Community Blog

Community Blog

Open Source in Finance Podcast: Unlocking Innovation - Kratix & Platform Engineering at NatWest

January 12, 2025

In this episode of the FINOS podcast, Grizz Griswold interviews Chris Plank from NatWest Bank and Derik Evangelisa from Syntasso. They delve into the evolution of platform engineering, open-source technologies, and how NatWest uses cloud-native tools to deliver platforms as a product.

Learn about the innovative Kratix framework, its role in enabling developers, and how open-source principles are being adopted in financial services. Whether you're a technical enthusiast or on the business side, this discussion provides valuable insights into modernizing IT practices and fostering innovation.

 

 

Find all of our podcasts at Anchor.fm, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all podcast platforms.

-=-=-=-=-

SHOW NOTES 

-=-=-=-=-

 

time stamps

00:00 The Evolution of Team Collaboration

00:38 Introduction to the Guests

01:08 Overview of the Talk and Key Topics

02:00 Chris Plank's Background and Role

03:14 Defining Platform Engineering

05:52 Derik Evangelista's Background and Role

06:24 Understanding Kratix

10:41 The Journey of Platform Engineering at NatWest

16:54 Building with Kratix: A Technical Insight

19:35 Exploring FINOS Projects and Kratix Integration

20:01 Deep Dive into Kratix and Its Technical Aspects

22:31 The Concept of Golden Paths in Kratix

24:07 Real-World Applications and Industry Impact

29:50 Challenges and Lessons in Change Management

32:51 How to Contribute to Kratix and Future Prospects

37:26 Final Thoughts and Reflections

-=-=-=-=-

ABOUT THE OPEN SOURCE IN FINANCE PODCAST

The FINOS Open Source in Finance Podcast celebrates open source projects and interesting topics at the cross section of financial services and open source. So far, our industry experts have discussed practical applications of and their real-world experiences with a range of open source projects including desktop interoperability, low code platforms, synthetic data, and data modeling. They’ve also discussed best practices for inner source, common myths about open source and why commercial companies choose to introduce open source offerings. Tune in and subscribe to hear what comes next.

 

Interested in FINOS open source projects? Click the link below to see how to get involved in the FINOS Community.

Get Involved

 

FINOS Good First Issues - Looking for a place to contribute? Take a look at good first issues across FINOS projects and get your feet wet in the FINOS community.

State of Open Source in Financial Services Report 2024 - Learn about what is really happening around open source in FSI.

This Week at FINOS Blog - See what is happening at FINOS each week.

FINOS Landscape - See our landscape of FINOS open source and open standard projects.

Community Calendar - Scroll through the calendar to find a meeting to join.

FINOS Slack Channels - The FINOS Slack provides our Community another public channel to discuss work in FINOS and open source in finance more generally.

Project Status Dashboard - See a live snapshot of our community contributors and activity.

Events - Check out our upcoming events or email marketing@finos.org if you'd like to partner with us or have an event idea.

FINOS Virtual "Meetups" Videos & Slides - See replays of our virtual "meetups" based around the FINOS Community and Projects since we can't all be in the same room right now.

FINOS Open Source in Finance Podcasts - Listen and subscribe to the first open source in fintech and banking podcasts for deeper dives on our virtual "meetup" and other topics.