June 10, 2025 — As WordPress continues to power over 40% of the web, the ecosystem is evolving at an unprecedented pace. From enterprise adoption to the rise of AI, no-code solutions, and headless architectures, the landscape of WordPress in 2025 presents both opportunities and challenges for developers, businesses, and content creators alike. This panel brings together industry leaders to discuss the current state of WordPress and where it’s headed. We’ll explore: Technology Shifts: How WordPress is adapting to modern web technologies, including AI, automation, and performance enhancements. The Business of WordPress: The economic realities of agencies, plugin and theme developers, and hosting providers in a changing marketplace. Enterprise and Ecosystem Growth: How WordPress competes with closed-source CMSs and the increasing role of enterprise adoption. Open Source Sustainability: How the open-source community is addressing funding, maintainer burnout, and the long-term viability of volunteer-driven Challenges and Risks: From security concerns to competition from proprietary platforms, what threats does WordPress face in 2030? Whether you’re a developer, business owner, content creator, or part of the WordPress community, this discussion will provide key insights into the future of the platform and how you can thrive within it.

June 7, 2025 — Pulling from experiences in how our open-source work impacts global resilience, this keynote’s goal is to reinvigorate our community’s sense of purpose and unity — inspiring contributors to see their work as part of something far greater than ourselves. It will draw from my own personal experiences at Ukraine’s frontlines, and the broader world, how open-source saves lives and is a digital human right. The talk culminates in a forward-looking vision that will leave attendees with renewed energy and clarity about WordPress’s vital role in maintaining an open web for those who need it most.

Presentation Slides »

April 30, 2025 — Gabriella Laster Michelle Frechette Neel Shivdasani Noel Tock Taco Verdonschot February 21, 2025 2:00 PM Meeting Room 1 – Rizal (Room 1) A 2023 Cisco survey discovered that most organizations believed that AI would have a significant impact on their business operations, yet few of them were actually prepared to deploy AI technology. So, why is there such a massive gap between vision and reality? Business leaders view it as a magic button, but few people understand AI and how to implement it. This campfire session aims to dispel some of the myths, and cut through much of the noise. Attendees will leave with a better understanding of AI’s capabilities, ideas for leveraging it in their work, and the benefits and pitfalls of using AI.

January 31, 2025 — In this talk, Noel explores what comes next for WordPress. In a turbulent world, yet with innovative and new technologies coming out quickly, how will WordPress fit in all of this? Expect to learn how you can best position yourself or your business to best succeed in the years to come.

April 7, 2024 — Where is WordPress heading?

With turbulent years hopefully behind us, we have a lot to look forward to on the web, especially with regards to WordPress.

– Where does the most dominant CMS go?
– How will it compete?
– What new threats will it face?

These and more questions will be the subject of Noel’s talk, playing with different future scenarios.

September 20, 2023 — Looking two years into the future, our diverse panel of seasoned WordPress experts take a look into the future and will be “forced” to make bold predictions.

English, Panel discussion

August 5, 2019 — WordPress has grown in more ways than we could have ever imagined, but what does the future hold? In his talk, Noel will make predictions about how our industry will change in 2020 and what it means for you and your business.
From freelancers, agencies to product companies, there’s a lot going on you need to be aware of so that you can best plan for the upcoming year.

August 8, 2018 — How do you design and make decisions for the WordPress websites you build? As competition increases, the process through which websites are produced will become increasingly important. In his talk, Noel will tackle this challenge from a product-focused approach – to help you build more successful websites, quicker.

Presentation Slides »

July 8, 2018 — WordPress has grown in more ways than we could have ever imagined, but what does the future hold? In his talk, Noel will make predictions about how our industry will change in 2019 and what it means for you and your business. From freelancers, agencies to product companies, there’s a lot going on you need to be aware of so that you can best plan for the upcoming year.

Presentation Slides »

February 20, 2018 — How do you design and make decisions for the WordPress websites you build? As competition increases, the process through which websites are produced will become increasingly important. In his talk, Noel will tackle this challenge from a product-focused approach – to help you build more successful websites, quicker.