Interviews

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

Avi Schwab, Community Organizer, Drupal Architect, and Technical Product Consultant at ImageX, has spent over a decade shaping not just Drupal projects, but the community that powers them. In this interview with Alka Elizabeth of The DropTimes, Avi opens up about the evolution of Open Y, the real costs of SaaS platforms, the importance of non-code contributions, and how local events like MidCamp keep the Drupal spirit alive. Whether you're a longtime contributor or new to open source, Avi’s reflections offer a grounded, human perspective on what it takes to lead and sustain meaningful work in tech. ...more

What makes Drupal fast for logged-in users? David Bekker has been chasing that question for over a decade. Known in the community as "daffie," he’s logged more than 700 core commits and helped shape Drupal's performance from the inside out. In this interview, he shares what drives his work, why database structure matters more than ever, and how Finalist supports his mission to make Drupal ready for whatever comes next. ...more

Samuel Mortenson, longtime Drupal core contributor and creator of tools like Tome and SFC, reflects on nearly a decade of shaping the open-source CMS. In this in-depth interview, he shares insights on static site generation, developer experience, and why stepping back doesn’t always mean stepping away. If you're curious about the future of Drupal, static-first architecture, or open source sustainability, this is a must-read. ...more

In an interview with The DropTimes sub-editor Alka Elizabeth, Marcus Johansson discusses how his background in PHP and early work with Drupal led to his current role in shaping Drupal’s AI capabilities. He explains the origins of the AI Automators module, his collaboration with open source contributors, and the technical and security challenges of building AI integrations within Drupal. ...more

In a follow-up to “How Content Cloud is Changing Headless Drupal Development,” Thomas Alias interviews Content Sync CEO Thiemo Müller about developer feedback, product reception, and what’s next for Content Cloud after DrupalCon Atlanta 2025. ...more

Srikanth Danapal has spent over 14 years shaping digital platforms in higher education and now leads Drupal development for the City and County of San Francisco. In this rare interview, he shares how a student job sparked a long-term relationship with Drupal, what it means to build with accessibility in mind, and why mentoring students became a defining part of his journey. This is the written version of a video interview conducted by The DropTimes. The full video will be published soon. ...more

What happens after training but before a real job? Carlos Ospina, Palcera's CTO, breaks down how the IXP Fellowship is helping new Drupal developers get real-world experience, contribute meaningfully, and actually get hired. ...more

Discover how Palantir.net is building a more inclusive Drupal community in an inspiring interview with CEO George DeMet. Learn how their Fellowship Program is breaking barriers and shaping the future of open-source talent. ...more

In this interview, Kat Shaw, Lead Engineer at Lullabot and long-time Drupal contributor, outlines her practical approach to digital accessibility. She discusses the importance of building accessible features from the start, her process for auditing and remediating Drupal sites, and the value of real user testing with assistive technologies. From her early experiences in government web development to her leadership in projects like Olivero and contributions to the Drupal Accessibility Team, Kat offers insight into the technical and human sides of creating inclusive digital platforms. Her perspective highlights the challenges developers face, the tools that make accessibility work scalable, and why accessibility must be a shared responsibility within the open-source community. ...more

In this in-depth interview with The Drop Times, long-time Drupal contributor and UI Suite founder Pierre Dureau opens up about nearly two decades in the Drupal ecosystem, the philosophy behind UI Patterns 2.0, and the growing complexity of design systems. He shares why Drupal is more than just a CMS, what most teams get wrong about frontend architecture, and drops an exclusive: his team is working on a new Display Builder module that could unify and simplify Drupal’s entire display layer. From SDC to WebAssembly on the server—this conversation goes deep into where Drupal is headed next. ...more

In this interview transcript, Alka Elizabeth of The DropTimes speaks with Shanice Ortiz and Theresa Gutierrez Jacobs ahead of their DrupalCon Atlanta 2025 panel, Using Your Superpowers to Lead in a Male-Dominated Industry. The discussion covers barriers women face in tech leadership, the role of allyship, and how Four Kitchens fosters an inclusive, collaborative work environment. Through personal experiences and practical insights, they reflect on what needs to change to make leadership more equitable in the Drupal community and beyond. ...more

In this in-depth video interview, JD Leonard sits down with Alka Elizabeth to discuss his nearly two-decade journey in the Drupal ecosystem and his latest initiative, Member Platform. He shares how his experience with community organizing and consulting shaped the project, which aims to provide small membership organizations with a scalable, Drupal-based solution. Leonard also reflects on the challenges of sustaining open-source projects, the importance of collaboration in Drupal product development, and the role of local meetups in growing the community. From his early days as a student webmaster to leading Drupal events and initiatives, Leonard offers valuable insights on the evolution of Drupal and what’s next for Member Platform. ...more

In a candid video interview with Alka Elizabeth, sub-editor at The DropTimes, Karoly "Charlie" Negyesi reflects on his 20-year journey with Drupal—from his early contributions to his evolving role in the community. He shares insights on open-source culture, mentorship, AI scepticism, job market challenges, and the future of Drupal. A deep dive into the life and thoughts of a developer whose identity is inseparable from the code he writes. ...more