You don't need Kubernetes: How we scaled our API layer without the infrastructure theatrics

Event overview

Scaling API platforms with pragmatic engineering, not infrastructure theatrics

This session focuses on how we scaled a high-traffic API layer without defaulting to Kubernetes. It walks through architectural decisions, capacity planning, and operational discipline that delivered reliability and performance while keeping platform complexity under control.

• When not using Kubernetes is the right technical and business decision.
• API scaling patterns using queues, caching, horizontal workers, and smart load balancing.
• Reliability practices: observability, failure isolation, and staged rollout strategies.