Platform Engineering has become the bedrock of modern software delivery, transforming fragmented DevOps efforts into cohesive, scalable systems focused on high-velocity, low-cognitive-load developer experiences. This video unpacks Platform Engineering as a discipline grounded in technical excellence and product thinking, where developer portals, IDPs, and infrastructure abstraction converge to eliminate friction across the SDLC. At its core, it introduces the domain mental model—a framework for organizing platform capabilities into coherent planes like security, compliance, delivery, and developer tooling—ensuring extensibility, replaceability, and modularity across environments. Observability isn’t an afterthought; it is the backbone of platform intelligence, enabling real-time feedback loops, SLO-driven insights, and system-level transparency across every interaction developers have with the platform.
This webinar series has been created by Ajay Chankramath, Nic Cheneweth, Bryan Oliver & Sean Alvarez who are co-authors of Effective Platform Engineering Book by Manning publication.
Overview of Platform Engineering Webinar Series
Presentation deck of all videos
Click here to download the zip file of presentation decks.
Playlist Link of All Videos
Platform Engineering Essentials
Platform Engineering is entering an inflection point driven by agentic AI. Platforms are no longer static interfaces—they are evolving into autonomous, self-learning systems capable of dynamic orchestration, personalized recommendations, and predictive remediation. The video explores this shift through advanced operator patterns, RAG-powered copilots, and the rise of Agentic Platform Engineering, where AI-driven IDPs can anticipate developer intent and adapt workflows in real-time. It also touches on the emergence of GreenOps, domain-specific observability, and decentralized architectures as critical enablers of resilient, sustainable platforms. With high-value career opportunities emerging at the intersection of DevEx, product management, and AI, Platform Engineering isn’t just a technical capability—it’s the operating system of modern engineering organizations.
Technical Platform Product Management
Technical platform product management is pivotal in enabling modern software teams by treating internal platforms as products rather than just infrastructure. Adopting a product mindset means understanding the needs of internal developer users, prioritizing their experience, and delivering value iteratively. Platform teams are most effective when they focus on reducing developer cognitive load, improving reliability, and accelerating delivery cycles. Rather than simply providing tools, successful platform initiatives are grounded in clear value propositions and continuous feedback loops.
A strong platform product function is defined by its ability to align stakeholders, define roadmaps, set service-level objectives, and prioritize capabilities based on measurable impact. When executed well, this approach leads to increased developer productivity and system efficiency. Platforms evolve alongside the organizations they support, and success lies in building for adaptability, observability, and sustained relevance. The product manager becomes a key enabler, connecting engineering excellence with business outcomes through intentional, user-centric platform strategy.
Compliance at the Point of Change: The key to platform engineering success
In this video, Bryan focuses on how platform engineering enables organizations to embed governance, security, and compliance directly into the software development lifecycle, particularly by shifting these controls “left” into the developer workflow. It emphasizes the role of internal platforms in operationalizing concepts like DevSecOps and policy-as-code, making it possible to enforce compliance at the point of change rather than as an afterthought. The platform is the delivery mechanism for controls, standards, and guardrails, ensuring consistency, auditability, and developer autonomy without sacrificing governance. This is not about slowing teams down with bureaucracy but codifying organizational intent and enabling scalable, secure delivery.
Within the broader context of the Effective Platform Engineering book, the video crystallizes the idea that platforms are not just enablers of developer productivity—they are essential tools for aligning engineering execution with regulatory and organizational requirements. It underscores a central theme from the book: platform teams must act as product teams with a strong understanding of both user needs and systemic constraints. By embedding DevSecOps principles and compliance mechanisms directly into platform capabilities, organizations can achieve both speed and safety—an outcome that traditional, siloed approaches to compliance struggle to deliver.
Effective Platform Engineering Book By Manning Publication
Effective Platform Engineering Book is written by Ajay Chankramath, Nic Cheneweth, Bryan Oliver & Sean Alvarez and published by Manning Publication
“Effective Platform Engineering” is a comprehensive guide that introduces platform engineering as a discipline, focusing on creating developer platforms that enhance team efficiency and streamline application deployment. The book provides practical insights into designing and managing platforms that bridge the gap between operations and development, automating tasks throughout the software development lifecycle. Readers will learn to build internal developer platforms and portals, ensuring seamless adoption and satisfaction among teams. The authors emphasize the importance of secure, scalable Kubernetes-based engineering platforms and offer strategies for implementing effective Service Level Objectives to boost trust and adoption. Additionally, the book explores cutting-edge integrations of Generative AI tools to enhance developer productivity, providing readers with the knowledge to leverage the latest advancements in code generation.
Through practical examples and real-world scenarios, “Effective Platform Engineering” demonstrates how platform engineering differs from traditional DevOps and the unique value it brings to organizations. The book delves into both patterns and anti-patterns of platform development, guiding readers in designing and deploying secure, scalable, and observable engineering platforms. With the inclusion of diagrams, code samples, and exercises, readers can visualize key concepts and solidify their understanding. This resource is tailored for DevOps engineers familiar with Kubernetes, cloud environments, and infrastructure-as-code, aiming to equip them with the skills to establish platforms that reduce workloads, improve consistency, and accelerate software delivery.
Discover how platform engineering is revolutionizing the developer experience and operational efficiency.
Buy Book Now: https://www.manning.com/books/effective-platform-engineering