence layer that goes beyond intranet search, a traditional pain points for other platforms. As enterprises accelerate towards multiple specialized AI agents, we recognized the need for intelligent routing that connects employees seamlessly with the right agent at the right time.”
Hassan also emphasized the importance of having legal and security aspects within the platform to minimize risks around data breaches, compliance violations and inefficient AI deployment.
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Fagerlund said he was convinced that AI would change people's perceptions of intranets and intranet design and delivery, although there was still a considerable journey ahead.
Dan Hawtrey, CEO at Content Formula who produce the Lightspeed 365 product, also believes intranets will survive, but evolve considerably from their current model. “I can see a time when the intranet will be more of a self-sustaining, self-building, AI-driven platform which runs with far less central human input,” said Hawtrey. “Intranets will essentially build themselves and drive more dynamic experiences and configure their own improvements using AI.”
Customer Success Programs Become an Intranet Vendor Differentiator
Intranet vendors are competing on more than just product evolution. Some of the larger intranet players offer additional support services such as customer success programs as a way to differentiate themselves. These programs help customers drive adoption and value with access to resources, training, advanced reporting and a regular session with a coach or manager.
With the roll-out of new AI services and capabilities, this kind of extra support has the potential to assume more importance.
Fagerlund added that recent investment from Monterro has not just been used to deliver product enhancements, but also in delivering value-add services to help customers succeed, such as providing analytics. “Customer success has been a game changer in helping us to differentiate in the market,” he said.
Robinson observed these intranet support services are becoming a core part of the offering for some vendors. “Independent intranets tend to fold all of those services in automatically to their subscription, but I don't know how well they actually market that as part of their sales cycles,” said Robinson. She added that clients are often unaware these value-add services are automatically included in their subscription.
These additional services are not on offer with all intranet vendors. SharePoint intranet in-a-box products, for example, tend to rely more on implementation partners to deliver the value-add services, which come at additional cost.
But according to Robinson, this could change as competition in the sector increases. “Perhaps now independent SharePoint intranet in-a-box products have realized that maybe they need to start looking at providing these services directly,” she said.
Of course, customers with in-house intranet expertise won't need these additional services. Hawtrey has seen strong demand for more self-managed solutions. “We're observing that people are interested in products that they can figure out and implement themselves and aren’t dependent on a consulting project or implementation partner to deliver it.”
The Future of Intranets Won't Stand Still
Intranets product roadmaps continue to evolve, with AI-powered features at the center and EX and omnichannel communications as additional areas of focus. Competition among intranet vendors is also driving the creation of more value-add services — a win for intranet customers.
In some respects, all of this is business-as-usual for the humble intranet. Its ability to adapt and evolve over 30 years is one of the reasons why it is still an integral part of the digital workplace landscape. While the question remains of if intranets will survive the world of generative AI, it seems highly likely they will remain, in one form or another, for quite a while to come.
Editor's Note: Read more on the ongoing evolution of intranets below:
- Artificial Intelligence Trends in the Intranet and EX Platform Space — Just because an intranet has an AI feature doesn’t mean it’s right for you. Consider how and where you want to use AI, then vet the platforms.
- Meet Your New Digital Coworker: The AI Powered Intranet — AI-powered intranets promise to cut employee search time, deliver personalized results and counteract information overload. Here's what you should know.
- The Future of Intranets in 2025 — An intranet isn't just a technology project. It’s a living digital ecosystem, powered by people, process and technology. And that won't change any time soon.
