Can you make Kubernetes invisible? Here's why AWS is on a mission to do it.
In this episode ofThe New Stack Makers, Jesse Butler, principal product manager for AWS Elastic Kubernetes Service, shares his vision for simplifying cloud-native computing. Since joining AWS in 2020, Butler has focused on making Kubernetes easier to use, emphasizing open-source as a democratizing force. He highlights the role of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) in standardizing and governing open ecosystems while balancing community-driven innovation with commercial contributions.
Butler describes Kubernetes as widely adopted—used in production by around 80% of enterprises—yet still overly complex. His goal is to make it “invisible,” much like Linux, by abstracting and consolidating services. He points to projects like Karpenter, which enables real-time node provisioning for efficient scaling; Kro, which simplifies resource orchestration; and Cedar, a flexible policy engine for fine-grained authorization.
He underscores the importance of open-source contributors, noting their critical yet often underappreciated role. Looking ahead, Butler envisions a future where automation and human collaboration further enhance usability and innovation in open-source software.
Learn more from The New Stack about the latest around AWS Elastic Kubernetes Service
2026 Will Be the Year of Agentic Workloads in Production on Amazon EKS
Amazon EKS Auto Mode wants to end Kubernetes toil — one node at a time
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Kubernetes GPU Management Just Got a Major Upgrade
Nvidia Distinguished Engineer Kevin Klues noted that low-level systems work is invisible when done well and highly visible when it fails — a dynamic that frames current Kubernetes innovations for AI. At KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2025, Klues and AWS product manager Jesse Butler discussed two emerging capabilities: dynamic resource allocation (DRA) and a new workload abstraction designed for sophisticated AI scheduling.
DRA, now generally available in Kubernetes 1.34, fixes long-standing limitations in GPU requests. Instead of simply asking for a number of GPUs, users can specify types and configurations. Modeled after persistent volumes, DRA allows any specialized hardware to be exposed through standardized interfaces, enabling vendors to deliver custom device drivers cleanly. Butler called it one of the most elegant designs in Kubernetes.
Yet complex AI workloads require more coordination. A forthcoming workload abstraction, debuting in Kubernetes 1.35, will let users define pod groups with strict scheduling and topology rules — ensuring multi-node jobs start fully or not at all. Klues emphasized that this abstraction will shape Kubernetes’ AI trajectory for the next decade and encouraged community involvement.
Learn more from The New Stack about dynamic resource allocation:
Kubernetes Primer: Dynamic Resource Allocation (DRA) for GPU Workloads
Kubernetes v1.34 Introduces Benefits but Also New Blind Spots
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How Kubernetes Became the New Linux
Major banks once built their own Linux kernels because no distributions existed, but today commercial distros — and Kubernetes — are universal. At KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America, AWS’s Jesse Butler noted that Kubernetes has reached the same maturity Linux once did: organizations no longer build bespoke control planes but rely on shared standards. That shift influences how AWS contributes to open source, emphasizing community-wide solutions rather than AWS-specific products.
Butler highlighted two AWS EKS projects donated to Kubernetes SIGs: KRO and Karpenter. KRO addresses the proliferation of custom controllers that emerged once CRDs made everything representable as Kubernetes resources. By generating CRDs and microcontrollers from simple YAML schemas, KRO transforms “glue code” into an automated service within Kubernetes itself. Karpenter tackles the limits of traditional autoscaling by delivering just-in-time, cost-optimized node provisioning with a flexible, intuitive API. Both projects embody AWS’s evolving philosophy: building features that serve the entire Kubernetes ecosystem as it matures into a true enterprise standard.
Learn more from The New Stack about the latest in Kube Resource Orchestrator and Karpenter:
Migrating From Cluster Autoscaler to Karpenter v0.32
How Amazon EKS Auto Mode Simplifies Kubernetes Cluster Management (Part 1)
Kubernetes Gets a New Resource Orchestrator in the Form of Kro
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The Kro Project: Giving Kubernetes Users What They Want
In a rare show of collaboration, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft have joined forces on Kro — the Kubernetes Resource Orchestrator — an open source, cloud-agnostic tool designed to simplify custom resource orchestration in Kubernetes. Announced during KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe, Kro was born from strong customer demand for a Kubernetes-native solution that works across cloud providers without vendor lock-in. Nic Slattery, Product Manager at Google and Jesse Butler, Principal Product Manager, AWS shared with The New Stack that unlike many enterprise products, Kro didn’t stem from top-down strategy but from consistent customer "pull" experienced by all three companies. It aims to reduce complexity by allowing platform teams to offer simplified interfaces to developers, enabling resource requests without needing deep service-specific knowledge. Kro also represents a unique cross-company collaboration, driven by a shared mission and open source values. Though still in its alpha stage, the project has already attracted 57 contributors in just seven months. The team is now focused on refining core features and preparing for a production-ready release — all while maintaining a narrowly scoped, community-first approach.
Learn more from The New Stack about KRO:
One Mighty kro; One Giant Leap for Kubernetes Resource Orchestration
Kubernetes Gets a New Resource Orchestrator in the Form of Kro
Orchestrate Cloud Native Workloads With Kro and Kubernetes
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Kubernetes Resource Orchestrator (KRO), with Jesse Butler and Nic Slattery
Today we welcome Jesse Butler and Nic Slattery to talk about the Kubernetes Resource Orchestrator, or KRO. Jesse works as a principal product manager at AWS and Nic is a Product Manager at Google. The Kubernetes Resource Orchestrator is a new cloud agnostic tool meant to simplify Kubernetes resources for devs and platform admins.
Do you have something cool to share? Some questions? Let us know:
- web: kubernetespodcast.com
- mail: kubernetespodcast@google.com
- twitter: @kubernetespod
- bluesky: @kubernetespodcast.com
News of the week Kubernetes JobSets: An open-source API for managing distributed jobs as a single unit. Integrates with Kueue for better resource utilization.
Kubernetes Blog: Introducing JobSet
Kueue Project
Google Cloud Next '24: Happening in Las Vegas, April 9-11. The Kubernetes Podcast team will be there!
Google Cloud Next
Kagent: A new open-source AI agent framework built on Microsoft's Autogen, designed for automating operations and troubleshooting in Kubernetes.
kagent.dev
Links from the interview Kubernetes Resource Orchestrator (KRO)
KRO Announcement Blogs
Google Cloud Blog- Simplify the developer experience on Kubernetes with KRO
AWS Open Source Blog - Introducing kro: Kube Resource Orchestrator
AWS Open Source Blog - Kube Resource Orchestrator, From Experiment to Community Project
Reddit thread - anyone tried kro for kubernetes resource management yet?
The New Stack: Kubernetes Gets a New Resource Orchestrator in the Form of Kro
InfoQ: Cloud Giants Collaborate on New Kubernetes Resource Management Tool
CRD (Custom Resource Definition): Kubernetes CRDs - A mechanism within Kubernetes to extend the API.
Knative: Knative.dev - A Kubernetes-based platform for building serverless applications.
Terraform: Terraform.io - Infrastructure as code software.
Helm: Helm.sh - A package manager for Kubernetes.
KPT (Kubernetes Package Tool): KPT - A tool for packaging and managing Kubernetes configurations.
Crossplane: cncf.io/projects/crossplane - An open-source project for managing cloud resources through Kubernetes.
Common Expression Language (CEL): cel.dev - A powerful expression language.
kubebuilder: kubebuilder on GitHub - A framework to build Kubernetes controllers, details available in Kubernetes documentation.
