WPConcierge puts on the white gloves to manage every aspect of its clients’ websites, from hosting and basic content updates to complex upgrades and plugin configurations. The result: client sites that are up-to-date, secure, and fast: so a website is an asset instead of a headache—or worse, a liability. We caught up with WPConcierge founder Sarah Savage to talk about practical AI in hosting, creating an ecosystem of trust, the personal touch.

Secure Hosting Alliance: Can you give us the elevator pitch for WPConcierge?

Sarah Savage: WPConcierge is managed WordPress hosting for small businesses that want their website handled by someone who actually knows their name. We’re not a faceless platform—we’re personally responsible for your site. Our clients don’t leave, because when something goes wrong at two in the morning, we’re the ones who fix it. If you’ve been ghosted by a web developer or you’re tired of dealing with consistent downtime, that’s exactly who we exist for.

SHA: Have more customers been coming to you with AI-specific requests lately? What sorts of services seem to get asked for the most?

SS: My clients aren’t asking me for AI services—they’re running small businesses and they want their websites to work. What I am doing is using AI heavily on the operational side of running WPConcierge. As a solo founder, I’m managing infrastructure, client relationships, business development, and product work simultaneously. AI is how I execute at a level that would otherwise require a much larger team. It’s become the connective tissue of how I operate.

SHA: What impact do you think recent geopolitical events have had on your business lately?

SS: The uncertainty has actually reinforced what we’re building. When businesses get nervous about which large platforms to trust—where their data lives, who controls their infrastructure, what the regulatory environment might look like next year—there’s a stronger case for working with a small, known, accountable provider. I run on AWS infrastructure with clear data residency, and I can have a real conversation with my clients to answer those questions. The big platforms can’t do that.

SHA: Why did you find it important to join SHA?

SS: The hosting industry has a race-to-the-bottom problem. Providers compete on price, cut corners on security and abuse response, and the whole ecosystem pays for it—including responsible operators like me. SHA is trying to establish that not all providers are the same, and to give that distinction some teeth through real standards and a trust seal. That’s a conversation I want to be part of. WPConcierge’s entire value proposition is that we’re the accountable, white-glove option, and SHA is building the industry infrastructure to make that legible to customers.

SHA: Which other i2Coalition initiatives connect most deeply with your team’s ethos?

SS: Infrastructure neutrality and small provider advocacy resonate most with where we sit. The Internet gets worse when policy is shaped exclusively by the largest players, and smaller operators end up regulated in ways that were designed with hyperscalers in mind. Having a seat at that table, even a small one, matters.

SHA: Where does Internet policy interface with your work on a daily basis?SS: More than most people might expect. Data privacy regulations shape how I handle client data and what I can promise them. DMCA and content liability questions come up whenever a client’s site gets flagged or a takedown hits. DNS policy affects how I think about domain security. And as someone building on top of WordPress—the platform that runs 40% of the Web—the ongoing centralization questions in that ecosystem have real policy dimensions too. It’s not abstract. These are decisions I’m navigating in practice.