In the ever-evolving world of cloud-native technologies, Kubernetes has long dominated headlines. But according to anynines CEO Julian Fischer, reports of Cloud Foundry’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.

In an exclusive interview, Fischer explained that large enterprises are still turning to Cloud Foundry because of its unmatched developer experience—especially when managing thousands of developers. “The average developer isn’t an expert in Kubernetes,” Fischer noted. “Organizations know that the more they guide engineers with strong processes and enable local autonomy, the better their transformation outcomes.”

The enduring appeal of Cloud Foundry lies in its mature, opinionated platform that abstracts operational complexity. Fischer emphasized that while Kubernetes offers flexibility, it lacks Cloud Foundry’s native capabilities for high-scale, self-service app delivery—particularly for teams without deep Kubernetes expertise.

As companies strive to eliminate the traditional “dev vs. ops” handoff, Cloud Foundry’s model of “you build it, you run it” continues to resonate. In fact, the new Korifi project—essentially Cloud Foundry running on Kubernetes—is one of Fischer’s bets for bridging the two paradigms.

Additionally, anynines is actively investing in Klutch, a flexible framework to integrate automation backends for app delivery across diverse environments. “Right now, and for the near future, Cloud Foundry is still the best way to run 12-factor compliant applications at scale,” Fischer said.

Despite slower-than-expected momentum around Korifi, Fischer remains optimistic. The ecosystem, he explained, is only now beginning to mature enough to support the level of developer experience that Cloud Foundry delivers out-of-the-box.

For Fischer, the ultimate goal isn’t to pick sides between CF and Kubernetes, but to unify the strengths of both platforms. His vision includes bringing enterprise-grade CF experiences into lightweight Kubernetes stacks, targeting not just large enterprises but also SMBs with efficient multi-tenancy and lower infrastructure footprints.

As the battle for application delivery supremacy in Kubernetes environments intensifies, Cloud Foundry—far from being obsolete—might just be the dark horse that developers didn’t see coming.