Ahmed Sabbour

As organizations increasingly move AI workloads into production, they need consistent and interoperable infrastructure they can rely on. The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) launched the Kubernetes AI Conformance Program to address this need by creating open, community-defined standards for running AI workloads on Kubernetes. See CNCF Kubernetes AI Conformance Announcement at KubeCon North America 2025.

Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) is proud to be among the first platforms certified for Kubernetes AI Conformance, demonstrating our commitment to providing customers with a verified, standardized platform for running AI workloads.

In Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS), nodes with the same configuration (operating system and VM size) are grouped into node pools. AKS clusters use two node pool modes: system node pools host critical platform components that keep your cluster running, while user node pools run your application workloads. Traditionally, you manage both types yourself. You select VM sizes, set node counts, configure autoscaling, and plan capacity for system components. As your cluster grows or workload requirements change, you must revisit these settings to maintain resiliency.

AKS Automatic simplifies this by enabling teams to ship applications with production-grade defaults from day one. With managed system node pools (preview), AKS takes this further. The system pool is now fully managed by Microsoft. Core cluster components run on Microsoft-owned infrastructure, so you no longer provision, patch, or scale system nodes. You focus on your apps while AKS handles the operational overhead of keeping the cluster healthy.

Automatic clusters with managed system node pools also introduce the Pod readiness Service Level Agreement (SLA). Beyond API server uptime, AKS now guarantees your pods reach readiness and serve users.

The Kubernetes SIG Network and the Security Response Committee have announced the upcoming retirement of the Ingress NGINX project, with maintenance ending in March 2026.