WP Product Talk

In today's WordPress product landscape, support can make or break your business. But growing queues and a commitment to providing a great experience, your teams are often juggling multiple top priorities.

In this episode of WP Product Talk, hosts Ian Misner and Zack Katz are joined by Ben Meredith to explore how AI can multiply your support team's impact without sacrificing the human touch. Drawing on his hands-on experience implementing AI-powered support workflows, Ben shares what "4x your team" actually means in practice. We'll cover: How to use AI in support "the right way" The human-AI hybrid model and where each does the heavy lifting Practical implementation without blowing up your existing workflow This episode is for product builders who are curious about AI in support but skeptical of the hype and want real talk about what works, what fails, and what's worth trying.

In today’s WordPress product landscape, UX is no longer a nice-to-have. It is often the difference between a product people tolerate and one they genuinely want to use.

In this episode of WP Product Talk, hosts Katie Keith and Ian Misner are joined by Devin Walker, recently appointed Artistic Director of Jetpack, to dig into what UX-led product development really looks like in practice. Drawing on his hands-on work shaping Jetpack’s UI, Devin shares how to approach UX decisions deliberately, especially when products are powerful, complex, and used by a wide range of people.

We’ll cover:

WordPress is moving fast on AI, and plugin builders need to keep up. On Jan 21 at 6pm UTC+1, WP Product Talk sits down with Jason Adams, Core AI Team Lead at Automattic, to unpack how plugins WordPress AI efforts are shaping what’s possible right now.

Jason joins Zack Katz and Matt Cromwell for a practical conversation on where core AI is headed, how plugin teams can build on it, and what to pay attention to if you want your product to stay relevant as AI lands deeper in WordPress.

Today's users expect speed, clarity, and polish by default. In this episode of WP Product Talk, we dig into Product User Expectations and what WordPress product owners need to stop ignoring if they want to stay relevant. Carl Alexander joins Paul Carter, CEO of BuiltFast, to talk honestly about where products fall short and how teams can raise the bar without burning out.

Join Matt Cromwell and Zack Katz live on January 14, 2026 at Noon Eastern Time for a practical conversation about performance, UX, and the real cost of excuses. This one is for builders who want fewer complaints, happier customers, and products that feel modern out of the box.

In this episode of WP Product Talk, hosts Zach Katz and Ian Meisner dive into the potential of MCP (Model Context Protocol) for WooCommerce product builders. Joined by Nik McLaughlin from SkyVerge, the discussion covers how MCP enables apps, tools, and AI models to communicate, its readiness for real-world use, and whether it's worth the investment.

This episode explores the technical intricacies of MCP, its potential applications, and how it could revolutionize everything from store management to customer experience. They also tackle the challenges, risks, and the future of MCP in the WordPress ecosystem. Tune in for insights on how this technology could unlock new opportunities for product owners and developers.

Product positioning is one of those things everyone talks about, but very few get right, especially when a product’s value isn’t immediately obvious. In this episode of WP Product Talk, we’re going all in on what product positioning really means and how to make it work in the real world.

Nathan Tyler, founder of BlinkMetrics, joins co-hosts Matt Cromwell and Zack Katz to unpack how founders can clarify their message, sharpen their positioning, and help the right customers “get it” faster. Join us live today at Noon ET for a practical, founder-focused conversation.

Join us for Making WordPress Weird: Nick Hamze on Building for Fun in WordPress, as we explore what happens when you stop taking things so seriously and start creating just because it’s fun. Nick Hamze is known for his playful, unconventional approach to building and his relentless push to keep the creative spirit of WordPress alive. From his pro-Wapuu advocacy to his experiments with AI and offbeat product ideas, Nick shows us why weirdness might just be WordPress’s greatest strength.

We’re going live Wednesday, December 11 at Noon ET, with co-hosts Ian Misner and Matt Cromwell, who’ll help unpack how curiosity, experimentation, and a bit of chaos can lead to more meaningful work and maybe even better products.

This episode is a follow-up to our earlier conversation with Nick Hamze about building “fun, weird” things in WordPress and the hard truth behind it: shipping is easy now; distribution is not.

Since our original episode in December 2025, WordPress quietly shipped a meaningful change: the Featured Plugins tab inside the Add New Plugins screen is no longer basically static. It’s now rotating every two weeks to spotlight newer plugins with fewer than 10,000 installs.

In this special WP Product Talk follow-up, Nick joins Matt Cromwell and Ian Misner to unpack how the Featured Plugin experiment came together, what the selection criteria looks like, and why this kind of in-dashboard discovery is one of the highest-leverage changes WordPress can make for small plugin makers.

We also dig into:

Links & Resources

Featured Plugin discussion in WordPress Slack: https://wordpress.slack.com/archives/C0AJB2960NS

Matt’s thread showing the Ollie Menu Designer download spike:

This article at The Repository covers the conversation as well: https://www.therepository.email/the-wordpress-featured-plugins-tab-is-now-rotating-hidden-gems-every-two-weeks

Join us for Blocks, Boundaries, and Breakthroughs: Product Development in Modern Woo as we dive into the future of WooCommerce development with the brilliant Kathy Darling, known for her deep expertise in building powerful Woo extensions. We’ll explore how Woo’s shift toward blocks is shaping product strategy and what today’s builders need to understand to stay ahead.

We’re going live today, Dec 3 at Noon ET, with co-hosts Ian Misner and Katie Keith, who will help unpack what these changes mean for anyone building or scaling a WordPress product business.

In a market where subscription pricing has become the default, choosing a one-off model can feel almost rebellious. In this episode of WP Product Talk, hosts Katie Keith (Barn2 Plugins) and Matt Cromwell (GiveWP/StellarWP) sit down with Rodolfo Melogli from Business Bloomer and Checkout Summit to examine why he has doubled down on low-cost, single-payment utility plugins instead of recurring revenue.

We will cover:

If you are rethinking your pricing strategy or wondering whether subscriptions are always the right answer, this conversation offers a rare look at a completely different approach.

WooCommerce is promoting the Model Context Protocol (MCP) as a new way for apps, tools, and AI models to communicate.

For WooCommerce product builders, that promise is compelling: AI-powered workflows, merchant-aware extensions, and deeper, more meaningful integrations between WooCommerce and AI systems. But it also raises some hard, practical questions:

In this episode of WP Product Talk, Zack Katz and Ian Misner are joined by Nik McLaughlin from SkyVerge (GoDaddy), who has been digging into WooCommerce MCP firsthand: prototyping real integrations and pressure-testing whether MCP makes sense for serious product teams.

This will not be a surface-level overview. It will be a grounded conversation about opportunity, risk, and timing.