Devrims #TechTalk 060: Jakob Trost discusses the need of DXPs for WordPress

Meet Jakob Trost, the CTO of Greyd, a German-based software company renowned for developing Greyd.Suite—a comprehensive platform designed to streamline and scale WordPress businesses. With a degree in interface design, Jakob not only leads the development team at Greyd but also takes charge of the user interface, ensuring a seamless and intuitive experience for users.

Jakob’s journey from design to full-stack development began early on. Even before his university studies, he had a keen interest in programming, exploring various projects and learning through videos. At university, programming was an integral part of his interface design curriculum, involving the creation of prototypes and websites. This academic exposure quickly revealed Jakob’s aptitude and passion for programming. His dedication was evident when he volunteered to program the semester presentation website, driven by sheer enthusiasm rather than deadlines. This blend of design and coding continues to fascinate him, fueling his innovative contributions to the WordPress ecosystem.

Under Jakob’s leadership, Greyd recently launched Greyd.Suite, pushing the boundaries of WordPress functionality. The vision behind these innovations is to equip web professionals with a powerful tool for building complex websites and digital experience platforms (DXPs) without relying on costly developer resources or numerous individual solutions. With Full Site Editing, Jakob envisions the end of the era of page builders and themes, focusing instead on deep, integrated functionality that makes WordPress an essential part of a company’s digital infrastructure.

As AI technology advances, Jakob sees immense potential for AI solutions within WordPress. He believes current market solutions have yet to fully exploit this potential. At Greyd, the team is already working on AI developments, aiming for self-optimizing websites that adapt to individual visitor needs. Their efforts have even garnered funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

For aspiring developers, Jakob advises staying informed about changes in the WordPress core and maintaining constant communication with core developers and the community. His commitment to staying updated and prepared ensures the compatibility and success of Greyd’s products.

Outside of work, Jakob’s interests in board games and video games influence his approach to leadership and technology. Collaborative board games enhance his communication skills, while video games inspire innovative web interface designs.

Devrims: Hey Jakob, let’s start things off with some introduction. Tell our readers about yourself and your role at Greyd.

Jakob: I am Jakob Trost, CTO of Greyd, the German-based software company that developed Greyd.Suite – a comprehensive platform aimed at streamlining and scaling WordPress businesses. I have a degree in interface design, which is why I not only lead the development team at Greyd, but am also responsible for the user interface.

Devrims: Could you share what inspired your transition from design to full-stack development, especially within the WordPress ecosystem?

Jakob: Even before I started studying, I had always been interested in programming and tried a few things and watched videos about it. When I started studying interface design at university, programming was part of the first few semesters (building prototypes, websites, etc.) to understand what was possible and what was not. I quickly realized that programming was not only something I was good at, but also something I really enjoyed. This became clear to me when I volunteered to program our semester presentation website and spent most of the weekend not sleeping. Not because anyone asked me to do it or because I had a deadline to meet (we still had weeks to go), but because it was so much fun. I literally could not sleep because I was so excited to program and design the next part, and the next, and the next… Combining design with code and creating something virtually is what absolutely fascinates me to this day.

Devrims: Recently you guys released Greyd.Suite and with Greyd.Suite, you’re pushing the boundaries of WordPress functionality. What’s the vision that drives these innovations?

Jakob: We want to give web professionals a powerful tool to build even the most complex websites and entire DXPs without having to rely on expensive developer resources or dozens individual solutions.

With Full Site Editing, WordPress offers great features for building beautiful websites, which is why we believe the era of pagebuilders and themes is finally coming to an end. However, when it comes to more complex cases, it is still difficult for customers to find the ONE solution that helps them solve their problems. Especially for businesses, buying WordPress is not easy. While they are looking for a product, they are mostly offered projects and dozens of individual plugin solutions.

This is why we focus on adding deep, integrated functionality to WordPress that goes far beyond the page-building part. It’s not just about building websites anymore; it’s about making WP an essential part of a company’s digital infrastructure.

Devrims: With the rise of AI in tech, how do you see AI influencing WordPress development and is Greyd planning to hop on the AI bandwagon?

Jakob: I see a lot of potential for AI solutions in WordPress. However, I don’t think that the solutions that are currently on the market fully exploit this potential. These tools either just save you some copy and paste steps (e.g. when it comes to AI-powered content creation) or they just scratch the surface when it comes to automatically building websites.

In my opinion, there is much more that will be possible with AI in WordPress. I am talking about self-optimizing websites and websites that automatically adapt to the individual needs of each visitor. At Greyd we are already working on this. In fact, we have received funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research for our AI developments.

Devrims: Do you think Managed WordPress Hosting has an impact on the performance of a WordPress site and how so?

Jakob: We often see customers struggling with their hosting. In general, Greyd.Suite works independent of hosting, so our customers can work with any hoster they like. However, from our experience, we strongly recommend our customers to choose a hoster that offers specialized WordPress hosting. Also, the kind of projects some of our customers realize with Greyd.Suite often involve not just one website, but sometimes hundreds of connected websites. In such cases, it is even more important to carefully consider which hoster to work with. It is not only about performance in terms of page speed. It is also about performance in general, whether your hosting is able to cover the support of your web system. The advantage of managed WordPress hosting is that you always have someone looking after the technical aspects and making sure that everything works as it should.

Devrims: Let’s do some quick rapid-fire questions: 

Devrims: How was your experience in the recent CloudFest Hackathon? You’ve attended WordCamps as well, how important do you think these events are for the community?

Jakob: I really enjoyed CloudFest this year. Last time I attended as a first-time visitor, not really knowing what to expect. This year I had the pleasure of participating in the hackathon on a very interesting multilingual project – a topic we have been dealing with a lot in the development of our new FSE-based version of Greyd.Suite, so I was able to share valuable insights and experiences. I have also become a regular attendee at WordCamps and other community events – sometimes as a speaker and/or sponsor, sometimes just as a “regular” attendee. I’ve learned that these events are a great way to connect with other community members, talk about challenges and milestones, get and give advice, and just have a great time with like-minded people.

Devrims: What advice would you give to developers who are just starting out and wish to carve out a niche in a specialized area like WordPress development?

Jakob: I really recommend that you keep yourself informed about new developments in the WP core and from other theme and plugin vendors. Especially changes in the core that might affect you and your product are not always fully documented and it’s easy to miss something important or not find all the information you need. For example, our product works extremely close to the core and we have to make sure that we stay fully compatible even when there are new updates. So we have to be 100% up to date and prepared. I have subscribed to many WP newsletters and podcasts, I keep a close eye on the WP release information and changelog, and I am in constant communication with the core developers and community members.

Devrims: Can we have a peak at your workplace?

Devrims: Outside of your professional life, are there any hobbies or interests that influence your approach to technology and leadership?

Jakob: That’s a difficult question. When it comes to leadership, I would say “board games”. I know it sounds weird, but I really love collaborative games, and there are a lot of communication skills required in those games, so that sometimes overlaps with leadership.

When it comes to technology – probably playing video games. Video games have a lot of interesting and complex interfaces that require a lot of intelligent controls. I think web interfaces can learn a lot from games.

Devrims: Lastly, name three individuals who had an impact on your journey or who you would recommend us to interview next.

Jakob: I make it six:

– My professors Prof. Vetter & Prof. Zitzmann definitely had an early influence.

– Technologically, I have to mention Kevin Powell and Jhey Tompkins.

– For WordPress, probably Anders Norén and Rich Tabor.