Elevator Pitch
What happens when you rebuild DevOps from scratch in a defense company? We ditched fragile Jenkins pipelines and built a scalable, compliant GitLab CI/CD factory. This is the inside story of turning chaos into clarity, and DevOps into a real competitive edge.
Description
In regulated, high-stakes environments like the defense industry, DevOps transformation isn’t just about replacing tools-it’s about rebuilding trust, enforcing compliance, and reshaping culture. This talk explores how we successfully migrated from a fragmented, hard-to-maintain Jenkins setup to a scalable, centralized CI/CD platform using GitLab at MilSOFT. As the lead DevOps engineer, I orchestrated the shift from brittle legacy jobs into a GitLab-based software factory that embraced consistency, automation, and auditability. We implemented “Pipeline as Code” practices, introduced security and quality gates, and designed reusable templates that empowered development teams to move faster while reducing risk. But this wasn’t purely a technical initiative-it was a cultural one. I’ll share how we tackled internal resistance, aligned stakeholders, trained teams, and fostered collaboration across silos. The transformation enhanced both delivery velocity and developer experience, all while meeting strict compliance needs. What makes this story different is the setting: a defense company where every change must be deliberate, tested, and traceable. The lessons learned are highly applicable to any organization struggling with legacy systems or scaling DevOps across teams. Attendees will walk away with: • A practical roadmap for migrating from Jenkins to GitLab CI/CD • Strategies for designing modular, maintainable pipelines • Tactics for aligning culture with DevOps processes • Tips for maintaining compliance without slowing down delivery This session is for engineers, DevOps leads, and decision-makers seeking not just a tool migration guide, but a real-world DevOps transformation blueprint.
Notes
I led the complete CI/CD transformation at MilSOFT, a defense-industry company with strict internal compliance, security, and delivery standards. The shift from Jenkins to GitLab CI/CD affected multiple product teams and required not only technical redesign but also cultural buy-in and change management. I was responsible for designing the new pipeline architecture, mentoring developers, building internal standards, and driving the adoption across teams. This talk is based entirely on first-hand experience: not a demo, not a vendor pitch, but a real-world story with real technical and organizational challenges. That authenticity is what I want to bring to DevOpsDays. Many companies struggle with legacy CI/CD systems and internal resistance to DevOps changes. My talk offers actionable guidance for those who need to modernize safely in risk-sensitive, high-compliance environments which is something rarely covered in generic DevOps talks. I don’t have any special technical requirements. I will present using slides and speak based on my own hands-on experience: no live demos will be needed.