The Platform Engineer’s Handbook • Ajay Chankramath & Kaspar von Grünberg • GOTO 2026

This interview was recorded for the GOTO Book Club. #GOTOcon #GOTObookclub http://gotopia.tech/bookclub Check out more here: https://gotopia.tech/episodes/451 Ajay Chankramath - Founder & CEO at Platformetrics & Co-Author of "The Platform Engineer’s Handbook" @achankramath452 Kaspar von Grünberg - Founder & CEO at Stealth & Author of "Thinking in Platforms" RESOURCES Ajay https://www.linkedin.com/in/chankramath https://github.com/achankra https://x.com/ajchantw https://chankramath.com https://platformetrics.com Kaspar https://www.linkedin.com/in/kvgruenberg https://github.com/Kasparvongruenberg https://kasparvongruenberg.com Links https://peh-packt.platformetrics.com https://youtu.be/BPCcxYHLzkI https://youtu.be/ajX56E4G5qk https://youtu.be/gLMe85XyXhI DESCRIPTION Ajay Chankramath — author of The Platform Engineer’s Handbook — joins Kaspar von Grünberg to unpack why he wrote a 14-chapter, code-first practitioner's guide instead of another theory-heavy platform book. The conversation's core thesis: the reason developers don't adopt platforms isn't a technology gap, it's a product discipline gap — a failure to treat developer experience as a first-class outcome with a real feedback loop. Ajay walks through the book's arc, from Kubernetes and service-mesh foundations through self-service portals to enterprise-grade concerns like policy-as-code and FinOps, and makes a pointed case for building on 100% open-source, vendor-agnostic tooling as a hedge against geopolitical and licensing whiplash. The most relevant thread for engineers building with AI today: citing a McKinsey finding that only 6% of AI initiatives show real productivity gains, Ajay argues that agentic AI doesn't reduce the need for platform engineering — it raises the stakes. As coding agents become genuine actors in the SDLC rather than tools, IDPs need a new layer for agent context, memory, tool registries, and guardrails, and that layer "must be built, owned, and operated by you," not bought off the shelf. His conclusion: the differentiator in the AI era isn't which frontier model you use — it's whether your platform foundations are solid enough to make agents safe and productive at all. TIMECODES 00:00 Intro 01:35 Why this book exists 04:17 From chip design to Platform Engineering 07:12 Platform as a product, not a tool 09:37 Inside the book: From foundations to enterprise-grade 15:17 Built for any industry — Almost 19:05 Sovereignty & going 100% vendor-agnostic 23:27 What happens when agents enter the SDLC 28:00 How to write a practical Platform Engineering book 31:07 Outro RECOMMENDED BOOKS Ajay Chankramath • The Platform Engineer's Handbook • https://amzn.to/4eCSibM Ajay Chankramath & Eamonn Ryan • Domain-Driven Platform Engineering • https://amzn.to/3TdiC3J Chankramath, Cheneweth, Oliver & Alvarez • Effective Platform Engineering • https://amzn.to/3OnxN8i Gregor Hohpe • Platform Strategy • https://amzn.to/4cxfYdb https://bsky.app/profile/gotocon.com https://twitter.com/GOTOcon https://www.linkedin.com/company/goto- https://www.instagram.com/goto_con https://www.facebook.com/GOTOConferences #PlatformEngineering #PlatformTeam #PlatformAsAService #DevOps #ControlPlanes #APIfirst #Backstage #SpotifyBackstage #SoftwareEngineering #TodayInTech #Programming #AjayChankramath #KasparVonGrünberg #GOTO #BookClub CHANNEL MEMBERSHIP BONUS Join this channel to get early access to videos & other perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs_tLP3AiwYKwdUHpltJPuA/join Looking for a unique learning experience? Attend the next GOTO conference near you! Get your ticket at https://gotopia.tech Sign up for updates and specials at https://gotopia.tech/newsletter SUBSCRIBE TO OUR CHANNEL - new videos posted almost daily. https://www.youtube.com/user/GotoConferences/?sub_confirmation=1