Ross Kukulinski
About Ross Kukulinski
Ross Kukulinski serves as the Vice President of Product Management at Kong Inc., where he leads teams focused on SaaS, Kubernetes, and Service Mesh products. He has a strong background in product management, with previous roles at VMware, Heptio, and Advanced Simulation Technology Inc.
Work at Kong
Ross Kukulinski currently holds the position of Vice President of Product Management at Kong Inc., a role he began in 2024. Prior to this, he served as Senior Director of Product Management at the same company since 2022. In his capacity at Kong, he leads the product management teams focused on SaaS, Kubernetes, and Service Mesh. His responsibilities include overseeing product strategies and development initiatives that align with the company's objectives in cloud-native technologies.
Previous Experience in Product Management
Before joining Kong, Ross Kukulinski accumulated extensive experience in product management across various organizations. He was a product lead at Heptio, where he managed open source projects such as Contour, Gimbal, Velero, Sonobuoy, and Cluster API. At VMware, he served as a founding product manager for Tanzu Mission Control and played a significant role in launching Tanzu Kubernetes Grid. His earlier roles include positions at Advanced Simulation Technology Inc. and NodeSource, where he contributed to product management and development.
Education and Expertise
Ross Kukulinski earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, where he studied from 2005 to 2009. He has developed expertise in Kubernetes, having worked with it since pre-1.0 and holds certifications as a CNCF Certified Kubernetes Administrator and Certified Kubernetes Application Developer. His educational background and certifications support his role in leading product management teams focused on cloud-native technologies.
Background in Engineering and Product Development
Ross Kukulinski began his career in engineering, working as a Project Engineer at Advanced Simulation Technology Inc. from 2009 to 2011. He transitioned into product management roles, where he continued to build on his technical background. His experience spans various aspects of product development, including API lifecycle management, cloud deployments, and promoting API-first strategies. He has also been involved in discussions and presentations regarding API security and governance.
Involvement in Industry Events
Throughout his career, Ross Kukulinski has participated in numerous webinars and events related to API management and cloud-native technologies. His engagement in these industry discussions highlights his commitment to advancing knowledge and practices in API management, Kubernetes, and service mesh technologies. His contributions to these forums reflect his expertise and thought leadership in the field.