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Since the first Internal Developer Platform (IDP) reference architecture launched at PlatformCon 2023, it has become the industry benchmark for platform engineering. As AI reshapes the Software Development Life Cycle, this updated edition distills new insights from hundreds of enterprises and practitioners to define the next evolution of platform architectures, real-world, data-driven, and ready for the age of intelligent automation.
When the first standard reference architecture for Internal Developer Platforms (IDPs) debuted at PlatformCon 2023, it quickly became more than a blueprint, it became a global standard. Downloaded over 100,000 times and adopted by hundreds of organizations, it provided a shared foundation for platform engineering teams to design, plan, and scale their initiatives.
In the two years since, the platform engineering community has exploded to over 270,000 members, revealing the full landscape of successes and challenges across diverse industries. At the same time, the rapid rise of AI has fundamentally reshaped the Software Development Life Cycle, introducing new requirements for automation, observability, and adaptability.
This updated reference architecture reflects that evolution. Built from data drawn from 480 real-world IDP implementations, 90+ platform engineering ambassadors, and the State of Platform Engineering survey, it represents both technically advanced practices and practical enterprise realities. It captures lessons learned from organizations with hundreds to thousands of developers, not just hyperscalers, and distills them into a model that is both achievable and future-ready.
Whether you’re an experienced platform engineer seeking to integrate AI into your platform strategy or a newcomer building your first IDP, this whitepaper offers a clear, actionable framework. It’s designed to help teams move beyond theory into proven, sustainable architectures that accelerate innovation while maintaining control, cost-efficiency, and developer delight.