OpenTelemetry provides an automated way to add telemetry instrumentation to containerized .NET applications without code changes or manual configuration, making it easier for developers to focus on delivering high-quality software. The OpenTelemetry auto-instrumentation feature automatically instruments popular libraries and frameworks, such as ASP.NET Core, Node.js, and Java, collecting data about the performance and behavior of the application and sending it to observability backends like Prometheus, Loki, and Jaeger. By using OpenTelemetry, developers can gain real-time insights into their applications' performance and behavior without editing the application code to collect telemetry, making it a helpful tool in an observability journey that aims for manual instrumentation for greater control over telemetry.