The New Playbook: Why Teams Are Rethinking CDP Flexibility in 2026

The martech landscape continues to shift, reshaping how teams collect, connect, and activate customer data. These shifts bring new challenges, new opportunities, and new expectations for the tools and partners teams rely on.

In the CDP world, this has sparked a shift in focus: teams increasingly evaluate CDPs by how well the platform aligns with their stack, processes, and priorities. As flexibility becomes a defining expectation, conversations around different deployment models are taking on new significance.

In this 30-minute session, we’ll explore:

• What “flexibility” really means in the CDP context and why it has become a priority for marketing, data, and CRM teams.
• How the main deployment models differ in capability, responsibility, and day-to-day impact.
• The practical considerations that matter most in 2026, from time-to-value to stack fit to operational independence.
• Where the industry is heading, and how teams can think about flexibility as part of their broader customer data strategy.

You’ll leave with a clearer understanding of how flexibility shows up in modern CDP architectures, and how to assess what matters most for your organisation.