How to avoid platform engineering anti-patterns

This panel discussion explores anti-patterns in platform engineering and strategies for creating effective platforms. The panelists share experiences and insights on how platforms, intended to provide consistency and reduce cognitive load, can become difficult to use and resented. Key anti-patterns include golden paths overloaded with processes and subtle sub-patterns for different applications. The discussion emphasizes the importance of balancing guardrails with flexibility, avoiding excessive abstraction, and fostering open communication between platform engineers and product teams. The panel also touches on how platforms can evolve as organizations grow, the role of AI agents, and methods for regaining trust in platforms that have lost it.