# Welcome to Lytics ### About this export | Field | Value | | --- | --- | | **content_type** | course | | **platform** | contentstack-academy | | **source_url** | https://www.contentstack.com/academy/courses/welcome-to-lytics | | **language** | en | | **product_area** | lytics | | **learning_path** | standalone | | **course_id** | welcome-to-lytics | | **slug** | welcome-to-lytics | | **version** | 2026-03-01 | | **last_updated** | 2026-04-28 | | **status** | published | | **keywords** | ["lytics"] | | **summary_one_line** | Begin your CDP journey here. Get a high-level introduction to Lytics from our Executive Team. | | **total_duration_minutes** | 7 | | **lessons_count** | 2 | | **video_lessons_count** | 2 | | **text_lessons_count** | 0 | | **linked_learning_path** | standalone | | **linked_assessment_ref** | LMS_UNCONFIGURED_COURSE_ASSESSMENT | | **markdown_file_url** | /academy/md/courses/welcome-to-lytics.md | | **generated_at** | 2026-04-28T06:55:50.259Z | | **intended_audience** | [] | | **prerequisites** | [] | | **related_courses** | [] | > **Academy MD v3** — companion `.md` for Ask AI. Quizzes and graded assessments are **LMS-only**; this file never contains answer keys. ## Course Overview | Metadata | Value | | --- | --- | | Catalog duration | 7m 3s | | Released (if known) | 2026-03-01 | | Product area | lytics | ### Description Begin your CDP journey here. Get a high-level introduction to Lytics from our Executive Team. ### Learning objectives 1. Follow each lesson in order. 2. Practice in a training stack using placeholders **YOUR_STACK_API_KEY** and **YOUR_DELIVERY_TOKEN** in local `.env` files only. 3. Validate API responses against the official documentation. ### Topics covered lytics ## Course structure ```text welcome-to-lytics/ ├── 01-welcome-to-the-lytics-academy · video · 55s ├── 02-why-do-we-need-a-customer-data-platform · video · 368s ``` ## Lessons ### Lesson 01 — Welcome to the Lytics Academy #### Video details #### At a glance - **Title:** Welcome To Lytics Academy - **Duration:** 55s - **Media link:** https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/pM1b3cZu - **Publish date (unix):** 1750765923 #### Streaming renditions - application/vnd.apple.mpegurl - video/mp4 · 180p · 180p · 235578 kbps #### Timed text tracks (delivery) - **thumbnails:** `https://cdn.jwplayer.com/strips/pM1b3cZu-120.vtt` #### Transcript Welcome. My name is Yasha Cacus-Wolf. I'm the president here at Lytx, and we are all thrilled to have you as a customer. We think you've made a great choice on a technology partner as well, because we believe we understand the opportunities that sit in front of you in your business. We know it's important for you to better know your customers. We know it's important for you to deliver for them world-class personalized experiences, and we know it's important for you to grow your reach. As a critical part of your technology investment, I want you to know that our entire organization, from our engineering team all the way through to customer success, is here to support you being massively successful. If there's anything, and I mean anything, that you need during the onboarding or adoption process, or if you just want to chat about the dynamically changing environment that we all work in, or marketing at large, I'm here for you, and I'm really excited to engage. Congratulations on making a great choice in a technology partner. We are thrilled to have you as a customer. #### Subtitles (WebVTT) ```webvtt WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:07.000 Welcome. My name is Yasha Cacus-Wolf. I'm the president here at Lytx, and we are all thrilled to have you as a customer. 2 00:00:07.000 --> 00:00:14.000 We think you've made a great choice on a technology partner as well, because we believe we understand the opportunities that sit in front of you in your business. 3 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:23.000 We know it's important for you to better know your customers. We know it's important for you to deliver for them world-class personalized experiences, and we know it's important for you to grow your reach. 4 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:34.000 As a critical part of your technology investment, I want you to know that our entire organization, from our engineering team all the way through to customer success, is here to support you being massively successful. 5 00:00:34.000 --> 00:00:48.000 If there's anything, and I mean anything, that you need during the onboarding or adoption process, or if you just want to chat about the dynamically changing environment that we all work in, or marketing at large, I'm here for you, and I'm really excited to engage. 6 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:55.000 Congratulations on making a great choice in a technology partner. We are thrilled to have you as a customer. ``` ```transcript [00:00] Welcome. My name is Yasha Cacus-Wolf. I'm the president here at Lytx, and we are all thrilled to have you as a customer. [00:07] We think you've made a great choice on a technology partner as well, because we believe we understand the opportunities that sit in front of you in your business. [00:14] We know it's important for you to better know your customers. We know it's important for you to deliver for them world-class personalized experiences, and we know it's important for you to grow your reach. [00:23] As a critical part of your technology investment, I want you to know that our entire organization, from our engineering team all the way through to customer success, is here to support you being massively successful. [00:34] If there's anything, and I mean anything, that you need during the onboarding or adoption process, or if you just want to chat about the dynamically changing environment that we all work in, or marketing at large, I'm here for you, and I'm really excited to engage. [00:48] Congratulations on making a great choice in a technology partner. We are thrilled to have you as a customer. ``` #### Key takeaways - Connect **Welcome to the Lytics Academy** back to your stack configuration before moving to the next module. - Capture one concrete artifact (screenshot, Postman call, or code snippet) that proves the step works in your environment. - Re-read the delivery versus management boundary for anything you changed in the entry model. ### Lesson 02 — Why Do We Need a Customer Data Platform? #### Video details #### At a glance - **Title:** Why Do We Need A Customer Data Platform? - **Duration:** 6m 8s - **Media link:** https://cdn.jwplayer.com/previews/jw6vtTjx - **Publish date (unix):** 1750843790 #### Streaming renditions - application/vnd.apple.mpegurl - audio/mp4 · AAC Audio · 113675 kbps - video/mp4 · 180p · 200p · 147906 kbps - video/mp4 · 270p · 300p · 169844 kbps - video/mp4 · 360p · 400p · 195645 kbps - video/mp4 · 406p · 450p · 207307 kbps - video/mp4 · 540p · 600p · 246275 kbps #### Timed text tracks (delivery) - **thumbnails:** `https://cdn.jwplayer.com/strips/jw6vtTjx-120.vtt` #### Transcript Hello, I'm James McDermott, CEO and founder of Lytx. And one of the questions that often comes up when we start our customer data platform journey is, why does my company need a CDP? What problems does it solve? How will it help me and my organization deliver better experiences, gain more customers, increase revenue, become more efficient? In this video, you'll learn why companies make the important decision to buy and adopt a CDP. You'll also learn why this new marketing technology platform is different from the other pieces of technology we have in our marketing stack to help drive engagement and conversions. To start with, what's changed so that I now need something new in my marketing tech stack, something different? We all know that COVID-19 has had a huge impact on our society, ourselves, and our company. What that impact has meant is that companies are now spending more and more time interacting with consumers online. As part of that, we've seen changes in the regulatory environment, increased privacy regulations, and compliance, like CCPA and GDPR. So consumers are moving online, and the rules are getting more strict and more challenging around how we use third-party data to drive experiences and reach those consumers. And along with all of that change that we're adapting to, consumers have recognized that the experience we can receive can be unique, can be personalized. Consumers are interacting with direct-to-consumer brands like Spotify and Netflix. And the expectations that consumers have today about that experience have dramatically changed. And finally, if you put those three important changes that are occurring by the minute and all the time for our consumers and for our companies, what that has meant is we, as business leaders, must drive digital transformation now. For a company and a marketing team, we often sit on massive amounts of customer data. Usually, as you can see from this diagram, it might sit inside of our Customer 360 data warehouse. And we are looking at ways to deliver experiences based on what we know about that customer. The challenge that we face is that we may have information about that consumer, but we don't know how to make a decision about how to deliver the experience, meaning an ad campaign on Google Ads or Facebook or the Trade Desk or a web experience or a mobile app message or an email. We have all of the customer data, but how do we make the best decision? The answer comes in the form of a CDP. With a CDP, you can take all of the customer data that is available from your web experiences, from a shopping cart, from Facebook, and from your transactional data store, and transform that into a unique view on your consumer and apply data science so that you can deliver a decision to the right channel. Lytx is the only CDP that enables decision management. That critical part of the process, the last mile where we decide what should we deliver to this consumer now that will delight them, that will encourage them and nurture them to engage with our brand, and will help them convert and purchase more of our products and services. Gartner has broken the CDP category into four quadrants. Lytx sits in the fourth quadrant called Smart Hub. A Smart Hub is built to unlock marketers' data, provide valuable AI and ML-based insights that enable you to deliver the right message or offer at exactly the right time. This new system is the best way for marketing teams to organize and activate their customer data. The result of a CDP when a marketing team is able to organize and manage their customer data is a unique set of insights, behavioral insights. How much is this consumer engaging with our brand? Content or product-based insights, affinity for specific topics or specific products or specific things that we might want them to engage with. And finally, a set of recommended audiences that your marketing team now has at their fingertips to deliver great experiences. Companies adopt a Smart Hub CDP to support their first party data initiatives to use the data they have to do more for their customers. This can be a complicated process with many handoffs across many different teams. So more and more, companies are adopting a CDP to drive their first party data approach to marketing and deliver more engagement and more revenue for your business. #### Subtitles (WebVTT) ```webvtt WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.000 Hello, I'm James McDermott, CEO and founder of Lytx. 2 00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:08.320 And one of the questions that often comes up 3 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:10.880 when we start our customer data platform journey 4 00:00:10.880 --> 00:00:15.020 is, why does my company need a CDP? 5 00:00:15.020 --> 00:00:17.120 What problems does it solve? 6 00:00:17.120 --> 00:00:19.400 How will it help me and my organization 7 00:00:19.400 --> 00:00:22.920 deliver better experiences, gain more customers, 8 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:26.280 increase revenue, become more efficient? 9 00:00:26.280 --> 00:00:29.240 In this video, you'll learn why companies 10 00:00:29.240 --> 00:00:33.120 make the important decision to buy and adopt a CDP. 11 00:00:33.120 --> 00:00:35.720 You'll also learn why this new marketing technology 12 00:00:35.720 --> 00:00:39.440 platform is different from the other pieces of technology 13 00:00:39.440 --> 00:00:42.680 we have in our marketing stack to help drive 14 00:00:42.680 --> 00:00:45.440 engagement and conversions. 15 00:00:45.440 --> 00:00:49.440 To start with, what's changed so that I now 16 00:00:49.440 --> 00:00:53.120 need something new in my marketing tech stack, 17 00:00:53.120 --> 00:00:55.800 something different? 18 00:00:55.800 --> 00:00:58.880 We all know that COVID-19 has had 19 00:00:58.880 --> 00:01:04.240 a huge impact on our society, ourselves, and our company. 20 00:01:04.240 --> 00:01:09.960 What that impact has meant is that companies are now 21 00:01:09.960 --> 00:01:12.720 spending more and more time interacting 22 00:01:12.720 --> 00:01:14.840 with consumers online. 23 00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:17.840 As part of that, we've seen changes 24 00:01:17.840 --> 00:01:22.160 in the regulatory environment, increased privacy regulations, 25 00:01:22.160 --> 00:01:27.160 and compliance, like CCPA and GDPR. 26 00:01:27.160 --> 00:01:31.040 So consumers are moving online, and the rules 27 00:01:31.040 --> 00:01:33.520 are getting more strict and more challenging 28 00:01:33.520 --> 00:01:38.920 around how we use third-party data to drive experiences 29 00:01:38.920 --> 00:01:41.280 and reach those consumers. 30 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:45.720 And along with all of that change that we're adapting to, 31 00:01:45.720 --> 00:01:51.280 consumers have recognized that the experience we can receive 32 00:01:51.280 --> 00:01:54.760 can be unique, can be personalized. 33 00:01:54.760 --> 00:01:57.640 Consumers are interacting with direct-to-consumer brands 34 00:01:57.640 --> 00:01:59.800 like Spotify and Netflix. 35 00:01:59.800 --> 00:02:02.360 And the expectations that consumers 36 00:02:02.360 --> 00:02:07.360 have today about that experience have dramatically changed. 37 00:02:07.360 --> 00:02:12.680 And finally, if you put those three important changes that 38 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:17.280 are occurring by the minute and all the time for our consumers 39 00:02:17.280 --> 00:02:20.080 and for our companies, what that has meant 40 00:02:20.080 --> 00:02:26.360 is we, as business leaders, must drive digital transformation 41 00:02:26.360 --> 00:02:26.840 now. 42 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:33.520 For a company and a marketing team, 43 00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:37.880 we often sit on massive amounts of customer data. 44 00:02:37.880 --> 00:02:40.640 Usually, as you can see from this diagram, 45 00:02:40.640 --> 00:02:45.000 it might sit inside of our Customer 360 data warehouse. 46 00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:48.560 And we are looking at ways to deliver experiences based 47 00:02:48.560 --> 00:02:52.560 on what we know about that customer. 48 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:56.880 The challenge that we face is that we may have information 49 00:02:56.880 --> 00:02:59.880 about that consumer, but we don't 50 00:02:59.880 --> 00:03:02.520 know how to make a decision about how 51 00:03:02.520 --> 00:03:05.400 to deliver the experience, meaning 52 00:03:05.400 --> 00:03:10.480 an ad campaign on Google Ads or Facebook or the Trade Desk 53 00:03:10.560 --> 00:03:17.240 or a web experience or a mobile app message or an email. 54 00:03:17.240 --> 00:03:20.720 We have all of the customer data, 55 00:03:20.720 --> 00:03:24.400 but how do we make the best decision? 56 00:03:24.400 --> 00:03:28.800 The answer comes in the form of a CDP. 57 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:32.720 With a CDP, you can take all of the customer data 58 00:03:32.720 --> 00:03:35.880 that is available from your web experiences, 59 00:03:35.920 --> 00:03:39.400 from a shopping cart, from Facebook, 60 00:03:39.400 --> 00:03:42.520 and from your transactional data store, 61 00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:47.160 and transform that into a unique view on your consumer 62 00:03:47.160 --> 00:03:51.560 and apply data science so that you can deliver a decision 63 00:03:51.560 --> 00:03:55.200 to the right channel. 64 00:03:55.200 --> 00:04:01.040 Lytx is the only CDP that enables decision management. 65 00:04:01.040 --> 00:04:05.320 That critical part of the process, the last mile 66 00:04:05.320 --> 00:04:11.320 where we decide what should we deliver to this consumer now 67 00:04:11.320 --> 00:04:14.360 that will delight them, that will encourage them 68 00:04:14.360 --> 00:04:17.240 and nurture them to engage with our brand, 69 00:04:17.240 --> 00:04:19.720 and will help them convert and purchase more 70 00:04:19.720 --> 00:04:23.560 of our products and services. 71 00:04:23.560 --> 00:04:30.520 Gartner has broken the CDP category into four quadrants. 72 00:04:30.560 --> 00:04:35.680 Lytx sits in the fourth quadrant called Smart Hub. 73 00:04:35.680 --> 00:04:40.040 A Smart Hub is built to unlock marketers' data, 74 00:04:40.040 --> 00:04:43.800 provide valuable AI and ML-based insights 75 00:04:43.800 --> 00:04:48.120 that enable you to deliver the right message or offer 76 00:04:48.120 --> 00:04:51.800 at exactly the right time. 77 00:04:51.800 --> 00:04:55.720 This new system is the best way for marketing teams 78 00:04:55.720 --> 00:05:01.840 to organize and activate their customer data. 79 00:05:01.840 --> 00:05:06.280 The result of a CDP when a marketing team 80 00:05:06.280 --> 00:05:09.560 is able to organize and manage their customer data 81 00:05:09.560 --> 00:05:14.200 is a unique set of insights, behavioral insights. 82 00:05:14.200 --> 00:05:17.480 How much is this consumer engaging with our brand? 83 00:05:17.480 --> 00:05:19.640 Content or product-based insights, 84 00:05:19.640 --> 00:05:24.120 affinity for specific topics or specific products 85 00:05:24.120 --> 00:05:27.960 or specific things that we might want them to engage with. 86 00:05:27.960 --> 00:05:31.680 And finally, a set of recommended audiences 87 00:05:31.680 --> 00:05:34.760 that your marketing team now has at their fingertips 88 00:05:34.760 --> 00:05:39.080 to deliver great experiences. 89 00:05:39.080 --> 00:05:42.760 Companies adopt a Smart Hub CDP to support their first party 90 00:05:42.760 --> 00:05:46.240 data initiatives to use the data they have 91 00:05:46.240 --> 00:05:48.960 to do more for their customers. 92 00:05:48.960 --> 00:05:51.560 This can be a complicated process 93 00:05:51.560 --> 00:05:55.520 with many handoffs across many different teams. 94 00:05:55.520 --> 00:05:59.200 So more and more, companies are adopting a CDP 95 00:05:59.200 --> 00:06:03.320 to drive their first party data approach to marketing 96 00:06:03.320 --> 00:06:08.640 and deliver more engagement and more revenue for your business. ``` ```transcript [00:00] Hello, I'm James McDermott, CEO and founder of Lytx. [00:06] And one of the questions that often comes up [00:08] when we start our customer data platform journey [00:10] is, why does my company need a CDP? [00:15] What problems does it solve? [00:17] How will it help me and my organization [00:19] deliver better experiences, gain more customers, [00:22] increase revenue, become more efficient? [00:26] In this video, you'll learn why companies [00:29] make the important decision to buy and adopt a CDP. [00:33] You'll also learn why this new marketing technology [00:35] platform is different from the other pieces of technology [00:39] we have in our marketing stack to help drive [00:42] engagement and conversions. [00:45] To start with, what's changed so that I now [00:49] need something new in my marketing tech stack, [00:53] something different? [00:55] We all know that COVID-19 has had [00:58] a huge impact on our society, ourselves, and our company. [01:04] What that impact has meant is that companies are now [01:09] spending more and more time interacting [01:12] with consumers online. [01:14] As part of that, we've seen changes [01:17] in the regulatory environment, increased privacy regulations, [01:22] and compliance, like CCPA and GDPR. [01:27] So consumers are moving online, and the rules [01:31] are getting more strict and more challenging [01:33] around how we use third-party data to drive experiences [01:38] and reach those consumers. [01:41] And along with all of that change that we're adapting to, [01:45] consumers have recognized that the experience we can receive [01:51] can be unique, can be personalized. [01:54] Consumers are interacting with direct-to-consumer brands [01:57] like Spotify and Netflix. [01:59] And the expectations that consumers [02:02] have today about that experience have dramatically changed. [02:07] And finally, if you put those three important changes that [02:12] are occurring by the minute and all the time for our consumers [02:17] and for our companies, what that has meant [02:20] is we, as business leaders, must drive digital transformation [02:26] now. [02:29] For a company and a marketing team, [02:33] we often sit on massive amounts of customer data. [02:37] Usually, as you can see from this diagram, [02:40] it might sit inside of our Customer 360 data warehouse. [02:45] And we are looking at ways to deliver experiences based [02:48] on what we know about that customer. [02:52] The challenge that we face is that we may have information [02:56] about that consumer, but we don't [02:59] know how to make a decision about how [03:02] to deliver the experience, meaning [03:05] an ad campaign on Google Ads or Facebook or the Trade Desk [03:10] or a web experience or a mobile app message or an email. [03:17] We have all of the customer data, [03:20] but how do we make the best decision? [03:24] The answer comes in the form of a CDP. [03:28] With a CDP, you can take all of the customer data [03:32] that is available from your web experiences, [03:35] from a shopping cart, from Facebook, [03:39] and from your transactional data store, ``` #### Lesson text The world has changed.   Covid.  More consumers online.  Privacy.  Security.  Compliance.  Higher consumer expectations because some companies like Netflix and Spotify have "figured it out."   Today, organizations need a better way to collect, organize, and unlock customer data.  There are too many handoffs, too many places where we lose track of what we're really trying to do: deliver highly personalized experiences to our customers and prospects so we can gain their trust, build more engagement and ultimately acquire loyal customers for life. This introduction to CDPs will help you understand WHY your organization needs a CDP. **Why does my organization need a CDP?** - In today's digital-first world, our marketing teams need help to uncover customers and deliver relevant experiences. #### Key takeaways - Connect **Why Do We Need a Customer Data Platform?** back to your stack configuration before moving to the next module. - Capture one concrete artifact (screenshot, Postman call, or code snippet) that proves the step works in your environment. - Re-read the delivery versus management boundary for anything you changed in the entry model. ## Resources & references | Page | Companion Markdown | | --- | --- | | /courses/welcome-to-lytics/welcome-to-the-lytics-academy | /academy/md/courses/welcome-to-lytics/welcome-to-the-lytics-academy.md | | /courses/welcome-to-lytics/why-do-we-need-a-customer-data-platform | /academy/md/courses/welcome-to-lytics/why-do-we-need-a-customer-data-platform.md | ## Supplement for indexing ### Content summary Begin your CDP journey here. Get a high-level introduction to Lytics from our Executive Team. Begin your CDP journey here. Get a high-level introduction to Lytics from our Executive Team. ### Retrieval tags - lytics - welcome-to-lytics - Welcome - the - Academy - Why - Need - Customer - Data - Platform - welcome-to-lytics course - Contentstack Academy ### Indexing notes Chunk at each "### Lesson NN — Title" heading; copy lesson_id and topics from the preceding HTML comment into chunk metadata for RAG filters. Course slug: welcome-to-lytics. Union of lesson topic tokens: Welcome, the, Lytics, Academy, Why, Need, Customer, Data, Platform. Do not embed or retrieve LMS-only quiz items or mastery exam answer keys from this export. ### Asset references | Label | URL | | --- | --- | | Video thumbnail: Welcome to the Lytics Academy | `https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/pM1b3cZu/poster.jpg?width=720` | | Video thumbnail: Why Do We Need a Customer Data Platform? | `https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/jw6vtTjx/poster.jpg?width=720` | ### External links | Label | URL | | --- | --- | | Contentstack Academy home | `https://www.contentstack.com/academy/` | | Training instance setup | `https://www.contentstack.com/academy/training-instance` | | Academy playground (GitHub) | `https://github.com/contentstack/contentstack-academy-playground` | | Contentstack documentation | `https://www.contentstack.com/docs/` |