WordCamp Asia 2026 in Mumbai India was one of the more useful events we’ve attended in a while not because of the keynotes, but because of the hallway conversations.
Three days of talking to hosting providers, agency owners, WordPress core contributors, and plugin developers gave us a clear read on where the ecosystem is heading. Some of it confirmed what we already suspected. Some of it surprised us. All of it is shaping how we build and partner in the months ahead.
Here’s what stood out.
AI Is Coming to WordPress Core — and It’s Creating Clarity, Not Just Noise
We spent Contributor Day embedded with the Core AI group, led in part by table lead Aslam Doctor. The conversation was grounded and practical, less about hype, more about architecture. The work happening right now is focused on an abilities framework, connector APIs, and custom plugin integrations for AI within WordPress itself.
For commerce businesses, the signal here is important: some AI-powered capabilities will eventually be commoditized inside WooCommerce (think: order status, refund flows, basic payment status). The businesses and platforms that win won’t be the ones that bolt AI on top; they’ll be the ones that have already identified where they genuinely differentiate.
For Convesio, that means being precise about what ConvesioPay does that WooCommerce won’t do natively, and doubling down there.
The AI Handbook for WordPress isn’t finalized yet, as confirmed by Automattic’s DevRel team at the event, so expect the spec to evolve. What’s being merged now will remain backward-compatible for around four years. That’s a meaningful window for builders.
One Stat That Keeps Coming Up: Vast Majority of WooCommerce Stores Still Use Classic Checkout
We heard this from Automattic’s DevRel team directly, and it’s worth sitting with for a moment.
Despite years of progress on the Block Editor and the Blocks-based checkout experience, the overwhelming majority of WooCommerce stores haven’t made the switch. That’s a significant operational reality for any payments platform, plugin developer, or hosting provider that has to maintain compatibility with both the classic and blocks checkout flows.
It also tells you something about the pace of change in the WordPress ecosystem. Serious commerce operators don’t move until they’re confident. Infrastructure has to earn that trust, not demand it.
The Broader Market Sentiment: Cautious, But Present
We spoke with a wide range of smaller agency owners and plugin developers throughout the event. The general mood was realistic a mix of cautious and slightly pessimistic. The concern most often raised: AI-assisted tools are shrinking demand for custom website builds. Simpler tools are capturing the low end of the market.
That’s not new, but it’s accelerating. The agencies that will grow through this shift are the ones building on platforms with real differentiation, not commodity hosting and plug-in-and-pray checkout flows. That’s exactly where we want to be.
What We’re Taking Back With Us
Beyond individual follow-ups and there are several the clearest takeaway from WordCamp Asia is structural.
The WordPress ecosystem has never lacked for capable companies. What it often lacks is a coherent, easy-to-access partner layer. Agencies want to build with platforms they trust. Hosting providers want to offer products that increase customer lifetime value. Developers want documentation and resources that make integration straightforward.
A real partner program isn’t just a rev share arrangement. It’s the infrastructure that makes it easy to say yes and easy to stay. That means clear documentation, accessible APIs, defined incentives, and the kind of responsiveness that earns confidence before a contract is signed.
That’s the work ahead.
Come Build With Us
If you were at WordCamp Asia and we connected or if you’re a hosting provider, agency, or developer who wants to talk about what a serious payments integration looks like get in touch.
The opportunity to reshape how payments works on WordPress is real. We’re moving on it.
Convesio is the game changer for serious commerce sites, combining ConvesioHost, ConvesioPay, ConvesioConvert, and ConvesioAI into one platform built for businesses that are in it to win it.
