WordCamp US 2025 in Portland, Oregon was a landmark event where technology and community converged. Among the highlights was our own Maulik Vora, Founder and CEO of Zluck Solutions, who took center stage to showcase the future of WordPress development. Maulik – a veteran WordPress developer since 2010 and leader of the WordPress Surat community delivered a game-changing session on harnessing AI in plugin development. This opportunity not only underlined Zluck’s expertise in WordPress, but also solidified our authority in pioneering AI-driven development for the WordPress ecosystem.
Live Demo: AI-Powered Plugin Development in Minutes
During his session “Zero to Plugin in 30 Minutes – Harnessing AI Coding Assistants for WordPress Development,” Maulik performed a compelling live demonstration of building a WordPress plugin from scratch in record time. In roughly 15 minutes, he live-coded an “Admin Alert Manager” plugin with the help of an AI coding assistant, Cursor AI. Watching a blank plugin folder turn into a fully functional tool in mere minutes was nothing short of astounding. (Ready to trade boilerplate for brainpower? Maulik showed exactly how, with AI in the driver’s seat and best practices riding shotgun.
This wasn’t just a neat party trick or proof-of-concept – as one WordCamp attendee observed, it “represented a fundamental shift in how we approach WordPress development”. By delegating repetitive coding tasks to AI and focusing human effort on higher-level problem solving, developers can dramatically accelerate development without compromising quality. Maulik demonstrated that AI assistants can generate, refactor, and even document code with impressive speed, all while the developer stays in control of the vision and architecture.
Importantly, Maulik struck a balanced perspective on embracing AI. “You don’t need to be an AI expert to build smarter today,” he noted, encouraging every developer to experiment with these tools. At the same time, he warned against blind trust in AI: “There can be many security problems if we just blindly trust them,” he cautioned. In other words, AI can supercharge our workflow, but it’s not a replacement for human judgment. Every suggestion from the AI still requires a developer’s scrutiny to ensure it meets WordPress coding standards, security best practices, and project requirements.
Best Practices for AI-Assisted Development
Throughout the session, Maulik shared valuable best practices to help developers integrate AI into their workflow effectively. Some key takeaways from his talk included:
- Start small and build up: Begin with basic plugin functionality and add features incrementally, instead of attempting a complex build all at once. This allows both the developer and the AI to stay focused and not get overwhelmed.
- Manage context deliberately: Provide instructions or prompts for one feature at a time. Maulik demonstrated using separate prompt files or steps for different features, which helps the AI maintain context and accuracy as it generates code.
- Review AI-generated code rigorously: Every block of code coming from Cursor AI (or any AI assistant) should undergo thorough human review. This means checking for security vulnerabilities, code quality, and adherence to WordPress coding standards before trusting it in your project.
- Document and test continuously: Treat AI as a junior developer – you’ll move faster, but you must still write documentation and create tests for the code. Maulik emphasized that maintaining good documentation and writing tests for each new AI-produced feature ensures long-term maintainability and reliability.
By following these practices, developers can maximize the productivity gains from AI while mitigating risks. The session attendees left with step-by-step guidance on how to pair-program with AI on their next project, and the confidence that they can do so without prior AI expertise. It’s a revolutionary shift: for a modest subscription cost, AI developer tools like Cursor are now accessible to anyone, lowering the barrier to advanced WordPress development.
Embracing AI at Zluck Solutions
What Maulik presented on the WordCamp stage wasn’t theoretical for Zluck Solutions – it’s the way we already work every day. Zluck has been an early adopter of AI-driven development in our projects, leveraging cutting-edge tools to code smarter, debug faster, and deliver better solutions. We regularly experiment with AI coding assistants (like Cursor AI) during development. For example, our team uses AI to generate boilerplate code, suggest functions, and even identify potential bugs or optimizations, all under the careful supervision of our senior developers. This proactive adoption of AI in our workflow means we can build robust applications more efficiently while maintaining the high quality and security standards our clients expect.
By integrating AI into daily development, we aren’t just keeping up with the industry – we’re ahead of the curve. This head start has allowed us to refine how we collaborate with AI, establishing internal guidelines and training (indeed, we recently hosted hands-on training sessions on AI tools for our team). As a result, Zluck is well-positioned to navigate the evolving landscape of AI in software development. We can swiftly adapt to new AI advancements and incorporate them responsibly, giving our clients the advantages of the latest technology coupled with the wisdom of experienced engineers.
Leading the Way in AI and WordPress Innovation
Our involvement at WordCamp US 2025 is a testament to Zluck’s commitment to innovation and community leadership. By sharing our knowledge on stage, we helped other developers see what’s possible when you blend WordPress expertise with AI ingenuity. It also reinforced Zluck’s role as a thought leader at this exciting intersection of technologies.
The experience has been purely authority-building for us as a company. Not only did we demonstrate tangible skills and forward-thinking to a global WordPress audience, but we also sparked conversations about the future of development. The WordPress ecosystem is clearly moving toward a future where AI-assisted development becomes mainstream, and Zluck Solutions is proud to be among the pioneers lighting the way.
Looking ahead, we remain dedicated to exploring and investing in AI capabilities that complement human creativity. The insights and enthusiasm gained from WordCamp US 2025 will fuel our drive to keep innovating. In doing so, we aim to continue delivering outstanding results for our clients and contributing back to the WordPress community. With Zluck at the forefront of AI-driven WordPress development, the future of building smarter, faster, and more secure websites has never looked brighter.
