How Using Screwdriver for CI/CD Reduced Vespa’s Time Spent on Builds and Pull Requests by 75%

Vespa, an open-source AI platform, initially faced significant challenges with prolonged build times using a continuous integration (CI) platform, causing over two-hour delays for developers awaiting feedback on pull requests. After realizing the limitations of their initial CI provider, the team transitioned to Screwdriver, an open-source CI/CD platform developed by Yahoo/Verizon Media. By employing Screwdriver's advanced resource management and caching capabilities, Vespa successfully reduced build times from 50 minutes to 18 minutes for the master branch and further optimized pull request builds to as low as 8 minutes by selectively testing only the affected code areas. This transition led to a 75% reduction in time spent on builds and pull requests, significantly enhancing developer productivity and satisfaction.