Last year’s KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe event landed on a milestone moment — the 10th anniversary of Kubernetes. While that historic marker gave attendees plenty to reflect on, the conference looked as intently toward what’s next — from platform engineering to AI’s growing role in the cloud-native world.

Among the most talked-about themes were AI’s rapid integration into cloud-native environments and Kubernetes’ shift into late-majority adoption — both of which brought new questions around cost, complexity and the ever-present “day two” challenges developers face as systems grow more sophisticated.

This year’s event, which takes place April 2–4 in London, is set to build on the conversations that shaped last year’s event. Kubernetes still underpins modern cloud-native infrastructure, but discussions are expected to shift toward how enterprises are adapting the ecosystem to address security risks, rein in costs, integrate AI and embrace platform engineering strategies to meet evolving developer needs.

“Security, artificial intelligence, machine learning and observability,” said Rob Strechay, managing director of theCUBE Research. “Those are going to be the big four themes this year. And with platform engineering gaining traction, there’s really something for everyone at KubeCon London.”

Those areas of interest will be explored during theCUBE’s coverage of this year’s KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe event. Join theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s livestreaming studio, from April 2-4 for exclusive coverage, as theCUBE Research analysts talk with developers, execs and ecosystem builders about the latest innovations in cloud-native computing. (* Disclosure below.)

Check out the full event preview interview with Red Hat’s Stu Miniman:

From infrastructure to impact: Platform engineering, AI and Kubernetes evolution

The idea that Kubernetes is now mature enough to serve as a reliable base layer came up frequently at last year’s event, where analysts noted that the infrastructure conversation was taking a backseat to developer enablement. Projects such as Kubeflow and Backstage illustrated a growing emphasis on tailored experiences, developer autonomy and business-aligned application delivery. That trend shows no signs of slowing, and with AI workloads becoming increasingly complex, interest in internal developer platforms continues to grow.

“What I love about KubeCon is that it’s no longer just about Kubernetes itself,” Strechay said. “It’s about how the entire ecosystem has matured, from incubated projects now powering real production stacks to community-driven innovation driving AI and cloud-native adoption.”

Red Hat Inc.’s recent OpenShift 4.18 release offers a glimpse of this convergence in action. The update introduces features that bring container-based workloads and traditional virtualization into tighter alignment while expanding platform availability across public cloud providers. These enhancements reflect a growing demand for hybrid flexibility, simplified workflows and secure, scalable paths to deployment — particularly as organizations ramp up AI initiatives.

Security, scale and what’s next for the Kubernetes ecosystem

As Kubernetes adoption continues to mature, so do the challenges that come with it. Enterprises today are less focused on whether to use Kubernetes and more concerned with how to manage it securely, cost effectively and at scale. That shift has been a recurring theme at past events, where conversations have evolved beyond basic implementation to focus on developer enablement, operational complexity and risks tied to security and data protection​​. From platform engineering to private AI deployments, the demands on cloud-native infrastructure continue to rise — and so does the complexity.

Nethopper LLC offers one such response to these evolving infrastructure demands. Recognized for its Kubernetes AI operations platform with a 2025 CUBEd Award for “Most Innovative Product for Platform Engineering Teams,” the company’s KAOPS solution is designed to reduce tool sprawl and streamline Kubernetes operations. It offers both software-as-a-service and air-gapped deployment models to meet enterprise needs, including those with heightened security requirements, according to Chris Munford, founder and chief executive officer of Nethopper.

“Our platform is very useful for deploying what we’re calling private AI and allowing people to take control, observability and secure the data involved in their AI initiatives,” he told theCUBE in a recent interview.

Meanwhile, Google LLC is pushing cloud-native scale to new heights with a recent update to its Google Kubernetes Engine. The platform now supports clusters of up to 65,000 nodes — up from 15,000 — enabling support for multi-trillion-parameter AI models and faster execution of massive training jobs.

“Fundamentally, these large-scale [large language models] keep getting bigger from companies around the world and require very large clusters to operate efficiently,” Drew Bradstock, senior product director for Kubernetes and serverless at Google Cloud, told SiliconANGLE in an exclusive interview.

As the ecosystem evolves, attention also turns to what could come next. While Kubernetes remains foundational, adjacent technologies such as extended Berkeley Packet Filter, or eBPF (a powerful kernel-level tool for security and observability), are quietly gaining traction in the background, hinting at a future where new abstractions may emerge to handle specific workload types with greater efficiency.

Throughout the event, theCUBE’s analysts will be tracking how companies are managing the balance between innovation and operational complexity. With platform customization, AI integration and supply chain security likely to take center stage, the next chapter in the cloud-native story is expected to build on Kubernetes’ foundation — while also expanding the ecosystem around it.

TheCUBE event livestream

Don’t miss theCUBE’s coverage of KubeCon + CloudNativeCon EU from April 2-4. Plus, you can watch theCUBE’s event coverage on-demand after the live event.

How to watch theCUBE interviews

We offer you various ways to watch theCUBE’s coverage of KubeCon + CloudNativeCon EU, including theCUBE’s dedicated website and YouTube channel. You can also get all the coverage from this year’s events on SiliconANGLE.

TheCUBE Insights podcast

SiliconANGLE also has podcasts available of archived interview sessions, available on iTunes, Stitcher and Spotify, which you can enjoy while on the go.

SiliconANGLE also has analyst deep dives in our Breaking Analysis podcast, available on iTunes, Stitcher and Spotify.

Guests

During KubeCon + CloudNativeCon EU, theCUBE analysts will talk with developers, execs and ecosystem builders about the latest innovations in cloud-native computing. Don’t miss all the insights.

(* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2025. Neither Red Hat Inc. and Cloud Native Computing Foundation, the primary sponsors of theCUBE’s event coverage, nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Image: SiliconANGLE