This summary will cover three weeks instead of the bi-weekly progress report, and it will be a little bit different. Since we were very busy with the Driesnote for DrupalCon, the release of AI and AI Agents 1.2.0 (yay!), we were mostly focusing on stability fixes.
DrupalCon Vienna also happened and personally for me also PHP Longhorn in Austin. DrupalCon gave us an opportunity to meet in person, regroup and plan ahead for the 2.0 release. So we will cover that as well in the progress reports.
For me personally it was a crazy event compared to other DrupalCon’s I have been to. Many people to talk to, and many people I wanted to talk to, but never got the time to do it. 
We did prepare the demo for the DriesNote and it's one of the demos that I personally actually have been the most comfortable with sharing. Some of the demos that get recorded are on the level of something we strive for, rather than what is there now., The actual output of the Canvas AI for the examples in the DriesNote was actually over 50% on the reliability where you could almost just use it, and most of the rest created a version that just needed minor tweaking. This is based on a fairly strict criteria on who components should be placed, images should be picked and copies should be written.
Aidan Foster from Foster Interactive, who was one of the main contributors to the demo, did a follow up LinkedIn Post that you should not miss.
And if you do not believe me - you can run the demo yourself.
AI Context is out in dev version
Well it has been out for some while, but we wanted to introduce it with the DriesNote. The idea is that the AI Context or Context Control Center (name TBD) is the central point for any context your Drupal site will need. Both for AI or via MCP.
Right now it's focusing heavily on agents, but in the future it would also be usable in Automators, translations or anything that needs to have a stricter control on how to generate via AI. This project has been driven by Salsa Digital in general and Ahmed Jabar in particular, who spent weekends to have it ready before the DriesNote. A huge thanks to them!
Try it out and help out in: https://www.drupal.org/project/ai_context 
Prompt library used in AI Translate
In 1.2.0 we have added a prompt library. The initial implementation was AI Content Suggestions, but right before the release we also added an implementation into the AI Translate submodule.
This means that the translation prompts are now being managed via the prompt library and can be reused in the future for other translation tasks that could be added into for instance AI CKEditor or AI Automators.
Webform Agent can be tested
One of the things I wanted to demo in Vienna included showing off some kind of new agent and how you could use that agent together with MCP and agent-to-agent communication. Webform was a clear candidate for it. The demo included being able to create webforms from free text or even ugly hand drawn sketches, and then via MCP connect to a VAPI agent and have that agent be able to call someone and have an AI agent survey the webform over voice and then save the submission.
We ended up deciding to put the agent in a module, even if it's still very rough around the edges. You can find it at https://www.drupal.org/project/ai_webform_agent. Nick Opris is putting a lot of effort in moving it into the Tool API and making it more stable.
Flag added for Tools and Structure combinations
After testing different providers, we came to the conclusion that there are providers that do not allow the combination of using Tools/Function Calling and asking for a structured output.
Because of that we have added a flag where the providers can update their status to tell that they are able to do this.
For AI Agents we will then be able to figure out if this is possible or not, and add a feature where we can run another call on the finished loop, to structure the output.
Planning 2.0
A lot of the time was put into planning a way forward to the 2.0.0 release. Some things are already decided or were decided in Vienna.
This includes:

A huge refactor of the AI Automators, so it works with multiple automators per field.
A huge refactor of the code to follow PHPStan level 7 and some more standardizations.
Add a lot more testing to the modules that will stay in there.
Moving AI Agents runner into AI Core. It is such a common pattern, that any third party module should have the possibility to run an agent as part of its workflow. This means that AI Agents will either be deprecated for 2.0 or be a pure GUI module.
Use Tool API as the main way of writing function calls. Since these will be possible to reuse them for ECA, VBO or MCP (many three abbreviations). It is still not decided if executable function calls are deprecated for 2.0, but we would recommend anyone to use Tool API for any tool going forward.
Remove some of the submodules out, since that will make release iteration simpler, both for those modules that become contrib modules, but also for the AI Core module.
Remove the AI Translate module into a contrib module. There are multiple translation modules that solve different problems and we should not gatekeep a specific solution for it.
Remove the AI Search module into a contrib module. This module will then be possible to develop at its own speed independent of AI Core releases.
Remove the Field Widget Actions module into a contrib module. This module only exists in the AI module because it was a brainchild of doing widgets for the Automators, but since it's not directly connected to AI, it's being moved out.
Remove the AI Validations module into a contrib module. This module is an extension of the Field Validations module, rather than the AI module, so it made little sense to have it in the AI module.
Remove the AI Content Suggestions module into a contrib module. This module is a nice easy to install module to showcase what AI can do for you, but there are many different content modules, and we should not gatekeep this as well.
Remove the AI Logging module, possibly into a contrib module (do you want to help manage?). We now have an AI Observability module in the AI Core, that will just play nicer, both with Drupal's internal logging, but also external tools like Open Telemetry and DataDog.

Be sure to keep an eye out here or on LinkedIn to stay up to date with the latest developments. Visit the AI Initiative home page for ways to connect, events and webinars.

At DrupalCon Vienna, we opened the opt-in period for module maintainers to volunteer their modules to be migrated to GitLab issues. You can opt yours in at #3409678: Opt-in GitLab issues.
That means that we will have some projects with issues on Drupal.org and some other projects with their issues on GitLab during this transition period. Due to this, some things will change in our current systems.
Changes to Drupal.org
The issue cockpit on each project's page will go away. The current issue cockpit that will see in projects reads data from our internal issues, but as projects transition to GitLab issues this block no longer makes sense. We will replace this for a simple "Issues" link that will take you to the right issue queue, whether it is GitLab or Drupal.org.

Parent and related issues will now be connected via a full URL. It used to be connected via entity reference fields, pointing at internal issues. Now that we have two systems for this, these will be links, that once rendered will bring the metadata information, like title and issue status, as we did with internal issues. We will be able to link both Drupal.org and GitLab issues into these new fields, and the old entity reference fields will go away.
What's next?
We ask project maintainers to help us at the Drupal Association iterate and improve on this process as we migrate more and more projects. We know that change can take time to be adopted, and we are really excited to help project maintainers move their issues into GitLab.
There are almost 200 projects with more than 1000 issues, and around 2000 projects with more than 100. 
Drupal "core" has more than 115K issues.
The roadmap will be (in each iteration, we will address feedback, fix bugs...):

Migrate projects that opted in
Make this the default for new projects
Migrate low-risk, low-usage, and/or sandbox projects
Migrate remaining projects, excluding a few selected high-volume, high-risk
Migrate the rest of the projects, including core

We are very excited about this transition, and we truly think it will be an improvement to the contribution experience. We are also thankful to the community for helping us with this.

The Drupal Association has received €201,000 from the Sovereign Tech Fund to enhance Drupal's GitLab infrastructure, with a focus on security, testing efficiency, and design tools. This funding will enable critical improvements including completing the migration of Drupal's security issue management system to GitLab, optimizing CI/CD testing across thousands of repositories, and implementing new tools for UX and design contributors.
This continues the Sovereign Tech Fund’s support of Drupal. In 2023, the Sovereign Tech Fund funded major work to support the move from Drupal.org's homebuilt contribution tools to the GitLab platform. 
The self-hosted GitLab instance at git.drupalcode.org is maintained by the Drupal Association and used by contributors all over the globe. In 2024, there were 7,276 unique individuals using git.drupalcode.org to contribute to 69,204 issues. These contributors represent an international community of users who support critical Drupal installations serving the public.
The additional funding will enable the Drupal Association to further enhance our use of GitLab in the following key areas:

Migrate security issue management to GitLab
Our existing security portal is running on an end-of-life version of Drupal, under extended support, and isn't integrated with our modern developer tools. Finalizing the move of our security team issue management to GitLab will provide the security team with better tools and make it easier to onboard new members.
 
Optimize CI/CD testing
We currently support testing for tens of thousands of repositories in the Drupal ecosystem. By further optimizing our testing configuration, we can reduce redundant tests, improve performance, and potentially expand to new types of testing like visual and performance regression testing.
 
Improve tools for UX and Design contributors
We'll implement better project management templates and explore integrating with design tools like Storybook and/or Figma to support our UX and Design contributors—who will then have the tools they need to help make Drupal easier, more intuitive, and more beautiful than ever. .
 
Share our CI strategy with other open source projects
We'll document and share our approach to managing CI testing across thousands of repositories to help other large open source projects facing similar challenges.
 

The work commissioned by the Sovereign Tech Fund will not only enable us to advance strategically, driving meaningful progress and making a positive impact within the Drupal community but also strengthen the open source platform for users everywhere.
We are grateful to the Sovereign Tech Fund for this collaboration. This funding reflects their continued dedication to open source and their confidence in the Drupal Association and the community's ability to innovate and ensure the future of web development.

This blog has been re-posted and edited with permission from Dries Buytaert's blog.
In my DrupalCon Vienna keynote, I talk about how Drupal is adapting to an AI-driven web through AI-enabled visual editing, site templates, autonomous agents, and workflow orchestration.
The web is changing fast. AI now writes content, builds web pages, and answers questions directly, often bypassing websites entirely.
People often wonder what this means for Drupal, so at DrupalCon Vienna, I tackled this head-on. My message was simple: AI is the storm, but it's also the way through it. Instead of fighting AI, we're leaning into it.
My keynote focused on how Drupal is evolving across four product areas. We're making it easier to get started with Site Templates, enabling visual site building through Drupal Canvas, accelerating development with AI assistance, and exploring complex workflows with new orchestration tools.
If you missed the keynote, you can watch the video below, or download my slides (62 MB).

Vienna felt like a turning point. People could see the pieces coming together. Drupal is finding its footing in the AI era, leading in AI innovation, and ready to help shape what comes next for the web.
Growing Drupal with Site Templates
One of the most important ways to grow Drupal is to make it easier and faster to build new sites. We began that work with Recipes, a way to quickly add common features to a site. Recipes help people go from idea to a website in hours instead of days.
At DrupalCon Vienna, I talked about the next step in that journey: our first Site Template. Site Templates build on Recipes and also include a complete design with layouts, visual style, and sample content. The result is that you can go from a new Drupal install to a fully working website in minutes. It will be the easiest way yet to get started with Drupal.
Next, we plan to introduce more Site Templates and launch a Site Template Marketplace where anyone can discover, share, and build on templates for different use cases.
A new visual editing experience
At DrupalCon Vienna, the energy around Drupal Canvas was infectious. Some even called it "CanvasCon". Drupal Canvas sessions were often standing room only, just like the Drupal AI sessions.
I first showed an early version of Drupal Canvas at DrupalCon Barcelona in September 2024, when we launched Drupal's Starshot initiative. The progress we've made in just one year is remarkable. My keynote showed parts of Drupal Canvas in action, but for a deeper dive, I recommend watching this breakout session.
Version 1.0 of Drupal Canvas is scheduled for November 2025. Starting in January 2026, it will become the default page builder in Drupal CMS 2.0. After more than 15 months of development and countless contributors working to make Drupal easier for everyone, it's hard to believe we're almost there. This marks the beginning of a new chapter for how people create with Drupal.
What excites me most is what this solves. For years, building pages in Drupal required technical expertise. Drupal Canvas gives end-users a visual page builder that is both more powerful and easy to use. Plus, it supports React, which means front-end developers can contribute using skills they already have.
Drupal's accidental AI advantage
Every content management system faces defining moments. For Drupal, one came with the release of Drupal 8. We rebuilt Drupal from the ground up, adopting modern design patterns and improving configuration management, versioning, workflows, and more.
The transition was hard, but here is the surprising part: ten years later those decisions gave Drupal an unexpected advantage in today's AI-driven web. The architecture we created is exactly what AI systems need today. When AI modifies content, you need version control to roll back mistakes. When it builds pages, you need structured data, permissions, and workflows. Drupal already has those capabilities.
For years, Drupal prioritized flexibility and robustness while other platforms focused on ease of use. What once felt like extra complexity now makes perfect sense. Drupal has quietly become one of the most AI-ready platforms available.
AI is the storm, and the way through the storm

As I said in my keynote: "Some days AI terrifies me. An hour later it excites me. By the evening, I'm tired of hearing about it.". Still, we can't ignore AI.
I first introduced AI as part of Starshot. Five months ago, it became its own dedicated track with the launch of the Drupal AI initiative. Since then, twenty two agencies have backed it with funding and contributors, together contributing over one million dollars. This is the largest fundraising effort in Drupal's history.
The initiative is already producing impressive results. At DrupalCon Vienna, we released Drupal AI version 1.2, a major step forward for the initiative.
In my keynote, I also demonstrated three new AI capabilities:

AI-powered page building: Drupal AI can now generate complete, designed pages in minutes using a component-based design system in Drupal Canvas. What site builders used to build in hours now happens in minutes while maintaining your site's structure and style.
Context Control Center: Teams can define brand voice, target audiences, and key messages from a single UI. All AI agents draw from this source of truth.
Autonomous agents: When you update information in the Context Control Center, such as a product price or company statistic, agents automatically find every instance throughout your site and propose updates. You review and approve changes before they go live.

Orchestration as a path to explore
Earlier this year, I wrote about the great digital agency unbundling. As AI automates more technical work, agencies need to evolve their business models and find new ways to create value.
One promising direction is orchestration: building systems and workflows that connect AI agents, content platforms, CRMs, and marketing tools into intelligent, automated workflows. I think of it as DXP 2.0.
Most organizations have complex marketing technology stacks. Connecting all the systems in their stack often requires custom code or repetitive manual tasks. This integration work can be time-consuming and hard to maintain.
Modern orchestration tools solve this by automating how information flows between systems. Instead of writing custom code, you can use no-code tools to define workflows that trigger automatically. When someone fills out a form, the system creates a CRM contact, sends a welcome email, and notifies your team without any manual work.
In my keynote, I showed how ECA and ActivePieces can work together. Jürgen Haas, who created ECA, and I collaborated on this integration. ECA lets you define automations inside Drupal using events, conditions, and actions. ActivePieces is an open source automation platform similar to Zapier or n8n.
This approach allows us to build user experiences that are not only better and smarter, but also positions Drupal to benefit from AI innovation happening across the broader ecosystem. The idea resonated in Vienna. People approached me enthusiastically with related projects and demos, including tools like Flowdrop or Drupal's MCP module.
Between now and DrupalCon Chicago, we're inviting the community to explore and expand on this work. Join us in #orchestration on Drupal Slack, test the new Orchestration module, connect more automation platforms, or help improve ECA. If this direction proves valuable, we'll share what we learned at DrupalCon Chicago.
Building the future together
At DrupalCon Vienna, I felt something shift. Sessions were packed. People were excited about Site Templates and the Marketplace. Drupal Canvas drew huge crowds, and even more agencies signed up to join the Drupal AI initiative. During contribution day, more people than usual showed up looking for ways to help.
That energy in Vienna reflected something bigger. AI is changing how people use the web and how we build for it. It can feel threatening, and it can feel full of possibility, but what became clear in Vienna is that Drupal is well positioned at this inflection point, with both momentum and direction.
What makes this moment special is how the community is responding with focus and collaboration. We are approaching it as a much more coordinated effort, while still leaving room for experimentation.
Vienna showed me that the Drupal community is ready to take this on together. We have navigated uncharted territory before, but this time there is a boldness and unity I have not seen in years. That is the way through the storm. I am proud to be part of it.
I want to extend my gratitude to everyone who contributed to making my presentation and demos a success. A special thank you to Adam G-H, Aidan Foster, ASH Sullivan, Bálint Kléri, Cristina Chumillas, Elliott Mower, Emma Horrell, Gábor Hojtsy, Gurwinder Antal, James Abrahams, Jurgen Haas, Kristen Pol, Lauri Eskola, Marcus Johansson, Martin Anderson-Clutz, Pamela Barone, Tiffany Farriss, Tim Lehnen, and Witze Van der Straeten. Many others contributed indirectly to make this possible. If I've inadvertently omitted anyone, please reach out.

What started as an idea among a couple of people has rapidly expanded into something with global interest. There are now educators teaching Drupal at higher education and universities, which is amazing. It means new people are being introduced to our beloved open source project.
“What if we could open source the teaching materials themselves, and teach others how to teach Drupal?”

A lot has happened since then. People from around the world have been collaborating on the teaching materials created by Hilmar Kári Hallbjörnsson, who is now in his fourth year of teaching Drupal at Reykjavík University. But the idea has grown, it’s become an initiative with the goal of reaching, introducing, and welcoming new Drupal enthusiasts into the community.
Drupal itself is thriving. With Drupal CMS and the AI initiative, the platform has more power and potential than ever before. This enthusiasm is growing both within and beyond the Drupal community. In the context of digital sovereignty, AI, privacy, security, and accessibility, a whole new set of opportunities is emerging for Drupal and open source.

What is the Drupal Open University Initiative?
The Drupal Open University Initiative is a community-driven effort focused on bringing Drupal into academic and other (higher) education environments. Our mission is to introduce students and aspiring developers to the power of Drupal, and to help cultivate the next generation of contributors. Through comprehensive, open-source-based courses, we aim to equip students, educators, and guest lecturers with the knowledge and tools needed to engage with Drupal—and the broader open source ecosystem. Together, we're shaping a future where Drupal continues to grow through the energy of new talent and an increasingly vibrant community.

Why This Matters
Drupal is so much more than just code, it's a thriving ecosystem powered by one of the most dedicated open source communities in the world. But while that community remains strong, its average age is rising, and many young developers never encounter Drupal at all when starting to build their skills. In recent years, we've made significant progress in lowering the barrier to entry: today, it's even possible to build a Drupal site using AI, without writing a single line of code.
“I thought I heard that we won’t need junior devs now that we have generative AI?”

Within the community, there’s a strong desire to teach, guide, and share knowledge. If we can reach students early in their learning journey and spark their interest in Drupal, we have a unique opportunity to foster the next generation of Drupal developers. And by teaching Drupal, we also introduce them to our vibrant and welcoming community, helping them experience the value of contribution from the very beginning.

Who’s involved?
I have tried to find everyone actively mentioned on our Drupal.org project or bi-weekly notes, please let me know when you are missing from this list.
André Angelantoni (aangel), Ben Mullins (bnjmnm), Darren oh (darren-oh), Yan Zhang  (designfitsu), Hilmar Hallbjörnsson (drupalviking), Esmeralda Tijhoff (esmoves), Fran Wyllie (franwyllie), Gayatri Tandon (gayatritandon), Nico Grienauer (grienauer), Guzman Bellon (guzmanb), Wouter Immerzeel (immoreel), Jean-Paul Vosmeer (jpvos), Karos Abdulqadir, Kwasi Afreh, Lenny Moskalyk (lenny moskalyk), Martin Anderson-Clutz (mandclu), Asim Mehta (metasim), Jordan Thompson (nord102), Rachel Lawson (rachel_norfolk), Salim Lakhani (salimlakhani), Jasper van Schelven (sch11en), Eric Wheeler (sikofitt), Soumya V (soumyavbhat), Norah Medlin (teknorah), Michael Anello (ultimike)

The Four Pillars of the Initiative
1. Courses and Teachers
Our first focus is to find, build, open source, and expand the existing Drupal curriculum. This includes everything from introductory courses to fully-fledged academic modules worth 6 ECTS points or more. One of our key goals is to empower Drupal enthusiasts, whether they’re developers or educators, to teach Drupal in a university or high school setting. To do that, we provide resources, templates, and mentorship on both content and delivery.
We explore different angles to make Drupal education relevant across disciplines: from comprehensive Drupal development tracks to specialized topics like AI, headless Drupal with React, or mastering PHP-based web applications using Drupal. In parallel, we’ve also discovered new formats to reach broader audiences, such as Drupal in a Day. Our first official session took place in May at Drupaljam in the Netherlands, gathering valuable feedback. The second is being organized at DrupalCon Vienna with 90+ students attending and a Drupal in a Day for Drupalcon Chicago is in the works.
Theme’s we are working on

6 ECTS academic course
Acquia’s Drupal Course
Drupal in a Day program
Open Source Book of starting with Drupal “All Things Drupal”
Guidelines for starter tracks at camps
Onboarding material from Drupal Companies

2. Universities and Schools
Drupal has a long-standing history in the academic world, many universities and schools already use it in their digital infrastructure. So why not teach it, too? We believe Drupal should be among the course options available in IT and digital curricula. Many agencies and Drupal professionals already have connections in educational environments. By leveraging these warm relationships, we can introduce formal Drupal courses in places where there’s already familiarity with the platform.
We’re mapping out which schools and universities are already teaching Drupal, and building case studies to inspire others. We’re also exploring how students experience Drupal, and how we can create dedicated spaces for them within our community, on Drupal.org, at camps and cons, or through student programs. Think internship matchmaking, guest lectures, or introductory presentations hosted by local agencies. The goal: make Drupal education visible, accessible, and desirable in the academic world.
Material worked on

Drupal in a Day
Drupal courses
List with universities and schools
Invites to Universities and schools
‘Friends of Drupal’

3. Community
Our community has always excelled at sharing advanced knowledge, especially at camps and conferences. But what if we created more space for beginners at those same events? We believe every camp should include beginner-friendly tracks, clearly designed to welcome newcomers, students, and self-taught developers. We can help camps develop and deliver those tracks, including guidance on how to reach the right audience and what topics to cover.
But it doesn’t stop at camps. How do we find newcomers? How do we make them feel welcome and embed them into user groups and local meetups? Local associations and user groups can play a vital role in bridging the gap between schools, agencies, events, and education. With their support, we can make Drupal easier to access, easier to love, and easier to stay involved in.
Material worked on

How to bring people into the community program
How to contribute to the courses
Organized a Drupal-in-a-day at Drupaljam
‘Wat can camp organizers do for beginners’

4. The Initiative
For Drupal Open University to succeed, it must align with the broader ambitions of the Drupal community, especially those focused on growth and inclusivity. That means working alongside existing initiatives, supporting our project leadership, and coordinating with other community efforts in education, contribution, and outreach.
We’re actively seeking collaboration with key stakeholders: educators, agency leaders, community organizers, and Drupal Association members. The more we align, the faster we can move. This is not just a curriculum, it’s a movement. A shared opportunity to help Drupal grow by helping others learn.
Material worked on

Facilitating the initiative
Presentation about the Initiative
Awareness on Podcasts: https://talkingdrupal.com/488
Blog: Stage of Drupal Open University
Panel discussion Vienna: State of Drupal Open University

What’s Next
We’re building a roadmap and inviting the community to get involved in shaping it. Together, we’ll define priorities, timelines, and shared goals. This includes expanding our curriculum, scaling Drupal in a Day events, supporting beginner tracks at camps, and building networks of teachers and universities. The initiative thrives on collaboration, and now is the time to align our efforts.
Our next steps:

Present the courses – share the why, the structure, and the vision behind it.
Reach out – connect with universities, schools, Drupal camps, and user groups.
Inspire others – get people excited and engaged in spreading Drupal education.
Create and share – develop a practical “how to” for organizing a course or session.
Build and open source – make the courses freely available and community-driven.
Teach and organize – support those who want to teach or host a course.
Evaluate and improve – gather feedback and evolve the material.
Show and tell – highlight success stories and encourage others to join.

We’re also preparing a community presentation to share the current state of the initiative, including a Q&A sessions. This is your chance to get involved, ask questions, and help shape the future of Drupal education.

Final Thoughts
We are not, and do not aim to be, competitors to the many excellent learning environments, whether open or commercial, within or beyond the Drupal community. On the contrary, we want to foster the next generation of Drupal developers, and we believe that the more resources exist once people are hooked on Drupal, the better. We hope to collaborate broadly and combine strengths wherever possible.
Ultimately, we see this initiative as a contribution to the future of Drupal. As Dries Buytaert outlined in his vision for long-term growth, one key obstacle is: “Make Drupal easy to evaluate and adopt.” We believe Drupal Open University is one way to help remove that obstacle, by meeting new learners where they are and welcoming them into our community with open arms.
If you're inspired, already teaching, or simply curious to contribute, we invite you to join us. You can find our project at drupal.org/project/open_university or connect with us via Slack in the #open-university-initiative channel.
Sources

Slack: (https://drupal.slack.com/archives/C07NZ09J18S)
Drupal drupal.org/project/open_university

Guest blog post by Angie Forson, Web and Digital Programme Lead, Southwark Council.
The Web and Digital team at Southwark Council, along with our partners at Chicken, is building an AI-powered PDF importer for the LocalGov Drupal Publication Module. Together, we’re unlocking a faster, more accessible, and more collaborative future for publishing. 
Why this matters 
Manual PDF conversion can take hours – sometimes days. With our importer, it happens in minutes – often under one minute. Multiply that across thousands of PDFs, and the time savings are game-changing. 
I’m excited about the impact this product will have — not just for our users, but also in transforming how we design, build, and create content internally. We’re shaping a future where services start with HTML-first thinking.
Evelyn Francourt, User Experience Lead 

Understanding the workflow 
We upload a PDF to the module, which will then kick-start the importing process in the background.  
The result is the HTML representation of the PDF content, which is then saved into a Drupal Publication. We can then review and publish the Publication.  
Each import process is logged so that any errors can be reviewed and fixed. 
How the technology works 
Each PDF goes through a three-step ETL process, called an “import pipeline” in the module: 

Extract: A PDF parser pulls content from the PDF. The default is the smalot PDF parser. 
Transform: The parsed content is AI converts it to properly tagged HTML with logical pagination. Currently the module uses Claude Sonnet. 
Save: Clean HTML pages ready to publish in Drupal 

Built for flexibility 
We can build as many import pipelines as needed, each with its own custom AI prompt. Useful for things like handling different types of PDF content or layout.
Furthermore, the pipeline uses a plugin architecture, where each step can be swapped out. Councils can use different extractors, AI models, or output to different Drupal content types to suit their needs. 
This project is a great example of AI working alongside and empowering content creators, and Drupal as a platform supports this really well.
Farez Rahman, Drupal Developer 

Agile, user-centred delivery 
We’re delivering this project the way we deliver our best work – agile and user-centred by design.  
 
We have adapted our delivery to meet the challenges of innovation design. Our team has had to continuously refine requirements and acceptance criteria to ensure the tool meets real user needs and delivers meaningful outcomes.  
Working on this AI product is an incredible experience — each day comes with new challenges, unexpected turns, and fresh opportunities to innovate. The pace of change made the whole process an absolute adrenaline rush.
Giorgi Bujiashvili, Delivery Manager

What we’ve achieved so far 
As Chicken fast-tracks development, we’ve been testing and refining prompts across a wide range of PDFs to prove what’s possible: 

import images, URLs and linked text 
rebuild tables with correct HTML tags 
apply accurate heading hierarchies (H1, H2, H3) 
remove unwanted hard returns from PDF text

We’ve also cracked the pagination challenge. Early versions mirrored PDFs page-by-page, causing awkward breaks mid-paragraph or mid-list. Now the importer processes the entire document at once and, with the right AI prompt, inserts page breaks at logical user-friendly points such as topic changes or new sections.   
Built with (and for) the community 
This project has been co-designed with content designers, developers, and the LocalGov Drupal community.
Together, we’re shaping a scalable, open-source tool that other councils can adopt, adapt, and improve.
Angie Forson, Web and Digital Programme Lead 

A leap forward in accessible publishing 
The AI PDF Importer isn’t just a tool – it’s a step change in accessible, open-source publishing for local government. Following this release, it will be open and shareable with the LocalGov Drupal community for other councils to adopt and iterate. 
If you’re interested in supporting or scaling this project, contact Angie Forson – Angie.Forson@southwark.gov.uk. Let’s change the game together.

The Women in Drupal Award sponsored by JAKALA, returned this year to honour and celebrate the outstanding achievements of women making remarkable contributions to the global Drupal community. The award, presented during the prestigious DrupalCon Vienna 2025 opening ceremony, recognises women who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, innovation, and impact within one of the world’s most influential open-source ecosystems.
Created by JAKALA, with the mission of amplifying women’s voices in technology, the Women in Drupal Award highlights three core values that reflect the essence of the Drupal community: Inspire, Connect, and Empower. The award has three categories to celebrate women who embody these principles through their work as developers, designers, mentors, advocates, and community builders.
Every story shared through the Women in Drupal Award reminds us why diversity matters—it changes how we think, build, and collaborate. Supporting this initiative is both a privilege and a responsibility, one that aligns deeply with JAKALA’s purpose of creating meaningful impact through technology.
— Kitt Ralkov, Managing Director, Experience, HR & Marketing at JAKALA

This year’s honourees were recognised for their outstanding contributions to Drupal and the wider tech community:

Define Award – Emma Horrell
Honoured for her leadership in shaping digital strategy and defining inclusive, impactful solutions that set the direction for successful Drupal projects.
Build Award – Sinduri Guntupalli
Recognised for her hands-on innovation, exceptional technical expertise, and commitment to creating robust and scalable Drupal solutions.
Scale Award – Jess (xjm)
Celebrated for her ability to grow teams, communities, and projects—amplifying the reach of Drupal across industries and empowering others along the way.

JAKALA created the Women in Drupal award to ensure that women’s stories and successes in technology are visible and celebrated. With Drupal powering millions of websites worldwide, the community’s ongoing efforts toward gender inclusion reflect a broader movement across open source: making technology more welcoming and equitable for everyone.
You have to get through the impostor syndrome. The community is super welcoming.
said Emma Horrell, one of this year’s recipients.

JAKALA is the official sponsor of the Women in Drupal Award since its inception four years ago. As a long-standing supporter of diversity and inclusion in technology, JAKLA ensured the award could reach a global audience and showcase some of the incredible talent in the Drupal community. Through its commitment to equity and innovation, JAKALA continues to help shape a more inclusive future for open source communities worldwide.
In the end, I mostly wanted to give back to the community.
said Sinduri Guntupalli.

The ceremony has become a highlight of DrupalCon. Beyond the award itself, the wider Women in Drupal initiative fosters mentorship programs, networking opportunities, and global visibility for women working in Drupal and open source.
I was intimidated by core contribution but very friendly members of the community came to me
said Jess (xjm).

The Women in Drupal Award is supported by the Drupal Association and leading organisations across the industry. Together, they aim to build a more inclusive, diverse, and forward-looking community, one that reflects the world it serves.
About Women in Drupal
Women in Drupal is a community-driven initiative dedicated to celebrating, supporting, and empowering women in the Drupal ecosystem. Through events, mentorship, and recognition, the program fosters inclusion and encourages greater participation and leadership in open source.

This is the first in a series of blog posts where we have invited organisations from across the Drupal ecosystem to share their experiences and insights on how they are using Drupal AI in their work. If your organisation is innovating with Drupal AI, we would be delighted to feature you in a future post.
Witze Van der Straeten is a Front-End Web Development student at Arteveldehogeschool in Belgium. In this post, he shares how discovering Drupal has completely changed the way he thinks about design, development, and community.

Discovering Drupal
Before my internship, I had actually never heard of Drupal. At school, we learned about other CMSs, but Drupal was only briefly mentioned, we never explored it in depth. During my search for an internship, I connected with the owner of Calibrate, who was immediately enthusiastic and invited me to join the team.
By coincidence, my first week at Calibrate aligned with Drupal Dev Days Leuven. It is a community event full of talks, contributions, and collaboration.
From the moment I walked in, I noticed how welcoming everyone was. People came up to me, asked about my background, and shared their own stories. It was clear that this wasn’t just a CMS, it was a community of people who genuinely care.
Dries Buytaert held a Q&A, and I was impressed by how open and democratic the whole ecosystem felt. There wasn’t a “boss” giving orders — it was a team of people building something together, guided by shared passion.
The evening events were just as memorable: games, group activities, and spontaneous gatherings where 30 people ended up sharing a table full of laughter and ideas.
By the end of the week, I knew — this is where I belong.
Learning and Experimenting
Back at my internship, I started with the basics, completing the Acquia training videos and building a small site.
As a front-end developer, I quickly realized I wanted more creative freedom. That’s when a colleague introduced me to Single Directory Components (SDCs). It's a new approach that made the front-end feel more modern and modular. I immediately loved it.
Later, my mentor suggested I explore something even newer: MCP servers. MCP stands for Model Context Protocol, an emerging standard that allows AI tools to communicate with each other.
I found a Figma MCP server, and since I was already familiar with Figma from school, I started experimenting. I connected it with GitHub Copilot in Visual Studio Code, and the first time I saw a Figma component appear in my editor, I knew this could save a lot of time.
At first, I wasn’t sure how to make it work in Drupal and especially with Twig files and SDCs. But the more I tested, the more it made sense. Eventually, I managed to make a designed Figma component appear on a Drupal site in just minutes — something that used to take hours.
I showed it to my team at Calibrate, who found it very interesting, but since it was experimental, we decided to pause the exploration for a while.
Creating the Figma-to-Drupal Tutorial
A few months later, I had to create a tutorial for a school project on Drupal and AI. Naturally, I knew what I wanted to write about — the Figma-to-Drupal workflow.
My goal was to make something clear and practical, especially for people who had never touched Drupal or MCPs before. I wanted anyone to follow the tutorial and realize how powerful Drupal could be when combined with design tools and AI.
After finishing, I shared the tutorial in the Drupal Slack community, and the response was amazing. People commented, shared ideas, and even added me on LinkedIn to discuss it further.
You can explore Figma-to-Drupal tutorial here.
Two lead developers from UI Suite reached out with great feedback that helped me refine the workflow. Then I received a message from Paul Johnson, who encouraged me to share my story — which is why I’m writing this blog today. 
Collaborating with Dries and Canvas AI
One day, I received a message from Dries Buytaert himself:
Hey Witze, the Figma-to-Drupal idea sounds cool. Do you happen to have a short demo video of it?

I sent him my demo right away. Dries replied that there was still too much manual work involved, and he wondered if we could integrate it with Canvas AI, an AI-powered development tool that’s part of the Drupal ecosystem.
Of course, when Dries asks, you experiment! We started exchanging ideas about how to automate parts of the workflow with Canvas AI, and suddenly I was collaborating with the founder of Drupal himself.
I never expected someone so busy to spend that much time helping a student. That experience showed me once again how exceptional this community is — not just technically, but personally.
By the way you can see how this work is going, it was featured on stage at DrupalCon Vienna presented by Dries himself!
So, thank you, Dries!
What We’re Working On
Right now, we’re exploring how to make this integration more stable and impactful.
The goal is to simplify the journey from design to Drupal implementation — reducing repetitive steps and empowering front-end developers to work faster and smarter.
It’s still early, and there are bugs to fix, but I truly believe this could become something big. With a strong community like Drupal’s, we can lead the way in how AI transforms web development.
I’m also in touch with Dries about whether this could be mentioned in the DriesNote, which would be an incredible opportunity.
See You in Vienna
I’m attending DrupalCon Vienna, and I’d love to connect with anyone exploring AI, Figma, or front-end innovation in Drupal.
If you’re curious or want to collaborate, feel free to reach out — I’m always open to new ideas!
Reflections on My Journey
Looking back, Drupal has changed more than just how I code — it changed how I think.
I’ve learned that open source isn’t about software alone. It’s about people — listening, sharing, and building something together that’s bigger than any one of us.
To other students or newcomers reading this
Don’t be afraid to get involved. Even if you feel inexperienced, your ideas matter. This community will welcome you, just as it welcomed me.