Last updated: December 2, 2025
Code Red Newsletter #21
Hi there,
All the videos from KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America in Atlanta are officially live. All 348 of them. If you have been waiting for the perfect moment to dive into a conference replay marathon, your weekend plans just wrote themselves.
This issue highlights a couple of standout keynotes, all Dash0 talks from the week, and a few ecosystem reads to round it all off.
In focus: KubeCon North America Recap
KubeCon NA made one thing very clear this year: platform engineering is accelerating, AI is showing up in real workflows instead of marketing slides, and OpenTelemetry has become the common language for cloud native telemetry.
Let’s start with a few of the best keynotes before jumping into the Dash0 sessions.
Keynote Recommendations
Supply Chain Reaction: A Cautionary Tale in K8s Security
Stacey Potter and Adolfo García Veytia delivered what can only be described as a full-on Kubernetes security play, complete with bright stage lights and a packed keynote hall. It was a fresh and memorable take on what a KubeCon keynote can be. They built a storyline many engineers could see themselves in, moving through supply chain chaos, dependency mishaps, and how quickly things can fall apart when you are not watching the right signals.
Beyond Operations: Scaling Platform Engineering in the CNCF Community
Abby Bangser offered a grounded and thoughtful look at what happens when platform engineering grows beyond a single team. It explores platform-as-product thinking, shared responsibility, and the evolving CNCF ecosystem that supports it.
Dash0 Talks from KubeCon NA
The Dash0 team was out in full force in Atlanta, covering everything from telemetry quality to platform blueprints, data center integration, and the fast-moving world of auto instrumentation. If you missed any of the sessions, here is a quick overview to get you started.
Designing for Observability: From Noise To Insight
Andrea Chomiak shows how to turn raw telemetry into reliable, meaningful signals without drowning in noise.
Taming Telemetry at Scale: Platform Blueprints for Consistent Observability
Aakansha Priya and Marino Wijay explore blueprints for consistent observability across large and diverse engineering teams.
Integrating Data Center Observability Into Cloud Native Environments
Pedro Célestin and Julia Furst Morgado look at how to align traditional data center monitoring with modern cloud native telemetry.
Making Platform Engineering Accessible: From Newcomer To Power User
Luke Philips and Julia Furst Morgado walk through how to build a platform experience that feels intuitive from day one but powerful over time.
Instrumentation Score: The Difference Between Telemetry and Good Telemetry
Juraci Paixão Kröhling and Michele Mancioppi dig into how to measure telemetry quality, not just volume.
Stitching the CNCF Stack for Platform Engineers
Julia Furst Morgado connects the CNCF project landscape into a coherent picture that platform engineers can actually use.
Why Data Stored in Kubernetes Is at Risk
Julia Furst Morgado and Carolina Valencia outline the risks behind running stateful workloads in Kubernetes and what to do about it.
OpenTelemetry for Platform Engineers: Paving the Road To Self-Service Observability
My talk on how platform engineering principles help developers adopt OpenTelemetry without friction.
Fast and Furious Adoption of OpenTelemetry With the Injector
Antoine Toulme, Jason Plumb, and Michele Mancioppi show how the OTel Injector accelerates no-touch instrumentation across ecosystems.
Choice Cuts
A couple of extra servings to keep the observability brain circuits firing.
AI leads to a platform engineering revival at KubeCon NA 2025
A wide-angle look at how AI powered tools are changing SRE workflows, Kubernetes operations, and platform engineering priorities. From AI-SRE patterns to MCP powered integrations, this is a great snapshot of where teams are heading.
The Evolution of Platforms (GenAI Edition)
Mauricio Salatino breaks down what it really means to bring GenAI into platform engineering. From hosting and cost control to workflows as tools and durable agents, this piece is pragmatic, sharp, and very relevant.
That wraps up this KubeCon NA recap. The themes were clear this year: platforms are getting smarter, observability is becoming more automated, and AI is slipping deeper into the workflows that power modern systems.
Before I sign off, a few things are happening over the next couple of weeks that I am really looking forward to.
Next week I will be in Geneva for KCD Suisse Romande, where I will be presenting Golden Paths for Async Workflows: Dapr Meets OpenTelemetry together with Mauricio Salatino. If you are attending, come say hi.
On December 11, Dash0 is sponsoring the Cloud Native Aarhus (Denmark) meet-up, where I will be delivering the talk Breaking Free with Open Standards: OpenTelemetry and Perses for Observability.
Also on December 11, Dash0 will host a webinar on AI and Observability.In this webinar, Lariel (Principal AI Engineer) and Michele (Head of Product) will walk you through Agent0, the agentic AI built directly into Dash0. They will cover what Agent0 is, how it works, why it works, how it changes the way users consume observability insights, and the lessons learned from both the engineering and product side. It is a webinar you do not want to miss. Register now.
See you in two weeks.
