I had the opportunity to attend DrupalPivot in Gent, Belgium, which was fascinating.
DrupalPivot was different from typical Drupal events. The focus was not on features, roadmaps, or releases, but on the challenging realities Drupal agency leaders face as the business of building and running Drupal projects continues to evolve. The event was run using the Chatham House Rule to encourage open, candid discussion. Under the rule, participants are free to use the information received. Still, neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed. In practice, this means people can share insights and ideas publicly, but they cannot attribute comments to specific individuals or organizations.
Key Themes from Two Days of Discussion
The traditional hourly business model was questioned openly. Sales cycles are slowing, margins are under pressure, and time-based billing alone is becoming harder to sustain. Few agencies feel insulated from this shift. Everyone has realized they have to adapt now; this business cycle is not going to change. We are not going back to the old way of doing business.
New pricing models are gaining attention. Discussions about value-based and fixed-bid approaches are emerging as alternatives to hourly billing. Contracts built around 100% human labor no longer align with how work is delivered. A blended model is emerging, where human effort focuses on architecture and oversight, while AI-driven work is accounted for through usage tied to compute and output. A debate around the pros and cons of value-based pricing revealed that this was not the only fix required.
Drupal's marketing and external messaging need improvement. The platform continues to evolve, but its value is not always clearly articulated to the market. Technical capability without firm positioning limits reach and adoption. Agencies need to own Drupal marketing and take control of getting the message out. How Drupal is marketed is a long-term evolving issue — it takes money and expertise to really solve.
Productization emerged as a serious area of focus. Agencies are exploring how to move beyond one-off projects toward offerings that generate recurring, SaaS-style revenue. The SaaS-based service Open Social grounded the conversation — demonstrating that SaaS-based, product-led Drupal models are already viable. Creating profitable products is difficult and requires careful execution and financial planning.
AI is now a required core agency capability — not an experimental team. Productivity gains are already changing delivery economics, and agencies increasingly view AI as foundational to how work gets done, not an optional enhancement. The exact path to scaling AI solutions was actively debated.
EU Digital Sovereignty. Open source, control, and governance are becoming more tangible considerations as EU government organizations reassess long-term platform choices. Drupal-based government work could offer significant opportunities for EU agencies in the future.
Drupal's strategic direction remains an open question. The intersection of Drupal CMS, Canvas, and AI raises real choices about how the platform positions itself across simpler builds and enterprise-scale work. Some say the current direction does not support the ambitious enterprise customer and caters to the down market. Others pointed out that for Drupal to grow, there needs to be more Drupal sites in growth markets — and to do that, you need tools to build smaller, simpler sites quickly. Drupal allows a small site to grow into an enterprise site without replatforming. There was mixed agreement on the right direction.
Drupal Pivot North America should be scheduled and happen soon. All agencies face similar business issues, but the pressures on European and North American agencies differ.
What DrupalPivot Actually Accomplished
DrupalPivot did not resolve these topics. It surfaced them in a collective space and created a shared framework for thinking about what comes next. The value of the event was less about consensus and more about clarity. The questions are now on the table. How agencies, contributors, and the broader Drupal ecosystem respond — and where they choose to place their energy — will ultimately shape what the next phase looks like.
Event photographs by Paul Johnson.
Session Topics
Day One
- Canvas for EU Agencies / How to Get Better at Finishing Stuff
- AI Hype v Reality
- Agency Staffing for the AI Era / AI v Dev
- Authoring Experience: Layout Builder v Canvas / Why orgs don't buy Drupal even if it's the right choice / Flipping the marketing narrative / Maintenance costs
- SWOT analysis / Who knows Drupal strategy by heart / What is Drupal winning in the market?
- Prepare for an AI Pop / What happens when US gets AI / Maximize Digital Sovereignty
- What criteria does a biz partnership need / Role of DA
- Drupal for Students / Education
- Increase Drupal brand awareness outside of the community / Positioning Drupal — who is it for / ICP / Build decision makers in the community
- How to make money if all is AI-generated / What business models are breaking / What's the business model
- Strengthen Drupal on EU Sovereign Positioning
- Drupal in small agencies / Web crisis, Drupal crisis? Have things changed recently? Foresee the future and uncertainty in the Drupal biz
- Contribution post AI — How do we still care about the community
- Drupal in the age of agentic AI Dev / Selling AI — what works, what doesn't
- AI security & compliance / EU policy landscape
- Strategic partnerships for education & non-Drupal communities
- Drupal inside / Drupal Products / Can we build products and cross sell / Products v Services
- Drupal v Other CMS tech
- How do we collaborate better with marketing
Day Two
- Referral Program
- Digital Sovereignty page/section on d.org / d.org improvements / DA & Agency Marketing / Marketing Drupal as a platform
- Making Drupal easier to buy / Showcase AI on d.org
- GSD — thread, opportunity
- Digital Sustainability / What is the most important opportunity in the EU & what are the next steps?
- AI Staff / Promote concrete innovations / Share stories & customer quotes
- Funding / Accelerating Drupal AI products