In 2025, the stress to hurry up operations and artistic output is excessive, so builders are discovering sensible methods to take care of high quality whereas accelerating their workflows. Businesses and types are utilizing AI to create scalable progress, balancing a necessity for velocity with the drive for wonderful craft.
This shift towards AI adoption and innovation was the main focus of Crafted Future: Code that Scales. The digital occasion shares how groups are utilizing clever techniques to alter the sport, each in consumer work and enterprise operations.
Watch as inventive and technical leaders discover how AI helps steadiness effectivity and craftsmanship to create digital experiences that drive engagement.
What’s Crafted Future?
Crafted with Code, now in its sixth 12 months, is an annual showcase sponsored by WP Engine that celebrates excellent Webby-recognized tasks constructed on WordPressⓇ.
The Crafted Future digital occasion sequence dives deeper into these tales, providing a behind-the-scenes have a look at what it takes to construct Webby-worthy work. The sequence brings collectively technical specialists and artistic leaders to share sensible classes and clear examples of what’s working as know-how evolves.
You may watch earlier Crafted Future discussions on The Webby Awards YouTube channel.
Meet the panel
Moderated by Nick Borenstein, Common Supervisor of The Webby Awards, the panel featured Cosme Olivas, Full Stack Developer and Designer at Matchbox Studio; Amori Langstaff, VP of Advertising and marketing Know-how & Operations at WP Engine; and Katie Peninger, VP of Account Service and Enterprise Progress at Lewis.
Panelists mentioned find out how to construct scalable web sites that adapt alongside enterprise progress and technological modifications, protecting all the pieces from establishing a powerful technical basis to making use of AI as an operational benefit.
Utilizing AI to craft “Code that Scales”
The dialogue started with a core query. What precisely does it imply to construct “Code that Scales” in 2025? It’s not simply in regards to the particular code used for a single web site. It additionally contains the organizational construction required to operationalize using superior applied sciences.
Panelists agreed that sustainable progress requires an innate capacity to adapt to fixed change. In 2025, AI is important to that capacity, however it might probably generally create a pressure between velocity and high quality.
New AI instruments seem shortly, so groups are doing their greatest to adapt simply as quick. On the similar time, they’ve to take care of the excessive inventive requirements that shoppers have come to anticipate and that awards, like the Webby Awards, need to acknowledge.
The best way to take action, in accordance with Olivas, is definitely to scale down. By narrowing the main focus of the AI instruments you select and making a deep give attention to smaller issues, you set your self up for higher outcomes.
“It’s necessary to choose your battles. You’ve bought to actually assess how a lot time goes to be invested, slender the scope, break it down into smaller components,” stated Olivas.
“As a lot as you need to scale up, you additionally should scale down. And whenever you scale down, AI can assist.”
Amori Langstaff of WP Engine famous a transparent distinction between constructing deliberately with AI versus simply tacking it onto your tech stack. She shared insights from WP Engine’s latest relaunch of its personal chatbot expertise, underscoring the significance of getting a transparent objective for the instruments and fascinated by AI systematically.
“To me, the largest unlock of AI is that it’s essentially a studying system. It’s not nearly instruments—there are tons of little widgets. After I take into consideration how we unlock AI, it’s not ‘what instrument can I simply placed on prime of this expertise,’ however moderately ‘what course of or expertise can we make smarter with a studying system?’” stated Langstaff.
“I take into consideration, for example, our chatbot. We simply offloaded our current, very primary chatbot, and as an alternative of simply selecting one other chatbot, I wished it to do extra. I wished it to observe. I wished it to study. I wished it to greet folks. I need to have this conversational narrative layer on the positioning. After all, it’s an AI instrument—He’s very good, Walter; say hello to him whenever you come to WP Engine—however he’s not simply sitting on prime of our web site.
“The query I’m asking my group is ‘how can we really make the positioning work together with Walter straight, in order that the issues which might be taking place on this conversational interface imply one thing in the complete layer?’ It’s a must to take into consideration AI systemically, not as only a widget or a instrument.”
Katie Peninger of Lewis supplied an company standpoint, sharing how AI is enabling each giant and small groups in numerous methods.
“AI is leveling the enjoying area in lots of methods. For startups and smaller shoppers who have been hindered by budgets or group measurement, AI is opening a complete new world for them to have the ability to do issues that they couldn’t do earlier than,” stated Peninger.
“For bigger organizations, it’s serving to them untangle complexity in lots of methods. So, I believe it’s giving groups of all sizes unimaginable entry to issues that actually assist their companies develop.”
Case research in craft, agility, and velocity
The dialog then shifted focus towards two Webby Award-winning tasks featured in Code that Scales, each of that are hosted by WP Engine. Gelato La Boca, constructed by Olivas’ group at Matchbox Studio, and the Kentucky Bourbon Path expertise created by Peninger’s group at Lewis, every mix high-level craft and scalability.
Olivas described the method of constructing the Gelato La Boca web site, which earned Webby recognition for Web sites and Cell Websites within the Meals and Drink class. He shared how foundational rules are important to constructing scalable experiences that also delight guests visually.
“For me, scaling is rather a lot in regards to the basis, whether or not that’s a code base, a framework, or design rules. When you’ve got that core basis, you’ll be capable to scale it. And now with AI, there are much more prospects, concepts, and capabilities when you have that robust core basis,” he stated.
Langstaff echoed his sentiment, sharing that, whereas new AI-powered instruments crop up daily, constructing a powerful basis for the instruments you select is extra necessary than implementing each new instrument that arises.
“AI instruments have modified rather a lot in a 12 months—I can’t even think about what 2026 goes to appear to be. The largest factor we’d like to consider as we’re constructing at the moment is that the foundational stuff must be rock strong, as a result of that can enable us to be nimble when issues do change,” she stated.
As Peninger mentioned the Kentucky Bourbon Path mission, which earned a Webby Folks’s Voice Award, she famous that scalability is about greater than attaining spectacular metrics. As an alternative, each mission can have a special definition of success, as a result of success ought to focus on assembly the objectives of your consumer.
“For Kentucky Bourbon Path, there have been lots of operational challenges. So we stated ‘How can we use this to not solely assist the customer, but additionally assist the distilleries?”
“I believe that a large measure of success for us is when a distillery says, ‘we’re beginning to see folks have a greater understanding of find out how to get round Kentucky, what they should anticipate earlier than they even come, how they should plan their journey,’” stated Peninger.
AI as an operational drive and artistic catalyst
The panel additionally mentioned the tactical use of AI and the way it can improve operational success and artistic output.
Amori Langstaff explored what firms have to do to make sure that AI amplifies their present tech stack, moderately than appearing as a short lived repair.
“You don’t need to find yourself with simply extra stuff, extra instruments that work very regionally. We have now to simplify all of those know-how choices. They should be so primarily grounded within the job that must be executed, as a result of it’s very simple to construct fractional options,” she stated.
“Coming again to this concept of scalability for a corporation: scalability for any enterprise comes from maximizing worth. I believe that’s the place we will begin to consider AI another way. It’s not separate and additive, however can it’s a drive multiplier? I need to see AI sitting on prime of that orchestration layer and the workflow layer to unlock significant progress.”
Cosme Olivas shared pleasure in regards to the new inventive curiosity AI empowers, and the way it’s opening the door to new paths for inventive progress.
“I believe again to once I first did my first web site, and why I even bought into internet growth is that I used to be very inquisitive about interactions on-line. What may the probabilities be?” he stated.
“I believe now I’m reliving that once more with AI. It’s a renewed curiosity of, ‘What can I do? What’s subsequent?’ That’s what has me probably the most excited.”
Katie Peninger shared how AI is already altering group dynamics at businesses like Lewis. She mentioned the brand new talents that seem when strategists and creatives harness these new instruments.
“When [AI] is utilized in the precise manner, it’s unlocking nearly a superpower. Human creativity is an unimaginable and thrilling factor, and I believe now we have not even begun to see what it’s really going to unlock from a creativity standpoint,” she shared.
“Like I used to be saying earlier, fascinated by not being restricted by time or funds or bandwidth—it’s all about folks’s creativeness and what you are able to do with it.”
Maintain crafting scalable, future-proof experiences with WP Engine
Thanks to our companions at The Webby Awards for his or her continued work and to Cosme Olivas, Amori Langstaff, and Katie Peninger for sharing their time.
The Crafted Future sequence will proceed to discover tales from Webby-recognized tasks constructed on WordPress, sharing distinctive views on constructing profitable, future-ready digital locations.
Take a look at much more Crafted With Code tales on the Webby Awards’ web site, and keep watch over the WP Engine weblog for extra protection of those unimaginable tasks.
