This week, part of the Seed EM team had the opportunity to attend DrupalCon Atlanta 2025, and as is tradition, it all started with the DriesNote, the keynote by Dries Buytaert, founder of Drupal.
The atmosphere was charged with energy, and no surprise there. Dries opened the keynote with a clear vision: Drupal is not only evolving technically, it is refocusing its purpose around simplicity, experience and accessibility.
Drupal CMS 1.0: a new beginning
One of the most important announcements was the official, stable release of Drupal CMS 1.0, a fully packaged, out-of-the-box version designed to simplify the experience for new users. This new distribution offers a modern, intuitive configuration and lowers the barrier to entry historically associated with Drupal.
But as Dries expressed it himself, “Drupal CMS 1.0 is a milestone, not a finish line”. Through the strategy known as Starshot, the project aims to deliver a more accessible CMS, with improved marketing and accelerated innovation cycles.
Roadmap 2025: heading towards the total experience
The roadmap for 2025 includes four fundamental axes:
- Improve the onboarding process for new users.
- Strengthen the marketing of the project.
- Optimize the construction of digital experiences (experience building).
- Develop an artificial intelligence (AI) framework that enables personalization and intelligent automation.
This holistic approach demonstrates that Drupal is no longer just a CMS: it is a strategic platform for digital experiences.
From building blocks to complete solutions
One of the most powerful ideas from the keynote was the natural evolution of the Drupal ecosystem: from modules, to recipes (preconfigured functional sets), and now to site templates - scheduled to be released in 2025.
Looking forward, the team is exploring the idea of a marketplace of sorts where users can discover, install and customize Drupal sites already created for specific industries or use cases.
The LEGO analogy made by Dries was particularly apt: from single blocks, to themed kits, to fully assembled and ready-to-use models. All this was designed to reduce implementation times, improve consistency and facilitate the work for both technical teams and end users.
Global recognition: DrupalCon Japan!
One of the most exciting announcements was the recognition of the Asia Pacific and Japan community, highlighting their growth, contributions and leadership. As part of this recognition, it was confirmed that a DrupalCon will be held in Japan this year, expanding the community's global presence and solidifying the commitment to a truly distributed and collaborative network.
The next big meeting: Chicago 2026!
The keynote also gave a preview of what Drupal 11 will be: a version focused on optimizing the developer experience, improving compatibility with API-first architectures, and consolidating Drupal as a true DXP (Digital Experience Platform).
Y el próximo gran encuentro: ¡Chicago 2026!
To wrap things up, it was announced that the next DrupalCon North America will be held in Chicago, March 23-26, 2026. A perfect opportunity to share, learn, collaborate and continue to grow this amazing ecosystem.
From Seed EM, we are proud to be an active part of this community. As an agency specialized in Drupal for more than 17 years, this DriesNote reminded us why we chose - and continue to choose - this platform. Drupal is still a living, powerful and deeply human platform, built on collaboration and looking to the future.
We're still here, ready to create transformative digital experiences - see you at DrupalCon!
Are you evaluating starting or scaling a Drupal project? Let's talk.