Scaling the Drupal AI Initiative
The Drupal AI Initiative officially launched in June 2025 with the release of the Drupal AI Strategy 1.0 and a shared commitment to advancing AI capabilities in an open, responsible way. What began as a coordinated effort among a small group of committed organizations has grown into a substantial, sponsor-funded collaboration across the Drupal ecosystem.
Today, 28 organizations support the initiative, collectively pledging more than 23 full-time equivalent contributors representing over 50 individual contributors working across time zones and disciplines. Together, sponsors have committed more than $1.5 million in combined cash and in-kind contributions to move Drupal AI forward.
The initiative now operates across multiple focused areas, including leadership, marketing, UX, QA, core development, innovation, and product development. Contributors are not only exploring what’s possible with AI in Drupal, but are building capabilities designed to be stable, well-governed, and ready for real-world adoption in Drupal CMS.
Eight months in, this is more than a collection of experiments. It is a coordinated, community-backed investment in shaping how AI can strengthen content creation, governance, and measurable outcomes across the Drupal platform.
Strengthening Delivery for Growth
As outlined in the 2026 roadmap, this year focuses on delivering eight key capabilities that will shape how AI works in Drupal CMS. Achieving that level of focus and quality requires more than enthusiasm and good ideas. It requires coordination at scale.
From the beginning, sponsors contributed both people and funding so the initiative could be properly organized and managed. With 28 organizations contributing more than 50 people across multiple workstreams, it was clear that sustained progress would depend on dedicated delivery management to align priorities, organize backlogs, support contributors, and maintain predictable execution.
To support this growth, the initiative ran a formal Request for Proposal (RFP) process to select delivery management partners to help coordinate work across both innovation and product development workstreams. This was not a shift in direction, but a continuation of our original commitment: to build AI capabilities for Drupal in a way that is structured, sustainable, and ready for real-world adoption.
Selecting Delivery Partners
To identify the right delivery partners, we launched the RFP process in October 2025 at DrupalCon Vienna. The RFP was open exclusively to sponsors of the Drupal AI Initiative. From the start, our goal was to run a process that reflected the responsibility we carry as a sponsor-funded, community-driven initiative.
The timeline included a pre-proposal briefing, an open clarification period, and structured review and interview phases. Proposals were independently evaluated against clearly defined criteria tailored to both innovation and production delivery. These criteria covered governance, roadmap and backlog management, delivery approach, quality assurance, financial oversight, and demonstrated experience contributing to Drupal and AI initiatives.
Following an independent review, leadership held structured comparison sessions to discuss scoring, explore trade-offs, clarify open questions, and ensure decisions were made thoughtfully and consistently. Final discussions were held with shortlisted vendors in December, and contracts were awarded in early January.
The selected partners are engaged for an initial six-month period. At the end of that term, the RFP process will be repeated.
This process was designed not only to select capable partners but to steward sponsor contributions responsibly and align with Drupal’s values of openness, collaboration, and accountability.
Delivery Partners Now in Place
Following the structured selection process, two contributing partners were selected to support delivery across the initiative’s key workstreams.
QED42 will focus on the Innovation workstream, helping coordinate forward-looking capabilities aligned with the 2026 roadmap. QED42 has been an active contributor to Drupal AI efforts from the earliest stages and has played a role in advancing AI adoption across the Drupal ecosystem. Their contributions to initiatives such as Drupal Canvas AI, AI-powered agents, and other community-driven efforts demonstrate both technical depth and a strong commitment to open collaboration. In this role, QED42 will support structured experimentation, prioritization, and delivery alignment across innovation work.
1xINTERNET will lead the Product Development workstream, supporting the transition of innovation into stable, production-ready capabilities within Drupal CMS. As a founding sponsor and co-leader within the initiative, 1xINTERNET brings deep experience in distributed Drupal delivery and governance. Their longstanding involvement in Drupal AI and broader community leadership positions them well to guide roadmap execution, release planning, backlog coordination, and predictable productization.
We are grateful to QED42 and 1xINTERNET for their continued commitment to the initiative and for stepping into this role in service of the broader Drupal community. We also want to acknowledge the strong level of interest in this RFP and the high standard of submissions received, and to thank all participating organizations for the time, thought, and care invested in the process. The level of interest and quality of submissions reflect the caliber of agencies and contributors engaged in advancing Drupal AI.
Both organizations were selected not only for their delivery expertise but for their demonstrated investment in Drupal AI and their alignment with the initiative’s goals. Their role is to support coordination, roadmap alignment, and disciplined execution across contributors, ensuring that sponsor investment and community effort translate into tangible, adoptable outcomes.
Contracts began in early January. Two development sprints have already been completed, and a third sprint is now underway, establishing a clear and predictable delivery cadence.
QED42 and 1xINTERNET will share more details about their processes and early progress in an upcoming blog post.
Ready to Deliver on the 2026 Roadmap
With the 2026 roadmap now defined and structured delivery teams in place, the Drupal AI Initiative is positioned to execute with greater clarity and focus. The eight capabilities outlined in the one-year plan provide direction. Dedicated delivery management provides the coordination needed to turn that direction into measurable progress.
Predictable sprint cycles, clearer backlog management, and improved cross-workstream alignment allow contributors to focus on building, refining, and shipping capabilities that can be adopted directly within Drupal CMS. Sponsor investment and community contribution are now supported by a delivery model designed for scale and sustainability.
This next phase is about disciplined execution. It means shipping stable, well-governed AI capabilities that site owners can enable with confidence. It means connecting innovation to production in a way that reflects Drupal’s strengths in structure, governance, and long-term maintainability.
We are grateful to the sponsors and contributors who have made this possible. As agencies and organizations continue to join the initiative, we remain committed to transparency, collaboration, and delivering meaningful value to the broader Drupal community.
We are entering a year of focused execution, and we are ready to deliver.
Moving Forward Together
The Drupal AI Initiative is built on collaboration. Sponsors contribute funding and dedicated team members. Contributors bring expertise across UX, core development, QA, marketing, innovation, and production. Leadership provides coordination and direction. Together, this shared investment makes meaningful progress possible.
We extend our thanks to the 28 sponsoring organizations and the more than 50 contributors who are helping shape the future of AI in Drupal. Their commitment reflects a belief that open source can lead in building AI capabilities that are stable, governed, and built for real-world use.
As we move into 2026, we invite continued participation. Contributing partners are encouraged to align their work with the roadmap and engage in the active workstreams. Organizations interested in joining the initiative are welcome to connect and explore how they can contribute.
We have laid the foundation. The roadmap is clear. Structured delivery is in place. With continued collaboration, we are well-positioned to deliver meaningful AI capabilities for the Drupal community and the organizations it serves.