From Leuven to Athens: one year since the Drupal AI Initiative took shape
One year ago in Leuven, five companies stepped up and the Drupal AI Initiative took shape. Now, at DDD Athens, we celebrate how far it has come and what comes next.
One year ago, at Drupal Developer Days in Leuven, something special happened.
The Drupal AI Initiative wasn't officially launched yet. That happened later, in June. But Leuven was where the spark happened. Where conversations turned into commitment. Where a shared belief became a shared plan.
I brought the right people together, and then the magic happened. Five companies stepped up to kickstart the initiative: Dropsolid, Acquia, 1xINTERNET, FreelyGive, and Salsa Digital.
Leuven was where it was kickstarted. June was when it officially went live. Athens is where we celebrate how far it has come.
A year of momentum, collaboration, and delivery
The Drupal AI Initiative was created with a bold ambition: to help Drupal become the leading open source CMS for AI-powered digital experiences. But from the beginning, this was never just about adding AI features. It was about building AI into Drupal in a way that reflects Drupal's values: open, flexible, responsible, transparent, and collaborative.
The numbers speak for themselves. The AI module is growing at about 260 new sites per week, and that's only the sites that share usage data. The real adoption is probably much higher.
Between Vienna and Chicago, the initiative added 12 new makers, bringing the total to 34. That's a 50% increase in participation. We're on track to double the initiative by Rotterdam, which was one of our key goals for this year.
What was built
Beyond installs and makers, the initiative put the operational foundation in place to collaborate at scale: partner expectations, onboarding flows, development sprint processes, contributor contact forms, team planning, and weekly status reporting. These aren't glamorous, but they're what turn enthusiasm into delivery.
The initiative is now funding critical roles across multiple organizations: product management, innovation management, technical leadership, and project management. That makes this the largest multi-company collaboration in Drupal community history.
The initiative has also been working on the story. What started as some content about the initiative quickly grew into a well-organised group of seasoned experts working together. Visit new.drupal.org/ai for cases, events planned worldwide (Rotterdam, New York, London, Paris...), and some genuinely epic videos.
One of the Drupal AI cases even won the Sustainable AI award. If you have a success story and want to share it, we're happy to help.
Building toward Rotterdam
The next milestone is already taking shape. In Rotterdam, the initiative will launch an exclusive Drupal Enterprise AI event, available only to partners. Decision-makers will come together aboard the SS Rotterdam for peer networking, customer case studies, and strategic conversations.
Participation is limited to partners who join by June 30.
A strong foundation
With $360,000 in cash and $1.5 million in in-kind contributions, the initiative has the resources to keep scaling. The plan: onboard 12 more makers by Rotterdam, accelerate delivery, increase visibility.
Thank you
This milestone belongs to everyone who joined those early conversations in Leuven. To the five companies that kickstarted it. To every maker, contributor, sponsor, developer, product thinker, marketer, and community member who helped move this forward.
You can still join
If your organisation wants to help shape responsible AI in open source, the opportunity is open now. 34 makers are already building Drupal's AI future.
