Talking Drupal: TD Cafe #008 - Martin Anderson-Clutz & Jürgen Haas
In this episode, Martin and Jürgen dive deep into the concept of modular API, ECA and more. Jürgen shares insights from Dev Days in Lubin, key improvements in ECA 3.0, and the exciting potential of leveraging the BPMN interface for AI. The conversation also addresses future aspirations for ECA. Additionally, Jürgen and Martin share their personal travel hacks and discuss the intersection of Drupal travel and photography.
For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/cafe008
Topics- Introduction to Modular API
- Conversations at Dev Days
- Exploring Modeler API
- AI Integration and Future Prospects
- Challenges and Comparisons with Other Tools
- Community Collaboration and AI Initiatives
- Future Roadmap for ECA
- Travel Hacks and Personal Insights
- Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Martin Anderson-Clutz is a highly respected figure in the Drupal community, known for his extensive contributions as a developer, speaker, and advocate for open-source innovation. Based in London, Ontario, Canada, Martin began his career as a graphic designer before transitioning into web development. His journey with Drupal started in late 2005 when he was seeking a robust multilingual CMS solution, leading him to embrace Drupal's capabilities. Martin holds the distinction of being the world's first Triple Drupal Grand Master, certified across Drupal 7, 8, and 9 as a Developer, Front-End Specialist, and Back-End Specialist. He also possesses certifications in various Acquia products and is UX certified by the Nielsen Norman Group. Currently serving as a Senior Solutions Engineer at Acquia, Martin has been instrumental in advancing Drupal's ecosystem. He has developed and maintains several contributed modules, including Smart Date and Search Overrides, and has been actively involved in the Drupal Recipes initiative, particularly focusing on event management solutions. His current work on the Event Platform aims to streamline the creation and management of event-based websites within Drupal. Beyond development, Martin is a prominent speaker and educator, having presented at numerous Drupal events such as DrupalCon Barcelona and EvolveDrupal. He is also a co-host of the "Talking Drupal" podcast, where he leads the "Module of the Week" segment, sharing insights on various Drupal modules. Martin's dedication to the Drupal community is evident through his continuous efforts to mentor, innovate, and promote best practices within the open-source landscape.
Jürgen HaasJürgen Haas is a seasoned software architect, open source advocate, and long-time contributor to the Drupal community. Based in Germany, Jürgen brings decades of experience in enterprise IT solutions, specializing in system architecture, security, and digital transformation. He is known for his leadership within the ECA project and for being the track lead for privacy and data protection in Drupal CMS. Jürgen is an active participant in community initiatives, a frequent speaker at Drupal events, and a mentor to developers looking to deepen their expertise in scalable and secure web applications. His work reflects a passion for innovation, collaboration, and the power of open-source technology to solve real-world business challenges
GuestsMartin Anderson-Clutz - mandclu.com mandclu Jürgen Haas - jurgenhaas
DrupalEasy: Announcing a new multi-day DrupalEasy class: Professional Single Directory Components
Drupal AI Initiative: From strategy to delivery: Key outcomes of the Drupal AI Initiative off-site
The Drupal AI Initiative is responsible for leading the definition and delivery of major AI capabilities for Drupal. Whilst operating in the fast-paced AI industry, we recognise the importance of taking time to ensure plans to deliver our bold vision are robust.
With this in mind, last week, members of the Drupal AI Initiative gathered in-person and online for two days of structured activities dedicated to refining the initiative’s direction, funding model, operational framework, and marketing.
The off-site fostered improved collaboration and strategic clarity. It also served as a valuable forum to present and critically review a newly developed marketing and communications strategy, ensuring plans are in place to extend awareness of Drupal AI far beyond markets where Drupal is well-established.
$300k funding secured to catalyse progressSecuring sustainable funding and growing the team is fundamental to the initiative’s success, and Dominique De Cooman is leading this area. Dominique has had numerous conversations with Drupal agency leaders regarding the Drupal AI Initiative and how they can get involved. He reported rising interest in support and confirmed a host of additional sponsors, known as “Makers”, joining the initiative.
Being a maker goes beyond financial support. Each agrees to allocate full-time staff dedicated to advancing key areas of the initiative. Combined, these commitments represent new funding worth $300,000, which will be used to accelerate progress towards our goals.
The first round of Drupal AI Makers (in alphabetical order) was announced in early June:
The latest Drupal AI Makers (in alphabetical order):
Their support brings the total number of Drupal AI Makers to 15, representing a significant milestone for the initiative. There is also an anonymous sponsor contributing funding. A more detailed blog post about these new makers is coming soon.
A workshop was held to explicitly define concrete deliverables across various functional areas, including product, external relations, operational processes, scaling the team, and financial sustainability.
Strategies to attract further funding were also discussed, together with discussions on how supporters may derive value. This covered details of the “early access” programme, which provides benefits to makers while remaining true to open source and Drupal community values.
Building delivery capacity with dedicated project managementThanks to the new makers, we have greatly increased our capacity to deliver. The leadership team acknowledged the need to recruit a dedicated project manager (PM). This will bring clarity, structure, and accountability to product management, development, and delivery. A focused PM will ensure our development team works effectively, bolstering our ability to ship solutions frequently and maintain Drupal’s leading advantage in open-source AI.
The team developed a hiring plan for this critical position, including profiling the role, outlining timelines and budget, and identifying the individuals responsible for the hiring process.
Decisions were made regarding candidate assessment and communicating hiring plans, while interim candidates from makers were identified to fill the role and deliver immediate benefits.
Shaping the next phase of Drupal AI developmentA deep dive into the product roadmap was conducted, where participants worked to define concrete milestones, delivery timelines, and assign ownership of features.
Discussions also focused on making the technology installable and packaging its various capabilities, with decisions made regarding demo versions to support evaluation.
An article detailing the roadmap planning is forthcoming.
Informed by the Drupal AI SurveyThe off-site was intentionally held as the Drupal AI Survey drew to a close. Early analysis of 232 submissions ensured that our decision-making processes directly took into account feedback from end users.
The survey’s ranking method was designed to determine feature value and sentiment, helping to prioritise features based on market demand and perceived business value.
The top three features by overall weighted score were the Search Optimizer, Audit Trail Agent, and Content Librarian. Conversely, respondents ranked features such as Demand Driver and Lead Enhancer among those with the lowest business value, indicating they may benefit from reframing, clearer use cases, or potential deprioritization.
Fact Finder and Role Master generated the most commentary, which will undoubtedly enhance our approach once we enter the planning phase.
A full report from the Drupal AI Survey will be released via a special webinar on 28th August.
Marketing strategyA substantial segment was dedicated to evaluating the draft external communication and engagement strategy.
The core objectives of this strategy are twofold: Grow the Drupal AI audience by focusing on the specific AI challenges faced by particular industries, and retain existing customers by positioning Drupal AI as a strong motivator for continued Drupal use.
The Drupal AI Marketing Strategy acknowledges a shift in buyer persona from marketing to AI procurements with more oversight from IT leaders. Over half of AI solution purchases are now funded by central IT budgets and have a strong focus on return on investment (ROI).
The core messaging frames Drupal AI as "a framework to accelerate AI adoption" that allows users to "Integrate today’s best-in-class AI and experiment with tomorrow’s breakthroughs” within the freedom of an open-source ecosystem. The strategy will ensure Drupal AI strengthens Drupal’s longstanding commitment to transparency and robust governance.
With increasing support from Makers, marketing efforts can be expanded by incorporating team members from these organisations who bring the skills and expertise necessary to achieve our aspirational goals.
Rounding off 2 days of intensive meetingsNothing compares to the sense of togetherness and energy that face-to-face gatherings provide. Being together sparked numerous aha moments and new ideas. Of course, in true Drupal fashion, the conversations went on well into the evening. So much progress was made.
We concluded with a shared sense of purpose, a clear direction, and renewed enthusiasm to advance Drupal AI ahead of DrupalCon Vienna, by which time we will have much to showcase. See you there?
Get involved with Drupal AIWe have a variety of webinars, events, training and ways to contribute. There are opportunities for individuals across a range of skill sets plus we encourage organisations to become Makers of Drupal AI via sponsorship.
Visit the Drupal AI Initiative homepage to find out more.
Photos: Paul Johnson
Drupal AI Initiative: Drupal AI 1.2.0-alpha2 is out and comes with stability fixes and new features
Drupal AI 1.2.0-alpha2 was released on the 13th of August and it comes with a lot of stability fixes and some new features.
Note that since this is an alpha, we will not provide upgrade paths from this alpha and more features will still be added before the beta releases.
To discover more about Drupal AI and to access full documentation visit the project page.
Stability FixesThe release takes us closer to a production release, by fixing a lot of bugs on the added features since the 1.2.0-alpha1 release and it fixes minor bugs on the features that already exist.
Views Automators TypeThis new AI Automators type gives a whole set of new powers to AI Automators by making it possible to invoke Views from anywhere in your Automators Workflows.
This means that any content you can express in a view, the Automator can use to automate or make part of an editorial workflow.
The following scenarios are some of thousands of different workflows that you could create within minutes using the AI Automators due to this new type:
- You want to figure out not just what was the most commented articles last week, but you also want a short summary and semantic rating of if the comments were positive or negative for each article. You can now set that up in minutes.
- You want to have a related content block on your article, but you want it actually written in free text as a couple of sentences, how the linked content connects to the article you are reading now. You can now set that up in minutes.
- You want a weekly mail with quotes that touches a specific topic, filtered out from all the editorial content that was added last week. You can now set that up in minutes.
The new Field Widget Actions module makes it possible to add interactive buttons on any entity form, to make it easy for editors to interact and fill out fields with AI from anywhere. With a push of a button you can have suggestions or picks - if you are not happy, you can push and ask again. This ensures that we can use AI to help the editor, but the editor has the final decision.
We have now added so you can use select lists, numeric fields, e-mail fields and more using the Automators and Field Widget Actions.
Outside of that, the initial version lacked needed accessibility features, making it hard to be used by everyone. We have added fixes for this.
Fully flexible streamed responseStreaming has been a second class citizen up until now in the AI module. The problem with the architecture of PHP and how a streamed response works, made it hard to do things like logging, token counting, callbacks and other post streaming events.
This has now been alleviated and it's now possible to do all things that you can do in a normal response as a streamed response.
Better CKEditor experienceThe AI CKEditor experience had a limited experience when using it with the text selection. We have now added improvements to how the plugin works when selecting text and using the AI CKEditor.
Normalized Token UsageThe token usage for chat clients has historically been represented as a raw value on the response, however now we have added normalization of token usage, meaning that any third party library that for instance wants to count usage costs or add usage limits now has the possibility to do this.
Work on such an module is already underway here.
Thank youThank you to the following contributors for your contributions:
marcus_johansson, leo pitt, bbruno, a.dmitriiev, mrdalesmith, anjaliprasannan, prashant.c, danielveza, sijumpk, johnpicozzi, bisonbleu, jayzalani34, sanket.tale, ishani patel, libbna, abhishek@kumar, kanchan bhogade, jofitz, sarvjeetsingh, techmantejas, project update bot, kristen pol, mgifford, ravimane23, prabha1997, annmarysruthy, valthebald, andrewbelcher, riyas_nr, murz, gxleano, aporie, sirclickalot, seogow, svendecabooter, breidert, dan2k3k4, akhil babu, michaellander, ralkeon, scott_euser, jurgenhaas, andypost, binoli lalani, nicholass, petar_basic, matthews, dunx
Thank you to the following organizations for supporting contribution:
- 1xINTERNET
- Acquia
- Amazee Labs
- amazee.io
- CivicActions
- Dropsolid
- drunomics
- Drupal India Association
- EPAM Systems
- European Commission and European Union Institutions, Agencies and Bodies
- FAB Web Studio
- Factorial GmbH
- FreelyGive
- Itty Bitty Byte
- jofitz
- LakeDrops
- Noble Services Scotland
- PreviousNext
- QED42
- Salsa Digital
- Sixeleven
- Skilld
- Soapbox
- Sven Decabooter
- SystemSeed
- Zoocha
We have a variety of webinars, events and ways to get involved. There are opportunities for individuals across a range of skillsets plus we are keen to encourage organisations to become Makers of Drupal AI via sponsorship.
Visit the Drupal AI Initiative homepage to find out more.
Kanopi Studios: Small Bites, Big Wins: How Kanopi Brings AI Solutions to our Clients
Kanopi Studios delivers practical AI solutions that enhance websites, streamline workflows, and boost impact, starting with small tools that create big wins.
The post Small Bites, Big Wins: How Kanopi Brings AI Solutions to our Clients appeared first on Kanopi Studios.
Dries Buytaert: Funding Open Source like public infrastructure
Many public institutions use Open Source without contributing to its upkeep. While this is legal, it shifts all maintenance costs onto a small group of contributors. Over time, that risks the services those institutions depend on. Better procurement and policy choices could help turn more public institutions into active contributors.
### The rise of government stewardship I am certainly not the only one calling for government involvement in Open Source infrastructure. In recent years, national governments and intergovernmental bodies, including the United Nations, have begun increasing investment in Open Source. In 2020, the UN Secretary General's [*Roadmap for Digital Cooperation*](https://www.un.org/en/content/digital-cooperation-roadmap/) called for global investment in "digital public goods" such as Open Source software to help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. Five years later, the UN introduced the [UN Open Source Principles](https://unite.un.org/news/sixteen-organizations-endorse-un-open-source-principles), encouraging practices like "open by default" and "contributing back". At the European level, the [EU's Cyber Resilience Act](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_Resilience_Act) recognizes Open Source software stewards as "economic actors", acknowledging their role in keeping infrastructure secure and reliable. In Germany, the [Sovereign Tech Agency](https://www.sovereign.tech/) has invested €26 million in more than [60 Open Source projects](https://www.sovereign.tech/tech) that support critical digital infrastructure. Governments and public institutions are also creating Open Source Program Offices (OSPOs) to coordinate policy, encourage contributions, and ensure long-term sustainability. In Europe, the European Commission's [EC OSPO](https://ec.social-network.europa.eu/@EC_OSPO) operates the [code.europa.eu](https://code.europa.eu) platform for cross-border collaboration. In the United States, agencies such as the [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services](https://www.cms.gov/digital-service/open-source-program-office), the [United States Digital Service](https://www.usds.gov/), the [Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency](https://www.cisa.gov/), and the [U.S. Digital Corps](https://digitalcorps.gsa.gov/) play similar roles. In Latin America, Brazil's [Free Software Portal](https://softwarepublico.gov.br/) supports collaboration across governments. These efforts signal a shift from simply using Open Source to actively stewarding and investing in it at the institutional level. ### The math borders on absurd If the top 100 countries each contributed $200,000 a year to an Open Source project like Drupal, the project would have a twenty million dollar annual budget. That is about what it costs to maintain less than ten miles of highway. In my home country, Belgium, which has just over ten million people, more than one billion euros is spent each year maintaining roads. A small fraction of that could help secure the future of Open Source software like Drupal, which supports public services for millions of Belgians.For the cost of maintaining 10 miles of highway, we could secure the future of several critical Open Source projects that power essential public services. The math borders on absurd.
### How governments can help Just as governments maintain roads, bridges and utilities that society depends on, they should also help sustain the Open Source projects that power essential services, digitally and otherwise. The scale of investment needed is modest compared to other public infrastructure. Governments could implement this through several approaches: - **Track the health of critical Open Source projects.** Just like we have safety ratings for bridges, governments should regularly check the health of the Open Source projects they rely on. This means setting clear targets, such as addressing security issues within _x_ days, having _y_ active maintainers, keeping all third-party software components up to date, and more. When a project falls behind, governments should step in and help with targeted support. This could include direct funding, employing contributors, or working with partners to stabilize the project. - **Commit to long-term funding with stable timelines.** Just as governments plan highway maintenance years in advance, we'd benefit from multi-year funding commitments and planning for critical digital infrastructure. Long-term funding allows projects to address technical debt, plan major updates, and recruit talent without the constant uncertainty of short-term fundraising. - **Encourage contribution in government contracts.** Governments can use procurement to strengthen the Open Source projects they depend on. Vendor contribution should be a key factor in awarding contracts, alongside price, quality, and other criteria. Agencies or vendors can be required or encouraged to give back through coding, documentation, security reviews, design work, or direct funding. This ensures governments work with true experts while helping keep critical Open Source projects healthy and sustainable. - **Adopt "Public Money, Public Code" policies.** When taxpayer money funds software for public use, that software should be released as Open Source. This avoids duplicate spending and builds shared digital infrastructure that anyone can reuse, improve, and help secure. The principle of ["Public Money? Public Code!"](https://publiccode.eu) offers a clear framework: code paid for by the people should be available to the people. Switzerland recently embraced this approach at the federal level with its [EMBAG law](https://interoperable-europe.ec.europa.eu/collection/open-source-observatory-osor/news/new-open-source-law-switzerland), which requires government-developed software to be published as Open Source unless third-party rights or security concerns prevent it. - **Scale successful direct funding models.** The [Sovereign Tech Agency](https://www.sovereign.tech/) has shown how government programs can directly fund the maintenance and security of critical Open Source software. Other nations should follow and expand this model. Replacing widely used Open Source software could cost an estimated 8.8 trillion dollars. Public investment should match that importance, with sustained global funding in the billions of dollars across countries and projects. - **Teach Open Source in public schools and universities.** Instead of relying solely on proprietary vendors like Microsoft, governments should integrate Open Source tools, practices, and values into school and university curricula, along with related areas such as open standards and open data. This prepares students to participate fully in Open Source, builds a talent pipeline that understands Open Source, and strengthens digital self-reliance. ### Keeping the core strong Concerns about political interference or loss of independence are valid. That is why we need systems that allow all stakeholders to coexist without undermining each other. Government funding should reinforce the ecosystem that makes Open Source thrive, not replace it or control it. Companies and volunteers are strong drivers of innovation, pushing forward new features, experiments, and rapid improvements. Governments are better suited to a different but equally vital role: ensuring stability, security, and long-term reliability. The most critical tasks in Open Source are often the least glamorous. Fixing bugs, patching vulnerabilities, updating third-party dependencies, improving accessibility, and maintaining documentation rarely make headlines, but without them, innovation cannot stand on a stable base. These tasks are also the most likely to be underfunded because they do not directly generate revenue for companies, require sustained effort, and are less appealing for volunteers. Governments already maintain roads, bridges, and utilities, infrastructure that is essential but not always profitable or exciting for the private sector. Digital infrastructure deserves the same treatment. Public investment can keep these core systems healthy, while innovation and feature direction remain in the hands of the communities and companies that know the technology best. ### Conclusion Open Source has become public infrastructure. Like roads and bridges, it needs public investment to remain safe and reliable. Fifteen years ago, I argued that Open Source needed commercial sponsorship to thrive. Now we face the next challenge: governments must shift from consuming Open Source to sustaining it. Leaving critical infrastructure dependent on too few maintainers is a risk no society should accept. The solution requires coordinated policy reforms: dedicated funding mechanisms, procurement that rewards upstream contributions, and long-term investment frameworks. *Special thanks to [Baddy Sonja Breidert](https://www.drupal.org/u/baddysonja), [Tim Doyle](https://www.drupal.org/u/tim-d), [Tiffany Farriss](https://www.drupal.org/u/farriss), [Mike Gifford](https://www.drupal.org/u/mgifford), [Owen Lansbury](https://www.drupal.org/u/owenlansbury) and [Nick Veenhof](https://www.drupal.org/u/nick_vh) for their review and contributions to this blog post.*Dries Buytaert: Drupal called me
One of the most surprising moments at Drupal Dev Days Leuven? Getting a phone call from Drupal. Yes, really.
Marcus Johansson gave me a spontaneous demo of a Twilio-powered AI agent built for Drupal, which triggered a phone call right from within the Drupal interface. It was unexpected, fun, and a perfect example of the kind of creative energy in the room.
That moment reminded me why I love Drupal. People were building, sharing, and exploring what Drupal can do next. The energy was contagious.
From MCP (Model Context Protocol) modules to AI-powered search, I saw Drupal doing things I wouldn't have imagined two years ago. AI is no longer just an idea. It's already finding its way into Drupal in practical, thoughtful ways.
Doing a Q&A at Drupal Dev Days in Leuven. I loved the energy and great questions from the Drupal community. © Paul JohnsonOutside of doing a Q&A session, I spent much of my time at Drupal Dev Days working on the next phase of Drupal's AI strategy. We have an early lead in AI, but we need to build on it. We will be sharing more on that in the coming month.
In the meantime, huge thanks to the organizers of Drupal Dev Days for making this event happen, and to Paul Johnson for the fantastic photo. I love that it shows so many happy faces.
Dries Buytaert: My phone's battery has been blogging for 7 years
Seven years ago, I wrote a post about a tiny experiment: publishing my phone's battery status to my website. The updates have quietly continued ever since, appearing at https://dri.es/status.
Every 20 minutes or so, my phone sends its battery level and charging state to a REST endpoint on my Drupal site. The exact timing depends on iOS background scheduling, which has a mind of its own.
For years, this lived quietly at https://dri.es/status. I never linked to it outside the original blog post, so it felt like a forgotten corner of my site. Still working, but mostly invisible.
Despite its low profile, people still mention it occasionally after all this time. This prompted me to bring it into the light.
I have now added a battery icon to my site's header. It's a dynamically generated SVG that displays my phone's current battery level and charging state.
It's a bit goofy, but that is what makes personal websites special. You get to experiment with it and make it yours.
Smartbees: How to Add Schema Markup to Drupal Site?
Schema.org metadata, or structured data, is a key search engine optimization element. Drupal has been supporting it since version 7. It is highly recommended to analyze metadata to improve your site’s visibility or monitor SEO effectiveness. Learn more about what structured data is, why it is crucial, and how to use the related Drupal module – Schema.org.
The Drop Times: Drupal GovCon 2025 Opens Tomorrow with Tighter Schedule and Bigger Conversations
Centarro: Exploring AI to accelerate Drupal Commerce development
I've been slow to try out AI tools even as they've grown in popularity. Part of it is the pedant in me bristling at the fact that we're all now calling "AI" what we used to call "machine-learning" on "big data." But I can get past that to admit that turbocharged predictive text generation applied to coding is actually pretty neat.
Recently I've been exploring AI assisted development by switching from VS Code to Cursor and trying out different chat prompts and models while working on Drupal Commerce. I haven't been tracking the myriad tools and models too closely, so I opted for the tool that required the least amount of change for me. All my extensions and my fine-tuned custom theme transfered over without issue, so I was happy to move forward with Cursor. ☺️
I've had a few "Aha!" moments while working in Cursor along with some natural frustrations. Before relaying the former, I can illustrate the latter. Cursor uses AI to make code suggestions in the editor based on what it thinks you want to do. Once it makes a suggestion, you hit tab to apply it, which means quickly roughing out a simple function is an exercise in whack-a-mole as it continually expands suggestions where you just wanted to indent. Easy enough to train myself around, but perhaps I can find a setting to make this less aggressive.
Last week I turned up the need for a minor improvement to the Commerce Recurring module. This module defines a subscription entity type and a related entity trait that will create a subscription for a customer based on their purchase of a given product variation. The module supports a wide variety of use cases for subscription billing - pre vs. post-billed subscriptions, fixed price vs. metered usage, prorations, etc. - and it lets you determine the billing cycle based on fixed dates or rolling intervals.
Read moreDrupal Association blog: Accelerating Innovation: Introducing the Drupal AI Initiative
The digital landscape continues to evolve, and artificial intelligence is now a present reality. The Drupal Association is excited to announce a focused approach to AI development within the Drupal ecosystem: the Drupal AI Initiative.
To ensure Drupal AI delivers a significant and strategic impact, we must move beyond traditional volunteer-based contribution models. We need a coordinated, highly dedicated effort to make sure we don’t miss the connection with the market. To build a powerful and competitive AI ecosystem for Drupal aligned with the community’s values, we need a professional team focused exclusively on this task.
Why is this needed?We are accelerating Drupal AI innovation: Strategic initiatives like the Drupal AI initiative require consistent, dedicated effort that often exceeds the capacity of volunteer contributors.
If we are too slow, if we’re not coordinated, if we cannot ensure quality, Drupal will be left behind. An analogy we’re not used to in the U.S., “we need to take the bullet train, otherwise we will not arrive in time.”
In some ways, Drupal is ahead of many other CMS’s and other platforms. A scattershot approach in this environment will not put and keep Drupal in the lead. Nor will it do it in a manner consistent with our values of openness, innovation, and community benefit.
What are we doing?The proposed path to success centers on creating a sustainable funding structure that compensates dedicated contributors for their work. This model is designed to attract sponsors by delivering immediate, tangible value through quick feature development and marketing, ultimately creating a self-sustaining cycle of innovation and investment.
The core of the strategy is to fund a team of full-time contributors to accelerate AI innovation within Drupal. Our goal is to secure approximately $400,000 - $500,000 USD each six months to fund a team of four to ten full-time contributors. To do this, we are working to attract 10-25 "Drupal AI Sponsors" with a proposed minimum sponsorship of $10,000 to $20,000, indexed to the size and country of the sponsoring company.
In addition to the financial contribution, Drupal AI Sponsors are expected to:
- Be a Drupal Certified Partner of the Drupal Association,
- Have been actively involved in the DrupalAI ecosystem prior to joining the program,
- Commit 1/2 or one FTE and provide proof of expertise of suggested FTEs, either by showing current contribution to the Drupal AI ecosystem or similar experience,
- Support the Drupal AI strategic roadmap to which your contributor will be directed.
We’ve more than doubled the sponsoring companies: the five Founders and one Maker announced in June, FreelyGive, Acquia, 1xINTERNET, Dropsolid, Salsa Digital, and amazee.io, are being joined by: ImageX, Axelerant, QED42, Morpht, Joshi Consulting, Elevated Third, Zoocha, and SeeD EM.
These companies know that being part of the Drupal AI Initiative positions them strategically to:
- Win new business by offering cutting-edge AI-powered Drupal solutions.
- Increase visibility and recognition by being recognized as leaders in Drupal AI.
- Drive commercial opportunities, selling AI-driven projects and growing their business.
- Gain early market advantage with priority access to the latest Drupal AI features.
- Move Drupal forward at a faster pace and be part of this epic initiative.
We’re assembling a dedicated team of full-time Drupal AI contributors, funded through sponsorships tailored to your organization's size and region. Our inclusive sponsorship model ensures every company, large or small, can play a role:
- Drupal AI Sponsor (Silver & Gold): Commit funding and dedicated FTE contributors. In return, you receive extensive promotional opportunities, training access, roadmap influence, and market-ready AI tools ahead of your competition.(LINK to tiers and options + contract)
- Drupal AI Supporter: Commit funding with direct promotional benefits and early insight into Drupal AI developments.
This funding program creates a win-win scenario: you invest in Drupal’s AI future, and Drupal invests back in your business growth. Sponsors will also receive:
- Recognition as a Drupal AI Sponsor on the website and in marketing materials,
- Contribution credits,
- Access to all marketing materials for co-branded use,
- Early information about roadmaps and releases,
- Inclusion in the Early Access Program (This is new! More details below),
- Ability to suggest roadmap items, access to leads, and listing Sponsor services on product page available to Gold level sponsors.
The Early Access Program is designed to accelerate the development of AI features for Drupal. It provides committed partner companies with early access to new AI capabilities before they are released to the broader Drupal community. This approach helps us innovate faster, deliver immediate value to our partners, and support the health of our community.
Participants of the Drupal AI Initiative will have early access to these specialized features. After a defined period, these features may be released as open-source contributions to the broader community.
Our Commitment to Transparency:We are committed to transparency throughout this program. The Early Access program is designed to accelerate innovation while ensuring that all final developments eventually become fully available to the broader Drupal community. We will provide regular updates on our progress, keeping the community informed.
Looking Forward: AI That Reflects Our ValuesThe Early Access program represents a practical evolution of open-source collaboration, one that acknowledges market realities while preserving our core values of openness, innovation, and community benefit. By guiding AI development within the Drupal ecosystem, we ensure these powerful tools enhance human creativity, maintain user agency, and remain safely accessible to all.
The future of Drupal is AI-powered, community-driven, and built on the values that have made us strong.
If your company is interested in participating, please submit the Become an AI Maker form on the Drupal AI page.
Specbee: How outdated CRM & donation systems hurt your nonprofit’s fundraising (and how to fix it)
Timbers Dev: Why It’s Time to Upgrade to Drupal 11
(For site managers, content creators, and the tech-savvy alike, here’s why Drupal 11 is worth the leap.)
Whether you manage content every day, steer digital strategy, or ship code, Drupal 11 delivers a faster, friendlier, and more future-ready platform. Here’s what’s new and why it matters.
Talking Drupal: Talking Drupal #515 - AI with amazee.ai
Today we are talking about AI, How it can be privacy focused, and What amazee.ai is doing to help with guest Michael Schmid. We’ll also cover LiteLLM AI Provider as our module of the week.
For show notes visit: https://www.talkingDrupal.com/515
Topics- Privacy Concerns with AI
- Amazee's Privacy-Focused AI Solutions
- Foundation Models and Their Importance
- AI-Powered Search in Drupal
- Customizing AI Responses and Search
- Proprietary vs. Open Source Models
- Understanding Neural Networks
- Training and Weights in Models
- Integrating AI with Drupal
- Practical Steps to Implement AI in Drupal
- AI and MCP for Automation
- Open Source Models in AI
- Future Directions for MAI AI
- Conclusion and Contact Information
- amazee.ai
- Foundation models
- amazee ai provider & amazee ai vector db module
- Drupal AI module
- AI Chatbot
- MCP
- DrupalGovCon
Michael Schmid - amazee.ai schnitzel
HostsNic Laflin - nLighteneddevelopment.com nicxvan John Picozzi - epam.com johnpicozzi Rich Lawson - richlawson.co rklawson
MOTW CorrespondentMatt Glaman - mglaman.dev mglaman
- Brief description:
- AI provider for using LiteLLM. LiteLLM is a gateway that allows connecting to LLMs without accessing the providers directly using the same API as OpenAI along with other governance goodies.
- Module name/project name:
- Brief history
- How old: created on 24 February 2025
- Versions available: beta, 1.1.0 and 1.0.0 to track main AI module
- Maintainership
- Actively maintained
- Usage stats:
- 439
- Maintainer(s):
- marcus_johansson, andrewbelcher, justanothermark of FreelyGive
- Module features and usage
- Basically like OpenAI provider but allows it to work with non-OpenAI models and other logic that’s in the OpenAI provider module.
jofitz: How to create a custom Drupal plugin
Over the recent weeks and months I have been creating custom Drupal plugins for various modules so now is the ideal time for me to write a "how to..." article on this topic.
IntroductionFor a full explanation of the definition and purpose of Drupal plugins I recommend reading the Plugin API overview. For the purposes of this article I will quote the pithy sentence at the beginning of the documentation:
Plugins are small pieces of functionality that are swappable.
To create a custom plugin you will require the following five elements:
- Plugin Manager
- Interface
- Plugin Base
- Attribute
- A Plugin
The following sections will cover each of these elements.
Interface(optional)
As in vanilla php object oriented classes, it is optional to include a plugin interface, but is strongly recommended if there are methods and properties that the plugin must implement.
In the example below all plugins of this type must carry out some form of processing in the method process(). For simplicity I am creating this in a...
Read moreThe Drop Times: The Hollow Résumé Crisis
Dear Readers,
There is a dangerous complacency settling into the tech job market. Too many candidates are trusting automation to polish their image instead of putting in the work to sharpen their skills. Blake Newman’s recent piece on the bleak state of the U.S. Drupal job market should set off alarms. It is not just about Drupal. It is about what happens when the pressure to get hired outweighs the commitment to be qualified.
The uncomfortable truth is that in today’s hiring climate, credibility is currency. You can train it, certify it, and protect it, or you can squander it in a single click. AI can be a remarkable assistant, but it cannot fix a hollow résumé or invent real-world experience. The people who win in this market will be the ones who treat their professional reputation like it is worth more than any algorithm’s output.
If you are serious about standing out, start now. Identify the skills that matter, get them validated, and put them where the right people can see them. Connect with communities that recognize quality. Show your work, not just your buzzwords. Whether you are in Drupal or any other niche, the same rule applies: you will not beat the noise by adding more noise. You will beat it by being undeniably good at what you do.
INTERVIEW- “Community is How We Compound Progress” — The Developer Behind the London Drupal Engineering Meetup
- Shayaan Momin on Supporting DrupalCamp Pune 2025 Through Design and Community Involvement
- U.S. Drupal Job Market Enters Tough Phase, Experts Warn
- AI Agent for Drupal Automates Site Management with Natural Language Commands
- Sanjay Mogra's First Drupal Module to Improve Media Display in Views
- ECA Module 3.0.0 for Drupal Released with Drupal 11.2 Support and Modeler API
- RefreshLess Module Adds Turbo Caching and Gains Recognition in Drupal Community
- Markdown Easy 2.0.0-RC1 Released with New Features and Improved Configuration for Drupal
- WebFirst Releases Drupal Acquia Certification Study Guide
- DrupalCon Vienna 2025 Opens Regular Registration
- International Splash Awards 2025 Nominees Announced for DrupalCon Vienna
We acknowledge that there are more stories to share. However, due to selection constraints, we must pause further exploration for now.
To get timely updates, follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Bluesky, and Facebook. You can also join us on Drupal Slack at #thedroptimes.
Thank you,
Sincerely
Alka Elizabeth
Sub-editor, The DropTimes.