I am James LePage, founder of WPAI. I currently live in Austin, Texas, but grew up in New York, just outside of NYC.
Since I was young, I’ve always been a technical and curious person with an entrepreneurial spirit. I did the stereotypical lemonade stand as a kid, worked for neighbors doing yard work, and held one ‘real’ job in my life—working in a kitchen.
I first started as a maintenance worker, then moved into the kitchen, where I worked as a ‘sous-chef’ at a private club. It was difficult and honestly not fun. I started looking for a way out and turned to something I was more passionate about—building websites.
My dad introduced me to WordPress as a platform for blogging when I was younger. I enjoyed tinkering, whether it was digital or physical, so when I decided to get out of the kitchen, I figured I’d give web development a shot – it was easy to get into and didn’t need any degrees.
That’s how I began creating websites for local businesses. I taught myself how to use WordPress, starting with early page builders like Visual Composer/WP Bakery and Divi.
The first websites I built were pretty basic, but as time passed, I got better and took on more projects.
I started my journey in high school and often say that I grew up in the WordPress ecosystem because it has been such a significant part of my life and career. It wasn’t long before I truly learned to code, and was solving significant problems for businesses using WordPress.
Eventually, the work became too much to handle on my own, which led me to form my agency.
The Journey Began
As the projects grew in scope, I eventually decided to form an agency. At first, it was just a name—a way to make myself sound more professional, especially since I was still pretty young at the time. But it ended up becoming a real company, with full-time employees in design and development.
The agency, Isotropic, grew fast. We started working with digital magazines pulling in millions of views each month and direct-to-commerce stores doing over a million dollars in monthly revenue.
I was also in college at the time, attending Syracuse University and getting my degree in entrepreneurship while studying artificial intelligence.
It was a crazy time, and scaling that quickly was both exciting and intense. We began taking on projects from NYC, leveraging connections made in school, and really started landing bigger and bigger clients.
In my senior year, I had an opportunity to become the technical co-founder of a startup, which took me away from WordPress post-graduation.
The Need for WPAI
WPAI logo
After running the agency for a few years, I found myself at a crossroads. I had the chance to become the technical co-founder of a venture-backed startup called ShareClub. It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up. I sold most of the agency portfolio and got started just as I was graduating from Syracuse. I moved to NYC, the company joined a popular incubator.
The ShareClub was outside the WordPress space, and for a year and a half, I dove headfirst into the world of tech, startups, and VC. We grew the company, but ultimately, it didn’t succeed.
I found myself living in the middle of (a very expensive) NYC, wondering what to do next.
With the first startup behind me, I started thinking about what I was good at—and what I was truly passionate about. The answer was clear: WordPress and artificial intelligence.
I knew how to build companies, I understood the WordPress ecosystem inside and out, and I had studied AI at university.
In 2022, transformer-based LLMs were becoming more mainstream and I realized that the WordPress industry was one that could truly benefit from mindful AI solutions.
There was a real opportunity here.
So, I started WPAI, the first independent company focused on bringing artificial intelligence to WordPress. The goal was to create products that could serve the entire WordPress ecosystem without being tied to any one platform or plugin.
WPAI began as a side project, experimenting with fine-tuning AI models on a vast code snippet repository (many created during my time at Isotropic). Our first product was CodeWP. The MVP and v1 were built using a page builder and a custom WordPress plugin.
It quickly gained traction and grew from nothing into a popular tool. As the project demanded more of my time, I shifted to working on it full-time, realizing the potential it had to grow into something much more than a snippet generator – instead, a leading AI company in the WordPress industry.
Since then, we’ve developed 2 additional products: AgentWP, an autonomous AI agent that ‘does anything WordPress’, using the same means and methods developers have always used and WP.Chat, a free AI tool similar to ChatGPT but tailored specifically for WordPress users. These products form the start of an integrated AI ecosystem, reflect our focus on the WordPress ecosystem and make site creation and management easier for everyone.
And we’re really just getting started.
The Team Behind WPAI
James LePage with his team
WPAI is a remote and relatively asynchronous company. Our team operates across different time zones, and we’ve built systems to ensure everyone can work effectively on their own schedules. We only have a few scheduled meetings each week, and the rest of the time, we’re all focused on building incredible products.
Interestingly, our team has never been in the same room together. The closest we’ve come is our CTO and I attending WordCamps in person. Despite this, we’ve managed to build a strong culture of collaboration and innovation. Our team is awesome – and we’re usually looking to grow it – if you’re interested, check out our careers page.
Advice for Business Owners
For anyone looking to start their own business, my biggest piece of advice is to just do it. There’s never going to be a better time than today. If you have an idea and the ability to pursue it, don’t hesitate. Many successful companies, especially in the WordPress industry, started as experiments. Founders launched something into the world, saw what worked, and revised it over time. This process of iteration is key to success.
The WordPress ecosystem is particularly welcoming to entrepreneurs. It’s one of the few industries where you can start a business with basically zero capital and grow it into something substantial. Some of the biggest players (even unicorns like WPEngine) in WordPress began as small, bootstrapped companies.
When it comes to finding a niche, I recommend focusing on something you’re good at. WordPress is a massive industry, and there’s room for all kinds of businesses, whether you’re a developer, designer, or content creator. The platform powers over 60% of tracked CMSs on the web, and there’s plenty of opportunity to build something valuable.
WordPress & Beyond
At WPAI, our goal is to use our position as the first-mover in AI for WordPress to grow and bring innovative solutions to the entire ecosystem. We’re platform-agnostic, meaning our tools can serve every product and plugin, and that’s what makes us unique. Our growth plan involves continuing to deliver value to developers, site owners, and end users alike.
Looking at the future of WordPress, I think the platform has the potential to become even bigger and better, but there are challenges to address. The shift from a PHP to a JavaScript-first workflow is a major hurdle for developers. Tools like block editing are the future of WordPress, but many developers still need to learn how to build with them.
AI can play a key role in helping developers and users alike transition into the future of WordPress. We’re rebuilding CodeWP with an IDE-first approach, zeroing in on block development, while AgentWP is able to autonomously handle tasks, serving as an AI WordPress expert, available 24/7.
These tools are paving the way for easier adoption of the workflows that will shape WordPress’s future, making it more accessible for developers and users alike.
If we’re able to address these hurdles, I don’t believe WordPress faces any real threats. It’s the largest open-source CMS in the world, powering nearly half the web. However, it’s crucial that we get the next five years right, ensuring that the platform remains dominant by merit, embracing new technologies and educating users on how to make the most of them.
Stay in Touch
My Love for the WordPress Community
I’ve been involved in the WordPress community for around nine years now, and it’s been an incredible journey. For much of that time, I was more on the outside looking in, participating in Facebook groups and writing blog posts on Isotropic. But recently, I’ve gotten more involved in the core WordPress community, attending WordCamps and involving myself in the development of the platform.
WordCamps are an amazing opportunity to meet others in the industry and learn from each other. My first major WordCamp was WordCamp US 2023, and since then, I’ve also attended WordCamp Europe with my team. We’re excited to attend WordCamp US 2024 in September, where I’ll be speaking about the AI research and development that’s gone into our products.
Some of the people who’ve inspired me most in the community include Mark Westgard, Kevin Geary, Tammie Lister, Rich Tabor, Jonathan Wold, Michelle Frechette, the list goes on. The WordPress community is incredibly welcoming. I love that most people, even those in high positions, are always willing to talk, listen, and give advice – and I’m super grateful for the relationships I’ve built along the way.
How I Keep Myself Updated
To stay informed about what’s happening in the WordPress world, I rely on social media—mainly X and Facebook. I’m part of several active Facebook groups, my favorite one being the Dynamic WordPress group by David McCann.
Since I build technical products, I also keep a close eye on WordPress core development by tracking GitHub issues, following Make WordPress blogs, and checking in on the WordPress Slack. My team and I have also built internal AI tools that create reports from these sources, helping us stay ahead of changes in the ecosystem.
I Have a Life Other Than Work
Outside of work, I’m passionate about a few things. I love traveling, I’m a car enthusiast (I own a 1972 Corvette), and I enjoy spending time with my family. I also stay active through distance running and rock climbing—Austin is a great city for staying active.
My favorite travel destination is NYC, where I lived after college. I love the energy of the city and enjoy going back to visit friends whenever I can.
I Reward Myself By
A lot of my achievements are really the achievements of WPAI as a company, and that means most of the work behind those achievements is done by the team. As the founder, I’m not the one doing everything, so there’s no way I’m taking credit for all of it.
What we’re building is the result of a lot of people coming together to solve really technical problems, and I’m just the one organizing and strategizing the effort. While I can contribute technically, we have far more talented people who make sure everything works and gets out the door.
When it comes to personal achievements, I don’t do much to celebrate. I tend to focus on the next task. I’ll take a moment to step back and reflect, but then I just keep moving forward. For me, the real reward is being able to work on something as exciting and challenging as WPAI. I’ve always felt like I was born to be a founder, and I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.
Connect With Me
If you’d like to connect, feel free to reach out to me on Twitter or LinkedIn. I’m always happy to chat about WordPress, AI, or anything else.
