BackstageCon comes to KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2026 in Salt Lake City

BackstageCon takes place all day on Monday, November 9, 2026, the day before KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America opens in Salt Lake City. We’re excited to bring together Backstage adopters, contributors, and maintainers to share how teams have used Backstage in practice, including the AI features the project has been shipping for the past year. ne project, one track, one full day with the people who actually run it.

AI is changing the game. Where does your portal fit?

AI is changing how teams build software. If you’re already running Backstage, you probably want to know where your developer portal fits now. If you’re just getting started, you want to make the most of it while AI becomes part of everyday work.

The Backstage project has been shipping AI features for the past year. BackstageCon is where you hear how teams have really used them and meet others working through the same problems.

Where it all began

The first BackstageCon took place in Detroit in October 2022, co-located with KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America. It was the first official Backstage conference, and it started after the Backstage project approached the CNCF. It has returned regularly since.

The reason is simple. Backstage was growing fast, with more adopters and more contributors, but there was nowhere for the community to meet in person. BackstageCon gave adopters, contributors, and maintainers a place to connect and swap stories.

Why spend a whole day on Backstage?

The main KubeCon schedule has one or two Backstage talks. BackstageCon gives the project a full day, so you can go far deeper.

Real-world stories. Most sessions come from adopters talking about what they’ve done in production.

One track, one conversation. Users, contributors, and maintainers all see the same talks, so by the time the hallway chats start, everyone has plenty to talk about.

The bigger picture. Backstage usually sits on top of a Kubernetes and cloud native stack, and BackstageCon shows how platform teams make that stack usable for their developers.

What’s on the agenda

It’s a single track of breakout sessions and lightning talks, from opening remarks to closing remarks, with breaks along the way for networking. Sessions fall into four tracks:

AI agents and context in Backstage

Technical deep dives

Developer experience and workflows

Lessons learned from deploying Backstage and driving adoption

Every talk is labeled beginner, intermediate, or any level, so you can pick the sessions that match where you are with Backstage.

What you’ll walk away with

You’ll leave with ideas you can try in your own Backstage instance, taken from teams who have already done the work. Talks cover:

Bringing AI agents into Backstage while keeping people in the loop

Giving those agents the right identity and permissions

Automating catalog ownership

Keeping plugins current as the project changes

One session makes the case that the hardest parts of adoption are about people, not technology. You’ll also get a look at where Backstage is heading, including how one team used AI to modernize a Backstage instance that’s been running for a decade.

Who should come?

Platform teams running Backstage in production. You’ll probably get the most out of it. Many speakers are wrestling with the same problems at scale, like catalog ownership and adding AI to their portals.

Teams evaluating Backstage or early in adoption. Learn from organizations that are further along. Several sessions are aimed at beginners.

Contributors and plugin authors. See where the project is going and meet maintainers in person.

No prep is required. If you’re new to Backstage, it helps to skim the documentation first, especially the Software Catalog, Software Templates, and plugins, since many talks assume you know those. A lot of the schedule covers AI agents and MCP, so a basic understanding of the Model Context Protocol will help too.

Come meet the community

BackstageCon is where the Backstage community meets in person. You’ll hear how others use the project and share your own experience, whether you started last month or have run it for years. Attendees regularly leave with new ideas and with people they keep talking to long after the event. It’s also a great chance to meet maintainers and contributors, which makes getting involved much easier.

Join BackstageCon on November 9, 2026, in Salt Lake City, as part of KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America 2026.

Register Now for KubeCon + CloudNativeCon NA!