As we wrap up 2024, it’s a great time to reflect on the changes, challenges, and breakthroughs we’ve seen in the IT world, especially for those of us in the DevOps and platform engineering spaces. This year was a whirlwind of innovation and introspection, with new technologies shaking up the landscape and old paradigms evolving to meet modern demands.

Let’s start with something that’s been on everyone’s radar: platform engineering. If there’s one thing that stood out this year, it’s how platform engineering became the glue holding DevOps teams together. We’ve invested so much time, effort and money into creating platforms that not only make life easier for developers but also bring a level of consistency that’s been needed. Whether it was improving CI/CD pipelines, adopting Kubernetes for everything from small deployments to multi-cloud strategies, or refining how we manage infrastructure as code, platform engineering has shown us its value time and again. And this will continue.

This wasn’t without its challenges. Layoffs were a painful reality across the tech industry, even for giants like Google, Amazon, and Meta. Many of us felt the ripples of these changes, colleagues moved on, teams got leaner, and workloads didn’t exactly decrease. But even in these tough times, we saw resilience. Teams doubled down on automation, improved and refined workflows, and, perhaps most importantly, leaned on each other. That’s the spirit of DevOps, isn’t it? Collaboration, even when the going gets tough.

Of course, no reflection on 2024 would be complete without talking about artificial intelligence. It felt like every week there was a new AI tool or breakthrough. ChatGPT continued to evolve, now being integrated into workflows that make our day-to-day tasks faster and more efficient. But there’s also been skepticism like how do we balance the benefits of automation with the need to keep human oversight intact? In many ways, it feels like we’re still in AI’s early years, figuring out what works and what doesn’t. The advances in healthcare, like AI’s role in early cancer detection (read this) showed us the incredible potential this technology holds. At the same time, it raised questions about ethics, biases, and long-term impacts.

On the startup front, the story shifted significantly. Investors moved away from speculative, big-idea ventures and focused on companies that could show tangible, revenue-generating results. Startups with strong engineering teams often found themselves at the forefront, but there’s still a gap when it comes to marketing and global outreach. This year taught us that being great at coding isn’t enough; understanding the market and how to communicate your value is just as critical.

Personally, I’ve been inspired by how this year has brought out both creativity and adaptability in the DevOps community. We’ve seen teams work on self-hosted AI solutions, not just for cost savings but for the control it provides. Platform engineering has truly come into its own, helping reduce the chaos of sprawling DevOps environments. 

And Kubernetes - what can I say? It continues to be the cornerstone in many organisations, from scaling startups to massive enterprises. However, it has become a mature platform, and there’s not as much buzz around it anymore. After all, Kubernetes will turn 10 11 in 2025(Apologies for the typo in the newsletter sendout, where it was mistakenly stated as 10, which we actually celebrated in 2024.)

Looking ahead, 2025 promises to be just as exciting. I think we’ll see more emphasis on on-premises solutions, as companies realize the need for tighter control over their data and costs. Platform engineering will grow even more important, evolving into a core discipline rather than a trend. And AI will likely find its way into several corners of our workflows, from monitoring systems to incident response.

It’s been a challenging year in many respects, but also one filled with learning and growth. Whether you’ve been refining your pipelines, experimenting with AI, or just trying to stay ahead of the curve, I hope you take a moment to celebrate how far you’ve come. The DevOps community thrives on sharing and learning from each other, and it’s been amazing to see how we’ve adapted together.

At Devoriales, I'm excited to share that I and some friends been hard at work developing a playground platform designed to offer hands-on training in cloud technologies and Kubernetes. Our goal is to create an interactive environment where you can explore real world scenarios in a fun way, solve challenges, and sharpen your skills.

Great progress has been made, and I’m thrilled to announce that we’re nearing the finish line. The platform is shaping up, and we plan to ship something soon. Stay tuned for updates—I can’t wait to share it with you! Unfortunately, this has also meant that I haven’t been able to write and record as much as I wanted to, but this will change.

So, here’s to you, your team, and all the late night deploys, debugging sessions, and moments of clarity that made 2024 what it was. Let’s make 2025 even better, smarter systems, stronger collaboration, and, dare I say, fewer incidents?

Cheers to a fantastic 2025 ahead,

Aleksandro