Second annual Japanese event to spotlight AI, observability, platform engineering and more

Key Highlights:

The Cloud Native Computing Foundation announced the full conference schedule for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Japan 2026, featuring six tracks on artificial intelligence, observability, platform engineering, and more.The program focuses on standardizing the cloud native stack to deliver the reliability and scale required for the global artificial intelligence (AI) economy.The event targets developers, technologists, and enterprises across the Japanese and cloud native landscape looking to scale operations and modernize their technology infrastructure.The event is scheduled for July 29-30, 2026, at PACIFICO Yokohama, with standard registration open until Tuesday, June 16, 2026.YOKOHAMA, Japan, May 13, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The Cloud Native Computing Foundation® (CNCF®), which builds sustainable ecosystems for cloud native software, today announced the conference sessions for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Japan 2026. The event, scheduled for July 29-30, 2026, in Yokohama, will bring together adopters and technologists from leading open source and cloud native communities.

Following a sold-out debut last year, the event program aims to assist companies in further scaling their operations. This initiative leverages the momentum of the 69% of Japanese firms that indicated they gained more business value through open source as cited in the Linux Foundation's The State of Open Source Japan 2025 study.

"Japan's year-over-year growth in open source investment is a clear signal that enterprises here are ready to tackle the greatest opportunity in technology today," said Jonathan Bryce, executive director, CNCF. "Inference is rapidly becoming the largest compute use case in human history, which is why 66% of organizations already use Kubernetes as the operating system for AI. This community is perfectly positioned to standardize this stack and deliver the reliability and scale the global AI economy now requires."

The event will feature keynotes, sessions, lightning talks, and breakout discussions covering the top open source cloud native technologies underpinning artificial intelligence (AI), observability, platform engineering, operations, and security.

Highlights at KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Japan 2026 include:

AI + ML

Recognizing AI as a primary open source technology in Japan, this track explores how cloud native approaches further support AI innovation to manage GPUs, orchestrate workloads, and support emerging architectures like AI agents.

Session Highlight: Architecting Secure Agentic Workflows on Kubernetes: A Financial Sector Case Study - Vincent Caldeira & Morgan Foster, Red Hat

View the full AI + ML track here.

Cloud Native Novice

This track is designed for organizations aiming to modernize their tech stacks and minimize vendor lock-in by delivering foundational computer science concepts.

Session Highlight: I Tested 7 So You Only Need 1: Your First Gateway API Migration in 5 Minutes - Hoon Jo, Megazone

View the full Cloud Native Novice track here.

Observability

This track covers system observability, including logs, metrics, and tracing, essential for ensuring reliability in distributed systems.

Session Highlight: Designing for High-cardinality Metrics - Walther Lee & Aleksandr Krivoshchekov, Reddit

View the full Observability track here.

Operations + Performance

This track is designed for organizations prioritizing professional support for mission-critical open source workloads. It focuses on providing the operational rigor necessary for managing high-stakes environments.

Session Highlight: Sustainability by Design: Leveraging DRA for Energy-Efficient Kubernetes Clusters - Sunyanan Choochotkaew, IBM Research & Faseela Kundattil, Ericsson

View the full Operations + Performance track here.

Platform Engineering

As platform engineering continues to address the governance gap, this track presents how teams are building internal platforms for self-service infrastructure, complexity management, and support for emerging AI workloads.

Session Highlight: OCI is not Git: Rethinking the GitOps Source of Truth for a Kubernetes-Native World - Michael Crenshaw, Intuit & Robin Lieb, Independent

View the full Platform Engineering track here.

Security

This track explores evolving security posture through automated testing and direct dependency evaluation to overcome IP and security concerns.

Session Highlight: SBOMit: Making SBOMs Accurate with Attestations - Marco De Vincenzi & Justin Cappos, NYU

View the full Security track here.

To view the full schedule for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Japan 2026, visit: https://events.linuxfoundation.org/kubecon-cloudnativecon-japan/program/schedule.

Dan Kohn Scholarship Program

The Dan Kohn Scholarship program offers registration and travel funding scholarships for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Japan. Application deadlines:

Scholarship application deadline: June 22  (23:59 PM PDT / 23 June, 15:59 PM JST)Travel Funding application deadline: May 31, 23:59 PM PDT / 1 June, 15:59 PM JST)Registration

Standard registration for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Japan is available until Tuesday, June 16, 23:59 PM JST.

Sponsorships

KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Japan is made possible with support from our sponsors.

Companies interested in sponsoring KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Japan should submit a request to [email protected]. Signed contracts are due Friday, June 19. View the sponsorship prospectus.

Additional Resources

CNCF NewsletterCNCF on XLearn About CNCF MembershipLearn About the CNCF End User CommunityAbout Cloud Native Computing Foundation

Cloud native computing empowers organizations to build and run scalable applications with an open-source software stack across public, private, and hybrid clouds. The CNCF hosts critical components of global technology infrastructure, including Kubernetes, Prometheus, and Envoy, bringing together top developers, end users, and vendors. Supported by nearly 800 members, including the world's largest technology companies and over 200 innovative startups, CNCF is part of the nonprofit Linux Foundation. For more information, visit www.cncf.io.

Media Contact

Kaitlin Thornhill

The Linux Foundation

[email protected]

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SOURCE The Linux Foundation