Interviews

For organisations still running Drupal 7, the challenge is often less about whether to upgrade and more about how to modernise without disrupting critical business operations. Niels de Feyter, founder and lead developer of CodeLift, argues that successful upgrades depend on preserving a system's observable behaviour while modernising its underlying platform. In this interview with The Drop Times, he discusses verification, migration complexity, ageing infrastructure, AI-assisted development, and the risks organisations face as legacy systems grow older. ...more

Johanna Bates reflects on Drupal’s nonprofit ecosystem, the value of structured content, and the long-term stewardship required to support contributors, clients, and mission-driven organisations. ...more

Dan Frost brings a maintenance-first view to Drupal’s evolution and the realities of AI in production environments. In this interview, the Adaptive Managing Director reflects on the Drupal 7 to 8 shift, why structured architecture matters for AI readiness, and how “controlled AI” depends on guardrails and observability. He also discusses headless Drupal as an emerging direction, how charities are adopting conversational interfaces, and why SEO strategy in 2026 increasingly means being present inside AI-driven search surfaces, not only ranking in traditional results. ...more

As a maintainer of DDEV, Stas Zhuk works behind the scenes to ensure thousands of developers rarely have to think about their local environments. In this interview with The DropTimes, he reflects on reliability, open source responsibility, AI-assisted development, and what it takes to keep critical infrastructure stable even during power blackouts in Ukraine. ...more

Council Insight analyses thousands of user journeys across UK council websites to reveal how content performs in real use. In this interview, David Bishop explains why journey-based analysis matters, how automation and AI can support everyday content work, and what Council Insight offers local government web teams. ...more

In this interview with The DropTimes, Michael Fanini reflects on more than a decade of Drupal contribution, the evolution of the UI Suite Initiative, and the thinking behind Display Builder. He discusses design systems, Drupal core APIs, and how UI Suite positions itself alongside initiatives like Canvas, offering a grounded perspective on where Drupal’s front end is heading. ...more

The Drop Times spoke with Witze Van der Straeten about his AI-driven Figma-to-Drupal workflow and how experimenting with SDCs, Canvas, and MCP shaped his approach to front-end work. He also reflects on how the Drupal community influenced his growth as a developer. ...more

With Oaisys 25 just days away, QED42 Engineering Manager Vidit Anjaria sits down with The DropTimes to talk about the evolution of engineering culture, the lessons that shaped his approach to architecture, and why this weekend’s open-source AI practitioners’ event could mark a turning point for the community. ...more

With nearly 14 years at Open Social (via GoalGorilla), engineering lead Ronald te Brake has shifted from writing code to shaping how teams think, collaborate and solve problems. In this interview with TDT’s Alka Elizabeth, Ronald explains why he views AI not as a magic bullet, but as a teammate that demands context, guardrails and documentation. He shares how governance, decision records and meaningful standards help developers stay effective in a world where automation and intelligent systems are growing. ...more

On the sidelines of DrupalCon Vienna 2025, full-stack engineer Anish Anilkumar shares insights on the power of grassroots organising in the Drupal ecosystem. From hosting two-person meetups in Kerala to leading DrupalTVM, Anish reveals what it takes to build sustainable local communities. In this candid interview, he reflects on friendships, philosophy, and the quiet work of keeping community alive—beyond code sprints and global conferences. ...more

Fons Vandamme, a long-time Drupal developer and agency co-founder, created Webhaven—a pre-configured starter kit designed to simplify and speed up Drupal project development. In this interview, he shares why he built it, how it works, and what it means for developers, agencies, and the Drupal community. ...more

Dominique De Cooman, Founder and CEO of Dropsolid AI, speaks with Alka Elizabeth of The DropTimes about the remarkable growth of the Drupal AI Initiative—from its formation at Drupal Dev Days in Leuven to becoming a $175,000 community-driven effort with fifteen dedicated contributors. The conversation explores Drupal's strategic positioning in an AI-first world, the evolution of digital experience platforms, and what lies ahead for the open-source community. ...more

Jorge Tutor, CIO and co-founder of Metadrop, shares what he’s learned from two decades of building digital products, leading teams, and bridging the gap between business goals and technical execution. In this candid conversation, he explains why clarity—not code—is often the deciding factor in whether a project succeeds or stalls, and how systems thinking, coaching, and open source all play a role in getting it right. ...more

Christopher McGrath, founder and CEO of Esteemed, discusses his journey from launching Celebrate Drupal to building an AI-driven human capital platform. In this interview with Alka Elizabeth for The DropTimes, he shares insights on Drupal’s shifting role in enterprise tech, the rise of coding agents, and what companies expect from developers in a changing job market. ...more

Technical co-founder and cloud architect Colan Schwartz speaks with The DropTimes about his long history with Drupal, his work on Aegir and Drubernetes, and the transition from open source contributions to SaaS product development. The interview covers automation, infrastructure, DevOps practices, and the practical challenges teams face when adopting Drupal at scale. ...more

In this in-depth conversation for The DropTimes, sub-editor Alka Elizabeth interviews Kevin Quillen, Platform Lead at Velir and co-author of the Drupal 10 Development Cookbook. With 16 years in the Drupal community, Quillen reflects on the platform’s transformation from his early days leaving ColdFusion to leading its AI integration. He shares insights on community collaboration, onboarding improvements, and why he believes Drupal is entering its strongest era yet. ...more

From translating Drupal into Ukrainian nearly solo to architecting one of the platform’s largest distributions, Andrii Podanenko’s journey is anything but ordinary. In this conversation with The DropTimes, he and Zhanna Khoma of ITCare talk about building AI-integrated Drupal projects, mentoring without ego, and why empathy, not just code, drives lasting impact. ...more

In an exclusive interview with The DropTimes, Alphons Jaimon, AI Engineer at QED42, discusses his rapid transition from traditional web development to leading AI initiatives, sharing insights on integrating artificial intelligence with Drupal systems, building production-grade solutions like the Illinois Legal Aid chatbot, and his strategic approach to keeping complex AI processes separate from content management systems while maintaining seamless user experiences. ...more

In her interview, Alka Elizabeth of The DropTimes explores Josh Mitchell’s journey from creating his first Drupal.org account in 2005 and delivering the CRM-integrated Grammy members site in 2008, to serving as the Drupal Association’s inaugural CTO through Heartbleed and the five-year Drupal 8 development, and now guiding government teams on compliance-driven Drupal solutions at M6L. ...more

In this interview, Alka Elizabeth of The DropTimes sits down with Nick Veenhof, Director of Contributor Success and Programs at GitLab, to reveal how the GitLab Co-Create Program empowers users to ship code in days. Discover how a two-engineer tweak saved 30 million users time, and learn how you can break into open source contributions today. ...more

In her interview with Alka Elizabeth of The DropTimes, Fei Lauren, Delivery Manager & Front End Developer at Renesas Electronics, Drupal Diversity & Inclusion leader and Drupal Association board member, reflects on everything from her Geocities-era HTML experiments to nearly a decade of global community work. She shares how she overcame impostor syndrome in a competitive board election, why authenticity matters more than polish, her mantra “what you permit you promote” and her Pride Month efforts with the Drupal Rainbow community. Plus, she outlines her vision for distributed leadership in DDI, plans to bring DrupalCon to Latin America and Africa and even her dream of studying Interactive Art at SFU. ...more

Will Huggins explains his vision for aligning commercial growth with community values and how Drupal can thrive through trust and balance. ...more

Vladimir Roudakov brings academic and open-source experience to his campaign, focusing on targeted documentation reform, contributor recognition, and deeper engagement with universities. His platform aims to make Drupal more approachable for students, educators, and non-technical users worldwide. ...more

Maya Schaeffer focuses on creating space for marketers, designers, and strategists within the Drupal ecosystem. Her platform calls for clearer contribution pathways, tailored community programs, and expanding Drupal’s presence in non-technical sectors—without losing its technical depth. ...more

Matt Glaman outlines how a Drupal template marketplace could reshape sustainability and create real opportunities for solo developers. ...more

Matthew Saunders discusses responsible AI, neuroinclusion, and how Drupal can model ethical governance in open source. ...more

Carlos Ospina outlines strategies to make Drupal more accessible in underrepresented regions through regional events, adjusted pricing models, and localized contribution programs. His focus is on ensuring that financial and structural barriers do not limit global engagement with Drupal. ...more

Learn how Alexander Varwijk aims to enhance entry points for new contributors and promote community-led sustainability within the Drupal ecosystem. ...more

Forget the usual trade-offs of headless architecture. Lupus Decoupled keeps Drupal’s powerful backend features intact while giving developers full control on the frontend. In this exclusive interview, Wolfgang Ziegler of Drunomics breaks down how the system works, why it matters, and what’s coming next for the project that’s redefining decoupled Drupal. ...more

Georgia’s Chief Digital and AI Officer, Nikhil Deshpande, shares insights with The DropTimes on how open-source technology and Drupal have transformed state services. In this interview, conducted by sub-editor Alka Elizabeth, Nikhil discusses accessibility, AI integration, community contribution, and the future of digital government platforms. ...more