Building Scalable, Secure and High-Performant Platforms with Kubernetes
Cloud-Native Specialist | Homelabber at Heart | Always Learning & Building
[email protected] // Co Durham, UK
Experienced Platform Engineer with over a decade of experience in infrastructure automation and platform design, including 8+ years of deep expertise in architecting and operating Kubernetes across cloud and on-premises environments. Focused on infrastructure as code at scale, using Terraform to build robust environments that accelerate delivery and reduce drift. Demonstrated thought leadership through presentations at industry conferences (e.g., KubeCon, ArgoCon), sharing insights on Kubernetes cost optimisation and platform reliability, and actively contributed to open-source community tools. Eager to leverage unique technical skills and leadership abilities to drive success in future platforms, ensuring high-quality services and rapid delivery in a fast-paced environment.
On 12 June 2024, Becky Pauley and I presented “Cost Confessions: Tales of Overspending and Redemption” at Fusion Meetup.
The session offered a vendor-agnostic approach to controlling Kubernetes cloud spend. We covered cost visibility, resource right-sizing, appropriate use of discounts and the practical pitfalls that can turn an apparently efficient platform into an expensive one.
Bringing the talk to a local engineering community created space for direct questions and discussion, reinforcing the value of meetups as a feedback loop between shared experience and day-to-day practice.
I presented at Yorkshire DevOps to an audience of over 60 attendees, focusing on the evolution and features of Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE). The session covered GKE's history and highlighted its powerful capabilities, including AutoPilot, Release Channels, and essential add-ons such as Backups, Istio, Config-Connector, Ingress Controller, Secrets, and IAM Integration.
The presentation aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of GKE's strengths and its role in modern cloud-native architectures. Engaging with attendees at Yorkshire DevOps reinforced my commitment to sharing knowledge and promoting best practices in Kubernetes and cloud infrastructure management.
I presented alongside a colleague at KubeCon NA on “Kubernetes Confessions: Tales of Overspending and Redemption”, addressing critical challenges in cloud cost management. Our session attracted over 360 RSVPS, including attendees from notable organisations such as Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and HashiCorp. This experience highlighted our ability to provide actionable insights and engage a diverse audience within the Kubernetes community.
Our talk provided a vendor-agnostic approach to managing Kubernetes cloud spend efficiently, emphasising best practices and open-source tools. Key topics included gaining visibility into cloud and Kubernetes expenditures, right-sizing resources, leveraging discounts, and preemptively avoiding common pitfalls.
The positive reception from attendees reinforced our reputation as knowledgeable speakers in the Kubernetes ecosystem, We are known for delivering practical solutions and fostering continuous improvement within cloud infrastructure management.
In 2023, I had the privilege of delivering my inaugural large-scale conference talk, “How to Avoid a Kubernetes Doom Loop,” at a prominent tech event. This lightning talk recounted a critical incident involving a Kubernetes cluster managing 16K Argo Workflows across 165 nodes, highlighting the risks of automation misconfiguration and emphasising the criticality of adhering to Cloud Reliability Engineering (CRE) best practices.
The talk attracted over 280 RSVPS, indicating substantial interest in the topic within the Kubernetes community and marking a successful debut on the conference speaking circuit. This experience underscored the importance of proactive maintenance and adherence to best practices in ensuring the stability and reliability of cloud-native infrastructures.