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A Decade of Cloud Native Excellence: KubeCon + CloudNativeCon 2025

The anticipation is building for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2025, set to take place from November 10–13 in Atlanta, Georgia. This year marks a significant milestone: the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) is celebrating its 10th anniversary. This gathering promises to reflect on a decade of breakthroughs while paving the way forward in the cloud native landscape.

A Milestone for the Community

As CNCF marks ten years, it is evident that cloud native is no longer just a trend—it has solidified its place as a standard practice among organizations. According to the CNCF Annual Survey 2024, about 25% of businesses now depend exclusively on cloud native methodologies, while an additional third implement them for the majority of their workloads. Indeed, Kubernetes, which celebrated its own tenth anniversary in 2024, has emerged as an essential component of modern infrastructure—the backbone upon which many cloud services are built. This convergence of events provides an opportunity for the community to reflect on past achievements and discuss technologies that will shape the upcoming decade.

Chris Aniszczyk, CTO of CNCF, remarked, "KubeCon + CloudNativeCon has always been a pivotal event for the cloud native community, but this year carries additional significance. We are not only witnessing growth but are also observing a heightened focus on addressing modern infrastructure challenges. The schedule has been curated to highlight the tough issues that our teams tackle daily—from scaling platform engineering to adapting cloud native patterns to accommodate AI workloads."

Key Highlights of KubeCon + CloudNativeCon 2025

The 2025 schedule boasts over 300 keynotes, lightning talks, maintainer track sessions, and breakout sessions. A spotlight on specific trends and technologies includes:

AI and Machine Learning (ML)

With the increasing demands of AI workloads, cloud native technologies have evolved to facilitate scalable and flexible infrastructure. Kubernetes is pivotal for deploying, managing, and refining machine learning systems in real-world applications. One notable session from this track features Stephanie Pavlick from Hinge, discussing collaborative strategies for building ML infrastructure.

Observability

As systems grow increasingly distributed, observability becomes vital for maintaining performance and uptime. It allows teams to identify issues swiftly, enhance system resilience, and minimize change-related risks. Andrea Chomiak from Dash0 will share insights on designing for observability, focusing on transforming noise into actionable insights.

Platform Engineering

The theme of platform engineering will address the complexities of managing cloud native systems. This track will guide attendees on streamlining operations, ensuring reliable infrastructure scaling, and developing internal platforms to accelerate workflow. Key speakers include Oliver Soell and Fredrik Sommar from Spotify, who will discuss strategies for managing extensive infrastructures at scale.

Operations and Performance

With the rise of Kubernetes usage, scaling introduces a host of challenges concerning resource efficiency, workload orchestration, and performance. This segment will help attendees adapt their operational models for better reliability and speed. Highlights include presentations from Angela Victorio from American Airlines and Ahmet Alp Balkan from LinkedIn, covering deployment risks in web applications and Kubernetes pod management, respectively.

Cloud Native Experience

Building sustainable open source communities requires governance models that evolve alongside projects. This track will focus on fostering shared responsibilities and contributor roles. Noteworthy discussions will be presented by Nikhita Raghunath, Nikhila Kamath, Micah Hausler, and Jeremy Rickard on the lessons learned regarding open source community sustainability.

Special Events and Registration

In addition, CNCF will host co-located events on November 10, diving deeper into specific cloud native technologies such as security and service mesh. The standard registration will remain open until August 26, 2025.

CNCF aims to support underrepresented groups through the Dan Kohn scholarship program, which offers complimentary registrations to community members who might otherwise be unable to attend.

Call for Sponsors

This year's KubeCon + CloudNativeCon is made possible with the support of top tech companies. Interested organizations can still submit sponsorship requests before August 22, 2025.

As we look forward to this gathering, it’s clear that KubeCon + CloudNativeCon 2025 will serve not just as a celebration, but also as a catalyst for continued innovation in the cloud native ecosystem. This is an event that no cloud native professional will want to miss!