Ahead of KubeCon + CloudNativeCon EU 2025, VMblog sat down with Emilio Salvador, VP of Strategy and Developer Relations for GitLab, to discuss how the company's comprehensive AI-powered DevSecOps platform is transforming software development.

In this exclusive interview, Salvador shares insights on GitLab's integration with Kubernetes and other CNCF tools, the impact of their GitLab Duo AI capabilities, and his vision for cloud-native technologies in 2025. As organizations continue to struggle with developer productivity—with only 21% of developers' time dedicated to writing new code according to GitLab's 2024 Global DevSecOps Report—Salvador explains how GitLab's single platform approach and AI integration are addressing the complexity challenges of Kubernetes adoption while enhancing security and efficiency across hybrid environments.

VMblog: Can you give us your elevator pitch?  What kind of message will an attendee hear from you this year? What will they take back to help sell their management team and decision makers?

Emilio Salvador:  GitLab is the most comprehensive AI-powered DevSecOps platform for software innovation. We enable organizations to increase developer productivity, improve operational efficiency, reduce security and compliance risk, and accelerate digital transformation. Our software development platform also features GitLab Duo, a suite of AI-powered capabilities that supports developers at every stage of the software development lifecycle. 

GitLab provides native integration with Kubernetes, a key CNCF project for container orchestration, and supports other CNCF tools like Helm, empowering developers with a comprehensive cloud-native development experience.

VMblog: Where can attendees find you at the event? What interactive experiences, demos, or activities have you planned for your booth?

Salvador:  This year's attendees can find us at Booth N180 in the North Hall. Stop by our booth to chat with team members about GitLab and learn about opportunities to contribute to GitLab projects. Attendees can also watch demos on platform engineering, CI/CD, AI (GitLab Duo), and more.

VMblog: How has your company's presence at KubeCon evolved? What keeps bringing you back?

Salvador:  KubeCon is always a highlight for us! It's a fantastic opportunity to connect with the community, share knowledge, and collaborate on solutions to the latest challenges. We're deeply invested in this community at GitLab, both as a supporter of open source projects and a user of many cloud-native technologies in our own platform. We're excited to engage with developers, engineering leaders, and community members to discuss how we can collectively shape the future of cloud-native technologies. 

VMblog: Can you double click on your company's technologies?  And talk about the problems you solve for a KubeCon + CloudNativeCon attendee.

Salvador:  GitLab helps developers increase productivity, collaboration, and security. Our 2024 Global DevSecOps Report found that only 21% of developers' time is dedicated to writing new code. With a single platform for managing CI/CD, security, and infrastructure across multiple cloud environments, GitLab offers developers significant efficiency improvements, allowing them to spend more time on development. 

AI is also significantly improving DevSecOps. GitLab's ongoing integration of AI capabilities will further enhance its features, providing even more time savings for developers and engineers throughout the software development lifecycle.

VMblog: In an increasingly crowded cloud-native and Kubernetes market, what makes your solution stand out in 2025? What makes it unique or differentiating?

Salvador:  GitLab's single platform approach simplifies DevSecOps for developers. The developer experience improves when a limited number of tools incorporate all the capabilities needed to plan, develop, secure, and deploy software. 

We have also been intentional about integrating AI into our platform, which provides unique benefits for our users. GitLab Duo provides AI across the software development lifecycle, with features like code suggestions, security and vulnerability tools, and AI analytics.  

Finally, we have developed unique features for several cloud native technologies, including our Dashboard for Kubernetes, which allows developers to visualize their Kubernetes infrastructure directly from GitLab projects. Users can merge changes into their projects and then visualize and troubleshoot any issues.

VMblog: With AI and machine learning becoming increasingly central to cloud-native applications, how does your solution address these emerging needs?

Salvador:  Our AI solution, GitLab Duo, enables teams to develop secure software faster by integrating AI throughout the software development lifecycle. GitLab Duo gives developers a single platform that integrates the best AI model for each use case across the entire workflow, from understanding code to fixing security vulnerabilities.

It provides organizations with necessary control over elements such as which users, projects, and groups can use AI-powered capabilities. 

Finally, GitLab Duo is focused on privacy first-your organization's proprietary code and data aren't used to train AI models.

VMblog: What's your elevator pitch for a CTO or CIO? How does your solution impact the bottom line?

Salvador:  GitLab helps organizations develop secure software faster with AI throughout the entire software development lifecycle. We also enable all teams involved in the software development lifecycle to collaborate via a single platform to shorten cycle times, reduce development costs, and increase developer productivity.

VMblog: Can you walk us through a typical customer journey? What specific pain points do you address?

Salvador:  Regardless of their industries or broader business goals, our customers are looking to increase efficiency and developer productivity while remaining secure. For example, Cube, a company focused on designing and creating solutions, such as mobile apps, websites, and e-commerce software, uses the AI features in GitLab Duo to build secure software for its customers. A long-time GitLab user, Cube adopted AI features in GitLab Duo to increase their efficiency and speed in creating secure software.

With limited resources, companies need a partner who will simplify their journey. GitLab integrates all development functions on one platform to drive efficiencies. 

VMblog: How does your technology integrate with the broader CNCF landscape? What role do you play in the modern cloud-native stack?

Salvador:  The GitLab DevSecOps platform integrates with many tools and technologies that are a part of or supported by the cloud-native computing foundation, giving developers flexibility and encouraging collaboration between the many incredible organizations and community members worldwide.

Our platform is designed to simplify the developer experience. It includes built-in features that help them to more easily complete common tasks like creating continuous integration pipelines and setting up continuous delivery to Kubernetes.

VMblog: What are the remaining barriers to Kubernetes adoption in 2025? How does your solution help overcome these challenges?

Salvador:  Complexity, accessibility and scalability remain challenges to Kubernetes adoption. Kubernetes requires a specific skill set, limiting those who can operate in a Kubernetes environment. Small-scale services also limit widespread adoption. 

Teams looking to adopt Kubernetes should look for vendors that can provide the training and support necessary for developers to fully utilize the technology and those that help simplify Kubernetes implementation. For example, GitLab provides tight integration with Kubernetes, simplifying and securing deployments and managements. 

Integration of agentic AI will also be one of the biggest challenges-and opportunities in 2025.

VMblog: With the rise of hybrid operations, how do you help enterprises balance cloud-native and on-premises deployments?

Salvador:  We have designed GitLab to provide a seamless and consistent experience regardless of where your applications get deployed. Whether you run a Kubernetes cluster in the cloud or on-prem, our CI/CD pipelines, security capabilities, and management tools work seamlessly. This reduces operational complexity allowing enterprises to optimize their preferred architectures faster.  

VMblog: What's your perspective on the intersection of DevSecOps and cloud-native in 2025? How do you help customers navigate this? 

Salvador:  DevSecOps and cloud-native environments are a great combination, and GitLab has always supported them. As mentioned, the GitLab platform is compatible with many Cloud-Native Computing Foundation community tools and includes built-in features supporting developers. 

VMblog: What big changes or trends does your company see taking shape for 2025?

Salvador:  The rapid advancement of AI is revolutionizing software development, and this trend will only accelerate in 2025. AI is becoming increasingly integrated into every stage of the software development lifecycle (SDLC), leading to significant changes in how applications are built, used, and deployed. Three ways AI will significantly alter software development include: 

1. Intelligent, adaptive AI agents  - We envision a future where applications are powered by agentic AI. These agents will move beyond rigid interfaces and workflows, offering users a more intuitive and conversational experience. They will learn from interactions in real-time, providing personalized and responsive experiences.
2. AI assistants as proactive collaborators - AI assistants will evolve to anticipate developer needs, offer real-time suggestions for optimization, and streamline the SDLC. This will free developers to focus on higher-level tasks, code quality, and exploring new technologies.
3. The rise of on-premises AI - As open-source models become more accessible and cost-effective, organizations will increasingly run customized AI models within their own data centers. This will enable them to tailor AI to their specific needs and customer experiences at a fraction of the current cost.