As I sit here in 2026 getting ready to head back to work tomorrow (Monday), I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on the year that was 2025. It was a busy year—and one that somehow went by incredibly fast. Between the increasing use of AI and the rapid innovation happening across the Drupal ecosystem, there was a lot to experience, contribute to, and learn from. Looking back, 2025 felt like a year when many long-term ideas became real, usable tools for the community.
DrupalCon Atlanta
DrupalCon Atlanta set the tone for the year in a big way. One of the standout moments for me was Dries Buytaert’s LEGO keynote, which used LEGO as a metaphor to talk about modularity, creativity, and the future of Drupal. It was a fun, memorable way to reinforce what makes Drupal special: flexibility, composability, and a strong foundation that lets builders create just about anything.
If you missed it—or just want to rewatch—it’s well worth your time!
Drupal Community Summit
In 2025, I also had the opportunity to help organize the Drupal Community Summit at DrupalCon Atlanta. This summit focused on the non-code aspects of Drupal: community health, contribution pathways, sustainability, and how we continue to grow and support one another.
Helping organize this event was especially meaningful to me because it highlighted just how much the Drupal project depends on people—not just technology. Seeing so many community members come together to share ideas and experiences was a reminder of why I continue to invest my time here.
DrupalCamp NJ
I was happy to return to DrupalCamp NJ in 2025, an event that always feels both welcoming and deeply technical. This year, I presented a talk titled Drupal Platforms: A How-To Guide, where I walked through practical approaches to building and maintaining Drupal platforms at scale.
The conversations that followed the session—around governance, tooling, and long-term maintainability—were just as valuable as the talk itself.
Drupal GovCon
Drupal GovCon was another highlight of the year. I co-presented a session with Martin Anderson-Clutz from Acquia, focusing on our personal journeys from developer to Drupal advocate. Collaborating with Martin was a great experience, and the audience engagement showed just how relevant Drupal continues to be in the public sector.
I also wrote up a full event recap with suggested sessions to watch for anyone who couldn’t attend in person. If you’re looking to catch up, this is a great starting point!
Acquia Engage and Acquia Source
At Acquia Engage, one of the big announcements was Acquia Source, the next-generation SaaS CMS built with AI agents at its core. This felt like a clear signal of where enterprise Drupal is heading: more automation, smarter workflows, and AI-powered assistance baked directly into content and site management.
New England Drupal Camp (NEDCamp)
NEDCamp 2025 once again delivered a strong mix of community, learning, and great hallway conversations. If you weren’t able to attend—or want to revisit some of the sessions—the full playlist is available online and includes a wide range of topics from development to strategy.
Talking Drupal Milestones
2025 was a big year for Talking Drupal. The podcast hit its 500th episode—a huge milestone and a testament to the consistency and passion of everyone involved over the years.
We also saw the launch of a new show, TD Café, which brought a slightly different format and energy to the Talking Drupal universe. It’s been exciting to see the brand continue to evolve and experiment.
Drupal Canvas
One of the most exciting technical developments in 2025 was the full release of Drupal Canvas (formerly known as Drupal Experience Builder). Canvas represents a major shift in how page layout and content creation work in Drupal.
This is, without a doubt, a game changer. Canvas is poised to replace Layout Builder going forward, and its new name feels far more aligned with what it offers: a flexible, creative surface for building rich digital experiences. I’m excited to see how this pushes Drupal forward and how the community continues to build on top of it.
Drupal AI
Drupal also made enormous strides in AI throughout 2025. The project has positioned itself as an AI-native, human-in-the-loop web framework, and the progress has been impressive. Rather than treating AI as a bolt-on feature, Drupal is integrating it thoughtfully—focusing on transparency, user control, and accessibility.
The community has truly stepped up as a leader and role model in responsible AI innovation, and I’m excited to see how these foundations evolve in the years ahead.
On to 2026...
Looking ahead, I can’t wait for DrupalCon Chicago. I’m also looking forward to once again helping organize the Drupal Community Summit and continuing to support the community in meaningful ways.
I also plan to keep blogging. In 2025, I put together several hands-on how-to posts, and I hope to do more of the same in 2026:
- My go-to setup for local Drupal development with DDEV and Colima
- Creating a simple donation form with Drupal, Stripe, and Webforms
- Simple transactional email with Drupal and Mailgun
Here’s to an exciting 2026 and to continuing to build, learn, and grow alongside the Drupal community.
