Background: The Linux Foundation organizes Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) conferences worldwide. The KubeCon + CNC EU 2023 conference was in Amsterdam, Netherlands, from April 18th to April 21st, 2023. The event was sold out with over 10,000 in-person attendees, up from about 7,000 in-person attendees at the 2022 EU event in Valencia, Spain. At the conference, HCLTech upgraded its membership to become a platinum member, and Hitachi joined as a gold member. Along with 57 new silver members that include end-user members, this news shows the momentum of CNCF. Mercedes Benz Tech Innovation won the end-user award and stood out at the event show floor, demonstrating the role of cloud native technology industry-specific solutions (see Figure 1). You can watch session replays on the CNCF events page.

Generative AI has grown in popularity with incredible speed, and the technology is beginning to show value in improving developer productivity. Even before ChatGPT became popular, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft announced Code Whisperer and CoPilot, respectively. During the conference, I met with David DeSanto from GitLab and stopped by the booth of a start-up named Kubiya. A discussion of how these vendors leverage AI/ML in the cloud native space will follow.

WebAssembly (Wasm) is a promising underlying technology that offers a common runtime for many languages with high performance and security. The WebAssembly System Interface (WASI) is the secret sauce that brings platform independence and simplified development and expands to server-side and IoT device applications. Before the primary CNCF events day, the Cloud Native Wasm day was technology-heavy and targeted to technologists deep in infrastructure. I talked to Matt Butcher of Fermyon and will review some opportunities for improved adoption of Wasm/WASI.

AI-Powered DevSecOps Innovations
As a leading vendor in DevSecOps, GitLab ran a survey covering about 5,000 IT professionals. The report shows that more developers are using AI/ML to drive efficiencies in security workflows, underscoring the need for efficiency and security in software development. To satisfy this need, GitLab uses an approach called “Velocity with Guardrails.” This approach integrates AI and automation with the DevSecOps platform, enabling fast, secure software development. AI/ML technologies accelerate code creation and testing while the platform automatically enforces security policies and compliance. While major cloud providers have tools to enhance developer productivity, GitLab’s features, like Code Suggestions combined with means for secret detection and automatic security policy enforcement, offer a one-stop shop for enterprises to address both developer efficiencies and security.

At the CNCF conference, a start-up named Kubiya had a catchy name for their booth: “ChatGPT for DevOps.” Kubiya is a self-service DevOps platform that leverages generative AI to help DevOps practitioners with prompt engineering. The platform provides intent and action-based experiences to kickstart an automated workflow, allowing self-service access by developers to resources they need to ship their code into production. Kubiya’s platform lets developers communicate their requirements using conversational AI, which understands their requirements based on text input. Kubiya could be considered a DevOps teammate that can enable DevOps teams to simplify operations through human-like conversations. The self-service experience for developers reduces the burden on the Ops team with a simple and secure DevOps workflow automation. The opportunity is real; time will tell if customers feel comfortable adopting this approach.

Exploring Wasm Evolution and the Enterprise Potential

The Cloud Native Wasm day, a co-located event with KubeCon + CNC EU, had a lot of technical deep dives with speakers from companies ranging from prominent vendors, start-ups, and end-users. To better understand Wasm’s past and future, you should spend about 30 minutes listening to Bailey Hayes of Cosmonic talk on the Evolution of Wasm. The use of Wasm in the browser is proven, but opportunities lie in using Wasm portability to move workloads closer to the user. WASI (WebAssembly System Interface) allows developers to write and compile code for a single virtual operating system that can run securely on various platforms. Overall, WebAssembly shows promise in security, portability, and efficiency. However, there is still a challenge to highlight relevant enterprise use cases beyond gaming and data visualization while overcoming the learning curve of this new technology.

Companies like Fermyon are addressing the needs by providing a solution called Spin that removes the complexity of running a Wasm serverless application. Fermyon Spin supports a range of languages and includes portability and sandboxed execution. In an environment of tight budgets, Fermyon Spin will benefit from providing solutions that match current enterprise requirements and show immediate return on investment.

Summary: The CNCF European conference held in Amsterdam showcased the growing momentum of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation with new platinum, gold, and silver members. Subsequent events are planned for Shanghai and Chicago later in 2023. The event highlighted advancements in generative AI and cloud native technologies. GitLab is leveraging AI/ML to improve developer productivity and compliance. The conference also delved into the potential of WebAssembly (Wasm) and the WebAssembly System Interface (WASI) for enhancing performance, security, and portability in emerging and innovative applications. Companies like Fermyon are working to make Wasm more accessible to enterprises by providing solutions that simplify its adoption and use.