Chris McGrath Rebuilds Drupal-Based ATS/CRM with React and AI Tools

Chris McGrath, Founder and CEO of Esteemed Inc., has announced an ambitious rebuild of a complex Applicant Tracking System (ATS) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution originally developed in Drupal 9. The system is being re-architected in Drupal 11 using Recipes to separate the CRM and ATS into distinct installations, designed for different user groups: a Standard version for employers and a Pro version for staffing and recruitment agencies.

As part of the overhaul, the front end is being rebuilt using a decoupled React architecture with modern libraries for improved performance. The backend replaces legacy Drupal Node-based entities with fully custom entities, paired with enhanced JSON APIs using JSON Extras to streamline React integration.

This effort is part of a broader AI experiment Chris McGrath is leading, using ChatGPT+ and other agentic tools like Claude, Codex, and Cursor to improve delivery efficiency, restructure content, and explore AI-driven product development workflows. The project aims to support a growing digital ecosystem that includes marketing automation, learning management, and future product expansions at Esteemed.

Key goals include open-sourcing the Standard version of the solution to Drupal.org, advancing AI use in Drupal development via modules and Recipes, and strengthening Esteemed’s core value of combining top tech talent with modern AI tools to cut costs and improve outcomes.

For more information, visit esteemed.io and the read the full LinkedIn post by Chris McGrath here.