The New Stack Podcast

Kubernetes is rapidly emerging as the de facto operating system for AI, with two-thirds of organizations using it for generative AI inference and 82% adopting it in production. Its ecosystem — including tools like Kubeflow — enables organizations to build, scale, and retain control of AI systems through open, community-driven infrastructure. Bob Killen of CNCF and Liam Bollmann-Dodd of SlashData shared insights from recent reports showing that AI success still hinges on strong engineering fundamentals—especially internal developer platforms and overall developer experience.

While AI-generated code accelerates development, it shifts bottlenecks to DevOps, reliability, and security, increasing operational complexity. As a result, operator experience and well-defined guardrails have become critical to safely scaling AI. These controls help constrain both human and AI developers, reducing risk while enabling speed. At the same time, organizations are evolving team structures, expanding platform engineering groups to support internal users more effectively. Despite growing complexity, the core lesson remains consistent: open source innovation thrives on people, processes, and collaboration as much as on technology itself.

Learn more from The New Stack around the latest in Kubernetes and its emergence as an operating system for AI: 

Kubernetes and AI: Are They a Fit?

How AI Is Pushing Kubernetes Storage Beyond Its Limits

Kubernetes and AI Are Shaping the Next Generation of Platforms

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In this episode ofThe New Stack Makers,Pete Smailsoutlines howSUSEis evolving from its Linux roots into an AI-native infrastructure platform. Speaking atKubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2026, Smails explains the company’s strategy to unify AI, containers and virtual machines on a single open, enterprise-ready foundation. Central to this isSUSE Rancher Prime, which enables consistent orchestration across hybrid and multi-cloud environments, alongsideSUSE Virtualizationfor modernizing legacy systems.

A key innovation is “Liz,” a context-aware AI agent embedded in Rancher Prime that helps engineers identify vulnerabilities, troubleshoot deployments and interact with infrastructure using natural language. Unlike generic AI tools, Liz understands real-time cluster states and uses Model Context Protocol to deliver actionable insights.

Smails emphasizes developer experience as critical to adoption, highlighting Rancher Developer Access for simplified local Kubernetes workflows. Overall, SUSE aims to deliver secure, automated infrastructure that reduces complexity while accelerating cloud-native and AI adoption.

Learn more from The New Stack around the latest around SUSE: 

SUSE Displays Enhanced Enterprise Linux at SECESSION

SUSE Launches a Sovereign Premium Support Service for EU Customers

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In this episode of The New Stack Makers, AWS developer advocate Morgan Willis demonstrates Strands Agents, an open source agentic framework with rapid adoption since its launch. Using a simple accounting API, she walks through three approaches to retrieving a customer’s latest invoice, highlighting how design choices dramatically impact efficiency. The initial method maps each API endpoint to a separate tool, requiring five chained calls and consuming about 52,000 tokens. By shifting to intent-based tools—focused on outcomes rather than individual data operations—the same task is completed in a single call using just 2,000 tokens, improving both efficiency and reasoning.

In a third iteration, tools are hosted on a remote MCP server via AWS Agent Core Gateway, with semantic search limiting the agent’s toolset to only what’s relevant per query, further reducing token usage. Willis emphasizes that narrowly scoped agents outperform general-purpose ones, delivering better speed, accuracy, and context efficiency. Designing smaller, specialized agents with tailored tools is key as tool ecosystems expand.

Learn more from The New Stack around the latest with Strands and MCP:

AWS Launches Its Take on an Open Source AI Agents SDK

What Is MCP? Game Changer or Just More Hype?

MCP’s biggest growing pains for production use will soon be solved

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Broadcom’s VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) is evolving from a turnkey infrastructure stack into a modern application platform, balancing simplicity with the flexibility demanded by Kubernetes-driven environments. AtKubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2026, Broadcom leaders highlighted how VCF is adapting to support platform engineering teams, cloud-native workloads, and large-scale operations.

A key industry shift is the return to private cloud, driven by data sovereignty concerns and the growing impact of AI. Enterprises are bringing workloads back on-premises while still expecting a cloud-like operating model. Broadcom is responding by prioritizing on-prem stability and aligning closely with open source, reflecting its strong contributions toKubernetesand related projects.

Kubernetes is no longer a bolt-on but the core control plane of VCF, enabling unified management of compute, storage, and networking through declarative APIs. At the same time, the distinction between virtual machines and containers is fading. The focus is shifting toward application-centric platforms, where developers interact through consistent abstractions, allowing infrastructure to be provisioned seamlessly behind the scenes.

Learn more from The New Stack around the latest around Broadcom: 

Broadcom ‘Doubles Down’ on Open Source, Donates Kubernetes Tool to CNCF

Why Broadcom gave Velero to the CNCF Sandbox — and what it means for Kubernetes data protection

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Broadcom continues to expand its role as a major contributor to cloud-native open source, particularly within the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) ecosystem. Its recent donation of Velero—originally developed by VMware—to the CNCF Sandbox reflects a strategic move to foster broader community trust and collaboration. By shifting governance away from vendor control, Broadcom aims to position Velero as a truly community-driven data protection standard for Kubernetes environments, encouraging wider adoption and contribution. 

At the same time, the company is reinforcing its position as a full-stack Kubernetes provider across both cloud-native and private cloud environments. Despite Kubernetes’ dominance, many organizations still struggle with its complexity. Broadcom is addressing this by focusing on lifecycle management, long-term support, and deep integration with existing infrastructure like vSphere. 

In a podcast recorded at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2026, Dilpreet Bindra emphasized that open source success comes not just from code contributions, but also from relinquishing control to empower the broader ecosystem and drive sustainable innovation. 

Learn more from The New Stack about the latest developments around Velero: 

Broadcom donates Velero to CNCF — and it could reshape how Kubernetes users handle backup and disaster recovery 

How AI Search Is Supporting Artistic Freedom 

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