Kubernetes has become the default platform for modern applications - but observability hasn’t kept pace. Many teams still rely on disconnected tools and partial signals: metrics without context, logs without structure, and traces that are hard to reason about. The result is slower incident response, higher cognitive load, and unnecessary friction for developers.

This talk explores the shift from observability as a collection of tools to observability as a platform capability. We’ll look at why correlation across signals is essential for understanding complex systems, how platform teams can reduce developer toil through paved paths, and what it means to offer observability as a shared service on Kubernetes.

Using real-world platform patterns, we’ll discuss how consistent, structured telemetry enables faster debugging, better decisions, and lays the groundwork for the next evolution of observability - including AI-assisted workflows and more natural ways of interacting with production systems.

We’ll close with a live demo showing how Kubernetes-native automation and open standards enable auto-instrumentation and correlated signals out of the box, giving teams immediate visibility without requiring code changes.

Kasper is a CNCF Ambassador, Former KubeCon+CloudNativeCon Co-Chair, Golden Kubestronaut, KCD Denmark Organizer, and CNCG Group Organizer. He co-founded Cloud Native Nordics to unite meetups across the region. As a Principal Developer Advocate at Dash0, he helps make observability easy for developers by advocating for better tooling, best practices, and seamless integrations. Bridging observability and platform engineering, he ensures developers stay productive and gain actionable insights exactly when needed.