Can you make Kubernetes invisible? Here's why AWS is on a mission to do it.

In this episode of The New Stack Makers , Jesse Butler, principal product manager for AWS Elastic Kubernetes Service, shares his vision for simplifying cloud-native computing. Since joining AWS in 2020, Butler has focused on making Kubernetes easier to use, emphasizing open-source as a democratizing force. He highlights the role of the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) in standardizing and governing open ecosystems while balancing community-driven innovation with commercial contributions. Butler describes Kubernetes as widely adopted—used in production by around 80% of enterprises—yet still overly complex. His goal is to make it “invisible,” much like Linux, by abstracting and consolidating services. He points to projects like Karpenter, which enables real-time node provisioning for efficient scaling; Kro, which simplifies resource orchestration; and Cedar, a flexible policy engine for fine-grained authorization. He underscores the importance of open-source contributors, noting their critical yet often underappreciated role. Looking ahead, Butler envisions a future where automation and human collaboration further enhance usability and innovation in open-source software. Learn more from The New Stack about the latest around AWS Elastic Kubernetes Service 2026 Will Be the Year of Agentic Workloads in Production on Amazon EKS Amazon EKS Auto Mode wants to end Kubernetes toil — one node at a time Join our community of newsletter subscribers to stay on top of the news and at the top of your game.

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Can you make Kubernetes invisible? Here's why AWS is on a mission to do it. is an episode from The New Stack Makers by The New Stack Podcast.

This episode is 00:23:14 long.

This episode was published on Apr 14, 2026.

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