Life after DevOps -- the new initiatives challenging the status quo [Q&A]

The concept of DevOps has been around since the late 1980s and has been mainstream for the last 15 years or so. But there has recently been discussion around whether open-source platforms like System Initiative are challenging DevOps’ dominance.

We talked to Pablo Gerboles Parrilla, the founder and CEO of Alive DevOps, about what needs to change in how teams build and deploy software, and perhaps more importantly about what shouldn’t.

BN: Has DevOps failed to deliver its full potential and what are the fundamental misinterpretations or common pitfalls that have prevented it doing so?

PGP: DevOps hasn’t failed, but its potential is often undermined by how it’s implemented. Many organizations treat it as a set of tools or a standalone team rather than a cultural and structural shift toward shared ownership and continuous delivery. Without aligning teams around customer value, enabling self-service infrastructure with guardrails, and embedding quality and security into the process, DevOps risks becoming a buzzword rather than a driver of real business results.

BN: What are the essentials for a successful DevOps implementation, and how can leadership effectively drive those changes without creating resistance?

PGP: Successful DevOps starts with having the right mindset and culture. You need a shared vision across teams, where everyone understands their role in delivering fast, reliable software. First, I would say automation is essential. CI/CD, testing, infrastructure provisioning are all so important, but so is visibility, with metrics and monitoring accessible to everyone, and feedback loops that catch and fix issues early. As a leader, you avoid resistance by getting people on board with the “why” before dictating the “how.” When teams see that DevOps removes bottlenecks and makes their work easier, and when they’ve been involved in shaping the process, adoption happens naturally.

BN: The concept of ‘zero DevOps’ or ‘NoOps’ is gaining traction. Is this a radical new approach or just a rehash of DevOps principles?

PGP: Zero DevOps is more evolution than revolution. It’s about automating operations so thoroughly that developers hardly think about them, which is what mature DevOps has always aimed for. It can create a self-healing infrastructure, with frictionless deployments and proactive monitoring. What’s different now is the maturity of automation. Cloud-native platforms and AI-driven operations are what makes that vision far more achievable. The principles are still pure DevOps, but we’re just seeing them pushed to their logical extreme.

BN: AI and automation are rapidly transforming software development, how can these be used to bridge ‘human gaps’?

PGP: AI and automation excel at removing the ‘human drag’ like repetitive tasks, manual approvals, and reactive incident handling. This frees teams to focus on strategic, creative work. But their real value is in augmenting human decision-making. AI can proactively suggest optimizations, automation can provide a safety net that allows teams to move faster without fear, and intelligent tools can preserve and share critical knowledge across teams. Done right, this technology doesn’t replace people. Instead, it removes friction and silos so they can operate at their best.

BN: Looking to the future, do you believe zero DevOps or similar will become the dominant approach for software delivery, or will we see more of a hybrid model?

PGP: For now, we’ll see a hybrid model. Large enterprises with complex infrastructure and compliance requirements won’t dismantle their operations teams overnight. But for new projects, zero DevOps principles will quickly become the norm. The benefits of it are too compelling. It will bring faster delivery, fewer errors, and lower overhead. That’s why I believe the future isn’t about eliminating operations, it’s about making them so seamless they’re invisible, while still keeping enough human expertise to adapt when the unexpected happens.

Image credit: WrightStudio/depositphotos.com