Franka Passing discusses the architectural shift of Duolingo’s 500+ backend services to Kubernetes. She explains the move toward GitOps with Argo CD, the transition to IPv6-only pods, and the "cellular architecture" used to isolate environments. She shares "reports from the trenches" on managing developer trust, navigating AWS rate limits, and productionizing early adopter services.

As organizations scale, communication overload, loss of shared context, and trust gaps emerge, Charlotte de Jong Schouwenburg mentioned. Trust must be built team by team; it can’t be replicated. Trust is interpersonal, while psychological safety exists among people and fuels learning. Leaders must deliberately design structures, rituals, and metrics that reward transparency and cohesion at scale.