New research finds 100,000 of Japan’s AI developers now leverage cloud native technologies

Key Highlights:

• CNCF and SlashData released the State of Cloud Native Development in Japan report, highlighting Japan’s unique path to cloud native adoption, platform engineering maturity and the growing role of AI infrastructure.
• The State of Cloud Native Development in Japan report estimates Japan is home to approximately 950,000 cloud native developers as of Q1 2026.
• Despite on-prem infrastructure remaining dominant, Japan’s cloud native adoption now slightly exceeds the global average.

YOKOHAMA, Japan, July 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Japan — The Cloud Native Computing Foundation® (CNCF®), which builds sustainable ecosystems for cloud native software, today released new findings from its latest State of Cloud Native Development in Japan report in collaboration with SlashData. The research highlights the continued growth of Japan’s cloud native ecosystem driven by the demand for AI, the country’s distinct infrastructure strategy and the increasing maturity of platform engineering across software development.

“In Japan, the focus is shifting from the novelty of AI models to the operational reality of production,” said Jonathan Bryce, executive director, CNCF. “The data confirms that AI is a driving factor for cloud native adoption with high-scale inference demands for observability and scalability that only a cloud native infrastructure stack can provide. As organizations increasingly recognize Kubernetes as the standard operating system for AI, we are focused on solving these operational and physical infrastructure challenges together.”

Japan’s cloud native community continues to grow

The report found that approximately 950,000 developers in Japan are now cloud native, representing 41% of the country’s developer population, slightly above the global average of 39%.

Cloud native adoption has increased significantly over the past two years, reflecting growing awareness and use of cloud native technologies across Japan’s software industry.

“Japan’s cloud native community is entering an exciting new phase of growth as AI drives demand for modern, open infrastructure,” said Noriaki Fukuyasu, vice president of Japan operations, The Linux Foundation. “Organizations are looking beyond AI applications to the platforms that power them, creating greater interest in cloud native technologies like Kubernetes and the skills needed to deploy AI at scale. This momentum is helping strengthen Japan’s open source community while preparing the country for the next generation of innovation.”

Japan follows a unique path to cloud native adoption

Unlike most global markets, Japan continues to rely heavily on on-premises (on-prem) infrastructure while maintaining cloud native maturity comparable to the rest of the world.

• Nearly half (47%) of developers report deploying to on-premises servers, while hybrid cloud adoption stands at 16%.

The findings suggest Japanese organizations are increasingly incorporating cloud native technologies within existing enterprise infrastructure rather than relying exclusively on public cloud environments.

Platform engineering continues to mature while AI drives the next phase

The report highlights continued advances in platform engineering across Japan’s software industry.

• 88% of backend developers now work within standardized DevOps or platform engineering environments, up from 80% six months earlier, while 71% use at least one cloud native technology or practice.
• The research also estimates that approximately 100,000 AI developers in Japan are cloud native, reinforcing the growing role of cloud native technologies in supporting production AI workloads.

“Japan demonstrates that there is no single path to cloud native maturity,” said Liam Bollmann-Dodd, principal market research consultant, SlashData. “Organizations are successfully modernizing while balancing existing infrastructure investments, and platform engineering is making cloud native technologies accessible to more developers regardless of the underlying deployment model.”

To learn more, download the full report.

About Cloud Native Computing Foundation
Cloud native computing empowers organizations to build and run scalable applications with an open source software stack in public, private, and hybrid clouds. The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) hosts critical components of the global technology infrastructure, including Kubernetes, Prometheus, and Envoy. CNCF brings together the industry’s top developers, end users, and vendors and runs the largest open source developer conferences in the world. Supported by nearly 800 members, including the world’s largest cloud computing and software companies, as well as over 200 innovative startups, CNCF is part of the nonprofit Linux Foundation. For more information, please visit www.cncf.io.

About SlashData
SlashData is an analyst firm with more than 20 years of experience in the software industry, working with the top Tech brands. SlashData helps platform and engineering leaders make better product, marketing and strategy decisions through best-in-class research, benchmarks, and foresight into how developers, tools, and software are changing.

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SOURCE Cloud Native Computing Foundation