Guest: Bill Mulligan (LinkedIn)
Company: eBPF Foundation
Show Name: The Source
Topic: Open Source

The eBPF Foundation is putting real investment behind open source innovation, funding research that strengthens Linux kernel safety and performance. With $100,000 in new academic research grants, the foundation is helping universities explore the next frontier of eBPF technology.

In this TFiR interview, Swapnil Bhartiya talks with Bill Mulligan, Board Member at the eBPF Foundation, about how academic research is shaping the future of Linux kernel innovation. eBPF, a revolutionary kernel technology, enables developers to safely extend the kernel’s functionality without compromising stability—a capability that has become foundational for observability, networking, and security in cloud-native environments.

Mulligan explains that this is the second year of the eBPF Foundation’s academic research grant program, which attracted 27 proposals from 21 universities worldwide. The focus this year is on improving eBPF safety, programmability, and energy efficiency—particularly around power management in data centers. Projects explore topics such as kernel verification, formal testing, and ways to optimize resource usage at scale.

He emphasizes that these grants are not traditional development contracts but opportunities to fund experimental work that pushes boundaries. Some projects will succeed, others may not—but both outcomes create valuable learning for the community. Successful experiments can result in patches to the Linux kernel, better verification tools, or insights that guide industry practices.

The discussion also explores how industry-academia collaboration benefits both sides. eBPF Foundation members—Google, Netflix, Meta, CrowdStrike, Isovalent, Intel, and Datadog—pool resources through the Linux Foundation to ensure long-term ecosystem growth. By funding research, they create a talent pipeline of engineers deeply familiar with kernel technologies, which helps strengthen the open-source workforce.

Looking ahead, Mulligan reveals the foundation’s plans to expand its initiatives through community fellowships, local meetups, and whitepapers documenting eBPF’s real-world benefits. The long-term vision is to make eBPF not just a feature of the Linux kernel but a cornerstone technology that drives safe, efficient, and observable infrastructure for decades to come.

Here is the edited Q&A of the interview:

Swapnil Bhartiya: eBPF has gone from a kernel innovation to one of the most powerful building blocks in modern infrastructure. The eBPF Foundation recently announced $100,000 in research grants to support exactly that. Bill, before we jump into today’s discussion, just quickly tell our audience what the eBPF Foundation is all about.

Bill Mulligan: The eBPF Foundation is all about supporting and growing the upstream community around the eBPF project. eBPF is part of the Linux kernel and allows developers to safely extend its functionality. The foundation’s mission is to help that ecosystem thrive—through awareness, upstream development, and bringing people together. It’s about making eBPF the best community it can be.

Swapnil Bhartiya: Has the foundation run a grant program like this before, or is this the first time?

Bill Mulligan: This is the second year of the academic research grant program. It aligns perfectly with our mission to push the boundaries of what eBPF can do. By supporting academic research, we’re exploring new and unexpected applications for eBPF. After seeing great results from last year’s program, we decided to expand it this year.

Swapnil Bhartiya: How much interest did you see this time around?

Bill Mulligan: We received 27 applications from 21 different universities worldwide. That level of engagement shows how far eBPF’s reach has grown. For me, that’s exciting—it proves that the technology is being studied and applied globally across multiple research areas.

Swapnil Bhartiya: What criteria guided the selection of winning projects?

Bill Mulligan: We focus on alignment with upstream goals. eBPF’s biggest strength is that it safely extends the kernel. So, one priority is improving the security and verification aspects of eBPF. Another focus is programmability—how we can make the kernel more efficient and flexible. A great example is power management in data centers. Even a few percentage points of efficiency gain can have a massive impact for hyperscalers.

Swapnil Bhartiya: Since these are research grants and not ongoing contracts, how do you measure completion and success?

Bill Mulligan: That’s a good question. Academic research is experimental by nature—not everything will work, and that’s okay. Success comes from what we learn. We look for outcomes like upstream patches, bug reports, testing improvements, and knowledge sharing through blogs or papers. Another key outcome is community growth—more researchers and developers understanding and applying eBPF in their work.

Swapnil Bhartiya: eBPF started in the kernel, but how do these grants impact the broader ecosystem?

Bill Mulligan: I see the foundation’s role in three ways—bringing people together, helping the upstream project, and promoting it. The grants support all three. For example, one project last year focused on formal verification, proving that eBPF’s verifier behaves as intended. That work produced kernel patches and improved the safety guarantees vendors rely on. These efforts directly help the entire ecosystem.

Swapnil Bhartiya: When you were shortlisting this year’s proposals, what pain points did you think the grants could best address?

Bill Mulligan: Great question. Companies are often focused on immediate customer needs—solving today’s problems. The foundation takes a longer-term view. We ask, “What will make eBPF stronger in five or ten years?” That’s why we rely on our BPF Steering Committee, which includes technical experts from multiple companies. They help us choose projects with lasting ecosystem impact, not just short-term fixes.

Swapnil Bhartiya: Since the foundation offers these grants, where does the funding come from, and what do members gain?

Bill Mulligan: The eBPF Foundation is membership-driven under the Linux Foundation. Our Platinum members include Isovalent, Google, CrowdStrike, Meta, and Netflix. Silver members include Datadog and Intel. These companies pool resources so we can invest collectively in upstream work. It’s more efficient than any one company doing it alone, and everyone benefits from shared progress.

Swapnil Bhartiya: Looking ahead, how do you plan to expand the program?

Bill Mulligan: We’re broadening our outreach on multiple fronts. Beyond the academic grants, we’ve launched a community fellowship program to fund advocates who promote eBPF globally. We’re also starting a meetup program to grow local communities and plan to publish whitepapers showing measurable eBPF benefits in production. The foundation also sponsors key developer events like BPFconf and Linux Plumbers.

Swapnil Bhartiya: You mentioned core members earlier. How can industry practitioners who aren’t members support this work?

Bill Mulligan: Industry-academia collaboration is powerful. Practitioners can engage by tracking these research projects, connecting with the academics, or even mentoring. Many of these researchers are highly skilled PhD candidates who will soon join the workforce. By supporting their growth, the industry gets access to top-tier talent deeply familiar with kernel technologies.

Swapnil Bhartiya: Bill, thank you for joining me and sharing these insights. It’s great to see the eBPF Foundation investing in research that pushes technology forward responsibly.

Bill Mulligan: Thanks for having me, Swapnil. If anyone out there is working with eBPF, we’d love to hear from you. Collaboration is what keeps open source strong, and that’s what we’re here to support.