Platform Engineering at scale: Lessons from the conference circuit

The recent episode of CD Office Hours with Bob Walker and Steve Fenton discussed insights from major conferences like GitHub Universe and KubeCon, focusing on the evolution of platform engineering. Many organizations are on their second or third iteration of internal platforms, learning from early adopter challenges and moving towards more mature systems. The conferences highlighted differences in audience focus, with GitHub Universe attendees engaging in strategic discussions and KubeCon participants in tactical ones, both centering on themes like Platform Hub and deployment standardization. Argo CD, a popular Kubernetes deployment tool, was discussed for its scaling challenges, particularly in managing multiple instances and applications. A key takeaway was the shift from mandating platform use to enforcing compliance through policies, encouraging teams to adopt platforms to meet these requirements naturally. AI's role in platform engineering was explored, particularly in non-deterministic tasks like failure analysis, while deterministic tasks remain AI-resistant due to compliance needs. The episode underscored using AI to streamline repetitive processes while maintaining oversight for compliance and consistency.