Meet your Cloud Native Ambassadors (CNAs)!
Ambassadors are an extension of CNCF, furthering the mission of “making cloud native ubiquitous” through community leadership and mentorship.
Interested in becoming an ambassador? Learn more about the application process and requirements.
Get the latest news on the program by following CNCF Ambassadors on Twitter!
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CNCF Ambassadors
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Showing 34 of 154 Ambassadors
(He/Him)
Forrester Research

Aditya Soni
(He/Him)
Forrester Research
- Location: Jaipur, India
- Project Experience: Argo, cert-manager, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, ContainerSSH, CRI-O, DevSpace, DevStream, Envoy, etcd, Fluentd, Flux, gRPC, Helm, Istio, Jaeger, Knative, Kubeflow, Kuberhealthy, Kubernetes, Kubescape, Linkerd, Litmus, Open Cluster Management, OpenGitOps, OpenTelemetry, Operator Framework, Serverless Workflow, Service Mesh Interface (SMI), Service Mesh Performance
DevOps & Cloud Engineer, Public Speaker, Tech Mentor, Lead Organizer CNCG Jaipur, OpenSource & Community Contributor, AWS Community Builder, AWS Community Leader, 1 x (AWS, GCP, Azure), 6 x RedHat, CKA, KCNA certified.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: It’s been more than three years, I am being part of CNCF programs actively contributing via blogs, and public speaking on different open source DevOps/Cloud technologies at virtual and in-person events, I want to expand my learning and contribution with a wide area of peoples and uplift them with like-minded folks I can grow at the same time can share & help with my ideas to build better community bonding & culture.
(He/Him)
VMware

Amim Moises Salum Knabben
(He/Him)
VMware
- Location: Florianopolis, Brazil
- Project Experience: Antrea, Carvel, cert-manager, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, CoreDNS, Envoy, etcd, gRPC, Harbor, Helm, Istio, Jaeger, Kubeflow, Kubernetes, Open Policy Agent (OPA), OpenTelemetry, Operator Framework, Prometheus, SPIFFE
I am a Brazilian software engineer with focus on Cloud Native and Free and Open-Source Software and have been contributing to the Kubernetes community since 2020 mainly on SIG-Network and SIG-Windows initiatives. My writings and notes can be find here: http://opssec.in/.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: Is a great honor to have the opportunity on collaborate and increase the community, I am very excited to be part and advocate in favor of this big community.
(She/Her)
Boer Technology

Ananda Dwi Rahmawati
(She/Her)
Boer Technology
- Location: Yogyakarta, Indonesia
- Project Experience: Argo, Buildpacks, CDK for Kubernetes (CDK8s), cert-manager, Chaos Mesh, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, CoreDNS, CRI-O, Envoy, etcd, Falco, Fluentd, Flux, gRPC, Harbor, Helm, Istio, Jaeger, k3s, KEDA, Keptn, Knative, Konveyor, KubeArmor, Kubeflow, Kubernetes, KubeVela, KubeVirt, Litmus, LitmusChaos, Longhorn, Network Service Mesh, Open Policy Agent (OPA), Open Policy Containers, Open Service Mesh, OpenEBS, OpenELB, OpenFeature, OpenGitOps, OpenMetrics, OpenTelemetry, Porter, Prometheus, rkt, Rook, Submariner, TensorFlow, Thanos, Vitess, Volcano
Ananda Dwi Rahmawati is a Sr. Cloud Infrastructure Engineer, specializing in system integration between cloud infrastructure, CI/CD workflows, and application modernization. She is a regular technical speaker who delivers presentations using real-world case studies at several local community meetups and conferences, such as Kubernetes and OpenInfra Days Indonesia, GNOME Asia Summit, LibreOffice Conference, and many more.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: Becoming an ambassador is such a huge dream. I love to open-source and cloud-native projects, willing do more contributions and spread the spirit of open-source enthusiasts to others.
(He/Him)

Bob Killen
(He/Him)
- Location: Minneapolis, MN, United States
- Project Experience: Argo, cert-manager, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), CoreDNS, Dex, etcd, Helm, Istio, Kubeflow, Kubernetes, Open Policy Agent (OPA), OpenTelemetry, TensorFlow, Volcano
Bob is a Program Manager at the Google Open Source Programs Office with a focus on Cloud Native computing. He serves the Kubernetes project as a Steering Committee member and chair of the Contributor Experience Special Interest Group and has been involved in many other cross-cutting areas of the project. Bob comes from an academic background, spending 15 years at the University of Michigan with a later focus on computational research. He is passionate about Academic Outreach, and is an outspoken advocate of Open Source, Open Science and pets of the furry 4 legged variety.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: Just happy to be a part of the new program and help other ambassadors 🙂
(He/Him)
Basiq

Brad McCoy
(He/Him)
Basiq
- Location: Coolum Beach, Australia
- Languages: English, Spanish
- Project Experience: Artifact Hub, Backstage, Buildpacks, cert-manager, CloudEvents, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, Crossplane, Falco, Flux, gRPC, Helm, Jaeger, Keptn, Kubernetes, Open Policy Agent (OPA), OpenGitOps, OpenTelemetry, Prometheus
Brad is originally from New Zealand now working in Australia as the Head of Platform Engineering, he has been involved in the DevOps space for a long time now and serves as a board member of the Continuous Delivery Foundation. Brad is a maintainer of the Keptn project and works on the Kubernetes Release team. And is involved in mentoring in GSoC projects. His favorite projects to work on from the CNCF are GitOps, Security and Observability projects. He is helping to organize the KCD Australia and also runs a meetup in Australia.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I’m excited to be an ambassador to further help and mentor other folks coming into the cloud native space and guide them in the right direction. I’m also excited because I can continue working on the outreach of the CNCF and show organizations how they can contribute and help grow the projects and unlock innovation.
(She/Her)

Carolina Valencia
(She/Her)
- Location: Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Project Experience: Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, Falco, Helm, Kubernetes, Kubescape
Carol is an enthusiastic software developer focused on the practices of secure cloud native. She collaborates in open-source projects and contributes to the Kubernetes project. Currently residing in Sao Paulo, Brazil and collaborates with local events. In her free time, she enjoys running, playing beach tennis and watching history documentaries.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: – The opportunity to establish meaningful relationships with like-minded individuals who are interested in shared knowledge – Contributing to the community by sharing knowledge and announcements inside my local area and social media, to help us to develop ourselves. – Learning and growing together with the community, leveraging the collective knowledge and experiences of its members to foster personal development.
(He/Him)
Raft

Chad Crowell
(He/Him)
Raft
- Location: Austin, TX, United States
- Project Experience: cert-manager, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, CoreDNS, CRI-O, Crossplane, CubeFS, Envoy, etcd, Falco, Flux, gRPC, Harbor, Helm, Istio, k3s, KEDA, Kubernetes, KubeVirt, Linkerd, Longhorn, Open Policy Agent (OPA), Prometheus, Service Mesh Interface (SMI), Service Mesh Performance, Thanos, Virtual Kubelet
Chad is a DevSecOps Engineer for Raft (goraft.tech), and author of the book “Acing the Certified Kubernetes Administrator Exam”. Chad has been an instructor for over five years on platforms such as A Cloud Guru and INE. Through KubeSkills, he helps people find fun and interactive ways to learn Kubernetes.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I really enjoy helping people get involved in open source software. I have realized the power of community, in lifting others up and succeeding together, and I love to share it with others. I believe it is my duty in life to share what I’ve learned in order to make intellectual progress as a human race.
(He/Him)
PingCAP

Chao Zheng
(He/Him)
PingCAP
- Location: Santa Clara, United States
- Project Experience: Container Network Interface (CNI), CoreDNS, Crossplane, etcd, Kubernetes, OpenYurt, TiKV
Chao is a highly skilled cloud native technology professional with over 5 years of experience working on and contributing to several CNCF projects, including Kubernetes, OpenYurt, TiKV, and ChaosMesh. Chao is a passionate advocate of open source technology and regularly speak at events such as KubeCon and cloud native meetups. Additionally, Chao is a cohost and organizer of various cloud native meetups, including Cloud Native @ Scale and the Bay Area Cloud Native Infra Meetup.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I am excited to be an ambassador for a few reasons. It is a great honor to join a group of enthusiastic open source advocators who are dedicated to advancing the field of cloud native technology. Also, I find it exciting to connect with people who share my passion for this technology and can share insights and perspectives that help drive innovation. Last but not least, I am eager to use my skills, experience, and passion to contribute more to the cloud native community and help others unlock the full potential of the cloud native technology. Being an ambassador provides me with a platform to give back to the community, collaborate with individuals share same passion, and help drive the growth and adoption of cloud native technology.
JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Dio Rettori
JPMorgan Chase & Co.
- Location: Frisco, TX, United States
- Project Experience: Argo, Backstage, Buildpacks, Cilium, CloudEvents, Container Network Interface (CNI), CRI-O, Envoy, etcd, Flux, Helm, Istio, Kubernetes, Kyverno, Linkerd, Network Service Mesh, Open Policy Agent (OPA), Open Service Mesh, OpenTelemetry, OpenTracing, ORAS, Prometheus, SPIFFE, SPIRE
Executive Director at JPMorgan Chase & Co, Head of Cloud Architecture & Engineering for Asset & Wealth Management. Working with Kubernetes since 2014. Founded multiple meetups and currently involved in the North Dallas CNCF Meetup.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: My passion is growing the community by finding, creating and delivering meaningful content. I want members to feel skilled to do their work, and aware of the evolution and innovation in the space.
(He,His)
Isovalent

Duffie Cooley
(He,His)
Isovalent
- Location: San Francisco, CA, United States
- Languages: English
- Project Experience: Antrea, Cilium, CNI-Genie, Confidential Containers, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, CoreDNS, Dex, etcd, external-secrets, Helm, Kubernetes, Kubescape, KubeVirt, rkt
Duffie is a member of the CNCF Technology Oversight Committee and speaks on a number of topics ranging from Kuberenetes to security and networking.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I am excited to be an ambassador as I really enjoy helping others navigate our community. Helping them feel welcome and learning from them as we all lift each other up!
(He/Him)
Vinted

Edgaras Apsega
(He/Him)
Vinted
- Location: Vilnius, Lithuania
- Project Experience: Argo, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, CoreDNS, etcd, Falco, Harbor, Helm, Kubernetes, Prometheus
I am a passionate technologist with a focus on cloud-native technologies, particularly Kubernetes. As a co-organizer of Cloud Native Lithuania Meetup, I have helped to build a strong community of like-minded professionals where everyone is sharing their own experience. In addition to my meetup involvement, I am a speaker at technology conferences and currently work as an SRE at Vinted, where I bring my expertise in Kubernetes to help ensure the reliability and scalability of our systems.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I’m excited to be an ambassador because it enables me to connect with like-minded other ambassadors, share our knowledges and expertise and will help to educate and promote cloud-native technologies to a wider audience. The role also provides access to exclusive events and resources, as well as opportunities for professional growth and career development. Overall, being a Cloud Native Foundation Ambassador is a great way to give back to the community!
(He/Him)
Container Solutions

Emin Alemdar
(He/Him)
Container Solutions
- Location: Izmir, Turkey
- Project Experience: Argo, cert-manager, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, CoreDNS, Crossplane, Envoy, etcd, external-secrets, Falco, Flux, Harbor, Helm, Istio, Jaeger, k3s, KEDA, KubeArmor, Kubernetes, Kubescape, KubeVirt, Linkerd, LitmusChaos, Longhorn, Open Policy Agent (OPA), Prometheus, Thanos
Emin is working as a Cloud Native Engineer and has undertaken tasks such as producing solutions related to Kubernetes, Cloud technologies and Cloud Native Transformation in general, and transferring best practices about these areas. He is part of the AWS Community Builder Program within the Containers category and he is part of the HashiCorp Ambassador Program within the Open Source community. He is part of the organiser team of the official CNCF Istanbul Community Chapter (https://community.cncf.io/istanbul/). He publishes blog posts from his personal Medium page (https://medium.com/@eminalemdar) and also participates in Open Source and Cloud Native related conferences and delivers talks about these technologies. He is in the organiser team of Kubernetes Community Days Turkiye conference.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: Community activities have always been my biggest motivation throughout my career. Helping people and learning from the people by participating in community activities is extremely important for me. Cloud Native Community is really one of a kind and being part of this community is really like a dream coming true for me.
(He/Him)
Hangzhou HarmonyCloud Technology Co., Ltd

Huan Wei
(He/Him)
Hangzhou HarmonyCloud Technology Co., Ltd
- Location: Hangzhou, China
- Project Experience: Argo, cert-manager, Chaos Mesh, Chaosblade, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, CoreDNS, CRI-O, Envoy, Falco, Fluentd, gRPC, Harbor, Helm, Istio, Karmada, KEDA, Knative, KubeEdge, Kubernetes, KubeVirt, Prometheus, Volcano, WasmEdge
Huan has more than 15 years of work experience, and his current focus is cloud-native edge computing, distributed cloud, and high-performance computing. He is currently working as a Senior Technical Director at HarmonyCloud, a company located in Hangzhou, China, providing leading cloud-native products and solutions for hundreds of enterprise customers, including Kubernetes, PaaS, edge computing, micro service visibility, DevOps, etc. In addition, Huan serves as a Technical Steering Committe member of the CNCF edge computing project KubeEdge. Huan is an open source technology enthusiast and is currently committed to building an open source technology ecosystem in China.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: The company I work for, HarmonyCloud, is an influential cloud native tehnology supplier in China and a long-term partner of CNCF. HarmonyCloud has helped many customers around the world complete the transformation of cloud-native technology. At the same time, I am currently working as a TSC member in the CNCF Project KubeEdge community, responsible for leading several SIG teams and working with other TSC members towards the graduation of the KubeEdge project. Over the years, I have also given speeches at conferences organized by CNCF. Therefore, I am familiar with the operation process of CNCF projects and understand the job responsibilities of CNCF ambassadors. If I become an ambassador, I will promote the maturity and promotion of Kubernetes, KubeEdge and more open source projects, and help users around the world to apply these advanced and open source cloud-native tenologies.
(He/Him)
SIGHUP

Jacopo Nardiello
(He/Him)
SIGHUP
- Location: Milano, Italy
- Project Experience: Argo, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), CoreDNS, CRI-O, etcd, Helm, Kubernetes, Kuma, Open Policy Agent (OPA), Prometheus
Founder at SIGHUP, I have been involved with Kubernetes and the CNCF since its inception in 2015. I am passionate about Kubernetes and full lifecycle management of production-grade infrastructures, open standards and currently serving in the advisory board of Linux Foundation Europe.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I’m thrilled to continue supporting the CNCF, both as a community of like-minded individuals and as a technological ecosystem. My mission is to encourage organizations to adopt open source projects as a foundation for the evolution of their infrastructure and governance, promoting the use of OSS and Open Standards.
(He/Him)
DiveInto

James Spurin
(He/Him)
DiveInto
- Location: London, United Kingdom
- Project Experience: Argo, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, etcd, Istio, k3s, KEDA, Knative, Kubernetes, KubeVirt, NATS
With over 25 years of experience, James Spurin is an industry veteran skilled in various technical fields and adept at leading Engineering teams in top-tier Financial Services organisations. He now focuses on creating online courses and Technical Educational Content in areas such as DevOps, Kubernetes, and Cloud Native, incorporating hands-on learning experiences through container-based lab environments and has reached over 100,000 students globally. As a CNCF Ambassador, James actively advocates for Container and Cloud Native knowledge, education, and Kubernetes-based orchestration. His company, DiveInto, champions Cloud Native and consistently shares fresh content on its YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/DiveInto James has also established an inclusive community dedicated to Cloud Native learning, which can be accessed at https://community.diveinto.com
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I am excited to be a CNCF Ambassador as it aligns perfectly with my passion for creating technical educational content on Cloud Native/Kubernetes whilst also Giving Back, a core-principle of the CNCF. The role supports me in more actively engaging with a diverse global community, enabling me to learn from others whilst also sharing my own knowledge and expertise. As an Ambassador, I will contribute to thought leadership in the cloud native space and hope to provide an instrumental role in fostering a culture of knowledge sharing, learning and innovation. Throughout this journey, I am also eager to support and encourage others in pursuing CNCF Cloud Native certifications – an endeavour I am both passionate about and an advocate for. Overall, being a CNCF Ambassador is a highly rewarding and fulfilling experience that allows me to give back to the community while staying updated on the latest developments in the field.
(He/Him)

Jim Angel
(He/Him)
- Location: Austin, TX, United States
- Languages: English
- Project Experience: Argo, Buildpacks, cert-manager, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, CoreDNS, Dex, Dragonfly, Envoy, etcd, external-secrets, Falco, Harbor, Helm, Istio, Knative, ko, Kubeflow, Kubernetes, metal3-io, Open Policy Agent (OPA), Prometheus, Tinkerbell
I’m Jim Angel. I love solving problems and working with incredible people! I’m primarily involved with upstream Kubernetes (SIG-Release and SIG-Docs). Currently working on restarting our local Austin meetup and a Texas KCD. You can follow my latest projects at jimangel.io
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: It’s awesome to get to know so many great people and work with leading technology that’s responsible for changing multiple industries. The community that keeps Kubernetes open and welcome is a special thing, and I hope to maintain such standards myself. I also enjoy helping connect the folks using open source tooling with the resources they need to be successful, and being an ambassador keeps me connected.
(She/Her)
Admincontrol

Kristina Devochko
(She/Her)
Admincontrol
- Location: Oslo, Norway
- Languages: English, Norwegian, Russian, Ukrainian
- Project Experience: Argo, cert-manager, Chaos Mesh, Container Network Interface (CNI), Dapr, Helm, Kubernetes, Kubescape, Open Policy Agent (OPA), Prometheus
A techie from Norway who loves preaching about all things cloud native, Kubernetes, green tech and cats. I am working as a Software Architect, am a Microsoft Azure MVP and CNCF ambassador. Co-Host at Kubernetes Unpacked podcast, owner of kristhecodingunicorn.com tech blog, co-organizer and board member at NNUG Oslo, Cloud Native and Kubernetes Oslo, DEVREAL Oslo and Cloud Native Norway community groups. Community Advocate at StreamingClouds and Mentor at GirlCode and WomenTech Network.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I love giving back to the tech community and I hope that my actions and contributions can inspire others to create software with sustainability, security and cloud native principles in mind. Another important goal for me is to contribute to even stronger diversity, equality and inclusion in the cloud native space by creating a non-judgemental, open, safe and welcoming space for everyone. By being an ambassador I can focus even more on doing just that! I’m also very excited to meet all the fantastic ambassadors and members of the cloud native community and collaborate on making a positive impact in the CNCF space together 🙂
(He/Him)
Civo

Kunal Kushwaha
(He/Him)
Civo
- Location: London, UK
- Project Experience: Argo, Buildpacks, cert-manager, Chaos Mesh, Cilium, CloudEvents, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, ContainerSSH, CoreDNS, Cortex, Crossplane, Dapr, DevSpace, Envoy, Falco, Fluentd, Flux, gRPC, Harbor, Helm, Istio, Jaeger, k3s, KEDA, Keptn, Knative, KubeEdge, Kubeflow, Kubernetes, Kubescape, KubeVela, KubeVirt, Kyverno, Linkerd, Litmus, LitmusChaos, Meshery, Open Policy Agent (OPA), OpenCost, OpenEBS, OpenFunction, OpenGitOps, OpenTelemetry, OpenTracing, Operator Framework, Prometheus, Rook, SPIFFE, TensorFlow, Thanos, Vitess
Kunal is empowering communities via open-source and education. He finds passion in teaching and has taught thousands of folks online and in person. He is a developer relations manager at Civo, CNCF Ambassador, TEDx speaker and a GitHub Star. He is the founder of WeMakeDevs and also started the official Cloud Native Student Community group joined by thousands of folks, focussed on getting more young people involved in the ecosystem. In the past he has been a track chair of the KubeCon + CloudNativeCon, Major League Hacking Coach and a Google Summer of Code mentor with Red Hat. YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/KunalKushwaha Blog: https://blog.wemakedevs.org Community: https://wemakedevs.org
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I am a strong believer in the importance of diversity and inclusion, particularly in the field of cloud native technology. My goal has always been to facilitate the learning and onboarding process for individuals interested in this ecosystem. Therefore, I believe that becoming a CNCF Ambassador would be a significant step towards achieving this objective.
(He/Him)

Lucas Käldström
(He/Him)
- Location: Helsinki, Finland
- Project Experience: cert-manager, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, CoreDNS, CRI-O, etcd, Flux, gRPC, Helm, Jaeger, Kubernetes, OpenGitOps, OpenMetrics, OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, The Update Framework (TUF)
Lucas is an independent cloud native expert, former Kubernetes SIG co-lead, an avid KubeCon speaker, and one of the organizers of the CNCF meetups in Finland. Primary expertise include Kubernetes, GitOps and educating cloud native concepts.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I’ve had the fortune to learn from world-class cloud native leaders, and I want to pay it forward by organizing, speaking at and participating in cloud native events. In addition, I’m excited to make the cloud native concepts more tangible through my research.
(He/Him)
KGPCo

Mars Toktonaliev
(He/Him)
KGPCo
- Location: Dallas, TX, United States
- Project Experience: Container Network Interface (CNI), etcd, Helm, k3s, Kubernetes, Prometheus
Mars is a telecom engineer with ~20 years of experience. He’s a co-organizer of Dallas Kubernetes meetup group and is active at #sig-contribex, helping with Kubernetes Contributor Summits. In the past he’s also been part of KubeCon Program Committee and helped develop some of CNCF exams (KCNA, CKAD, PCA etc).
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: There’s a famous quote by William Gibson: “The future is already here — it’s just not very evenly distributed”. Well, I hope to help distribute it.
(He/Him)
Liquid Reply

Max Körbächer
(He/Him)
Liquid Reply
- Location: Munich, Germany
- Project Experience: Argo, cert-manager, Cilium, Cloud Custodian, Confidential Containers, Container Network Interface (CNI), Crossplane, Dapr, Envoy, etcd, Falco, Helm, Keptn, KubeEdge, Kubernetes, Kyverno, Linkerd, Longhorn, Open Policy Agent (OPA), OpenCost, OpenFeature, OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Service Mesh Interface (SMI), wasmCloud, WasmEdge, WasmEdge Runtime
Max is Co-Founder and Cloud Native Advocate at Liquid Reply. He is Co-Chair of the CNCF Environmental Sustainability Technical Advisory Group and served 3 years at the Kubernetes release team. His focus is on designing and building cloud-native solutions on/with Kubernetes anywhere and the platform engineering to simplify the current challenges of complex systems. He runs the Munich Kubernetes Meetup as well as the Munich and Ukraine Kubernetes Community Days.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: Being an ambassador is a sign that working with the community and being part of the community is a high value, empowering anyone to join and be part of it. And as ambassadors, we are potentially the enabler to guide people but also motivate others to share their experiences to create a synergy. I’m also excited to meet other ambassadors in person and maybe create new ideas and events.
(He/Him)
EscherCloudAI

Nick Jones
(He/Him)
EscherCloudAI
- Location: Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Project Experience: Argo, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, CoreDNS, etcd, Fluentd, Helm, k3s, KUDO, Lima, Longhorn, Open Policy Agent (OPA), Submariner
Serial meetup organiser, including Cloud Native and Kubernetes Edinburgh, CNK Manchester, as well as larger events such as Kubernetes Community Days UK. Currently employed as Head of Cloud Native and Platform Engineering at EscherCloudAI, helping to build a next-generation managed Kubernetes service tailored for AI workloads backed by a sustainable approach to running infrastructure. Passionate about new technology, but simultaneously romantic about the old with a penchant for decrepit Silicon Graphics and Sun Microsystems hardware. Sporadically blogs at https://dischord.org
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: As a CNCF Ambassador, I’m really excited about formalising the ability to build bridges across the CNCF ecosystem, helping communities collaborate and support each other in their Cloud Native journey. I look forward to being able to leverage the resources and support provided by the CNCF to bring the best to the community events that I’m a part of.
(He/Him)
Desotech

Nicola Marco Decandia
(He/Him)
Desotech
- Location: Altamura, Italy
- Project Experience: Antrea, Carvel, CDK for Kubernetes (CDK8s), cert-manager, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, Contour, CoreDNS, Dex, Envoy, etcd, Falco, Fluentd, Flux, Harbor, Helm, Istio, Jaeger, k3s, KEDA, Kubernetes, Kyverno, Longhorn, Notary, Open Policy Agent (OPA), OpenEBS, OpenELB, rkt, Rook, Vitess
I am a seasoned cloud-native professional with over 20 years of experience in the industry, specializing in Kubernetes, containerization, and DevOps practices. As the founder and organizer of the Bari and Matera CNCF Cloud-Native Meetup, I have fostered a strong local community committed to sharing knowledge and best practices. My technical expertise spans across multiple CNCF projects, including Prometheus, Envoy, and Helm. I regularly share my insights and experiences on my blog at www.tanzu.eu, where I explore emerging trends and innovative solutions in the cloud-native ecosystem. Passionate about continuous learning and collaboration, I am excited to contribute to the community as a CNCF Ambassador.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I am thrilled to be an Ambassador because it allows me to actively contribute to the growth and development of the cloud-native ecosystem, which I am truly passionate about. This role provides a unique platform to engage with a diverse and talented community, enabling the exchange of knowledge and ideas that drive innovation. Furthermore, being an Ambassador presents the opportunity to mentor and inspire others while learning from the collective experiences of fellow professionals. It is an honor to serve as a bridge between the CNCF and the broader community, fostering collaboration and mutual support.
(He/Him)
VMware

Orlin Vasilev
(He/Him)
VMware
- Location: Sofia, Bulgaria
- Project Experience: Argo, Artifact Hub, Carvel, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, Contour, Crossplane, Dragonfly, Envoy, etcd, Harbor, Helm, Knative, Kubernetes, Linkerd, Notary, Open Policy Agent (OPA), Prometheus
Orlin Vasilev aka Orlix is a Senior Community Manager and Engineer(maybe a Dev Rel or even kind a Dev Advocate) at VMware running the communities and maintainer for Project Harbor and Velero. CNCF Ambassador v1 and driving the biggest Meetup Group ~1300 members in Bulgaria. Multiple times KubeCon CfP review board member and co-chair. SysAdmin/Dev/SRE/System engineering roles for over 15 years! Located in Bulgaria, Europe! Father of two – a fantastic girl and a boy! Passionate snowboarder, DIY and semi-professional BBQ Pitmaster and baker!
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: Being ambassador makes your part of the most fantastic crowd in the Tech World these days. As Ambassador v1 allowed me to drive the meetup and many other local activities with universities and helping put people in general with Cloud Native technologies.
(He/Him)
Split Software

Pablo Fredrikson
(He/Him)
Split Software
- Location: Mendoza, Argentina
- Languages: English, Spanish
- Project Experience: Argo, cert-manager, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, Dragonfly, etcd, Fluentd, Helm, k3s, Knative, Kubernetes, Prometheus, Telepresence, Thanos
Professional Nerd, SRE and Content Creator. Love advocating for Open-Source and container technologies. I’ve been running a YouTube channel where I share and teach the technologies and good practices I use every day as an SRE.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I love teaching and helping people to become better engineers. I love everything open source and what it stands for, knowledge must be shared and everyone should have the opportunity to become better at their jobs.
(He/Him)
Innablr

Prateek Nayak
(He/Him)
Innablr
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Project Experience: Argo, Artifact Hub, Buildpacks, CDK for Kubernetes (CDK8s), cert-manager, Chaos Mesh, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, Contour, CoreDNS, Cortex, CRI-O, Crossplane, Envoy, Falco, Fluentd, Flux, gRPC, Helm, Istio, Jaeger, Knative, Kubescape, Kubewarden, Kured, Linkerd, Litmus, LitmusChaos, Notary, Open Policy Agent (OPA), OpenCost, OpenEBS, OpenTelemetry, OpenTracing, Operator Framework, Pixie, Prometheus, SPIFFE, Thanos, Virtual Kubelet
I’m the Chief Technology Officer at Innablr, a top cloud engineering and platform consultancy in Melbourne. My role involves setting the technology direction for Innablr and guiding our clients through their transformation journey. I’ve been fortunate to work with some big companies in Melbourne, where I’ve helped them modernise their tech stacks with cloud native platforms that deliver applications quickly and securely. I started out as a developer and gradually transitioned to cloud engineering and DevOps. I’m really enthusiastic about the Kubernetes ecosystem and even co-organise the Melbourne Kubernetes User Group. We have recently started the Cloud Sustainability User Group Australia / New Zealand to build the comunity around the topic of sustainability.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I’m thrilled about becoming a CNCF Ambassador because it would serve as validation for the work I’ve done building the Melbourne Kubernetes community over the past few years. As an ambassador, I will have the opportunity to amplify my efforts and further expand the community.
(He/Him)
AccuKnox

Rahul Jadhav
(He/Him)
AccuKnox
- Location: Bangalore, India
- Project Experience: Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), Falco, in-toto, k3s, KubeArmor, Kubescape, Kyverno, SPIFFE, SPIRE
An avid coder, a systems engineer working on solutions involving security and performance optimizations of cloud-native technologies. He runs a Kubernetes Cloud Native Security Bangalore Meetup and has been working closely with IETF Standards working groups. Taken several projects from conception to market and is an active maintainer for CNCF Sandbox project, “KubeArmor” and the lead author for IoT simulation framework “Whitefield”. He co founded Accuknox where they are enabling runtime, zero-trust security by leveraging Linux-LSM/eBPF based security for k8s and containerized/cloud-native workloads.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: Connecting to community and engaging at events, meeting new people, talking about cloud native technologies is something that I cherish. It is always great to be an ambassador of the community whose motto and modus operandi is something that I believe in. One specific goal that I would like to achieve is to establish a security focussed community locally by understanding activities that were undertaken at CNCF wide initiatives.
(He/Him)
kubernetes@.com

Ramesh Kumar
(He/Him)
kubernetes@.com
- Location: Sacramento, United States
- Project Experience: Argo, cert-manager, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), CoreDNS, Crossplane, Emissary-ingress, Envoy, etcd, Falco, Fluentd, Flux, gRPC, Helm, Istio, Jaeger, k3s, Kubernetes, Kubescape, KubeVirt, Lima, Linkerd, Network Service Mesh, Open Cluster Management, Open Policy Agent (OPA), Open Policy Containers, Open Service Mesh, OpenCost, OpenEBS, OpenELB, OpenGitOps, OpenMetrics, OpenTelemetry, OpenTracing, Service Mesh Interface (SMI), Service Mesh Performance, Virtual Kubelet, Vitess
I’m Ramesh Kumar, a passionate advocate of cloud-native technologies and a dedicated mentor. I am the founder and organizer of the CNCF/Kubernetes Sacramento Meetup and CNCF/Kubernetes Penang Meetup, where I empower and support over 500 students in obtaining Kubernetes certifications, helping them enhance their lives and careers. My specialties lie in mentoring, teaching, and training, and I take pride in my ability to inspire and guide others in their learning journey. Through my meetups and expertise in CNCF technologies, I strive to build a more inclusive and innovative tech community, one act of kindness at a time. I also maintain a blog where I share my knowledge and insights with the broader tech community.
(He/Him)
Isovalent

Raphaël Pinson
(He/Him)
Isovalent
- Location: Lausanne, Switzerland
- Project Experience: Argo, cert-manager, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), Falco, Flux, Helm, k3s, Kubernetes, Open Policy Agent (OPA), OpenTracing, Prometheus
Raphaël Pinson is a seasoned Solutions Architect with over 15 years of experience in the tech industry. He specializes in Kubernetes, Terraform, and Cilium, and currently works at Isovalent. Raphaël is passionate about bridging the gap between DevOps and Cloud Native communities, and he’s excited to represent CNCF as a co-organizer of the Swiss Romandie (Lausanne chapter) CNCF meetup and regular speaker at industry events. Raphaël has contributed to various CNCF projects. His public work can be found at https://polywork.com/raphink.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I’m thrilled to become a CNCF ambassador because it allows me to expand my impact and bring Cloud Native technology to a wider audience. By representing CNCF and bridging the gap between Cloud Native and other communities, I hope to further advance our industry’s growth and adoption. It’s an honor to be part of a community of talented and passionate advocates who are driving innovation and making a difference in the tech world.
(He/Him)
Amesto Fortytwo

Roberth Strand
(He/Him)
Amesto Fortytwo
- Location: Oslo, Norway
- Project Experience: Argo, Backstage, cert-manager, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), CoreDNS, Dapr, Envoy, external-secrets, Fluentd, Flux, gRPC, Helm, k3s, KEDA, Keptn, Knative, Kubernetes, Kured, Linkerd, Open Policy Agent (OPA), Open Service Mesh, OpenGitOps, Operator Framework, Prometheus, Service Mesh Interface (SMI), Thanos
I am a self-proclaimed “cloud automator”, and works primarily with Microsoft Azure infrastructure, Platform Engineering, DevOps and Cloud Native technology. I am a Microsoft MVP for my work with Azure, and an HashiCorp Ambassador primarily for my work with Terraform. Furthermore, I am active in the CNCF, OpenSSF and several open source communities and projects. I initiated Cloud Native Norway, a non-profit that works to build up and enable Cloud Native adoption and development in Norway. I also co-founded the Azure Cloud Native User Group, and founded the Norwegian PowerShell User Group. In the CNCF, I have been active for years in TAG App Delivery, and currently serves as a maintainer on the OpenGitOps project, and as co-chair of the Platforms Working Group.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: For many years, the CNCF has continued to impress me. The way that the foundation has supported the community and the projects is truly admirable. Even though I have other honorary titles, the CNCF Ambassador title is one that I value very much. While I don’t do community work for the titles, I am happy for the recognition. I have big plans for my work in the CNCF, and I look forward to seeing how the ambassador program will help me achieve more for the community.
Sessionize: https://sessionize.com/roberth-strand
(He/Him)
Nordcloud, an IBM company

Robin Smorenburg
(He/Him)
Nordcloud, an IBM company
- Location: Almere, Netherlands
- Project Experience: Argo, Backstage, Buildpacks, cert-manager, Chaos Mesh, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, CoreDNS, CRI-O, Crossplane, Envoy, etcd, Falco, Fluentd, Flux, gRPC, Helm, Istio, Jaeger, KEDA, Knative, KubeArmor, Kubernetes, Linkerd, Open Policy Agent (OPA), Open Service Mesh, OpenTelemetry, Prometheus
Hello! I’m Robin Smorenburg, a passionate technologist with an eye for detail who turned his passion for technology into a career. Throughout my career, I’ve become a respected thought leader in the industry, sharing my knowledge and expertise with others, being recognized by Microsoft, and receiving the Microsoft Most Valuable Professional or MVP Award in the Azure category. With Kevin Evans, I run the StreamingClouds live stream, where we engage with inspiring individuals—our industry’s thought leaders—spreading positivity and sharing their knowledge and advice. And the StreamingClouds Community is a safe place where we’re helping each other, supported by a fantastic group of moderators we can call friends.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I’m really excited about joining the CNCF on the mission of “making cloud native ubiquitous”. Enhancing my efforts of leading by example, inspiring and helping as many people as possible while being open and inclusive, and treating everyone with the utmost respect. Making a difference through community building and mentoring, impacting the lives of others, leveling the playing field, and fostering community collaboration and relationships. And last but not least, the technologist in me loves cloud-native!
(He/Him)
Kasten by Veeam

Sylvain Huguet
(He/Him)
Kasten by Veeam
- Location: Paris, France
- Project Experience: cert-manager, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, CRI-O, Dex, Emissary-ingress, Envoy, etcd, Falco, Fluentd, Harbor, Helm, Istio, k3s, K8up, Kubernetes, KubeVirt, Kyverno, Longhorn, Open Policy Agent (OPA), OpenEBS, OpenTelemetry, OpenTracing, Operator Framework, Prometheus, Rook, WasmEdge
KCD France Organizer & Director of Technical Product Management at Kasten by Veeam, I specialize in all things Cloud Native, obviously Kubernetes, but also Storage, Network, Compute, Observability, Security, Infrastructure, etc. From datacenters to applications, from business to operations, I enjoy talking about every aspect of our connected world.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I’m excited to represent the CNCF as an Ambassador to help others find their path through Cloud Native technologies and get started in the space. There is a technology for everyone, and there is a space for everyone, no matter to skill level, no matter you interest. If you don’t know where to start, come talk to me, I’ll be happy to get you oriented!
(He/Him)
Merico, Inc.

Tiexin Guo
(He/Him)
Merico, Inc.
- Location: Chengdu, China
- Project Experience: Argo, Backstage, cert-manager, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), DevStream, external-secrets, Falco, Flux, Helm, Istio, Kubernetes, Linkerd, NATS, Open Policy Agent (OPA), Prometheus
Founder and PMC chair of DevStream@CNCF, ex-AWS senior DevOps, ex-Huawei tech expert, cloud architect for Daimler, Tesco, Credit Suisse, and other Fortune 500 corps. Writer at DevOps.com, guest expert at GitGuardian (DevSecOps), blog@Medium: https://medium.com/4th-coffee. Key speaker at the 1st Lisbon K8s meetup. Keynote speaker of BuildStuff 2022. I specialize in DevOps and cloud-related technologies, like CI/CD, developer tools, Terraform, AWS, etc., and I blog on DevOps/DevSecOps.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I am truly excited and honored to be an ambassador for the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF). This opportunity allows me to contribute to the promotion and adoption of cutting-edge cloud-native technologies, which play a crucial role in shaping the future of software development and infrastructure. Being an ambassador also connects me with a vibrant, passionate community of professionals who share insights and experiences, fostering collaboration and innovation. I am genuinely grateful for this chance to learn from others and help drive the industry forward, making a meaningful impact on the cloud-native ecosystem.
(He/Him)
Flomesh(DaLian YiHeng KeJi YouXian GongSi)

Xiaohui Zhang
(He/Him)
Flomesh(DaLian YiHeng KeJi YouXian GongSi)
- Location: Guangzhou, China
- Project Experience: Argo, Buildpacks, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), Dapr, Harbor, Helm, Istio, k3s, Karmada, Knative, Kubernetes, Open Service Mesh, OpenTelemetry, OpenTracing, Prometheus, Service Mesh Interface (SMI)
Senior cloud native architect and evangelist at Flomesh. I am a seasoned programmer, LF APAC open source evangelist, CNCF Ambassador, member of the cloud native community committee(China local) and Microsoft Azure MVP. With many years of microservice and infrastructure practice experience, mainly involving microservices, containers, Kubernetes, DevOps, etc. In the past there years, I organize two meetups in Guangzhou and Service Mesh Conference in Shanghai together with community members. In the coming April 15, I will organize KCD in Dalian with other community members. I own a Chinese blog https://atbug.com and start writing on Medium https://addozhang.medium.com.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: Being a CNCF ambassador is a recognition of my involvement in open source and cloud-native technology promotion over the past few years. After becoming a CNCF ambassador, I can better promote CNCF technology and organize more in-person and virtual events. At the same time, I can also receive more support from CNCF.