OpenObservability Talks

We are overdue for a vendor neutral industry wide event dedicated to our favorite topic - open observability.Last month (June 2025) the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) ran the first-ever Open Observability Summit, bringing together the world’s best experts in the field in a day packed with talks from project maintainers, end users and practitioners.We’re proud partners of the event, and are here to bring you the highlights from this industry-shaping event.This special episode has two parts, one recorded onsite before the event, covering conference goals, and insights from the talk submissions, and the other recorded after the event, covering the highlights of the events and the talks. The guests for is episode are two observability veterans: Alok Bhide, member of the event’s content committee and head of product innovation at Chronosphere; and Henrik Rexed, developer advocate at Dynatrace, CNCF Ambassador, and host of Is It Observable podcast.Catch up on everything you need to know from the first-ever Open Observability Summit.You can read the recap post: https://medium.com/p/d42c8826d6a5/Show Notes:00:00 - intro02:52 - Part 1 pre-event03:40 - guest intro Alok Bhide04:49 - a new community event for open observability06:58 - talk submission highlights from the CFP content reviewer12:34 - a view of the open observability stack and its use 16:42 - Fluent Bit alignment with OpenTelemetry20:08 - AI in observability25:34 - Part 2 talk highlights26:22 - Fluent Bit vs. OpenTelemetry Collector benchmark analysis37:51 - OpenSearch 3.1 release40:47 - eBay’s observability talk47:00 - Kotlin SDK for OTel talk for Android developers51:45 - Otel Collector fine-tuning talk53:52 - Broadcom OTel use case from mobile to mainframe56:43 - Spotify migration from in-house TSDB to VictoriaMetrics and Prometheus58:20 - OTel Collector replacement in Rust with the Rotel project1:00:58 - Noisy neighbors network observability1:03:04 - rising awareness of OTel semantic conventions 1:05:50 - outro Resources:Open Observability Summit + OTel Community Day: https://events.linuxfoundation.org/open-observability-summit-otel-community-day/eBay innovation with open source observability: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ycNhzRVSbU&list=PLj6h78yzYM2NFT2PGItX2idBf7v8fHcy7&index=35 More on eBay’s journey to planet-scale observability: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UsU3nRglhA&list=PLd57eY2edRXz4djMETYTm-2p8WGTdoX3D Spotify talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87koDlpKDR4&list=PLj6h78yzYM2NFT2PGItX2idBf7v8fHcy7Kotlin SDK for OTel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=di5nhYvUh6w&list=PLj6h78yzYM2NFT2PGItX2idBf7v8fHcy7More on mobile observability with OTel: https://medium.com/p/2eb847c41941 OpenTelemtry Collector vs. Fluent Bit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZho5W9L_Z8&list=PLj6h78yzYM2NFT2PGItX2idBf7v8fHcy7&index=8Telemetry Pipelines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0d1g5ZWAc1Y&list=PLj6h78yzYM2NFT2PGItX2idBf7v8fHcy7&index=30 OTel Collector in Rust with Rotel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeQnP8Ct7qY&list=PLj6h78yzYM2NFT2PGItX2idBf7v8fHcy7&index=16 Rotel project repo: https://github.com/streamfold/rotel  Noisy neighbor detection: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVqiOtXTEFA Socials:BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/openobservability.bsky.socialTwitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/OpenObserv⁠LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/openobservability/YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@openobservabilitytalks⁠Dotan Horovits============Twitter: https://twitter.com/horovits LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/horovits/ BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/horovits.bsky.social Mastodon: https://fosstodon.org/@horovitsHenrik Rexed===========LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hrexed/BlueSky: @hrexed.bsky.socialYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@isitobservable Alok Bhide=========LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/albhide/

Carl Meadows, Chair of the OpenSearch Software Foundation, and Pallavi Priyadarshini, Project Release Manager, share insights on the groundbreaking OpenSearch 3.0. They discuss its leap in performance and vector database capabilities, particularly in semantic search. Key topics include OpenSearch’s new role under The Linux Foundation, community engagement initiatives, and innovative features like advanced anomaly detection and AI integration. Listeners will discover how OpenSearch continues to evolve, driven by collaboration and feedback.

In this captivating discussion, Robert Hodges, CEO of Altinity and a key contributor to ClickHouse, shares his extensive knowledge of database technology. He highlights how ClickHouse is revolutionizing the field with incredible speed and efficiency, outperforming legacy systems like MySQL. The conversation dives into the new Project Antalya, showcasing how it dramatically reduces storage costs and boosts query speeds. Robert also explores ClickHouse's adaptability in observability, integrating with tools like OpenTelemetry, and emphasizes the importance of community engagement in open-source projects.

KubeCon Europe 2025 in London has wrapped up, and we’re bringing you all the highlights, trends, and behind-the-scenes insights straight from the show floor!In this special recap episode, I’m joined by two CNCF Ambassadors and community powerhouses: Kasper Borg Nissen, the Co-Chair of this KubeCon as well as of the KubeCon 2024 editions, and a Developer Relations Engineer at Dash0; and William Rizzo, Consulting Architect at Mirantis and Linkerd Ambassador.Together, we unpack the major themes from the event—from platform engineering and internal developer platforms, to open source observability, and where Kubernetes is headed next. We also chat about the vibe of the community, emerging projects to watch, and important trends in European tech sphere.Whether you missed the conference or want to catch up on important updates you might have missed, this episode gives you a curated take straight from the experts who know the cloud-native space inside out.The episode was live-streamed on 22 April 2025 and the video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyxJOmOEBvQYou can read the recap post: https://medium.com/p/740258a5fa46OpenObservability Talks episodes are released monthly, on the last Thursday of each month and are available for listening on your favorite podcast app and on YouTube.We live-stream the episodes on Twitch and YouTube Live - tune in to see us live, and chime in with your comments and questions on the live chat.⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@openobservabilitytalks⁠  https://www.twitch.tv/openobservability⁠Show Notes:00:00 - intro03:28 - KubeCon impressions09:59 - Backstage turns 518:56 - CNCF turns 10 and CNCF annual survey27:22 - Sovereign cloud in Europe and the NeoNephos initiative33:55 - CI/CD use in production increases36:52 - OpenInfra joins the Linux Foundation40:16 - Cloud native local communities, DEI and the BIPOC initiative 51:11 - Observability query standardization SIG updates59:36 - outroResources:CNCF 2024 Annual Survey https://www.cncf.io/reports/cncf-annual-survey-2024/NeoNephos initiative for sovereign EU cloud: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:share:7313115943075766273/ OpenInfra Foundation and OpenStack join The Linux Foundation: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:share:7307839934072066048/ Backstage turns 5: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7318163557206966272/ Kubernetes 1.33 release: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7321054742174924800/Socials:Twitter:⁠ https://twitter.com/OpenObserv⁠YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@openobservabilitytalks⁠Dotan Horovits============Twitter: @horovitsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/horovitsMastodon: @horovits@fosstodonBlueSky: @horovits.bsky.socialKasper Borg Nissen===============Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/phennexLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kaspernissen/BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/kaspernissen.xyz⁠William Rizzo===========Twitter: https://twitter.com/WilliamRizzo19LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/william-rizzo/BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/williamrizzo.bsky.social

Observability into mobile native applications presents unique challenges, from capturing real user interactions to dealing with network constraints and battery efficiency. In this episode of OpenObservability Talks, we explore the special characteristics of client-side telemetry, and how OpenTelemetry helps generate mobile client telemetry for real user monitoring (RUM), enabling deeper insights into performance and user experience. We host Hanson Ho, Android architect at Embrace and an approver on the OpenTelemetry Android SDK. Hanson brings a wealth of experience from Twitter, Salesforce and SAP. He will share his expertise on instrumenting mobile apps, the evolution of OpenTelemetry for Android, and best practices for collecting and analyzing mobile telemetry. Tune in to learn how to bring OpenTelemetry-powered observability to your mobile applications!The episode was live-streamed on 17 March 2025 and the video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kIid85wO8gcOpenObservability Talks episodes are released monthly, on the last Thursday of each month and are available for listening on your favorite podcast app and on YouTube.We live-stream the episodes on Twitch and YouTube Live - tune in to see us live, and chime in with your comments and questions on the live chat.⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@openobservabilitytalks⁠  https://www.twitch.tv/openobservability⁠Show Notes:00:00 - Intro01:42 - the unique characteristics of mobile env03:39 - Android presents additional challenges05:41 - observability in everyday frontend dev12:01 - observability for business metrics in mobile apps18:28 - collecting telemetry in constrained mobile devices23:03 - Twitter scale observability into mobile apps 29:01 - how mobile monitoring used to work before OpenTelemetry33:37 - OpenTelemetry expansion from server-side into client-side telemetry 44:09 - OpenTelemetry Android SDK working group50:53 - Embrace’s journey into OpenTelemetry1:00:04 - Outro Resources:OpenTelemetry Android SDK: https://github.com/open-telemetry/opentelemetry-androidOpenTelemetry Client SDK and Instrumentation SIG board: https://github.com/orgs/open-telemetry/projects/19/views/1 Adding client-side support to OpenTelemetry: https://medium.com/p/a389144f3812#2fcf  Socials:Twitter:⁠ https://twitter.com/OpenObserv⁠YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@openobservabilitytalks⁠Dotan Horovits============Twitter: @horovitsLinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/horovitsMastodon: @horovits@fosstodonBlueSky: @horovits.bsky.socialHanson Ho==========LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hanson-ho/BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/bidetofevil.wtf

Elijah McPherson, an engineering leader at Shopify with expertise in observability, discusses the company's ambitious journey to create an in-house observability stack called Observe. He dives into the challenges of vendor lock-in and the strategic pivot to open-source solutions. Elijah emphasizes the critical role of developer experience and user feedback in building tools that meet engineers' needs. The conversation highlights innovative features like the Investigate API and the importance of integrating business metrics for enhanced performance insights.

Stefano Maffulli, Executive Director of the Open Source Initiative, leads discussions on the emerging landscape of open source AI. He explains the newly drafted Open Source AI Definition and its community-driven origins. The conversation tackles the challenges of defining openness in AI, especially as corporate interests evolve. Stefano also sheds light on the tension between open source principles and regulatory frameworks, like the EU's AI Act, stressing the need for ethical guidelines and inclusive standards in this rapidly changing arena.

Charity Majors, co-founder and CTO of Honeycomb, is a trailblazer in the observability realm. In this engaging discussion, she reflects on pivotal trends shaping observability this year and the transformative role of OpenTelemetry. The challenges and opportunities of integrating AI in observability are examined, debunking misconceptions along the way. Charity also highlights the evolution towards open-source solutions, and offers insight on managing observability costs in high-traffic environments. Looking ahead, she shares what to expect in 2025.

Catch up on everything you missed at KubeCon North America 2024! Join us for a special recap that brings you closer to the action. This is a special episode in collaboration with the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF), the foundation behind KubeCon+CloudNativeCon and the cloud-native projects. Dotan Horovits, our host and a CNCF Ambassador, will be joined by an all-star panel of cloud-native experts—CNCF Ambassadors Viktor Farcic and Max Körbächer—each bringing their unique insights and takeaways from the conference. Together, they unpack the major project announcements and key themes from this year’s event: the standout talks, co-located events, maintainer meetings and those memorable hallway conversations. Get insights from the experts who know the cloud-native space inside out. Viktor Farcic is a lead rapscallion at Upbound and a published author. He is a host of the YouTube channel DevOps Toolkit and a co-host of DevOps Paradox. Max is Co-Founder at Liquid Reply. He is Co-Chair of the CNCF Environmental Sustainability Technical Advisory Group and served 3 years at the Kubernetes release team. He runs the Munich Kubernetes Meetup as well as the Munich and Ukraine Kubernetes Community Days. Dotan Horovits is a DevOps specialist with special focus on observability solutions and related open source projects such as OpenTelemetry, Jaeger, Prometheus and OpenSearch. He runs the OpenObservability Talks podcast, now in its 5th year. Don't miss this expert-led KubeCon recap, in collaboration with the Cloud Native Computing Foundation’s official channel! The episode was live-streamed on 19 November 2024 in collaboration with the Cloud Native Computing Foundation, and the video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1TrPev5IzB8 You can read the recap post: https://medium.com/@horovits/1362959030c1 OpenObservability Talks episodes are released monthly, on the last Thursday of each month and are available for listening on your favorite podcast app and on YouTube. We live-stream the episodes on Twitch and YouTube Live - tune in to see us live, and chime in with your comments and questions on the live chat. ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@openobservabilitytalks⁠   https://www.twitch.tv/openobservability⁠ Show Notes: 00:00 - episode and speaker intro 02:45 - KubeCon Salt Lake City stats and trends 05:26 - The cloud-native stack is maturing up 08:12 - KubeCon’s role in the cloud-native space 11:23 - Platform Engineering trend 14:07 - Open specifications and Kubernetes API 18:44 - Flatcar joins the CNCF with container focused OS 24:54 - wasmCloud moves to CNCF incubation and WASMCon highlights 31:49 - CNCF Ambassador program and recent Community Awards 35:24 - KubeCon event plan and expansion, and local KCDs 43:34 - Environmental Sustainability TAG 47:46 - Dapr and cert-manager reached CNCF graduation 51:11 - Cloud Native Reference Architectures 54:39 - observability updates for Jaeger, Prometheus and more 58:53 - episode outro Resources: CNCF community awards: https://www.cncf.io/announcements/2024/11/14/cloud-native-computing-foundation-announces-the-2024-community-awards-winners/ Dapr graduation: https://www.cncf.io/announcements/2024/11/12/cloud-native-computing-foundation-announces-dapr-graduation/ wasmCloud moves to incubation: https://www.cncf.io/blog/2024/11/12/cncf-welcomes-wasmcloud-to-the-cncf-incubator/ More on wasmCloud: https://medium.com/p/02a5025c6115 OpenTelemetry expands into CI/CD observability https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:share:7259200802689273856 Jaeger v2 unveiled https://medium.com/p/be612dbee774 Prometheus 3.0 unveiled https://medium.com/p/1c5edca32c87 Flatcar joins the CNCF https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:share:7257278073824288768/ OpenCost matured into incubation https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:share:7257826394179522562 New Cloud Native Reference Architecture hub: https://architecture.cncf.io/ CNCF upcoming events: https://www.cncf.io/events/ Kubernetes Community Days events around the world https://www.cncf.io/kcds/ Socials: Twitter:⁠ https://twitter.com/OpenObserv⁠ YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@openobservabilitytalks⁠ Dotan Horovits ============ Twitter: @horovits LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/horovits Mastodon: @horovits@fosstodon BlueSky: @horovits.bsky.social Viktor Farcic =========== Twitter: https://twitter.com/vfarcic LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/viktorfarcic BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/vfarcic.bsky.social Max Körbächer ============= Twitter: https://twitter.com/mkoerbi LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/maxkoerbaecher BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/mkoerbi.bsky.social Mastodon: https://fosstodon.org/@mkorbi@mastodon.social

Yuri Shkuro, observability engineer at Meta and creator of Jaeger, dives into the groundbreaking Jaeger V2 release, emphasizing its deep integration with OpenTelemetry. He discusses the architectural advancements and enhanced user interface, making tracing more efficient. Yuri highlights future UI enhancements and community mentorship's role in Jaeger's growth. Additionally, he touches on the complexities of observability in machine learning, showcasing how OpenTelemetry addresses these challenges.