Jorge Lainfiesta, Rootly
Driving platform adoption is hard, especially when feature teams are laser-focused on delivery metrics and SRE teams are overstretched. In this talk, we introduce a hybrid model that blends platform engineering and SRE to tackle both challenges: the Platform SRE.
Platform SREs focus on building self-service reliability features directly into the platform, so new services are production-ready from day one.
But for legacy or business-critical systems, they take a different approach: embedding temporarily into feature teams to lead focused reliability initiatives like observability migrations, alerting, or SLO alignment.
This time-boxed, tactical engagement accelerates platform adoption while reducing the operational burden on central SRE teams.
Attendees will hear real-world insights from implementing this model inside a mid-size engineering org, along with lessons on team design, cultural prerequisites, and common pitfalls to avoid.
Ideal for platform engineers, SREs, and engineering leaders driving operational excellence at scale.
Jorge is a Reliability Advocate at Rootly and the author of the Linux Foundation Introduction to Backstage (LFS142) course. He has a background in software engineering (ex-PayPal) and digital communication (UCLA). He's also a certified sommelier (CETT Barcelona).
author = {Jorge Lainfiesta},
title = {Embedding Platform {SREs}: A Hybrid Model for Driving Adoption},
year = {2025},
address = {Dublin},
publisher = {USENIX Association},
month = oct
}