CNCF 2025 Report: 10 Signals Cloud Native is Entering a New Era
- It's the standard operating model for modern software and increasingly the foundation for artificial intelligence.
- The CNCF Annual Cloud Native Survey report,based on a September 2025 survey of 628 professionals,details how teams are building,deploying,and managing platforms at scale.
- The focus is now on maturing implementations and maximizing value.
Cloud Native is Now the Baseline for Modern software
Cloud native is no longer an experimental approach. It’s the standard operating model for modern software and increasingly the foundation for artificial intelligence.
The CNCF Annual Cloud Native Survey report,based on a September 2025 survey of 628 professionals,details how teams are building,deploying,and managing platforms at scale. The data confirms Kubernetes is solidifying its position in production, containers are becoming more widespread, and gitops is transitioning from a beneficial practice to a sign of maturity. The report also highlights challenges-particularly around culture, skills, and security-as well as new pressures from generative AI and the need for sustainable open source practices. Priorities are changing quickly.
Here are ten key takeaways from the report:
1) Cloud Native is Now the Default
Cloud native adoption has reached 98% of organizations. The focus is now on maturing implementations and maximizing value.
Cloud Native adoption
CNCF
2) Kubernetes is the Standard for Containers
In 2025, 82% of container users are running Kubernetes in production, up from 66% in 2023. This indicates Kubernetes is now a core platform for most teams.