Cloud Native Theater

Thank you for your interest in the Cloud Native Theater, hosted in the Solutions Showcase at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Europe 2026!

Join Cloud Native University, Data on Kubernetes Day, EnvoyCon, Istio Day and KubeVirt Summit as they bring together core cloud native communities to offer everything from foundational learning to advanced technical insights. Covering service meshes, high-performance proxies, Kubernetes virtualization, and data/AI workloads, these events deliver a focused, real-world look at today’s cloud native landscape.

Included in KubeCon + CloudNativeCon pass, no additional registration is required.

The CNCF ecosystem is massive—and if it’s your first time at KubeCon and your first steps into the cloud native world, it can feel overwhelming. Even seasoned attendees often realize they’ve missed foundational concepts along the way. That’s where Cloud Native University comes in.

This Cloud Native Theater primer is your launchpad into the cloud native universe. You’ll get grounded in the key technologies, core concepts, and welcoming community that make up the CNCF and its ever-growing landscape.

Whether you’re brand new to cloud native, a first-time KubeCon attendee, or both—Cloud Native University will help you build the context, confidence, and connections to make the most of your KubeCon experience and long-term journey in this space.

What to Expect:

• A friendly, approachable introduction to cloud native technologies and the CNCF Landscape.
• Stories and lessons from community members who’ve been exactly where you are
• Tips for navigating your first KubeCon (what not to miss!)
• Time to meet peers, mentors, and future collaborators.

Start strong. Stay grounded. Go cloud native. Join us at Cloud Native University—your essential first step into the community.

This event is all about real-world experience—no product pitches, just meaningful conversations, collaboration, and innovation within the Envoy open-source ecosystem.

What to expect:

• Discover Envoy Proxy’s powerful capabilities for high-performance proxying and extensibility.
• Explore Envoy Gateway, a Kubernetes-native control plane that simplifies working with Envoy Proxy.
• Learn how Envoy is evolving to handle modern AI traffic and what’s next for the community.

Open-sourced in 2016 and a CNCF graduated project since 2017, Envoy powers diverse deployment models, including edge proxies, service mesh sidecars, and load balancing.

Join us for engaging talks and case studies, and connect directly with maintainers, community leaders, and adopters. Let’s build the future of Envoy—together!

Data on Kubernetes Day is where the industry convenes to share cutting-edge practices, explore architectural innovations, and showcase the next wave of DoK use cases—from AI/ML optimization to Database-as-a-Service and real-time, edge-driven systems.

• DoK Application Development: Building data-heavy apps for AI/ML, vector search, streaming, and analytics, with a focus on performance and efficiency.
• DoK Emerging & Advanced: New concepts, technologies, and proofs of concept—edge, real-time, storage acceleration, GPU optimization, and next-gen architectures.
• DoK Day 2: Operational excellence across the full lifecycle: performance tuning, cost optimization, governance, security, and automation.
• DoK Use Cases & Best Practices: Real-world stories and learnings from running data and AI/ML workloads on Kubernetes in production.