Global consulting firm Ramboll migrated their websites to Kontent.ai in just 5 months, implementing 7 integrations across multiple language variants—a feat that wouldn't have been possible with their previous monolithic CMS.
Ramboll is a leading architecture, engineering, and management consulting company focused on sustainable change across all sectors of society. With their corporate website serving both job seekers and B2B clients in complex, long-term sales processes, they needed a robust digital platform that could handle diverse content needs while integrating seamlessly with multiple systems.
When faced with concerns about their existing CMS vendor’s roadmap, Ramboll saw an opportunity to completely reimagine their digital presence with a headless approach.
In 2022, Ramboll found themselves facing an unexpected digital crossroads. What began as plans for a comprehensive website transformation soon revealed deeper challenges with their existing content management infrastructure. Their existing traditional CMS was running on an outdated version, and concerns about their vendor’s roadmap created uncertainty about future support and development.
As Peter Nissen, Digital Team Lead at Ramboll, explained: “Originally, it wasn’t our intention to change our content management system. But at one point, it became clear that there were some risks if we continued with our existing monolithic CMS.”
The timing coincided with Ramboll’s ambitious website project that extended far beyond typical redesign work. “It wasn’t really a redesign. It was a complete redo of the user experience, navigation, interaction design, and most of the content,” Peter noted. With 60-70% of content being created from scratch, the project represented a comprehensive digital overhaul.
Ramboll’s website serves two distinct but equally important audiences. Job seekers represent a significant portion of traffic volume, while potential B2B clients engage in long-term commercial processes, for example, for major construction projects. This dual focus demanded a robust, flexible platform capable of supporting complex business requirements while maintaining an excellent user experience.
When evaluating replacement options, Ramboll made a strategic decision that would define their entire digital future. Rather than looking at traditional CMS replacements, they focused exclusively on headless solutions.
The evaluation process brought together both technical and business stakeholders. Peter represented business requirements while a small group of editors conducted hands-on usability testing. Prasath Chellappan, Head of Service Delivery at Ramboll, joined other technical experts in assessing platform capabilities.
“When we were using a traditional CMS, we often felt limited by its tight coupling between content and presentation,” Prasath explained. “With Kontent.ai’s headless architecture, we’re no longer tied to a specific technology stack. This flexibility allows us to innovate faster and adapt to emerging technologies as the digital landscape evolves.”
The API-first approach emerged as one of the deciding factors. “If we had continued with our traditional CMS, the challenge of integrating with other platforms would have been much bigger. It would have taken much more time and resources,” Peter reflected.
Just as important was the user experience, an area where Kontent.ai truly stood out. “That was actually one of the main reasons why we ended up selecting Kontent.ai—when we compared it to the other three shortlisted systems, it was the most user-friendly one,” Peter revealed.
This strong foundation made it possible to move quickly from selection to implementation.
Working with the system integrator Dept, Ramboll managed to develop their new digital ecosystem in record time.
Built on React.js with a Node.js backend, the new platform launched in May 2023 after just five months of technical development. This rapid timeline became possible through Kontent.ai’s flexible architecture and comprehensive API capabilities.
“We had a very short time to do the technical implementation, and without that flexibility, we would not have been able to move that fast. We had six different integrations that we wanted to do. And we implemented [all that] in five months.” Peter noted.
The platform’s true power became evident through seamless integration capabilities.
Ramboll successfully connected seven external systems, creating a seamless digital ecosystem that automated workflows and eliminated manual processes:
“The more complex [integrations] were the ones connecting to our employee data system and the system that handles our job posts – our recruitment system,” Peter explained. Given the substantial job seeker traffic to their website, the recruitment system integration proved especially business-critical.
The integration with their Digital Asset Management (DAM) system delivered immediate workflow improvements. “That was also a really nice change – not having to upload images separately inside the CMS, but being able to integrate with the DAM. And we can manage all the metadata regarding copyright, GDPR, permissions, even alt texts, in one place,” Peter described.
Alongside this, an integration with Ramboll’s HR system enabled elegant automation. “It’s really nice now that we have that HR system integration,” Peter said. ” We’ve set up a semi-automatic process where, whenever someone leaves the company, we’re notified the next day and can figure out [the next steps] from there.”
At first, Ramboll faced potential issues with their translation workflows, but they ended up finding an elegant solution. “The only integration project we didn’t succeed with was with our translation agency,” Peter admitted. The challenge came from the modular nature of headless CMS content conflicting with traditional translation processes.
“They’re not really set up for a system that’s so modular as a headless CMS. So, when we were sending texts out to them, they would receive it module by module, and it was a hassle to put everything together and get everything in context,” Peter explained.
However, Kontent.ai’s AI translation feature provided an elegant solution. “It was a real relief when you came out with AI translations, and we found out that actually had a really good quality and that we could transfer to that, so we didn’t need the integration anymore,” Peter reflected.
This shift delivered immediate cost savings while supporting content across German and four Nordic languages.
Beyond the technical improvements, Ramboll’s content teams discovered that their daily workflows had become significantly more efficient and collaborative. The platform’s user-friendly design delivered on its promise, even for users new to headless CMS concepts.
The platform now serves diverse user groups effectively, from Peter’s dedicated digital team to marketing and communications staff, plus business users focused on sales communication. Each group has found the interface intuitive and supportive of their specific workflows.
In particular, Kontent.ai’s collaboration features pleasantly surprised the teams at Ramboll by delivering clear, practical benefits. “The fact that they can comment directly on the content items and tag other users and editors and resolve the issues without switching tools – that’s really helpful,” Peter noted.
The ability for multiple authors to work on the same content at the same time, without overwriting each other’s changes, eliminated persistent operational frustration. “We don’t have this annoying manual check-in and check-out, which can slow the team down. In our old system, we had the issue that people would check out things, and then they would just leave them there,” Peter recalled. “The smart locking system in Kontent.ai keeps everyone in sync without disrupting their flow.”
Simultaneous editing lets multiple people work on the same content item at once, without overwriting each other’s changes. Kontent.ai locks only the element you’re editing, so others can still contribute in real time.
Want to see it in action? Learn more in Kontent.ai Learn.
Multi-locale management capabilities have proven particularly valuable for Ramboll’s international operations across German and four Nordic languages. “We don’t need to roll out unnecessary changes to all locales and break the inheritance when we make changes. We have set up various solutions for how we can cascade content,” Peter explained, emphasizing the importance of clear inheritance relationships between language versions.
The comprehensive platform migration has delivered significant improvements across technical, operational, and business dimensions. “I think the two biggest qualities we’ve noticed since moving to Kontent.ai are fit and speed. The fact that it fits well with any system, and the speed—you can connect all the pieces or systems much faster than we were used to before,” Peter summarized.
System reliability has significantly improved since the implementation. “Previously, integrating with our existing job portals was a consistent challenge with our traditional CMS. However, after transitioning to Kontent.ai, the platform has proven to be far more stable and dependable,” Prasath confirmed.
But technical efficiency gains go beyond just integration stability. “With Kontent.ai, we can create multiple content items based on a content type. When coding, we only need to map the content type once, ensuring all content items follow the same structure across the system,” Prasath explained. “This eliminates the need to rewrite code, and it’s become easier for the developers to reuse the code and maintain the structure.”
Translation costs have decreased substantially through the shift from agency workflows to Kontent.ai’s AI-powered features, while maintaining quality across five languages.
The automated HR integration has eliminated manual processes and reduced the risk of outdated employee information appearing on the website.
Looking forward, Ramboll continues exploring platform capabilities to support evolving business needs, with additional website consolidation projects under consideration.
The success at Ramboll demonstrates how the right headless CMS can deliver both technical flexibility and an exceptional user experience. Through strategic platform selection and thoughtful implementation, they’ve created a digital foundation that supports their mission of driving sustainable change across all sectors of society while providing the agility to adapt to future technological developments.
For Ramboll, Kontent.ai has proven to be more than just a content management system – it’s become the cornerstone of a connected digital ecosystem that drives their sustainable change initiatives across all sectors of society.
I think the two biggest qualities we've noticed since moving to Kontent.ai are fit and speed. The fact that it fits well with any system, and the speed—you can connect all the pieces or systems much faster than we were used to before.
Peter Nissen
Digital Team Lead, RambollWith Kontent.ai, create content once, then publish it anywhere, all from one enterprise content management system. Explore the CMS solutions that help our customers get the most out of their most strategic asset: content.
