April 21, 2026 — Project delivery often begins with a clear plan, yet along the way, timelines can shift, teams may change, priorities can start competing, and decisions are sometimes made with only partial information – often while work is already in motion. This talk will explore how delivery adapts under these evolving conditions, and how teams navigate moments where expectations and reality gradually need to be brought back into alignment. Viewed through the lens of the project lifecycle, the session will examine delivery challenges that tend to surface across different types of projects: early alignment that feels solid but incomplete, mid-project recalibration when assumptions are tested, and the final push toward launch where trade-offs become unavoidable. These stages will be used to unpack how momentum is sustained or recovered, how decisions are made under pressure, and how expectations are managed without defaulting to heavy resets or unnecessary escalation. Across these stages, project delivery unfolds as a collective, evolving effort, shaped by collaboration, communication, and day-to-day judgment. The focus remains on the real-world responses teams rely on – the check-ins, course corrections, and small calls that rarely appear in a plan but ultimately determine whether delivery moves forward as complexity emerges during execution.

April 21, 2026 — Risk Identification Framework – Learn how to spot the most common technical, SEO, and operational risks that can derail enterprise WordPress migrations. Proven Mitigation Strategies – Practical methods to reduce downtime, prevent data loss, and safeguard SEO equity during migration. Migration Playbook Essentials – Checklists and workflows to guide teams through pre-migration prep, migration-day execution, and post-migration validation. Tools & Automation Tips – Discover tools and processes (for QA, monitoring, and rollback strategies) that minimize errors and improve reliability. Real-World Insights – Case studies and lessons learned from large-scale, data-heavy migration projects managed in enterprise environments. Team & Stakeholder Management – Best practices to align technical teams, project managers, and clients for a smoother migration journey.

April 21, 2026 — Building a WordPress agency business for large enterprises, In this talk, I’ll share the story of how rtCamp grew from a small WordPress shop into a globally recognized enterprise agency, trusted by Fortune 500 companies and major publishers. If you’re starting an agency today or looking to move upmarket in 2026, this session will give you a realistic roadmap, built on real lessons from my personal experience.

April 21, 2026 — In my role as VP of Engineering, I bring years of hands on experience applying observability techniques. I started in highly sensitive environments like FinTech, and now use the same practices in the WordPress ecosystem, supporting high traffic websites where uptime and performance directly impact business outcomes. This experience has helped me identify reliable tools and practical tactics that deliver strong results with minimal effort, offering an excellent benefit to effort ratio. From Reactive to Proactive: Modern Observability for WordPress

April 21, 2026 — Learn what Custom Content Types really are, how they differ from traditional Custom Post Types, and when it makes sense to use them. This session will also go over the key benefits and potential trade-offs, and will be supported by real-world projects, performance measurements, and examples available in the official WordPress repository.

April 21, 2026 — Marketing has changed more in a short span than it did in the years before. AI is not just another tool in the stack, it is changing how content is created, discovered, and measured. This panel focuses on what is actually changing on the ground. No theory, no generic AI talk. Just real shifts from people who are working in it every day. We will unpack how AI is reshaping SEO, content strategy, and discoverability. What is still driving results, what has quietly stopped working, and where marketers are wasting time without realizing it. The discussion will also dive into how teams are restructuring workflows, redefining roles, and adapting to faster content cycles. Expect practical insights, real examples, and honest takes on what has been tested, changed, and proven recently. If you are a product owner, marketer, or agency leader trying to make sense of this shift, this session will give you clarity on what to do next. We have a great ensemble of panelists in Himani Kankaria, Julian Song, Karishma Sundaram, Sandeep Kelvadi. This panel will be moderated by Alexander Ando-Michaelson.

April 21, 2026 — Too often, open source contributors spend time on tasks that machines could handle faster, more consistently, and without the risk of burnout. In a primarily volunteer-driven project like WordPress, time and resources are limited. Every manual task carries a high opportunity cost, distracting contributors from work that would be more impactful long-term. But saving time is not the only benefit of automation. When implemented thoughtfully, it can reinforce and preserve institutional knowledge making collaboration more sustainable. It can empower you to take advantage of AI, reduce friction, prevent mistakes, and even lower the barrier of entry for new contributors. This talk will highlight real-world examples of automation within the WordPress project, including what has worked well and what could have gone further. It will introduce a framework for evaluating when and where automation is worthwhile, and offer practical guidance for building tools that are lightweight, maintainable, and contributor-friendly.

April 21, 2026 — This talk is the brutally honest story of our journey down the AI rabbit hole. I will share about dozens of our experiments with AI, including: The Developer’s Dilemma: We tasked AI with creating a WooCommerce plugin from scratch and converting Figma designs into functional code. Did it create “superhuman” developers or just superhuman technical debt? The Marketing Maze: We explored “AEO” (AI Engine Optimization), automated email campaigns, and unleashed AI on our social media. What worked, what flopped, and what scared our marketing team? The Operational Odyssey: Could AI handle customer support tickets, conduct market research, or generate test cases? What was the impact on our efficiency, our team’s morale, and our bottom line? Overall, attendees will walk away with: – Actionable insights from our most successful experiments, including specific tools, prompts and workflows we use for various . – Honest lessons from our failures – helping them avoid common pitfalls, save money, and prevent team burnout. – They will also understand the importance of “Human-in-the-Loop”, scaling AI experiments safely, and the mindset for effective AI usage,

April 21, 2026 — Basics of CSP and terms
How to setup CSP Report-Only
Analyzing that to craft a CSP that works
How to add it to your site without breaking any features or functions

April 21, 2026 — WordPress’s hooks system didn’t just make the platform extensible — it created a shared protocol that let an entire ecosystem collaborate without coordination. Model Context Protocol is doing the same thing for AI. This talk explores the parallel, what WordPress core is already building, and why the open-source community is uniquely positioned to lead what comes next.