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.
Get the latest news on the program by following CNCF Ambassadors on Twitter!
Interested in becoming an Ambassador?
Recent Ambassador News
Charting new territory: OpenTelemetry embraces profiling
April 11, 2024CNCF Ambassadors
Browse Geographically
Filter the Full List
Showing 14 of 210 Ambassadors
(He/Him)
Kubespaces.io
Alessandro Vozza
(He/Him)
Kubespaces.io
- Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Project Experience: Argo, Backstage, Brigade, Cilium, CoreDNS, Crossplane, Dapr, DevSpace, Istio, Kubernetes, Linkerd, Merbridge, Open Policy Agent (OPA), Open Service Mesh, OpenGitOps, OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Thanos
Community leader and CNCF ambassador, Alessandro has spent the last few years building cloud native infrastructures for Microsoft customers, animating the Dutch community, and training others to pass the CKx exams. He has passion for all things cloud native, he’s been around open source for 25 years and recently founded a startup that offers innovative Namespaces-as-a-service for developers. Twitter handle: @bongo
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: Because I was before and it was awesome!
(He/Him)
Linkall Inc
Jie Ding
(He/Him)
Linkall Inc
- Location: Beijing, China
- Project Experience: CloudEvents, Dapr
As a former middleware developer, I encouraged my company to move a part of our business to a Kubernetes environment. This gave me the opportunity to explore cloud native projects like Knative, KEDA, and Dapr, which I integrated into our projects to better embrace the cloud native ecosystem. Furthermore, I’ve contributed to various CNCF projects and participated in TAG works. Now, I’m in charge of reviewing translations for the CloudEvents Specification and promote CE in China. Also, I organized several local CloudEvents Meetups to share experiences among CE adopters in China. And I used to organzie Apache RocketMQ Meetup in Beijing.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: To begin with, I’ve learned a lot from CNCF projects and I’m eager to share these insights with other OSS enthusiasts by promoting CNCF. Furthermore, with my transition from a developer to the Director of OSS Community Strategy, becoming a CNCF ambassador allows me to gain a deeper understanding of CNCF, which will be invaluable in achieving my top priority this year: assisting my company in joining CNCF and submitting our latest project for the CNCF sandbox.
(He/Him)
Josh Gavant
(He/Him)
- Location: Chicago, United States
- Project Experience: Argo, Artifact Hub, Backstage, Buildpacks, Carvel, CDK for Kubernetes (CDK8s), cert-manager, CloudEvents, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, CoreDNS, CRI-O, Crossplane, Dapr, Devfile, Dex, Distribution, Envoy, etcd, Flux, gRPC, Helm, Jaeger, KEDA, Keptn, Knative, Konveyor, Kubeflow, Kubernetes, KubeVela, KubeVirt, KUDO, Kyverno, Open Cluster Management, Open Policy Agent (OPA), OpenGitOps, OpenTelemetry, Operator Framework, ORAS, Porter, Prometheus, Rook, sealer, SPIFFE, SPIRE, Strimzi, Thanos, zot
Josh is passionate about enabling project builders and end users to succeed with cloud computing. He’s a solution architect for Red Hat and leader of CNCF’s TAG App Delivery and WG Platforms. He also leads the CNCF Chicago community group and other Chicago-area groups. Check out Josh’s blog at https://blog.joshgav.com/!
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I’m thrilled to continue enabling beginners and experts alike to make the most of cloud computing! As an ambassador I’ll be even more empowered to educate and support Chicago-area developers in our local communities. I’m looking forward to sharing knowledge myself, but most of all I’m looking forward to enabling people in my communities to share their knowledge with each other!
(She/Her)
Tietoevry, Public 360° unit
Kristina Devochko
(She/Her)
Tietoevry, Public 360° unit
- Location: Oslo, Norway
- Languages: English, Norwegian, Russian, Ukrainian
- Project Experience: Argo, cert-manager, Chaos Mesh, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), Dapr, Helm, k3s, KEDA, Kepler, Kubernetes, Kubescape, Linkerd, Open Policy Agent (OPA), OpenCost, OpenTelemetry, Prometheus
Kristina Devochko is a platform engineer, tech content creator, speaker and tech community contributor based in Norway. She focuses on all things cloud native, Kubernetes, cloud security and green tech. Kristina is an owner of kristhecodingunicorn.com tech blog, a CNCF Ambassador, Microsoft Azure MVP, CNCF TAG Environmental Sustainability tech lead, Kubernetes Unpacked podcast host, co-organizer of multiple meetup groups and mentor. In her free time Kristina enjoys doing CTF challenges, reading and cuddling with her four cats.
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, cert-manager, Cilium, containerd, Dapr, DevSpace, Helm, k3s, Knative, Kubeflow, Kubernetes, Kubescape, KubeVirt, Open Policy Agent (OPA), OpenCost, Prometheus, Thanos
Kunal Kushwaha is a Developer Relations Manager at Civo, where he fosters a deep connection between developers and innovative cloud-native technologies. With a passion for empowering others, Kunal has taught thousands online and consulted numerous companies on their DevOps journey. Recognized as a community leader, he has delivered keynote speeches at global conferences, embodying empathy in all aspects of his work and life.
(He/Him)
LAB3
Lachlan White
(He/Him)
LAB3
- Location: Melbourne, Australia
- Project Experience: Argo, Backstage, Dapr, Fluid, Helm, Istio, k3s, KEDA, Kubernetes, Open Policy Agent (OPA), OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Virtual Kubelet
Working as the CTO of LAB3, one of the fastest growing Microsoft Partners in the Southern Hemisphere, with a focus on leveraging Cloud-Native solutions for enterprise and regulated clients. Large background in the use of IaC especially Terraform and ways of working in the ANZ region. Extremely fortunate to run both the Melbourne and Brisbane HashiCorp User Group (Meetup)
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I can’t wait to connect with some of the most active and intelligent ambassadors for the CNCF space and learn from them
(He/Him)
Liquid Reply
Leonard Pahlke
(He/Him)
Liquid Reply
- Location: Hamburg, Germany
- Project Experience: Argo, Backstage, Buildpacks, CloudEvents, CoreDNS, Crossplane, Dapr, Envoy, gRPC, Helm, Kubernetes, Lima, NATS, OpenFeature, OpenTelemetry, Prometheus
Hey, my name is Leonard Pahlke, and I am a software engineer with a focus on cloud, open source and sustainability. I like to build systems that tend to get big and complex. I post regularly on the CNCF blog and my own website lvsp.io. I am a CNCF Ambassador, Chair for the CNCF TAG Environmental Sustainability, lead the Kubernetes release team for v1.26 and organize meetups in Hamburg.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I love the cloud and the infinite variety and complexity of systems that can be built on it. The CNCF truly makes cloud-native applications accessible to anyone and any platform. The open source spirit fascinates and inspires me. Serving as a ambassador the community is a great honor.
(He/Him)
Mauricio Salatino
(He/Him)
- Location: London, United Kingdom
- Project Experience: Argo, Backstage, Buildpacks, CloudEvents, Crossplane, Dapr, Helm, Istio, KEDA, Keptn, Knative, Kubeflow, Kubernetes, KubeVela, OpenFeature, OpenFunction, Operator Framework
I am an Open Source Software Engineer at @Diagrid, contributing to and driving initiatives for the Dapr OSS project. I also serve as a Steering Committee member for the Knative Project, and I am Co-Leading the Knative Functions initiative. I’ve been writing on my blog, salaboy.com for over 15 years and I just published a book titled Platform Engineering on Kubernetes for Manning. I previously worked at VMware and Red Hat, building tools to help developers be more productive.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I’ve been working on Cloud Native and CNCF communities for over seven years now, and I’ve been constantly trying to give back and connect people who share the same interests around open source projects. Being an ambassador allows me to expand my network to keep connecting, mentoring, and guiding community members to grow.
(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 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)
Sopra Steria
Roberth Strand
(He/Him)
Sopra Steria
- Location: Oslo, Norway
- Languages: English, Norwegian
- 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)
Microsoft
Tom Kerkhove
(He/Him)
Microsoft
- Location: Bruges, Belgium
- Project Experience: Artifact Hub, CloudEvents, Dapr, Helm, KEDA, OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Service Mesh Interface (SMI), Virtual Kubelet
Tom is a Senior Software Engineer at Microsoft working on Azure API Management, leading Azure API Management’s future to allow customers to build API ecosystems in a hybrid and multi-cloud landscape with its self-hosted gateway and Azure Arc. He has been working in the cloud-native space for 5+ years. Autoscaling is in his DNA and is one of the active maintainers of Kubernetes Event-Driven Autoscaling (KEDA), a CNCF Incubation project that makes application autoscaling on Kubernetes dead simple. It is scaling big enterprises such as Zapier, Reddit, FedEx, Alibaba Cloud, and many others. You can find him around on GitHub maintaining KEDA, Promitor & Azure Deprecation. He turns coffee into scalable & secure cloud systems and writes about his adventures on blog.tomkerkhove.be.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: I love to work with the community to build a better cloud-native community and make it easy for everyone to use it and contribute back.
(He/Him)
Viktor Farcic
(He/Him)
- Location: Barcelona, Spain
- Project Experience: Argo, Buildpacks, CDK for Kubernetes (CDK8s), Cilium, Crossplane, Dapr, DevSpace, Falco, Flux, Harbor, Helm, KEDA, Knative, KubeArmor, Kubernetes, Kubescape, KubeVela, KubeVirt, Kyverno, OpenFunction, OpenGitOps, Pixie, Prometheus, SchemaHero, Teller
Viktor Farcic is a lead rapscallion at Upbound and a published author. He is a host of the YouTube channel DevOps Toolkit and a co-host of DevOps Paradox.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: Viktor Farcic is excited to join the CNCF Ambassadors program because he believes in the power of open source software to transform the world. He is passionate about helping others learn about and adopt CNCF technologies, and he is eager to contribute to the CNCF community in new and innovative ways. Viktor is also excited to be part of a team of dedicated and talented individuals who are working to make the world a better place through open source software.
(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.
(He/Him)
Xunzhuo Liu
(He/Him)
- Location: Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China
- Project Experience: Aeraki Mesh, BFE, Chaos Mesh, Cilium, Container Network Interface (CNI), containerd, Contour, CoreDNS, Dapr, Emissary-ingress, Envoy, etcd, gRPC, Harbor, Helm, Istio, Kubernetes, KubeVela, Linkerd, Merbridge, Meshery, OpenTelemetry, Prometheus, Thanos
I am a software engineer at Tencent Cloud Mesh team, specializing in the cloud-native field with a focus on Service Mesh and API Gateway technologies. I am an active contributor to the open-source community and currently maintain several CNCF projects, including Envoy, Istio, Aeraki-Mesh, and Merbridge. I had the honor of attending as a speaker at KubeCon 2023 Shanghai and am the founder of the Envoy Gateway China community, where I strive to build connections in the open-source realm. In my spare time, I share my knowledge through blog posts on www.liuxunzhuo.com and also work on recording video tutorials, with a passion for helping others and promoting cloud-native technologies.
Why I am excited to be an ambassador: As an ambassador, I am thrilled about the opportunity to further engage with the cloud-native community and contribute to its growth and development. I am excited to share my knowledge and experience in CNCF technologies, and help others understand and adopt these technologies. Being an ambassador also allows me to learn from others, stay updated with the latest trends, and continuously improve my skills. Moreover, I am passionate about promoting open-source culture and believe that being an ambassador will provide a great platform to do so. Lastly, I look forward to fostering connections and collaborations within the community, which I believe is the essence of the open-source movement.