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TAG Developer Experience Chair Nomination
Following the TAG Reboot Timeline, we are opening nominations for (3) Chairs for TAG Developer Experience. If this interests you, please review the information on TAG governance and responsibilities in the TAG Governance doc and the draft charter for the TAG. Then, if you're still interested - please post your bio below and confirm your interest in running for chair.
Election timeline: May 19: Nominations close for new TAG Chairs May 19: TOC Vote opens for new TAG Chairs June 2: TOC Vote closes for new TAG Chairs June 2: Newly seated TAG Chairs announced
NOTE: Timeline is subject to change; check the TAG Reboot Timeline issue for the most up-to-date information.
Once the initial leads are seated, we'll work on refining the charters and really get things going. :)
Links: TAG Restructuring Presentation - Feb 4, 2025 TAG Reboot Timeline Issue TAG Governance Doc Draft Charter
I am privileged to submit my nomination for the TAG Developer Experience Chair role within the CNCF Technical Advisory Group. With over 30 years of experience as an application developer and architect, I bring a deep understanding of what developers need to thrive—ranging from intuitive tooling to inclusive communities that foster innovation.
As a long-standing CNCF Ambassador, I have passionately supported cloud-native adoption by enabling developer communities across the globe. My leadership as a co-chair of the TAG App Delivery's Application Development Working Group has allowed me to work closely with platform teams, tool creators, and practitioners to shape best practices for building and delivering modern applications. I believe developer experience is not just about smoother onboarding—it’s about empowering developers with tools and practices that elevate their creativity and productivity.
Currently, I serve as a Senior Principal Developer Advocate at Red Hat, where I lead initiatives that advance open-source innovation across hybrid and cloud-native environments. As a Java Champion, I have helped bridge the gap between traditional enterprise developers and the rapidly evolving cloud-native landscape. My work spans multiple areas—from serverless and microservices to AI integration—always with a focus on improving the developer journey.
Through my global speaking engagements, workshops, and community mentorship, I’ve consistently championed developer-centric thinking. I aim to bring this same passion and collaborative mindset to TAG Developer Experience, ensuring we create scalable, inclusive, and delightful experiences for all developers in the CNCF ecosystem.
I am enthusiastic about the opportunity to contribute to the TAG’s mission and would be honored to help guide the evolution of developer experience in CNCF.
For your information, I have also submitted my nomination for the TAG Developer Experience Tech Lead role. My primary preference, however, is to serve as Co-chair.
Thank you for your consideration.
Daniel Oh Senior Principal Developer Advocate, Red Hat CNCF Ambassador | Java Champion | TAG App Delivery WG Co-Chair LinkedIn: Daniel Oh X: Daniel Oh Bluesky: Daniel Oh Youtube: Daniel Oh
I’m excited to nominate myself for CNCF TAG Developer Experience Chair role
What Developer Experience Means to Me
Developer Experience is more than streamlined tools or paved roads — it is a strategic imperative. It shapes how quickly organizations deliver value and how effectively teams collaborate. It influences innovation velocity, cognitive load, and team morale.
As modern systems grow more distributed, organizations face increasing fragmentation across tools, processes, and feedback loops. DevX is the tool to reduce systemic friction across the development lifecycle, aligning the whole organization to achieve measurable outcomes.
DevX is the clarity, velocity, and confidence with which developers can deliver value — shaped by the platforms, processes, and culture that surround them.
This is no longer a “nice to have.” As cloud native complexity scales, DevX becomes a survival issue. We need a TAG that brings clarity, cohesion, and community-driven guidance.
What I Bring to the Table
My career has always centered on developer enablement — whether leading modernization efforts, aligning teams across silos, or shaping frameworks that improve delivery confidence.
- Technical Depth: 17+ years across software architecture, platform modernization, and systems delivery — from JVM-based stacks to Kubernetes-native environments.
- DevX Thought Leadership: Authored the Cloud Native Adoption Framework, presented a lightning talk at KubeCon EU 2025 titled “Navigating the Cloud Native Inner and Outer Loop”, and led research on IDP effectiveness across enterprise case studies.
- Strategic Pragmatism: I focus on what actually works in the field — applying the Improvement Kata to drive iterative change and shared ownership across teams.
My Focus
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Modeling Cloud Native Maturity Across Layers
Establish a structured model for DevX maturity across product, platform, and business layers — recognizing that developer experience is shaped not just by tooling, but by the interplay between organizational structure, feedback loops, and delivery culture. This model will serve as a foundation for all future DevX frameworks and recommendations. -
Mapping Friction by Maturity Level
Surface the systemic challenges teams face from where they actually stand, not where we wish they were. This includes identifying friction patterns for teams at different maturity levels — whether just beginning their cloud native journey or scaling platform adoption across hundreds of developers. -
Codifying DevX Architecture
Build actionable guidance and reusable patterns for how modern cloud native systems can support a seamless developer experience — from inner loop to outer loop, from code to production, and from idea to outcome. -
Partnering with CNCF Projects
Provide strategic, high-signal feedback and alignment support to CNCF projects that impact developer workflows — helping ensure project design reflects real-world developer pain points and organizational needs. -
Expanding the DevX Surface Area
Elevate emerging DevX domains such as feedback loop instrumentation, DevX observability, developer platform discoverability, and experience-first lifecycle design — especially across inner and outer loops. -
Balancing Rigor with Empathy
Ensure that all TAG outputs reflect both technical depth and developer reality — recognizing that clarity, autonomy, and psychological safety are as important as architecture and automation.
I believe TAG DevX has the potential to anchor developer experience as a core pillar of cloud native success — not just by describing it, but by shaping its future. I bring the technical depth, architectural foresight, and collaborative leadership needed to help get us there.
✅ I confirm my interest in running for Chair of TAG Developer Experience.
Note: I’ve also submitted a nomination for the Tech Lead role as I’m open to contributing wherever most impactful.
Thank you for your consideration.
Mona Borham Senior Solutions Engineer, Github LinkedIn: Mona Borham Website: https://SwEngin.io/
✅ I confirm my interest in running for Chair of TAG Developer Experience.
My name is Mauricio Salatino, also known as @salaboy, and I am passionate about Open Source, Kubernetes, and Cloud-Native software.
I am an Open Source & Ecosystem Software Engineer at @Diagrid, contributing to and driving initiatives for the Dapr OSS project.
I also served as a Steering Committee member for the Knative Project. I served as a co-chair of the TAG AppDelivery Application Development working group for the CNCF.
I wrote a book titled Platform Engineering on Kubernetes for Manning. I am currently writing a book about Developer Experience for Kubernetes with Thomas Vitale.
I previously worked at VMware and Red Hat, building tools to help developers be more productive.\
Hi All, I'd like to self-nominate for the co-chair position of TAG Developer Experience.
I’m Atul a manual-tester-turned-developer-turned-Developer Advocate, deeply involved in cloud native and developer communities. I bring a mix of engineering curiosity, advocacy, marketing and communication expertise and community-building to everything I do.
Most recently, I served as the co-chair for the CNCF Platforms Working Group, where I helped the smooth functioning of the group by collaborating with various smaller groups to drive discussions on various topics. I also lead planning of booth activities at KubeCon events and made sure our efforts and insights were shared transparently with the broader community. Most of the communications from the group on social media were done by me and have an understanding of thr functioning of TAG to some extent.
I'm also a CNCF Ambassador and have been organizing Cloud Native Hyderabad meetups for the past two years, hosting over 20 in-person events to date. I was also involved in organizing Hyderabad's first KCD in 2024.
I've also had the privilege of presenting at KubeCon Salt Lake City, Paris, London, and New Delhi on platform engineering. You can find all my talks here.
I'm also the Co-Chair for KubeCon India happening in Hyderabad in August, 2025.
My focus area for TAG DevEx would be to represent the voice of the developer — I’ve lived the lifecycle myself: writing code, testing it, and now advocating for tools and practices that improve the developer experience.
Having contributed to the Platforms WG, I understand the DNA of platforms and how they enable better developer experiences.
As a co-chair, I want to:
- Ensure smooth functioning of the group through consistent communication, regular meetings, and administrative support.
- Help drive initiatives and discussions that advance our goals around developer experience.
- Collaborate with the TOC, other projects and TAGs to explore opportunities to bring insights around developer experience.
- Support the group’s presence at events and improve visibility of our work.
I'm excited by the opportunity to serve and help shape the future of developer experience in the cloud native ecosystem.
Thanks for your consideration!
You can find more about me at the below links:
Hi all, I'm excited to add my nomination for Co-Chairing the TAG Developer Experience.
My professional career started in Web Development where worked as Front- and Backend Developer for close to a decade before I pivoted to DevOps- / Cloud Engineering. My recent work in Developer Relations has afforded me with an additional perspective on Developer Experience from a vendor perspective. Currently I am a freelance platform engineer, contracting with mostly large, highly regulated organisations such as banks or governments.
I've been a public speaker for the last 9 years and regularly attend, speak at or host conferences around Cloud Native, DevOps and Platform Engineering. Before my move to DevOps, I've been an active community member and contributor to the JavaScript / NodeJS community.
As part of the Platforms Working Group, I have contributed to the Platforms Whitepaper, before I moved into a Tech Lead position for the TAG App-Delivery, and ultimately becoming Co-Chair. Most of my efforts were focused on creating alignment between the working groups and TAG/WG leadership, as well as creating and documenting our processes.
As Co-Chair for the TAG DevEx, I hope to continue my work in creating a safe and productive environment for the community to be creative and thrive.
Thank you for reading and your consideration.
Hi Everyone & TAG DevEx Community,
Mélony here! You may know me as a CNCF Ambassador and active SIG Release team member who has contributed to the successful releases of Kubernetes 1.31, 1.32, and 1.33. I am self-nominating for the Chair role in the CNCF Developer Experience TAG to contribute my energy, technical experience, and passion for improving how developers interact with cloud-native technologies. My goal has been to make cloud-native adoption simpler by improving the developer experience, making it more inclusive, and better aligned with the real-world needs of practitioners across all skill levels.
I started my career as a full-stack engineer (hardcore developer) over 12 years ago. Previously, I worked at Microsoft in both engineering and product management roles across 4 continents and 4 countries: France, the United Kingdom, the USA, and Switzerland. I began as a Cloud Solution Architect helping customers modernize their apps with Kubernetes and serverless technologies in Europe, before transitioning to Product Manager on the Developer Experience team at Microsoft HQ in Redmond, WA. There, I led product development for cloud-native data platforms deployed on top of Kubernetes, including Arc-enabled data services and SQL Server big data clusters, as well as Microsoft Azure Functions ( KEDA's Microsoft implementation). My mission has always been about how we empower developers at a global scale.
Since 2017, Kubernetes has been at the heart of my professional journey ( that's 8 years for a project of 11 years ), and it remains my passion to this day. I’ve been fortunate to engage deeply with Kubernetes and its ecosystem by contributing to its growth through code, documentation, community, and content. I’m eager to take the next step in service to the CNCF and help shape the future of developer experience with empathy, technical depth, and a user-first mindset.
Here are some of the key milestones in my journey :
-
Open Source & Community Engagement Kubernetes Release Team Member: Contributed to the releases of Kubernetes 1.31, 1.32, and currently 1.33, I'm proud to be part of the team helping ship the second-largest open-source project in the world ( only after the legendary world domination aka. Linux ).
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CNCF Ambassador: Engaging the community through many talks, mentorship, content creation, and cross-region collaboration, and I enjoy cloud-native meetups, KCDs, and my favorite has been KubeCon, it's always been a great pleasure meeting the community and sharing what we learned!
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I'm also a book Author of 4 Kubernetes and cloud computing books: Including Certified Kubernetes Administrator (CKA) Exam Guide (featured foreword by Brendan Burns - cofounder of Kubernetes project), The Kubernetes Workshop (Packt), Azure Integration Guide for business, those books designed to help learners upskill and advance their careers.
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Tech Content Creator: I've been constantly writing blogs on [cvisiona.com](https://cvisiona.com] and currently I also run the @CloudMelonVis YouTube channel and the Cloud Native Innovators newsletter on LinkedIn and cvisiona.com) reaching thousands of developers and enthusiasts each month.
Together, let's make a positive impact with cloud-native technologies in the tech industry!
Melony's GitHub: github.com/cloudmelon Melony's Linkedin Melony's BlueSky Blog: cvisiona.com YouTube: CloudMelonVis
I’m excited to nominate myself for CNCF TAG Developer Experience Chair role
I’m Saim Safdar
I’ve been part of the CNCF Platform working group since November 2022, I’ve been evangelizing the work some of the great minds have been doing here. I’ve presented a session on CNCF YouTube Live stream named Cloud Native Live, together with Josh Gavant, we presented the Platform Definition white paper and Platform Engineering Maturity Model.
I'm also a CNCF Ambassador and have been organizing Cloud Native Islamabad meetups for the past 4 years, hosting over 52 events to date. I was also co-lead organizer of KCD Islamabad 2024 and KCD Pakistan 2023
I've also had the privilege of presenting at PlatformCon 2023 here.
I am excited to submit my nomination for the role of TAG Developer Experience Chair. Over the past several years, I have been deeply involved in the cloud native community and the CNCF ecosystem, contributing to platform engineering, open source projects, and community-building efforts that directly enhance developer experience.
Key highlights of my contributions include:
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Serving as a CNCF Ambassador for over 3 years, actively evangelizing cloud native technologies.
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Significant involvement with Linkerd service mesh, where I was honored as “Hero of the Month” for my contributions.
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Collaborating closely with the Kyverno, Flux, and Meshery communities to build documentation and develop event streams aimed at evangelization and educational resources, helping to drive upstream adoption of these projects.
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Participating intermittently in various Kubernetes SIGs and the TOC, contributing insights and helping shape the community.
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Donating Paralus to CNCF as a sandbox project during my tenure as Developer Relations at Rafay Systems.
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Hosting and producing cloudnativefm, where I covered 25 CNCF open source tools through 65 guests and 133 episodes, along with organizing 52 meetups for the CNCF local community in my region.
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Serving as a Program Committee Member for Platform Engineering Day (2023 EU and 2024 NA) and KubeCon Program Committee member for EU and NA 2024.
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Co-chairing MultitenancyCon 2023 at KubeCon, a key event focusing on multi-tenant architectures.
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Currently contributing to the Cloud Native Platform Associate Exam creation under the Linux Foundation and CNCF.
My professional journey spans roles as a Software Engineer, DevOps practitioner, Developer Relations professional, and Solutions Architect. I am currently transitioning into a Head of Training and Education role at a new company, where I am enthusiastic about shaping cloud native training programs. My primary focus is on guiding organizations through migrating traditional applications and infrastructure to cloud native environments, with a special emphasis on multi-cloud infrastructure strategies.
I believe my deep technical experience, community leadership, and passion for empowering developers make me a strong fit to serve as TAG Developer Experience Chair. I am eager to help foster an inclusive, vibrant developer community by advancing education, tooling, and best practices across the CNCF ecosystem.
Thank you for considering my nomination. I look forward to the opportunity to contribute further to the CNCF community in this leadership capacity.
GitHub Linkedin BlueSky X - Formerly Twitter YouTube - @cloudnativefm
Thanks everyone for putting your nomination forward :) With the nomination period now closed, we're going to temporarily lock the issues just so it's clear that the nomination period is over. We'll reopen soon with updates. 👍
The chairs to help bootstrap Developer Experience are:
- @danieloh30
- @SwEngin
- @salaboy
Thanks everyone for volunteering 🙏 Please still participate, theres a lot to do, and a lot of future opportunities as things evolve :)
EDIT: Forgot to mention, I'll update this issue with the terms once its been sorted out 👍
Congrats @danieloh30 @salaboy @SwEngin looking forward to participating in the forthcoming discussions and contributing in any way I can.
Congrats @danieloh30 @salaboy @SwEngin looking forward to participating in the forthcoming discussions and contributing in any way I can.
Thanks @techmaharaj Sure, we need to have appdev experts like you.
Congrats @danieloh30 @salaboy @SwEngin ! Looking forward to the direction you'll bring and to working together to make a meaningful impact on the developer experience community!
On Tue, Jun 3, 2025 at 06:57 Atulpriya Sharma @.***> wrote:
techmaharaj left a comment (cncf/toc#1657) https://github.com/cncf/toc/issues/1657#issuecomment-2935382737
Congrats @danieloh30 https://github.com/danieloh30 @salaboy https://github.com/salaboy @SwEngin https://github.com/SwEngin looking forward to participating in the forthcoming discussions and contributing in any way I can.
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