While running apps on bare metal is more traditional, deploying programs using containers provides loads of benefits. And for keeping track of all those containers, Kubernetes (known as K8s in shorthand) is an extremely popular open-source management platform. It's scalable, extensible, and portable.
Because containerization allows for agile app deployment, continuous development, and continuous integration, as well as more efficient resource allocation, containers have seen wider adoption—even for app modernization projects. Accordingly, Kubernetes provides many benefits for container management, including load balancing, automated rollbacks, and storage orchestration.
Whether you're just learning Kubernetes or are a seasoned container buff, you'll want to have the right resources available, such as tutorials and monitoring tools. This also includes following the right people on Twitter. Here are the top Kubernetes experts to follow for leveling up your container management knowledge.
Saad Ali
Software engineer, Google
As a software engineer with Google, Ali works on Kubernetes. He serves as a member of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation's technical oversight committee and is the co-creator of the Container Storage Interface (CSI). Ali is a seasoned conference speaker who delivers intriguing talks on topics such as Kubernetes design principles at conferences including KubeCon.
Chris Aniszczyk
CTO, Cloud Native Computing Foundation
As the CTO of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) and the vice president of developer relations at the Linux Foundation, Aniszczyk is an open-source champion. He shares his passion for various open-source projects including Kubernetes with his over 15,000 Twitter followers. If you're looking for Kubernetes news, KubeCon updates, and more, Aniszczyk is a go-to source.
Stephen Augustus
Head of open source, Cisco
Augustus is a KubeCon chair as well as co-founder of the Inclusive Naming Initiative, which seeks to remove racist and harmful language from open-source and closed-source projects alike. Augustus contributes to the Kubernetes community as the co-founder of the Kubernetes Enhancements Proposal, in his roles as chair for Kubernetes special interest group releases and as a chair of KubeCon.
Ahmet Balkan
Engineer, Google Cloud
Balkan created Kubectx, an open-source set of power tools for Kubernetes that allow for quickly switching between namespaces and clusters in kubectl, a command-line tool for running commands against Kubernetes clusters. Additionally, Balkan developed Krew, a kubectl plugin manager. Balkan frequently weighs in on topics such as the Google Kubernetes Engine's new Autopilot cluster, and on serverless technologies including Google's Cloud Run.
Joe Beda
Principal engineer, VMware
Beda helped start the Kubernetes project, founded Google Container Engine, and was the CTO and founder of Hepito. He remains at the forefront of containerization in his role at VMware. Beda interacts with his 40,000-plus Twitter followers about Kubernetes, and hosts the TGIK Kubernetes-focused live stream on Fridays at 1 pm PDT.
Frederic Brancyzk
Founder and CEO, Polar Insights
Brancyzk has an impressive resume that includes roles with Red Hat and CoreOS, a container-focused Linux operating system. He provides loads of Kubernetes thoughts on his regularly updated Twitter feed, including personal anecdotes and real-world use cases.
Brendan Burns
Co-founder, Kubernetes
Who better to follow in your Kubernetes journey than a Kubernetes co-founder? Burns frequently shares Kubernetes and Microsoft Azure resources with his 44,000+ Twitter followers. From webinars to recommended books and job postings, Burns is a veritable treasure trove of Kubernetes material.
Jorge Castro
Community manager, arrkito.com; director of community, unusual.vc
Castro's spectacular resume includes Ubuntu, Canonical, VMware, and Kubernetes; he is a fount of Kubernetes knowledge. Castro is particularly passionate about Kubeflow, a project that allows machine-learning (ML) workflows in Kubernetes. He regularly hosts Kubernetes office hours. Drop him a follow for cool container and Linux content.
Lili Cosic
Principal software engineer, Red Hat
In addition to her day job, Cosic is a kube-state-metrics project maintainer. She shares her vast expertise on Twitter with tutorials on subjects including K8s news, serverless, cloud, and using open-source service monitoring systems such as Prometheus in pipelines on Kubernetes.
Jessica Deen
Senior cloud advocate, Microsoft
Deen is a Cloud Native Computing Foundation ambassador, with a natural fervor for serverless architecture, open-source software, and, quite appropriately, Kubernetes. He can be found giving presentations on K8s, explaining container technology, and synthesizing other complicated technical topics.
Alex Ellis
Founder, OpenFaaS and Inlets
Ellis is a Cloud Native Computing Foundation ambassador and Kubernetes guru. He founded OpenFaaS, which is designed to simplify working with Kubernetes. His Twitter feed is chock-full of how-to's on topics including running K3s, a Kubernetes distribution, on the Raspberry Pi.
Bret Fisher
CEO, Core Enable
If you want to learn about virtualization, containers, and Kubernetes, Fisher is a fantastic resource. A DevOps sysadmin, Fisher is the creator of several Docker and Kubernetes courses. The renowned educator and consultant shares plenty of tips, tricks, and hot takes about containers, serverless architecture, and especially Kubernetes with his over 9,000 Twitter followers.
Jay Gordon
Cloud advocate, Microsoft Azure
Gordon is extremely knowledgeable about Kubernetes. His Twitter feed is populated with everything from updates on current projects such as trying to add MongoDB to Kubernetes clusters to hosting chats about containers and Kubernetes with industry heavyweights such as K8s co-founder Brendan Burns.
Brian Grant
Distinguished software engineer, Google
Grant is a co-technical lead of Google Kubernetes Engine, a Kubernetes steering committee member, co-chair of Kubernetes SIG architecture, and a Cloud Native Computing Foundation technical oversight committee member. Accordingly, Grant remains at the forefront of all things Kubernetes. He often shares insightful tweets on Kubernetes about technical capabilities, new features, and more.
Kelsey Hightower
Staff developer advocate, Google Cloud
The multi-talented Hightower is an absolute must-follow. An open-source advocate, Hightower shares his expertise about Kubernetes through talks on subjects such as the evolution of Kubernetes or exploring Google Kubernetes Engine, as well as in O'Reilly publications. He's an exceptional speaker, container guru, and overall tech wizard. Join Hightower's over 123,000 Twitter followers to enjoy his Kubernetes and container content.
Tim Hockin
Principal software engineer, Google Cloud
Hockin is a Kubernetes expert. He shares loads of container and Kubernetes resources, from blog posts and technical tips to product release announcements, with his more than 21,600 Twitter followers. In particular, Hockin is a go-to for Google Kubernetes Engine information.
Bilgin Ibryam
Product manager, Red Hat
Open-source enthusiast Ibryam is the author of the outstanding book Kubernetes Patterns, which explores reusable elements for designing cloud-native apps. Ibryam often blogs about open-source software, Kubernetes, and container topics.
Vic Iglesias
Senior product manager, Google Cloud
Iglesias concentrates on developer experience. Iglesias shares his thoughts and expertise by tweeting blog posts about the evolution of Kubernetes, discussing the Google development tool Skaffold, and more. Additionally, he puts his considerable experience to use for tutorials and talks to better the community.
Vallery Lancey
Software/reliability engineer, Apple
Lancey is a self-professed mad scientist building stuff. Notably, Lancey is a Kubernetes contributor and KubeCon contributor who shares her neat experiments, such as tinkering with CPU clock speeds on Kubernetes. Tune in to her Twitter feed for a slew of thought-provoking tweets on Kubernetes.
Michelle Noorali
Software engineer, Microsoft
Noorali is a distributed systems specialist who works on cloud computing and more, specifically with Kubernetes on the Azure Cloud Native Compute team. Noorali provides helpful insight into containerization and cloud computing including Kubernetes resources. Become one of her 15,000-plus Twitter followers for thought-provoking tech talk.
Kris Nova
Senior principal software engineer, Twilio
Kubernetes maintainer Nova is the creator of kubicorn, an excellent Kubernetes infrastructure management tool. In addition to being a Kubernetes fanatic, Nova is a Linux lover. She's the author of Cloud Native Infrastructure, which provides tons of resources for developing apps. Join her Twitter followers for Kubernetes tips, tricks, and hot takes.
Nigel Poulton
Owner, NigelPoulton.com; tech video creator, Pluralsight
For newcomers, Kubernetes can be a bit tricky, but educator extraordinaire Poulton seeks to change that. Author of the superb books Quick Start Kubernetes and the aptly titled The Kubernetes Book, Poulton delivers so-called weapons-grade Kubernetes training through a variety of media, including blog posts, live-streams, and conference talks. Follow Poulton to enjoy a bevy of thought-provoking Kubernetes conversations.
Liz Rice
Chief open-source officer, Isovalent
KubeCon emeritus chair Rice is a fantastic source for container chats. Author of the informative and educational book Container Security, Rice spreads her Kubernetes knowledge through a variety of sources, including talks on topics such as using the Hubble observability tool to gain visibility into Kubernetes. Join Rice's 18,000-plus Twitter followers for creative Kubernetes discussions.
Elton Stoneman
Consultant and trainer
Stoneman is a terrific teacher about Kubernetes and Docker. The Docker captain and Microsoft Azure MVP is the author of several books as well as training courses on various topics including Kubernetes. His book Learn Kubernetes in a Month of Lunches is a fantastic, easy-to-follow explanation of complex topics. Stoneman shares Kubernetes resource roundups regularly on his lively Twitter feed.
Priyanka Vergadia
Developer advocate, Google Cloud
Vergadia tweets about serverless infrastructure and the advantages of Kubernetes. From sharing blog posts about the benefits of Google Kubernetes Engine to evangelizing Google Cloud's set of tools, Vergadia breaks down complex technical topics into easily digestible content on her Twitter feed.
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