Fork Around And Find Out Colocating Data with David Aronchick
Sep 17, 2025
In this engaging discussion, David Aronchick, Founder and CEO of Expanso, shares his journey from developing Kubernetes at Google to tackling distributed data challenges. He highlights the importance of co-locating data with compute to address latency and regulatory issues. David also discusses the contrasts between open source and corporate environments, detailing Expanso's innovative solutions for handling unreliable networks. The conversation touches on future trends in AI, data processing, and how technology is evolving to meet emerging needs.
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Career Arc From Chef To Expanso
- David described his path from Chef to leading Kubernetes product management and launching GKE at Google.
- He then moved to Kubeflow, Azure ML strategy at Microsoft, and finally founded Expanso to solve distributed data problems.
Why Kubernetes Was Built
- Kubernetes emerged from Google's internal orchestration work and growing container usage, not as a simple open-source PR move.
- Google aimed to give people a portable container abstraction rather than shipping Borg directly to users.
Align Open Source With Business Goals
- When navigating corporate and open-source politics, identify stakeholders' motivations and align to their business goals.
- Sell open-source contribution as supply-chain risk reduction and concrete business value, not just social good.