DrupalCon 2026: Shaping the Future of Drupal Together

As a Gold Certified Partner with the Drupal Association, JAKALA has built a substantial presence and countless relationship within the Drupal ecosystem over the past 25 years. With 256+ Drupal certifications, more than 20,000 hours of contributions, and 6,000+ Drupal properties developed and supported, what has kept us engaged all these years is simple: the community never stands still. It keeps evolving, challenging itself, and finding better ways to build digital experiences that resonate with people through constant community collaboration.

DrupalCon is one of those moments in the year where all that comes into focus. It is not just an industry event. It is where conversations happen that shape the direction of the platform. It is where partners, contributors, developers, and strategists come together not only to share what they have built, but also discuss what comes next.

This year’s DrupalCon 2026 in Chicago brought a renewed spirit, blending technical expertise with a futuristic perspective that was reflected across sessions, conversations, and the collective community experience. It brought together a dynamic group of leaders to explore what is next for Drupal. With a strong focus on where AI fits into the current (and future) Drupal ecosystem.

Across sessions and event discussions, themes emerged about making Drupal more accessible, improving the experience for content teams, and finding better ways to balance innovation with stability. At its core, conversations centered around an important question: how do we continue to evolve and grow without breaking what already works?

JAKALA had the chance to actively contribute directly to conversations around the innovation and modernization of Drupal. One of the highlights this year was a packed session led by Boyan Borisov, Director of Digital Solutions (France, UK & Nordics). His talk focused on something many organizations are actively wrestling with: how to bring Drupal Canvas into existing platforms without starting fresh.

Drupal Canvas introduces a more intuitive, visual way of building pages. This includes drag-and-drop editing directly in the browser, giving content teams more control and flexibility. But for most organizations, the reality is more complex. They already have established systems in place, often built around tools like Layout Builder or Paragraphs. The challenge is not whether to adopt new tools; it is how to do it without disrupting everything already in motion.

This topic is exactly what Boyan focused on. Instead of framing utilizing Drupal Canvas as a big “rip and replace” project, he framed it into something more practical and achievable: evolution over overhaul. He walked through how teams can gradually introduce Drupal Canvas into their existing setup, identifying where it adds the most value and how to layer it in without creating unnecessary friction. By the end of the session, attendees were not just looking at Drupal Canvas as "the next big thing” they have to integrate immediately, but as something they could start planning for strategically. Sparking a shift from curiosity to clarity.

Outside of the sessions, some of the most meaningful moments happened at the JAKALA booth. It fostered a space for conversations that went beyond introductions and reconnections. To keep things exciting and fun, we ran an interactive roulette game at the booth, which quickly became a great conversation starter. It brought a bit of energy and fun to the floor, but more importantly, it gave people a reason to pause, connect, and talk in a more relaxed way.

These interactions are a big part of what makes DrupalCon different from other tech conferences. It is not just about what happens on stage or in a presentation; it is about the space between sessions, the people we get to meet, and it is where ideas are exchanged more casually and honestly. That is often where the most interesting insights come from, the balance between deep technical knowledge and genuine human connection. Whether through structured sessions or spontaneous conversations, the event continues to encourage an environment where ideas can be shared openly, and relationships can grow organically.

Congratulations to our winner, Edward Monk, Head of Web Development & Hosting at the Smithsonian Institution, who took home JBL earbuds! We want to extend a big thank you to everyone who joined in, shared a moment with us, or simply stopped by for a conversation.

As new tools and capabilities appear, organizations have more opportunities than ever to create flexible, scalable, and user-centered digital experiences. The evolution of Drupal is far from starting over, in fact, it is just the beginning. The focus is no longer on replacing systems, but on improving how they come together. Building forward with intention and confidence.

At JAKALA, our work in Drupal has always been about helping organizations navigate that kind of change. Sometimes that means building something new, but more often it means helping teams get more out of what they already have. We work across strategy, design, development, migration, and ongoing optimization, but the goal is always the same: make digital platforms more useful, more flexible, and easier to evolve over time.

We have seen how much the platform has changed and how much potential it still has. Events like DrupalCon make it clear that the most interesting part of that journey is still ahead.

To learn more about our Drupal capabilities and how we support organizations building and evolving their digital platforms, visit our Drupal Experience Page or connect with our team. We would love to keep the conversation going, because it takes together to get there.