Helping New Drupal Developers Cross the Gap Between Learning and Real-World Contribution

Some people talk about solving big problems. Others just get on with it. Carlos Ospina is definitely in the second camp. He’s the CTO at Palcera, where he’s not just managing systems—he’s reshaping how companies deal with tech at scale. TDT reached out to him because we wanted to understand the real engine behind the IXP Fellowship Initiative—a program that’s helping developers grow while also addressing one of the trickiest issues in tech: retention. He gave me exactly what I was looking for.

Carlos has a rare mix of technical depth and strategic thinking. He’s the kind of leader who doesn’t just get a system working—he figures out how to make it last, how to make it matter. His track record speaks for itself: a 90% customer retention rate, an 85% success rate turning tough accounts into long-term wins. Whether it’s guiding DevOps strategy, optimising enterprise platforms, or bridging gaps between teams in two languages, Carlos moves with purpose. At Palcera, he’s helping build tech that solves real problems in the logistics and payments space, especially in markets that are usually overlooked.

But let’s talk about IXP. This isn’t just another mentorship program. It’s built to fix a common frustration: companies invest in junior talent only to see them leave. So, how do you keep that from happening? How do you create a system where companies and developers win? Carlos walked me through it—from how maintainers shaped the structure, to how projects like DrupalEasy helped influence the program’s approach to contribution.

This isn’t a puff piece. It’s a look into how one person is helping connect the dots between open-source contribution, enterprise growth, and long-term developer support. Let’s get into the conversation.

TDT[1]: The IXP Fellowship is such a thoughtful initiative. What was the moment or conversation that made you realise: “We need to make onboarding junior developers easier—and companies need a reason to do it”?

Carlos Ospina: During DrupalCon Pittsburgh 2023, after my son finished the Drupal Career Online, he went with us to see if there was a Job for him. We saw the list of jobs and went to the Job Fair and then realised that there was no space for him, he learn Drupal but lacked the experience to be considered a Junior. And even then, there were a few openings for Juniors.

This led to conversations with my wife Ana Laura Coto, and Drupal friends about the topic and me thinking about using the contribution credit as an incentive. Eventually, I got together with Mike Anello, who has been thinking along the same line, and we started putting the idea together in Google Docs.

I just went on and on, speaking to whoever wanted to listen about it until DrupalCon Lille, when we became an “official” initiative thanks to Tim Lehnen.

TDT[2]: In an ideal scenario, what should the first 90 days look like for a developer entering Drupal through the IXP track? What do they build, who do they talk to, and how is progress measured?

Carlos Ospina: From our standpoint, we ask the team (mentor and IXP) to register on the Drupal-Ixpsite and start an engagement, follow the minimal requirements:

• Paid position
• Minimum of 160 hours
• Real experience work
• Mentorship 1 hour per every 10 hours of paid work, at least

To track the progress, we expect reports from both persons every 2 weeks, and when they consider it done, a final report. We also expect, at the end, to have 3 Drupal contributions and a blog from the IXP about their story.

The scope and requirements of the IXP program are purposely narrow. We want companies to decide what is the best path for them. What we hope is that at the end of an engagement, the IXPs will have experience that can help them land a job and be considered Juniors.

I personally see an IXP working on internal projects and contributing. Site builders could even leverage Drupal CMS to actually help with potential business.

But we are trying to get companies to share their experiences as examples for others and as guidance.

TDT[3]: One of the most important challenges IXP tries to solve is retention. How does the initiative ensure that companies don’t feel like they’re training talent only to see them hired away? What systems or incentives exist?

Carlos Ospina: During my talks about this, that was one of the big topics, and there is none, especially for countries like Colombia, where I know lots of Drupal people, because an international company will always win the salary battle.

That is why it is not part of the program's goals; that is why we use the only currency we have: Contribution credit. Companies can have their policies for retention; in this new world, salary is not the only way.

TDT[4]: From a technical leadership standpoint, what are the biggest bottlenecks when training brand-new developers, and how does IXP help navigate those friction points?

Carlos Ospina: It is important to understand that we are not a training initiative; we are in between when a person finishes training and before they get any real experience.

I do believe that simply guidance and mentorship, and using best practices, may provide that. Our requirements for an IXP clearly state that they already have some Drupal knowledge.

TDT[5]: How do you match a new IXP fellow with the right kind of team or mentor? Is there a profiling process, or is it more organic?

Carlos Ospina: This has to be organic; so far, the companies willing to participate already have internal training programs.

But that is one of the reasons we wanted to have the IXP hub in jobs.drupal.org: companies can post IXP openings, and hopefully, this year, we can add a way for IXPs looking for a company to register on the site and be listed.

TDT[6]: A few pioneering agencies have already started working with IXP fellows. How did those early partnerships come together—did they approach you, or did you actively recruit them? And what has their initial feedback been like, especially regarding the readiness and growth of the new developers?

Carlos Ospina: We are just starting, and as I mentioned, these companies already had training programs, so they want to take their trainees and take them even further into an experience internship.

Since we have not started the first engagement officially, we don’t have feedback yet. But yes, I hope we can grow organically, and I will keep recruiting as much as I can.

TDT[7]: Let’s talk scale. If 100 new companies joined the IXP program tomorrow, what would be your biggest concern, and what infrastructure or leadership needed to support that growth?

Carlos Ospina: My biggest concern will be attempts at gaming the system; we will need lots of volunteers, and we will be happy to cross that bridge when we get there.

TDT[8]: How have other maintainers helped shape IXP's current structure? Can you share any pivotal conversations or feedback that helped course-correct or refine the initiative?

Carlos Ospina: Too many to name them all, Gordon Christmas ideas on a trade kind of model, my wife Ana Laura Coto, in my long rants about this, help me with ideas. We had fantastic talks with Raul Jimenez, Borja Vicente, and Javier Prada from Spain and also from the now defunct Drupaleros. There were great BOFs and presentations with people sharing ideas in different camps and Drupalcons.

But the final piece was in long conversations with Mike Anello, where we shared what concerns or ideas we heard when presenting about this.

TDT[9]: From your perspective, how has the Drupal Association and broader community supported (or challenged) the goals of IXP so far? Are there specific kinds of support still missing?

Carlos Ospina: The DA has stepped up as much as possible and given us a lot of support, and is giving a generous amount of contrib credit, making this a big item in terms of our contribution system.

The community has been always very supportive of the idea, but I would love to see more of “I will put my money where my mouth is” kind of attitude from all of us, me included, it is so nice to hear the feedback of how this is really needed and a great idea, even Dries liked it a lot, but the problem is we need more follow through, if that makes sense. And now is a great time. We are going to need lots of help in the near future, and we will need companies to go through the program and help us shape it to be better.

And we also need more help promoting it, and letting people know that it's time to help give one of the most important contributions to Drupal: New People!

TDT[10]: You wrote on LinkedIn about the complexities of project proposals in open source. How has working on IXP changed how you view the process of creating and pitching community initiatives?

Carlos Ospina: I just did what I was passionate about, so not much changed there. But working with everything that is going on right now in the Drupal ecosystem, I can see the IXP program not only as a game changer for the ecosystem, also for companies, taking advantage of the opportunity (not the people) of having junior or earlier levels that can work some site building and the excellent progress with Drupal CMS and XB, to create new business avenues that allows us to grow the middle and even the bottom of the pyramid.

We need to be more cost-effective for customers, and we have a great opportunity in front of us, while growing the ecosystem at the same time. And of course, making it more sustainable.

TDT[11]: What kind of KPIS or metrics would you love to have in place for IXP a year from now? Retention, time-to-productivity, satisfaction scores? How are you thinking about measurement and outcomes?

Carlos Ospina: For now, we only want participation, and most likely the number of new contributors per role (Devs, site builders, etc)

TDT[12]: Do you think the Drupal community does enough to attract and nurture new contributors? If not, what’s still missing—and what role do you see IXP playing in closing that gap?

Carlos Ospina: I think we are trying, and the biggest challenge I have heard is about PHP being an old stack, but I have been hearing that since the late 2000s. And don’t get me started on the new technologies that are now going to server-side compilation or scripting. Does that sound familiar to you?

But where the IXP can help, as I said on LinkedIn, is to make PHP, Twig, and Drupal more attractive by also adding a job where you can start.

TDT[13]: In your ideal future, how do you envision the handoff from “new developer” to “active community contributor”? What rituals or systems do we need to make that smooth and natural?

Carlos Ospina: It should be very easy, since we require three contributions, and our goal is to teach new people to contribute first and early.

Do we need to make it easier and less challenging? For sure, but that is +1 of the chicken and egg conundrums we have, that will need resources that the DA and the community don’t have, like contributors. So, at least we can start here, teaching new people how to do it, even in the current system.

TDT[14]: DrupalEasy has long been known for nurturing new talent through programs like Drupal Career Online. How did their involvement shape or influence the structure of the IXP Fellowship?

Carlos Ospina: By teaching my son? Hehe. Mike Anello has been a great partner in this. This is more Mike, Ana Laura, and Carlos than DrupalEasy and Palcera.

Of course, Mike’s experience has helped a lot and the internship/scholarship opportunities DrupalEasy offers were in my head when I started thinking about this.

TDT[15]: What do you wish more developers understood about contributing to Drupal, not just technically, but culturally or community-wise?

Carlos Ospina: I would love for people to understand that we are all in this together, that Drupal is not only a great tool, but also our livelihood. When I came to the Drupal community, I came for the code, loved the community, but loved that this OS community was business-minded. I had been with many communities in the past, and the business part was sometimes a touchy subject. It is hard for me to explain in a paragraph.

But I guess that what I wanted to say is, contributing is good for all of us, if we all think to contribute first, not only do we grow the Software, but also our own projects, OS or for profit.

TDT[16]: You’ve been part of the Drupal community for quite some time now. How did your Drupal journey begin, and what initially drew you to it?

Carlos Ospina: In 2012, after a couple of years out of tech and being a teacher, someone asked me to help create a site. I did what I always did, and looked for the right CMS project in Open Source, and found Drupal. I have been around OS long enough (1996) to recognise a strong community. I started working with Drupal, and very soon, I had help from the support channels.

Then I started going to the events and realised this was not only a great place to grow technically, but also professionally

TDT[17]: Looking back at your earliest Drupal contributions, is there a specific patch, module, or even a bug report you’re oddly proud of? Something that felt small but was a real turning point for you as a contributor?

Carlos Ospina: When plugins were envisioned, they were not meant to be part of the theme, only a module. Most plugins should stay in custom modules, but there were then breakpoints and layouts.

When looking at the code, I realised that we were duplicating code in both of those to make them available for themes. I rewrote a little piece of the plugin discovery that reduced several lines of code and allowed the plugin to determine if it was a module plugin, a theme plugin, or both.

See https://www.drupal.org/project/drupal/issues/2480307

TDT[18]: As CTO of Palcera, you're building on over 15 years of web development experience. How do you distil that experience into the daily decisions your dev team makes?

Carlos Ospina: It is actually over 27 years in tech and development, which has helped me see the growth of technology, how to be an early adopter when possible and how to move with the tide.

I think that what I bring to Palcera is something I have always loved, which is the following: best practices and the use of Open Source to accomplish this.

In my years, I was always the person coming up with “clever” ideas (maybe tricky). Like when I worked for a big Government agency in Colombia, and we needed to protect a group of servers, but there was no budget, and I proposed the use of key lockers with combinations or keys that only the Server team could have to open the locker to access the key to the racks. It was crude and manual, but way better than an open server. And it would give time for us time to get a budget for better and more techy tools.

Like our proposed approach of leading Technical Architects, who speak perfectly both English and the technology, and have a team of non-English speakers, but great devs, behind us.