DrupalCon Europe Vienna 2025: AI, automation and no-code redefine the future of the CMS

Towards a more accessible Drupal: key product updates

Drupal CMS v2: a turnkey solution

Scheduled for early 2026, Drupal CMS version 2 promises a simplified experience inspired by WordPress. It aims to democratise online contribution without requiring advanced technical skills.

Drupal Canvas: design without developers

Currently in Release Candidate, Drupal Canvas (v1.0 in November 2025, v2.0 in March 2026) is set to revolutionise web page creation. Designed as a Design System, it allows users to visually structure pages directly in the browser with customisable, hierarchical blocks, similar to Figma.

Next step: direct integration with Figma to edit components in real time.

ECA: no-code automation

The ECA module (Event – Condition – Action) introduces a graphical interface for automating actions through APIs or webhooks. This no-code system allows users to build custom workflows based on specific conditions, while remaining simple to use. No release date has been announced yet, but this promising feature is one to watch closely.

Mercury: the theme paving the way for a Marketplace

The arrival of the Mercury theme marks the start of an ambitious strategy: launching a Marketplace dedicated to no-code themes. The goal? Provide thousands of ready-to-use templates, making Drupal accessible to everyone regardless of technical level.

Although no official release date has been shared, this initiative opens the door to wider adoption of the CMS and strengthens its position as a leading solution for website creators.

Artificial intelligence at the heart of the Drupal experience

AI + Canvas: automatic page structuring

With AI, Drupal Canvas can automatically generate page structures, link blocks to dynamic content, or create text from simple prompts.

Although the module is still in development (multilingual support and publication scheduling are not yet available), this innovative approach paves the way for a new way of designing websites.

AI + JIRA: automating the development cycle

With well-crafted prompts, AI can now handle a JIRA ticket end-to-end: code generation, ticket updates, test execution, merge request validation, and deployment to the target environment.

However, it is important to note that Canvas — and therefore all its innovative features, whether related to AI or development-cycle automation — is currently recommended only for new projects or full redesigns. The module introduces major architectural changes, making adoption complex for existing sites.

Other AI applications within the Drupal CMS

AI is not limited to page creation: it also supports key tasks such as content migration, site architecture restructuring, contribution assistance, deployment testing automation and overall site health checks.

Drupal: security and performance as core priorities

This edition of DrupalCon highlighted several talks dedicated to security and performance optimisation for the CMS.

From Security by Design to network improvements like HTTP/3 and TCP Fast Open, discussions showed that many opportunities remain to strengthen the robustness and speed of Drupal sites.

Among the solutions mentioned: intelligent redirection of bots and crawlers to adapted content to reduce traffic overload caused by indexing.

Conclusion: a CMS open to all without losing its power

With these updates, Drupal is entering a strategic new phase: accessibility, automation and intelligence. The CMS retains its robustness for experts while opening up to a new generation of users thanks to no-code and AI. A promising evolution that may well redefine future web standards.

Sophie Allemandet - Technical Expert

Benjamin Garcia - Developer & Designer

Aurélien Glandu - Technical Expert