Last week, I had the opportunity to join tens of thousands of tech industry leaders and influencers at a conference in Salt Lake City that most in our industry have probably never heard of. The future—and more importantly, the present—was on full display for fellow nerds, geeks, and aspiring billionaires to observe, absorb, and share.
The event was KubeCon + CloudNativeComputingCon, a title that rolls off the tongue almost as easily as it rolls into obscurity at your next dinner party. Picture a classic industry conference with breakout sessions, keynotes, and ten acres of trade-show booths, but here’s the twist: it was all about software—specifically, software related to Kubernetes.
Now, you might be thinking, “Kube-what?” If this technology doesn’t ring a bell, don’t worry; it might not even be something your kids are familiar with (but maybe you should Google it…wink, wink).
A Who’s Who of Tech Giants
The planet’s most valuable companies were there in full force: NVIDIA, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet (Google), and Meta (formerly Facebook). Pause for a moment and take that in. Those six companies represent 1-6 of the highest valuations in the world. Other notable names included Broadcom, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP, Intel, AMD, Adobe, Dell, and, of course, IBM. It was like the Oscars of the tech world, minus the glitz, glam, and questionable speeches.
A Mission of Reconnaissance
As part of my role as a “media sponsor and observer” through a strategic alliance with AutomatedBuildings, I embarked on a reconnaissance mission. The goal? Dive into an unfamiliar world of techie geekdom and return with a handful of observations that might impact or potentially disrupt the peace and tranquillity of our world of buildings.
Mission accomplished! However, summarizing the experience in a single blog post is akin to trying to explain quantum physics in 140 characters. So, over the next couple of months leading up to AHR in Orlando, I’ll be sharing a series of reviews and previews of how CNCF, Kubernetes, and Linux-based technologies will influence our industry.
Major Observations to Explore
Here are a few major observations I’ll dig into in future posts:
- Transformative Impact: Kubernetes, CNCF, and Linux are reshaping every aspect of the global economy. Businesses across various sectors are being reinvented through software that leverages these powerful tools.
- A New Workforce Mindset: The workforce of the future thinks differently about value creation. Building moats and walls is out; collaboration and leveraging community-driven efforts are in. Yes, this was a recurring theme at a tech event, proving that even the most code-heavy conference knows how to have a good chat about teamwork.
- Cross-Industry Applications: The tools and tech being built and deployed in telecom, banking, transportation, retail, data centers, manufacturing, distribution, and agriculture hold incredible potential for our world of buildings. Imagine smart buildings that know when to turn on the lights just by sensing when you walk in (no more fumbling for the switch in the dark)!
- Standards and Support: The Coalition for Smarter Buildings (C4SB.org) intends to introduce standards, specifications, solution “blueprints,” open-source code, and support for our industry—all tightly aligned with the Linux Foundation.
A Memorable Takeaway
I’ll close with one of the most impactful statements from the keynote stage. Aparna Sinha, SVP and Head of AI at CapitalOne, shared her journey from Google to CapitalOne, stating that the “what’s in your wallet” folks see themselves as a “tech company that just happens to operate in the banking sector.” She added, “and of course, if you consider yourself a tech company, you are obviously aggressively adopting open-source technologies based on Kubernetes.”
So, the next time someone asks you about Kubernetes, you can confidently nod and say, “Ah yes, the future of tech!” And maybe, just maybe, you’ll be the one to explain it as people gather around at the next holiday party.
https://events.linuxfoundation.org/kubecon-cloudnativecon-north-america
