Overview

Reimagining Content Management for the Digital Era

Thrivent is a Fortune 500 membership-owned financial services organization headquartered in Minneapolis and Appleton. Originally founded to serve Lutheran communities, today it serves Christians across the United States through a unique model that blends financial expertise with faith-driven values and community impact.

With more than 3,000 financial advisors operating nationwide, Thrivent offers a full spectrum of services including wealth management, life and retirement insurance, banking solutions, and generosity programs designed to empower clients and employees to give back.

Recognized repeatedly among the World’s Most Ethical Companies by Ethisphere, Thrivent stands out not only for its financial strength—with 2.4 million clients and over US$193 billion in assets under advisement—but also for its enduring commitment to purpose-driven financial guidance and community well-being.

The Challenge

Fragmented Systems, High Costs, and Limited Scalability

The client needed to modernize its digital ecosystem to improve user experience, content management, and security across multiple business areas. With more than 34 active sites and over 3,000 partners requiring secure access to classified information, the existing monolithic architecture was costly, inefficient, and not scalable. Manual, repetitive tasks slowed down content publishing, while authentication and access flows lacked flexibility. The challenge was to build a unified, agile, and user-friendly platform capable of supporting diverse areas such as marketing, HR, and administration—all while ensuring compliance and operational efficiency.

The Solution

Headless Architecture and Secure, Scalable Content Management

Santex partnered with the client’s in-house team to design and implement a headless CMS architecture.

This solution enabled:

• Decoupled architecture & API-driven design: separating content from presentation to improve flexibility and scalability.

• Secure account opening & authentication flows for users, editors, and final clients.

• Content editor and admin interfaces with search, templates, and quick publishing capabilities—reducing dependency on developers for updates.

• Experience templates & content types designed like microservices for modularity and faster delivery.

• Omnichannel publishing: content can now be published across websites and headless endpoints seamlessly.

• React integration: leveraging React for dynamic front-end experiences, reusable UI components, and faster rendering across multiple platforms.

By combining in-house and Santex teams, the project simplified complexity, streamlined workflows, and introduced automation for repetitive tasks, cutting costs and improving time-to-market.

Key Outcomes

Measurable Impact: Agility, Security, and Improved UX/ UI

• Improved UX/UI: cleaner, faster, and more intuitive digital experience.

• Scalability & flexibility: a headless, API-driven system adaptable to new business areas.

• Secure access for 3,000+ partners, ensuring compliance and confidentiality.

• Faster publishing cycles: content updates made directly through CMS, reducing IT dependency.

• Operational efficiency: reduced repetitive tasks and lower overall costs.