The IKEA assembly model: What platform engineering gets right (and wrong)

Dani and Thiago share a real platform engineering journey using the IKEA assembly model as a guiding metaphor. IKEA succeeds not by offering infinite customization, but by making complex things practical, repeatable, and easy to assemble for most people.

They reflect on the evolution of an Azure Kubernetes platform at RELEX. The first iteration focused heavily on flexibility and power, effectively becoming an IKEA designed for carpenters. It worked well for experts, but onboarding and adoption were harder than expected. The lesson came later: a successful platform must seek to understand the problem before providing solutions.

The turning point came when platform and delivery teams joined forces, embedding platform engineers into early project phases and evolving the platform through real usage. By delivering several high-profile projects in record time, the team proved value while learning that simplicity, guardrails, and ease of use matter more than customization at scale.