10 KubeCon EU 2024 Talks We’re Excited About  

With KubeCon EU 2024 just around the corner and Kubernetes marking its 10-year anniversary, we decided to round up the 10 most exciting, must-see KubeCon sessions that you should definitely not miss! 

But before we begin…Let’s first share some of what Team Komodor is up to in Paris this year:

Check us out on stage

Our resident CNCF Ambassador, Guy Menachem will take the stage at two Co-located Events.

#BackstageCon: Let’s Go Backstage: End-to-End IDP Tips & Tricks for Platform Engineers (with Oshrat Nir of ARMO)

Why It’s a Must-Attend: The rising prominence of Internal Development Platforms (IDPs) marks a transformative phase in the way development environments are structured and managed. Backstage, an open-source tool that has swiftly become a go-to for building developer platforms, is at the forefront of this revolution. Oshrat Nir’s session is an invaluable deep dive into leveraging Backstage to enhance the security and operational efficiency of Kubernetes clusters. Attendees will learn firsthand how to inventory and scan clusters, understand security postures, troubleshoot issues, and visualize outcomes—all within a customized Backstage dashboard. This session is a treasure trove for platform engineers looking to build a secure, open-source IDP with practical, real-world code examples and an emphasis on Day 2 operations.

Time: Tuesday, March 19 • 09:15 – 09:40
Link: https://sched.co/1YFdT

#ObservabilityDay: Do We Still Need to “Observe”? the Future of AI & Observability (with Niv Yungelson) 

Why It’s a Must-Attend: Niv and Guy’s exploration into the future of AI in the realm of observability is a forward-looking session that challenges the status quo of data consumption and monitoring. As observability traditionally hinges on the manual tasks of data analysis, the introduction of AI and machine learning offers a groundbreaking shift toward automation and intelligent analysis. This session promises a peek into a future where the tedious aspects of observability, such as writing queries, creating dashboards, and defining alerts, are transformed by AI’s ability to automate correlation, causality discovery, and even the integration of data collections. Attendees will explore the possibilities of a world where observability tasks are not just simplified but revolutionized, making it a must-attend for anyone interested in the cutting edge of AI’s impact on data management and analysis.

Time: Tuesday, March 19 • 14:40 – 15:05
Link: https://sched.co/1YFi5 

Visit Komodor’s Lair at Booth #J18

As always, we have awesome geeky swag to give away. This year our booth will be adorned with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles-inspired theme, so don’t be shocked if you hear us shouting “Kube-a-Bunga Dude” all day.

Why It’s a Must-Attend? Snag a prize – Besides t-shirts, stickers, and Funko Pops, we’ll ALSO be raffling a Nintendo Switch OLED and 2 Apple Watches! So If you’re not already a friend of Komodor… Maybe you should stop by and become one?!

10 Top Talks To Check Out

✨ This week, Komodor’s very own Guy Menahem and Marino Wijay joined me (Udi) on an impromptu X Spaces session about KubeCon. Check it out on The Platformers Community: https://twitter.com/PlatformersC/status/1767958799757844655?s=20

The Kubernetes community is buzzing with anticipation for a lineup of sessions that promise to enlighten, challenge, and inspire, from breakthrough tools to foundational practices. So, without further ado, here are the ten sessions we’re most excited about, and why you should be too:

1. Strimzi: Toward a ZooKeeper-less Future

The evolution of Strimzi, especially with its recent graduation from the CNCF, marks a pivotal moment for data management in Kubernetes. The initiative to phase out ZooKeeper from Apache Kafka is not just a technical upgrade; it represents a fundamental shift towards more streamlined, efficient operations. 

This session is perfect for anyone entrenched in the Apache Kafka ecosystem or interested in the future of data on Kubernetes. Attendees will gain insight into the changes, the roadmap ahead, and what this means for users in terms of benefits and adjustments. It’s a concise guide to understanding the future of Kafka management, making it essential for those looking to stay at the forefront of technology.

Time: Tuesday, March 19 • 09:40 – 09:47
Link: https://sched.co/1aNIp

2. The State of K8sGPT: Your Troubleshooting Companion

Why It’s a Must-Attend: As Kubernetes environments grow in complexity, the need for advanced troubleshooting tools has never been more acute. K8sGPT stands out as a groundbreaking solution, leveraging AI to revolutionize Kubernetes management and troubleshooting. Given Komodor’s focus on Kubernetes operations and troubleshooting, this session is particularly close to our hearts. Alex Jones, a seasoned SRE and the mind behind K8sGPT, will provide invaluable insights into how this tool can make Kubernetes management a breeze. 

This talk is a golden opportunity for SREs, DevOps professionals, and anyone keen on harnessing the power of AI to streamline their Kubernetes operations. It promises a deep dive into the capabilities and future developments of K8sGPT, making it a must-attend for those dedicated to optimizing their Kubernetes troubleshooting workflow.

Time: Tuesday, March 19, 2024 10:20 – 10:27 CET 
Link: https://sched.co/1aQWc 

3. How Crossplane is Accelerating Your Cloud Native Control Plane Journey

Why It’s a Must-Attend: This session is a golden opportunity for platform engineers to dive into the latest enhancements in Crossplane. The focus on improving the developer experience means that attendees will get a firsthand look at simplifying cloud-native control plane creation. The introduction of new commands like init, render, validate, and trace aims to streamline development, verification, and troubleshooting processes. 

It’s an ideal session for those looking to efficiently scale their cloud-native applications with Crossplane’s cutting-edge tools.

Time: Tuesday, March 19, 2024 15:10 – 15:17 CET 
Link: https://sched.co/1aQhZ 

4. Ten Years of Kubernetes Patterns Evolution

Why It’s a Must-Attend: Bilgin’s exploration of the top Kubernetes design patterns over the last decade is like a master class in Kubernetes application design. Understanding these patterns is crucial for developers looking to build robust, scalable, and efficient cloud-native applications. This session will equip attendees with the knowledge to leverage Kubernetes primitives effectively, ensuring their applications are well-architected for the cloud-native ecosystem.

Time: Wednesday, March 20 • 11:15 – 11:50
Link: https://sched.co/1YeLl 

5. Keeping the Bricks Flowing: The LEGO Group’s Approach to Platform Engineering for Manufacturing

Why It’s a Must-Attend: The LEGO Group’s innovative approach to platform engineering in a manufacturing context is nothing short of inspiring. This session is a fascinating case study in applying Kubernetes and cloud-native principles to real-world challenges. Attendees will learn how LEGO navigates the complexities of 24/7 production environments, harnessing Chaos Engineering, Operators, and User Engagement to maintain high-quality, resilient platforms.

Time: Thursday, March 21 • 15:25 – 16:00
Link: https://sched.co/1YePF 

6. Building Confidence in Kubernetes Controllers: Lessons Learned from Using E2E-Framework

Why It’s a Must-Attend: For developers and operators looking to enhance their testing strategies, this session provides invaluable insights into leveraging the e2e-framework for end-to-end testing of Kubernetes components. The experiences of Datadog and Crossplane in adopting this framework will offer practical advice on writing tests, highlighting both benefits and pitfalls. This talk is essential for anyone aiming to boost their confidence in the reliability of their Kubernetes controllers.

Time: Wednesday, March 20 • 16:30 – 17:05
Link: https://sched.co/1YeNQ 

7. Enhancing Reliability Through Multi-Cluster Deployment: Leveraging the Power of Karmada

Why It’s a Must-Attend: As applications grow in complexity and scale, multi-cluster deployments become crucial for reliability and efficiency. This session introduces Karmada’s solutions for managing resources and workloads across multiple clusters and clouds. Attendees will gain a deep understanding of Karmada’s architecture, best practices, and real-world applications, making it a pivotal session for developers and operators looking to enhance their multi-cloud strategies.

Time: Friday, March 22 • 11:00 – 11:35
Link: https://sched.co/1YhiE 

8. How Spotify Re-Created Our Entire Backend Without Skipping a Beat

Why It’s a Must-Attend: Spotify’s ambitious project to recreate its Kubernetes fleet is a testament to the power of automation, meticulous planning, and execution in a live production environment. This session offers a rare glimpse into the architecture, motivations, and challenges faced by Spotify’s platform engineers. It’s a compelling narrative that will provide attendees with actionable insights for managing large-scale migrations without impacting service reliability.

Time: Thursday, March 21 • 11:00 – 11:35
Link: https://sched.co/1YeO2

9. Architecting Resilience: Lessons from Managing 7K+ Kubernetes Clusters at Scale

Why It’s a Must-Attend: Managing a vast number of Kubernetes clusters presents unique challenges, as demonstrated by Kakao’s experience with a data center fire. This session delves into the strategies for ensuring high availability and resilience at scale. Attendees will learn about the design considerations, challenges, and solutions for maintaining service continuity across thousands of clusters, making it an essential session for those responsible for large-scale Kubernetes deployments.

Time: Wednesday, March 20 • 11:15 – 11:50
Link: https://sched.co/1YeLc 

10. American Airlines Increases Velocity by Leveraging K8s at Scale and Autonomous App-level Optimization

Why It’s a Must-Attend: In a world where digital transformation dictates market success, American Airlines’ journey to harness Kubernetes at scale is a testament to the power of cloud-native technologies in driving business growth. This session, in partnership with Intel Software, is an illuminating case study on balancing the pursuit of new features with the need for performance optimization. It’s a compelling narrative for any organization navigating the shift to the cloud, highlighting how American Airlines achieved significant improvements in performance metrics and cost-efficiency on Kubernetes platforms like AKS.

This talk is especially relevant for businesses looking to enhance their time to market without sacrificing cost or performance. It promises actionable insights into the best practices and technologies that enable scalable, efficient, and automated cloud-native operations, making it an essential session for leaders and technologists aiming to leverage Kubernetes to its full potential.

Time: Wednesday, March 20 • 11:15 – 11:50
Link: https://sched.co/1Ymmw

11. Bonus: Kube-Karaoke

Dubbed ‘the first and only Kubernetes Karaoke community’ these fun, musical events, instigated by the great Lian Li, have become by now a staple of the KubeCon party scene. 

Why it’s a must-attend? Drop your laptop and grab a mic! Lian Li is a CNCF Ambassador and one of the most loved members of the K8s community. Every event she organizes is unique, extremely fun, safe, and wholesome. You can expect to rub shoulders with your favorite Cloud-Native heroes, and maybe even catch them embarrassing themselves on the stage.       

Time: Wednesday, March 20 • 8:30 PM
Registration link: https://kuberoke.love/events/spring-party-paris-2024/ 

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These sessions represent just a glimpse of the breadth and depth of knowledge awaiting attendees at KubeCon Paris. Whether you’re a seasoned K8s veteran or just beginning your cloud-native journey, these talks promise to offer valuable insights and experiences to enhance your skills and understanding of the Kubernetes ecosystem.

See you in Paris! 🇫🇷👋