Adyen joins CNCF as Platinum End User Member, open sources kubectl-rexec audit tool

Adyen, the financial technology platform processing €1.39 trillion in annual volume, has joined the Cloud Native Computing Foundation as a Platinum End User Member. The membership grants Adyen seats on both the CNCF Governing Board and the End User Technical Advisory Board, embedding a major fintech operator directly into cloud-native governance structures.

The company operates over 100 Kubernetes clusters using Cilium, Prometheus, and OpenTelemetry, and has open sourced kubectl-rexec, a tool designed to add strict auditability to kubectl exec workflows in regulated environments. Adyen's participation follows the FINOS 2025 report finding that 87% of financial organizations now derive clear business value from open source, reflecting broader fintech migration toward vendor-neutral infrastructure.

Adyen's infrastructure footprint and kubectl-rexec contribution

• Scale and stack: Adyen runs 100+ Kubernetes clusters with Cilium for networking, Prometheus for metrics, and OpenTelemetry for observability, representing one of the larger documented production fintech deployments on CNCF-hosted projects.
• kubectl-rexec: The newly open sourced tool addresses a specific compliance gap by adding auditable logging and access controls to Kubernetes container exec operations without requiring developers to abandon native kubectl workflows.
• Governance participation: Platinum End User status provides formal representation on the CNCF Governing Board (business and budget oversight) and the End User Technical Advisory Board (technical prioritization), giving regulated-industry operators direct influence over project roadmaps.
• Anti-lock-in rationale: Adyen's infrastructure leadership explicitly cited vendor lock-in avoidance as a core motivation for Platinum-level investment, aligning financial services operational requirements with open-source governance participation.

Why it matters

Adyen's membership strengthens the feedback loop between high-scale financial services operations and upstream cloud-native development, particularly for security and compliance features that benefit regulated industries beyond fintech. The kubectl-rexec release addresses a concrete gap in Kubernetes audit capabilities that systems administrators in healthcare, government, and finance have long needed filled upstream rather than maintained as internal forks.