The KubeCon Europe 2024 event was a significant milestone, with over 12,000 developers in attendance, making it the largest gathering in its history. From March 18th to 22nd, attendees had the opportunity to engage with the latest announcements and discussions that are shaping the landscape of cloud-native computing and Kubernetes technology.

Naturally, as a Kubernetes certified service provider (KCSP), Guida attended KubeCon to gain firsthand access to the latest news and insights. This information serves not only our benefit but also that of our customers.

The conference covered a wide range of diverse topics, including AI, networking, gitops, platform engineering, and security. Attendees were able to participate in numerous sessions, training workshops, office hours, and hackathons to immerse themselves in the latest developments and best practices across various domains.

A notable shift from previous years was the increased focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI). Unlike KubeCon 2023 Amsterdam, this year saw a significant embrace of AI within the open-source community. The event was filled with conversations exploring AI’s impact on the ecosystem as there is growing recognition of its importance.

Here are our top 5 Highlights from KubeCon Europe 2024

1. Cloud-Native Acceleration of AI Innovation

The integration of cloud-native principles with AI has demonstrated several benefits, such as efficient packaging, scalable deployment, and improved resource management. The focus on bridging the gap between data science workflows and cloud-native infrastructure holds promise for exciting developments.

The AI Working Group is pleased to announce the AI Working Group’s Cloud Native AI whitepaper, which presents a brief overview of the state-of-the-art AI/ML techniques, followed by what cloud native technologies offer, covering the next challenges and gaps before discussing evolving solutions.

2. Advanced Scheduling Solutions

Custom schedulers, power-aware scheduling, and efficient GPU workload management were highlighted, with innovations such as Dynamic Resource Allocation which is a new Kubernetes feature that puts resource scheduling in the hands of 3rd-party developers and Kueue introducing new methods for orchestrating batch workloads on Kubernetes.

3. GitOps Evolution with FluxCD

FluxCD enthusiasts have gained valuable insights into its 2024 roadmap and best practices for scaling in production environments. The recent updates showcase Flux’s improved extensibility, allowing seamless integration with Argo, Terraform, Visual Studio Code, and other tools. This highlights FluxCD’s ongoing evolution as a leading GitOps tool. Moreover, leveraging the CUE language for resource generation and validation, in conjunction with Timoni as a package manager for defining and packaging apps, brings forth new perspectives.

4. Securing Kubernetes environments

Conversations focused on utilizing sidecarless service mesh using Istio or Cilium, policy as code using Kyverno or the new Validating Admission Policy, and eBPF-based security tools to strengthen Kubernetes environments. From securing the supply chain to implementing resilient access controls, participants delved into diverse strategies for protecting their clusters.

5. Enhanced Observability with OpenTelemetry

OpenTelemetry is the most active project in the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) after Kubernetes, and is rapidly becoming the standard way to collect observability data. With features such as auto-instrumentation and Prometheus integration, participants have gained valuable insights into enhancing monitoring and tracing capabilities within their deployments.

Conclusion

In conclusion, KubeCon 2024 was a remarkable event that brought together over 12,000 cloud-native enthusiasts to explore the latest advancements in cloud-native computing and Kubernetes technology. The increased focus on AI, advancements in scheduling solutions, GitOps evolution, Kubernetes security, and enhanced observability with OpenTelemetry showcased the industry’s rapid evolution.

Looking ahead, we are excited to share that KubeCon 2025 will be hosted in London.

Additionally, don’t forget to check out the blog posts of our customer success engineer Joris Schalk for further insights: