Our recent event, WP:26, was a deep dive into the future—and I was completely fired up to see us gather technologists, publishers, and platform leaders to explore the key patterns shaping WordPress in 2026 and beyond. We packed an afternoon full of talks and discussions, covering the massive impact of AI, accessibility, enterprise publishing, and evolving web standards on the essential role of a CMS.
To cap off a day of critical insight and conversation, we hosted a truly amazing final panel discussion, ‘Why we’re backing WordPress in 2026’, with an exceptional line-up of speakers.
Although Executive Director of WordPress, Mary Hubbard, was unable to attend live, she was kind enough to provide a video intro to kick us off:
“The question isn’t just which CMS should we use; it’s ‘which platform can and will evolve with us?’ WordPress’ enduring strength is its ability to adapt to changing demands and evolving organisational needs… What really sustains the platform is the ecosystem around it, the community, the contributors, and the organisations pushing it forward in production every day.” – Mary Hubbard, Executive Director, WordPress
The panel consisted of:
- Gabriel Koen, SVP, Technology, PMC
- Umer Ehsan, Director of Technology – Content, News UK
- Joachim Valdemar Yde, Web Manager, CERN
- Steph Yiu, CEO, WordPress VIP
Meeting the challenges of enterprise publishing
The core of our discussion centred on how and why enterprise brands are actively choosing and investing in WordPress as their platform of the future. The conversation was grounded in the reality of the challenges faced by media companies in 2026—from managing content at a massive international scale to navigating a rapidly shifting technological landscape.
We heard first-hand accounts of how WordPress enables huge international publishing brands to meet these challenges. The consensus was clear: the platform’s adaptability, open nature, and robust ecosystem are its greatest assets when faced with the demands of an enterprise environment.As Gabriel Koen, SVP, Technology at PMC, noted:
“WordPress does a great job of staying modern… the fact that we’ve been able to build on top of it for almost two decades and still see it as the platform for the next several years is pretty remarkable.” Gabriel Koen, SVP, Technology, PMC
From Drupal to WordPress: The CERN example
One of the most compelling threads of the discussion—and something that really excited me—was the story of CERN, the birthplace of the world wide web, and their decision to embrace WordPress after moving from Drupal.
Joachim Valdemar Yde, Web Manager at CERN, provided amazing insight into how one of the world’s most significant scientific organisations chose to standardise on WordPress after a year-long, 14-requirement evaluation against alternatives like Wix and Squarespace. He stressed the importance of having a system that allows their users—scientists and researchers—to be content creators, not web developers.
The move by an organisation like CERN highlights a major shift: WordPress is no longer just a blogging tool, but a flexible, scalable, and future-proof enterprise platform ready for the next generation of web challenges.
Enterprise-grade solutions for what’s to come
The panel also addressed the essential role of enterprise-grade solutions and partnerships in preparing brands for the future. Steph Yiu noted a surge in new enterprise interest driven by AI, which I think is a really important shift:
“AI is forcing innovation across every business… We want to build on a future-proof platform. Closed just isn’t going to cut it for me anymore. I want to build on an open stack.” – Steph Yiu, CEO of WordPress VIP
This perspective underscored that enterprise adoption isn’t just about the open-source software itself, but also the world-class hosting, support, and strategic development partners that turn a flexible CMS into a mission-critical business platform. It’s the combination of the open-source core and the mature, robust ecosystem that provides true peace of mind for global brands.
The conversation also touched on the critical transition of AI from experimentation to production. Gabriel discussed using AI behind the scenes for content translation and processing vast print archives, while Umer shared News UK’s focus on leveraging AI to streamline print and digital publishing workflows to “take entire swathes of effort out of your business.”
If you want to make a dent with AI, you have to take entire swathes of effort out of your business and I think that’s really where the fundamentals are for us at the moment. We’re still a print business and it’s a huge part of our revenue stream, although it’s sort of counter to the WordPress ethos, WordPress is where we do all of our authoring for our print content or certainly where we want to move all of our authoring for our print content alongside our digital content. So, a big part of what we’re working on at the moment is how we streamline workflows. – Umer Ehsan, Director of Technology – Content, News UK
The Future-Proof Platform for Enterprise
If there was one idea that framed the end of WP:26, it was this:
WordPress is the definitive, future-proof platform for the enterprise web.
The final panel discussion reinforced the core message of the day: WordPress is evolving, driven by an open community and backed by the world’s largest digital brands. The platform’s ability to evolve, adapt to modern challenges (be it AI, headless architecture, or new publishing models), and maintain a stable core is why we—and so many others—are backing it for 2026 and beyond.
The collective backing of the panelists, from the platform’s governing body to global publishing and scientific institutions, offers an undeniable picture of its long-term viability and central role in the future of the web.
For me, this event was a tremendous success. We dove deep into the patterns shaping WordPress, and I’m immensely proud that we’ve once again brought together such a vibrant, community-driven event. My sincere thanks go to our incredible panel—Gabriel, Umer, Joachim, and Steph—for generously sharing their time and such critical insights with us. It’s the passion and commitment of people like them that truly sustains the platform and continues to push us forward in production every single day. I couldn’t be more hyped about what we’ll achieve together in the years to come.