The International Splash Awards 2025 concluded today during DrupalCon Europe in Vienna, celebrating the world’s most outstanding Drupal projects, agencies, and developers. The annual awards recognize excellence in design, innovation, technical achievement, and community impact across a range of categories.
Now in its third edition, the International Splash Awards attracted a record number of submissions from across the globe. A distinguished jury of independent experts in web design, user experience, open source development, and digital strategy evaluated entries across criteria including concept, execution, emotional appeal, accessibility, performance, and social relevance.
Winners & Highlights
Commerce

Winner: BikeAlert B2B Platform by E-sepia Web Innovation
Runner-up: Occhio - Digital Experience Platform for an international design brand by Factorial GmbH

Corporate

Winner: Maggi.de - Successful repositioning by 1xINTERNET GmbH
Runner-up: Relaunching Dole - A global brand dedicated to delivering healthy produce by Factorial GmbH

Design / UX

Winner: Museum für Gestaltung Zürich - Swiss Design Meets Digital Progress by Liip AG
Runner-up: Relaunching Dole - A global brand dedicated to delivering healthy produce by Factorial GmbH

Education & Social / Community

Winner: DAISIE - Digital operation system for TelefonSeelsorge by Factorial GmbH
Runner-up: Setting a New Standard: How Drupal Powers Shanghai American School’s Digital Future by ImageX

Government & Public Services / Healthcare

Winner: Switzerland: Canton of Basel-Stadt - Public information truly centred on its users by Liip AG
Runner-up: Examenblad.nl & Examenbladmbo.nl - College voor Toetsen en Examens by Swis

Non-profit

Winner: World Cancer Day - United by Unique by 1xINTERNET GmbH
Runner-up: DAISIE - Digital operation system for TelefonSeelsorge by Factorial GmbH

Tools / Apps

Winner: mossbo - The Innovative Cloud CMS Ecosystem with AI-Features by drunomics
Runner-up: DrupalFit - A Lightweight AI-Powered Tool for 360° Audits and Continuous Compliance by DrupalFit (OpenSense Labs)

Impact & Community
The International Splash Awards serve not only to honor outstanding work but also to inspire collaboration, share best practices, and elevate the broader Drupal ecosystem. Over time, many awardees have contributed back to the community through open source modules, conference talks, training, and mentorship.
Supporting organizations and sponsors played a key role in making this year’s event possible, offering financial, logistical, and promotional support. Their involvement underscores the importance of recognizing digital excellence in open-source technologies.
Looking Ahead: 2026 & Beyond
With the 2025 edition now behind us, the Splash Awards organizers are already planning for 2026 and beyond. As Drupal evolves and the demands on digital platforms grow ever more complex, the Awards intend to broaden their reach, add new categories (e.g. AI, data privacy, sustainability), and deepen their engagement with designers, developers, and clients globally.
Submissions for International Splash Awards 2026 will be announced in a few months, stay in touch and don’t miss an opportunity to participate in this amazing event.
About International Splash Awards
The International Splash Awards is an independent, global awards program that highlights exceptional Drupal-powered websites, applications, and digital solutions. Its mission is to recognize creativity, technical excellence, and social impact within the Drupal and open-source communities.
For more information about categories, submission guidelines, jury members, and past winners, visit https://splashawards.org/.

Join us THURSDAY, October 16 at 1pm ET / 10am PT, for our regularly scheduled call to chat about all things Drupal and nonprofits. (Convert to your local time zone.)
We don't have anything specific on the agenda this month, so we'll have plenty of time to discuss anything that's on our minds at the intersection of Drupal and nonprofits. Got something specific you want to talk about? Feel free to share ahead of time in our collaborative Google document!
All nonprofit Drupal devs and users, regardless of experience level, are always welcome on this call.
This free call is sponsored by NTEN.org and open to everyone.
Information on joining the meeting can be found in our collaborative Google document.

In June, we set an ambitious goal: to raise 1 million dollars to accelerate the Drupal AI initiative. Today at DrupalCon Vienna, Dries Buytaert announced that we have achieved that goal. Remarkably, it took just five months.
This is by far the single greatest fundraising effort ever seen in the history of Drupal. It positions us well to win the race in AI.
Dries Buytaert

This marks the largest fundraising effort in Drupal’s history, driven by the commitment of our expanding group of AI Makers. The funding model combines financial contributions with a commitment to provide full-time staff who actively contribute to Drupal AI development.
With the addition of six new organisations — Pronovix, Pantheon, OpenSense Labs, Vardot, Foster Interactive, and Esinergia — the total number of Makers now stands at 22. Their involvement was instrumental in reaching the 1 million dollar target.

We met with Dominic De Cooman who leads the fundraising for the Drupal AI Initative to get the inside track on why this funding is so vital and what it will be used for.
Who are the latest Makers, and why is their support so important at this stage?
This support is vital because it enables a dedicated team, guided by increased capacity in management roles, to develop solutions that deliver tangible value for organisations across the Drupal ecosystem.
Why have so many prominent Drupal companies chosen to join in this phase?
Drupal is inherently designed for AI, and organisations are acutely aware of both the opportunities and challenges this presents. Companies are seeking to reinvent themselves as AI-powered agencies and platform providers. The Drupal AI initiative accelerates this transformation. Establishing Drupal as the leading AI-powered CMS is essential for the shared success of the ecosystem.
What was the overarching vision guiding this new round of sponsorship for Drupal AI?
The vision is to establish Drupal as the number one AI-powered CMS globally, while enabling our community and businesses to adapt and thrive in the AI era.
Explain how the funding is split between financial resources and FTE commitments, and why FTEs are critical.

$240,000 is allocated to manage the team, ensuring delivery and accountability.
Six full-time equivalent (FTE) staff members are committed to executing the work.


FTEs are crucial because they provide consistent, focused effort, ensuring progress is sustained for the long term.
What tangible outcomes are expected from this funding in the short to medium term?
The funding will support a professional approach to innovation and product development. An RFP will be announced later this week, inviting Makers to participate and contribute to this work.
How will this funding accelerate AI capabilities within the Drupal ecosystem?
With dedicated resources for innovation and product development, solutions can be delivered faster and with higher quality than would be possible relying solely on volunteer efforts.
How does this funding model support long-term sustainability rather than short-term project boosts?
The six-month commitment ensures sustained access to first-hand information and practical AI “recipes.” By building a library of AI knowledge and tools, we aim to create a flywheel effect, encouraging long-term contribution from the community. Success will depend on how effectively we utilise the funds over the coming months, which is why the RFP process is a critical next step.
How can my agency or organisation join the initiative as a maker?
You can find out all about how to become a maker on our dedicated page.
If you are at DrupalCon Domininque De Cooman would love to meet you. You can also reach him on Drupal Slack.

If you couldn’t make it to DrupalCon Vienna, here’s what you missed in the DriesNote. 
Dries just delivered a DriesNote that marks a true turning point for Drupal — and the message couldn’t be clearer: we’re not just adapting to AI, we’re accelerating straight into it.
With 69% of Google searches now resulting in zero clicks, AI is fundamentally changing how people interact with the web. This is a new challenge for developers and agencies alike — but Dries says this can be an opportunity for Drupal.
Dries said AI isn’t replacing websites, it’s expanding their importance. Websites remain the source of truth — the home of trust, authenticity, and brand identity. AI agents will always need to cite and link back to authoritative sources.
Drupal's strategic investments in modern APIs, versioning, and configuration management have made it one of the most AI-ready frameworks in the world.
When AI agents make mistakes, you need systems that can roll back safely — and that’s exactly what Drupal excels at.

With innovation in the Drupal community doubling over the past year, the project is ready to run toward the storm. As Dries put it: AI is the storm, but AI is also the way through the storm.
Major Announcements from the DriesNote
Drupal Canvas 1.0 - Release candidate is OUT (as of this week). Full release November 2025. This is the no-code visual site builder that's been in development across multiple DriesNotes. It includes integrated CKEditor, Metatag support, Webform compatibility, content templates, and even code components for JavaScript developers. Canvas will become the default experience in Drupal CMS 2.0.
Site Templates & Marketplace - The Drupal Association Board unanimously approved funding from their Board Vision Fund for a curated marketplace on Drupal.org. The first template "Byte" (built by Media Current) gets you from install to complete B2B SaaS site in under 3 minutes with the Mercury theme and design system. 10-15 more templates are coming from Drupal Certified Partners during the pilot phase. Soon, designers will be able to create and export templates with no code required.
Drupal AI Initiative - In the past 6 months, the AI Initiative raised $1M in combined funding ($200K cash + $800K in FTE hours from 22 agency partners) — the biggest fundraising effort in Drupal's history. Major features demonstrated:

AI-powered full page generation with dozens of components in Canvas
Context Control Center - teach AI your brand voice, target audience, product info, and messaging for consistent outputs
Autonomous background agents that work while you sleep, updating content based on product changes
Design-to-code workflow with Figma MCP server integration (demonstrated by student contributor Witze)
Hybrid workflows mixing deterministic logic with AI steps

Drupal CMS 2.0 - Launching January 2026, potentially on Drupal's 25th birthday. Will ship with Canvas as the default out-of-the-box experience. Major marketing push planned for March 2026, with site templates and marketplace becoming a primary focus throughout the year.
Orchestration as "DXP 2.0" - Dries introduced a vision for internal orchestration (ECA improvements) and external automation tools (like ActivePieces) working together. ECA will get a major UX overhaul to make it more accessible. External tools can trigger Drupal AI agents and ECA workflows, creating powerful hybrid automation. This could redefine what agencies build and how they generate revenue.
Who This Benefits
This isn't all just for no-code site builders. Developers get powerful APIs and code components. Agencies gain new service offerings through AI and orchestration tools. Enterprises get the governance, security, and scalability they need with modern experiences their teams can actually use.
Thank You to the Community
Dries thanked the Drupal community. He pointed out that innovation in Drupal has doubled in the past year, and said that doesn't happen by accident. The community rallied around the Starshot project (Drupal CMS), contributed to strategic initiatives, and built these tools together. The 22 agencies funding Drupal AI, the Drupal Certified Partners building templates, leadership from people like Tiffany Farris on the marketplace — this is what makes Drupal different.
#Drupal #DrupalCMS #AI #OpenSource #WebDevelopment #DrupalCanvas #DigitalExperience #CMS
Relive the #Driesnote

Exactly four months after we released AI 1.1.0 and AI Agents 1.1.0, we are very proud to release the 1.2.0 in stable releases.
A major milestone for Drupal AI
The Drupal AI 1.2.0 release marks a huge step forward in making AI practical, transparent, and empowering for everyone — from developers to editors to digital leaders. 
It transforms how content is created and managed, letting users and editors interact with AI directly inside Drupal’s UI through the new Field Widget Actions, and giving organizations total visibility and control with AI Observability.
With tools like the Prompt Library for consistent, best-practice AI prompts, a redesigned Toolbar Chatbot for seamless assistance, and innovations such as Progress Service for Agents, OpenAI PDF support, Image-to-Image editing, and PHP Fibers for faster performance - Drupal AI brings enterprise-grade intelligence right into everyday workflows.
For companies, it means smarter, faster, and more consistent digital experiences; for end users, it means AI that feels natural, helpful, and transparent - all built on Drupal’s trusted open-source foundation.
Key Highlights in Drupal AI and AI Agents 1.2.0
Field Widget Actions – Invoke AI from Anywhere
Editors can now interact with AI directly within any entity form. The new Field Widget Actions module introduces one-click AI assistance for tasks such as generating summaries, titles, categories, or tags—all while keeping editorial control front and centre.
This feature integrates seamlessly with AI Content Suggestions, AI Automators, and AI Agents, enabling both simple preset interactions and complex autonomous logic.
Advanced users can extend it further via ECA integrations, unlocking over 100+ potential use cases.
AI Observability – Full Transparency for AI Operations
The all-new AI Observability module delivers enterprise-grade monitoring for AI processes.
Built atop Drupal’s PSR logging infrastructure, it tracks token usage, errors, and performance metrics—paving the way for integrations with tools like OpenTelemetry.Partnerships with the Extended Logger module will soon offer advanced visualizations for real-time insights.
Prompt Library – Share and Standardize Prompts as Configurations
Prompt management is now easier than ever. The Prompt Library allows modules and organizations to ship preconfigured prompts, ensuring consistency and best practices across projects.
This enables teams to embed domain-specific prompt engineering directly into their Drupal distributions or recipes.
New Toolbar Chatbot – Smarter, Friendlier, and More Integrated
A refreshed Toolbar Chatbot interface provides a larger, more intuitive conversational design for AI assistants helping site admins and editors.
The updated style becomes the new default, remaining fully backwards compatible with existing chatbots.
Progress Service for Agents – Transparent Multi-step Interactions
Complex agent workflows can now display progress in real time.
The new Progress Service gives granular insights into what an agent is doing, which tools it has invoked, and what actions it plans next—ideal for debugging, logging, and enhancing user trust during long-running operations.
OpenAI PDF Support – Chat with Your Documents
The OpenAI provider now supports direct PDF ingestion in Chat Explorer and custom integrations.
Upload PDFs as contextual data sources and use them in AI tasks—perfect for “chat with your documents” features.
Image-to-Image Operations – Edit images using natural language
The Image-to-Image operation type has been added and thanks to innovations from Nano Banana and DreamStudio, Drupal AI can now support background removal, style transfer, and natural-language-based image editing—unlocking new creative possibilities.
Support for PHP Fibers – Faster Parallel AI Calls
Drupal AI now leverages Fibers for asynchronous operations, enabling multiple AI requests to run in parallel.
This dramatically accelerates processes such as multi-field translation or bulk content enrichment.
Normalized Token Usage – Unified AI Metrics
Token usage data is now possible to standardize across all providers, simplifying cost tracking, reporting, and usage limits for third-party integrations.
Views Automators Type – Automate with Drupal Views
The new Views Automator Type brings Drupal’s powerful Views system into AI workflows.
Automators can now query, analyze, and summarize content on demand—for example:

Generate sentiment summaries for the most commented articles.
Write contextual “related content” descriptions dynamically.
Create weekly editorial quote digests automatically.

New Automator Types – Accessibility, SEO, and Content Enhancement
Three new AI Automators extend Drupal’s automation toolkit:

Image Alt Text Generator – Improves accessibility automatically.
Image Filename Rewrite – Boosts SEO by renaming uploaded images contextually.
Summary Generator – Creates concise summaries for “Text with Summary” fields.

Mocking Library – Faster Development and Testing
A new Mocking Library allows developers to replay AI provider responses locally—saving cost, time, and tokens during development and automated testing.

Vector Databases Abstracted for Recipes
Vector database connections are now fully abstracted, making it possible to ship recipes that “just work” regardless of whether you use Milvus, Postgres, or Pinecone—simplifying RAG and knowledge-based applications.

More issues worked on by more contributors from more organisations than any other Drupal AI release
This release is based on over 240+ issues worked on, including over 60 feature issues, with 127 different contributors from 64 different organizations contributing in one way or another.
A huge thanks to everyone who has worked with us on making this release possible. Perfectly timed for celebrating at DrupalCon.
Try Drupal AI 1.2.0 for yourself
Read more and download Drupal AI 1.2.0 here.

The last two weeks have had a huge focus on stabilizing the coming AI and AI Agents 1.2.0 releases, meaning that not that many features have been added, but a lot of bug fixing. There are still some nice things that can be mentioned as visible progress.
AI Observability
The biggest release of the last two weeks is a new module called AI Observability that will ship with the AI module in 1.2.0 release! 
We have had something called AI Logging in the AI Core module for a long time, and while that has been good for development purposes, when you want to use real observability of things like usage, tokens, errors etc, in enterprise production environments the normal flexible logging system is unbeatable.
This opens up using anything you can use the normal PSR Logger for and the idea is later to make it possible to support external observation tools like OpenTelemetry for instance.
There are already works with the Extended Logger module on how to make nicer visualizations for this going forward.
A huge thanks to EPAM for sponsoring this, and an extra huge thank you to Alexey Korepov and Antonio Estevez that have been working with this.
Force tools to run in Agents
One issue you might encounter when you are creating agents with a high context window, the need of many loops or that is using smaller models is that it might just not trigger one of the tools you have given to it.
This can be frustrating, when you see it collect the right information, even reason correctly and then it might output how it would use the tool instead of actually using it.
So we have added a simple checkbox on the tool settings in the agents, where you can check “Require Usage” and this will check whenever the agent claims that its finished, if it actually used the tool and nudges it to use it when not.
Config Action to setup Field Widget Actions
Currently we have Field Widget Actions being one of the cooler features in the 1.2.0 release. However at the moment, core is missing the possibility of actually attaching a Field Widget Actions to a field without having to redefine the whole form view.
We now have this in the AI module, including wildcard possibility, to be able to install Field Widget Actions all over the place.
At the same time there is a Drupal core issue for this, that we are waiting to get merged. This means that this is most likely just a temporary way of doing this until AI 2.0 is released.
Read PDF’s in Automators without any dependencies
The Automators has had both Unstructured.io and ConvertAPI integration now for years, making it possible to take an uploaded PDF (or multiple other file formats) and move that into a textarea on an entity.
However this requires dependencies, like API Keys or setting up complex infrastructure to host this yourself.
We wanted a way to do this without having to do that or even having to install something specific on the server. Something completely portable.
That now exists in the AI Simple PDF to Text module, that uses native PHP for the whole operation.
A new cool Toolbar Chatbot
Since most of the assistants/agents that you interact with are actually meant for helping site administrators or editors to use, that smaller design we had of the chatbot so far might be restrictive for longer conversations. Also the Canvas AI chatbot that is coming with Canvas already uses a more integrated design.
We wanted the same for the AI Chatbot. So, starting from 1.2.0 there is a new Toolbar placement and Toolbar style that will be the default Chatbot style going forward. This means for newer Chatbots you can try this out, but it's still completely backwards compatible of course.
Release candidate
We are getting closer to the stable version of 1.2.0. We have released a RC1 that takes us closer to that goal.
Other noticeable fixes:

Deprecate internal ECA module in AI Core: https://www.drupal.org/project/ai/issues/3503947
We have a MAINTAINERS.txt!: https://www.drupal.org/project/ai/issues/3528785
A new finding about how Structured Output and Tools works together: https://www.drupal.org/project/ai/issues/3550163
Embeddings Generation Explorer now works with multiple providers: https://www.drupal.org/project/ai/issues/3543298

On September 25th, Matthew Saunders moderated a panel that included Frederik Wouters, Paul Johnson, and Jamie Abrahams. We conducted a working preview of how Drupal AI will show up at DrupalCon Vienna and what the Strategic Initiative has been building since the last Drupalcon. Vienna was less than three weeks out, and momentum across the initiative was clear. It was a walk through workshops, sessions, and real implementation paths that teams can apply on live sites. We recorded it, so you can watch the webinar as well.
Hands-on training is a priority. Frederik and Christoph are running AI workshops designed so attendees leave with something working on their own machine. The format starts from zero, explains each step while you do it, and ends with a small but real implementation. That tone threads through the rest of the agenda. There is a strategy and application session for non-developers, and advanced material for experienced builders who want to go deeper into agents and orchestration. The goal is to create quick wins and the confidence to continue at home.
So these will be like hands-on workshops where you’ll be able to produce a real implementation of AI in a short space of time.
Frederik Wouters

A major theme is workflows. ECA is getting attention it has not had before. The panel called out how deterministic flows gave teams a safe on-ramp, while agent patterns are now taking the spotlight for more complex tasks. The message was practical. Use Drupal’s structure to decide when AI runs, what it can touch, and how to capture inputs and outputs. Keep humans in the loop where risk is high. Treat agents as an evolution, not a replacement for the guardrails that ECA and similar tools provide.
And I’m really excited to start showing off slightly more guided patterns that combine agents and what you’re good at with Drupal all together.
Jamie Abrahams

Content modelling matters more, not less. Several times the conversation returned to Drupal’s strengths. Structured content, permissions, and configuration give you predictable behaviour. That is how you keep outputs reviewable and safe. There was a clear push toward stronger configuration management and recipes so teams can share working patterns. The bigger picture tied Canvas, recipes, and a marketplace together with AI. You build in a visual environment, you install known-good packages, and you wire AI in at clear touchpoints. It is not magic. It is good composition.
Drupal’s a really fabulous foundation for AI. We’ve spent years building a platform that’s got exceptional data modeling.
Paul Johnson

The Vienna programme reflects that balance. There is a talk on the European Accessibility Act and how AI shows up in compliance and editorial processes. There is a Yale case session that promises concrete lessons from an institutional roll-out. There are agent-building sessions from newcomers’ first steps to advanced builds, plus references to public examples that developers can study later. Marcus’s Workflows of AI site was mentioned as a catalogue of how things are built. The point was simple. People learn faster when they can inspect working code and repeat the steps.
I hope that the beginners get their first touch of working with AI. I hope that the business people get some cases out of it. I hope that the marketing people get some marketing materials.
Frederik Wouters

Security and trust were not presented as slogans. They were framed as predictable outcomes. Teams need patterns that fail safely and visibly, not clever code that surprises people. The panel tied this to Drupal’s design system work and to a push for richer metadata inside Canvas. If the CMS can describe components and intent, AI can act more reliably. That is how you reduce hallucinations and keep changes explainable.
We’re pushing a lot with a metadata schema inside Drupal that can help AI understand what it’s doing and tell AI what it’s going to do.
Jamie Abrahams

Community and governance came through strongly. The initiative has widened, with more makers joining and real cross-company collaboration around a shared set of problems. That collaboration is a differentiator. It is also how we avoid duplicating effort and how we publish roadmaps that others can build on. The panel encouraged people to get involved, pointing to the maker calendar, Slack channels, and an upcoming training serieswith Drop Solid and the European Commission.
There’s a lot of good governance around the platform as well, so Drupal is in a really strong place, it is a very strong differentiator.
Paul Johnson

If you boil it down, the webinar set expectations for Vienna and beyond. Come ready to build. Start with a contained use case. Use Drupal’s structure to keep AI on rails. Learn in a workshop, then bring that pattern home and expand it. Strategy, governance, and documentation are not overhead. They are how we keep this useful, safe, and repeatable at scale.
This content can help you become an excellent AI practitioner and give you practical structures to help you bring AI strategies to your clients and leaders.
Matthew Saunders

If you want to get involved in the Initiative, join #ai, #ai-initiative and #ai-contrib on Drupal Slack. See you in Vienna.File attachments:  AI_Webinar_Sept_25th_Graphic.png

Roughly three months have passed since AI 1.1.0 was released and we are getting ready for the next step in the history of Drupal AI.
This means that we will have an upgrade path before the next RC release, all major features are developed and any known security or critical bug is fixed. As a developer you can trust that the API’s are set.
One important upgrade path is that we are moving out the AI ECA module, to https://www.drupal.org/project/ai_integration_eca so that can develop in a more rapid tempo then the release cycles of the AI module.
As a developer you can trust that the API’s are set.

If nothing unexpected happens, the plan is to have a RC 30th of September and a production release 7th of October.
What does it bring?
The feature list of changes since the 1.1.0 release of the AI and AI Agents is too long to list and a lot has been written already in the alpha releases. But it includes:
Field Widget Actions
The field widget actions module lets you place as many buttons as you like on any form element for fields in Drupal to trigger AI Agents, AI Automators, ECA workflows or you custom integrations.
This means that you can have buttons to pick categories based on specific criterias, have title suggestions and thousands of other solutions.
Prompt Library
With the release of 1.2.0, we make it possible to ship prompts as general reusable configurations and categorize them where they belong.
New Automator Types
In 1.2.0 you will be able to use the Automator to contextualize using Views, create alt texts, rewrite filenames and fill out the summary on the Text with Summary field.
Prompt Replay provider
For testing reasons we usually have the problem that we do not want to send requests to an expensive AI provider just to try a piece of code over and over. We have solved that by having a proxy provider that can record requests and then replay them over and over, including in functional and kernel tests.
Agent improvements
The agents are getting more controllable and usable, including being able to create artifacts to pass over, output structured schemas, controlling descriptions of tools, status polling services, getting recursive tool results, being able to be triggered in CKEditor and more.
New chatbot Assistant styling
Because the assistant is designed primarily for website editors and administrators, the chatbot should reflect that focus. Starting with version 1.2.0, a new default styling will be introduced that integrates more seamlessly with the overall CMS design. The current style are still available of course.
Please try it out!
Whilst we wouldn’t recommend deploying to production systems yet, you can definitely start developing with the new features and try them out.
We are eager for any feedback!