CNCF and SlashData Report Confirms India as One of the Largest Cloud Native Communities with 2.25 Million Developers
Mumbai, June 18: The Cloud Native Computing Foundation which builds sustainable ecosystems for cloud native software, today released new findings from its latest State of Cloud Native Development in India report in collaboration with SlashData. Based on data from more than 12,500 developers across 100 countries, the research highlights the continued growth of India’s cloud native ecosystem, increasing adoption of hybrid cloud infrastructure and the expanding role of cloud native technologies in supporting AI development.
The report estimates that India is home to approximately 2.25 million cloud native developers as of Q1 2026, or approximately 11% of 20 million global cloud native developers, making it one of the world’s largest and fastest-growing cloud native communities. Cloud native adoption in India continues to outpace global trends in several key areas such as hybrid cloud deployment, Kubernetes adoption and AI development.
“The industry is shifting from AI-assisted tooling to AI-native systems built on open standards,” said Jonathan Bryce, executive director, CNCF. “The growth we’re seeing in India isn’t just about adoption; it’s about the community actively building the infrastructure that makes inference possible at scale, utilizing the same cloud native standards that power the rest of the world.”
The report found that cloud native technologies are becoming increasingly mainstream across India’s software development landscape. Growth is being supported by a large and expanding population of younger developers entering the workforce with experience in cloud native technologies and practices.
- 70% of India’s cloud native developers are under age 35, compared to 39% globally.
- Developers under 25 account for approximately 30% of India’s cloud native community, significantly higher than many established technology markets.
The report also highlights how platform engineering is reshaping developer experiences. Among Indian backend developers, Kubernetes usage reached 42%, surpassing reported container adoption at 39%—the opposite of the global pattern. The finding reflects the widespread use of managed Kubernetes services, where developers work at the orchestration layer while the underlying container infrastructure is handled by the platform, making Kubernetes the primary interface to cloud native technologies.
- Further, 71% of backend developers use at least one cloud native technology or practice, while only 52% meet the threshold to be classified as cloud native.
- This suggests many organizations remain in the early stages of cloud native maturity and continue to expand their adoption of modern infrastructure practices.
The report identified hybrid cloud as the most widely used deployment approach among developers in India.
- 44% report using hybrid cloud, exceeding the global average of 34%, which also represents the highest level recorded globally to date.
“India stands out not only for the size of its cloud native community, but also for how developers are adopting cloud technologies,” said Liam Bollmann-Dodd, principal market research consultant at SlashData. “The combination of hybrid cloud growth, Kubernetes adoption and AI development points to an ecosystem that is setting a standard for innovation.”