Starting and Scaling a Platform Engineering Team - Camille Fournier & Ian Nowland
Camille Fournier, Ian Nowland
KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2025 · Session
This talk, delivered by Camille Fournier and Ian Nowland at KubeCon EU, delves into the critical strategies and common pitfalls associated with establishing and growing effective platform engineering teams. Drawing from their extensive experience, the speakers provide a foundational understanding of *when* to initiate such a team, the essential skill sets required, and the operational models that lead to sustainable success. They argue that platform engineering is not merely an evolution of DevOps but a distinct discipline rooted in software engineering principles, operational excellence, and a keen product focus.
AI review
This talk from Fournier and Nowland cuts through the usual platform engineering hype, delivering a brutally honest and actionable roadmap for building effective internal platforms. Drawing from a co-author's theoretical framework and a DataDog VP's real-world war stories – including operational hell with 50 incidents a week and failed Spanner-like projects – it emphasizes that platform success hinges on a blend of serious software engineering, non-negotiable operational ownership, and a product-centric approach to internal customers. It’s a solid piece of work that offers concrete guidance…