Kubernetes Is No Longer Number One — The REAL 2025 Cloud Native Report (CNCF x SlashData)

Finding Number One: Backend won#

56% of backend developers are now cloud native.

In absolute numbers, that’s 15.6 million cloud-native developers, and 9.3 million of them are backend.

Why does this matter? Because backend teams carry the weight for APIs, observability, microservices, CI/CD, and service ownership.

If you’re building a platform, build it for backend and DevOps — not for “everyone in general”.

Backend + DevOps is the new core of the cloud-native community.

Finding Number Two: AI is not that cloud native#

You might expect AI/ML to be all-in on the cloud and GPUs — but only 41% of ML/AI professionals are cloud native.

One big reason, according to the report, is the heavy use of MLaaS — managed services that abstract away the underlying infrastructure.

AI models keep scaling, but the classic DevOps discipline — logs, versioning, deployments — often lags behind.

For DevOps, SREs, and Platform Engineers, that’s a huge window of opportunity: bring proper engineering hygiene into MLOps — real pipelines, versioned environments, logs, and managed clusters.

Finding Number Three: What’s really being used#

The most widely used cloud-native technologies are not exotic at all. They’re very down-to-earth:

• API gateways — 50%
• Microservices — 46%
• Kubernetes — 28%
• Observability — 28%

Observability (28%) has now caught up to Kubernetes (28%). “Just running it” is no longer enough — everyone understands you have to see what’s going on, too.

And then there’s service mesh: 8%. Eight percent. The hype made it sound like 80.

So the world isn’t living in “service mesh everywhere”. It’s living in:

just give me a solid gateway, logs, and orchestration.

If you’re building a product for DevOps, aim for this reality — not for super-exotic architectures almost nobody runs.

What to do with this data#

If you’re an architect, a DevOps team lead, or building a platform, here’s what this report is really telling you:

• Go backend- and DevOps-first. These two groups are the most cloud-native in the report. This is where you bring IDPs, artifact repositories, and policy-as-code.

• Support hybrid. 30% of all developers are on hybrid cloud, 23% are multi-cloud. Your networking, secrets, and observability need to span everything, not just a single provider.

• Bring ML teams up to code. If you have ML folks in-house, give them the same level of engineering hygiene as your production teams: versioned environments, pipelines, logs, clusters, and proper deployments.

• Don’t over-engineer. The mainstream stack is this combo: API gateways, microservices, Kubernetes, plus observability — not some universal service mesh everywhere. This is a mature, understandable stack where you can actually ship and make money.

Final verdict#

Cloud native is now mainstream for backend and DevOps — and AI is just playing catch-up.

How does this look in your company or team? Do these numbers match your reality, or is your stack going in a different direction?

Share your experience in the comments — I’m genuinely curious to see how this data maps to real life.

Tools I Personally Trust#

If you’re building things, breaking things, or just trying to keep your digital life a little calmer - these are tools I actually use every day:

🛸 Proton VPN (60% off link) - my invisible cloak online. It secures your Wi-Fi, hides your IP, and blocks trackers - even on the sketchiest café Wi-Fi.

🔑 Proton Pass (50% off link) - my password vault. On-device encryption for logins, 2FA, and notes - all mine and only mine.

🦑 GitKraken Pro (50% off link) - my visual Git sidekick. Gorgeous commit graph, painless merges, and fewer “what just broke?” moments.

💖 These links give you sweet discounts - and help support DevOps.Pink at no extra cost. Thanks a ton!

Social Channels#

🎬 YouTube
🐦 X (Twitter)
🎨 Instagram
🐘 Mastodon
🧵 Threads
🎸 Facebook
🦋 Bluesky
🎥 TikTok
💻 LinkedIn
📣 daily.dev Squad
✈️ Telegram
🐈 GitHub

Community of IT Experts#

👾 Discord

Refill My Coffee Supplies#

💖 PayPal
🏆 Patreon
🥤 BuyMeaCoffee
🍪 Ko-fi
⚡ Telegram Boost

Is this content AI-generated?

Absolutely not! Every article is written by me, driven by a genuine passion for Docker and backed by decades of experience in IT. I do use AI tools to polish grammar and enhance clarity, but the ideas, strategies, and technical insights are entirely my own. While this might occasionally trigger AI detection tools, rest assured—the knowledge and experience behind the content are 100% real and personal.