The Cold Start

Updates for Serverless & Modernisation on GCP.

A bi-weekly engineering brief on Serverless & Modernisation.

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Mar 1, 2026Brief #4

Platform Pulse #4: Autonomous Trust and The Agentic Shift

Edition #4 marks a pivotal transition from foundational cloud modernisation to the industrialisation of AI. We explore the 'Operating System for Autonomous Trust,' the General Availability of Cloud Run worker pools, and how to bridge the gap between ethical AI principles and production-grade security.

ServerlessIAMModernisationGCPOktaAI-AgentsFinOps
Feb 15, 2026Brief #3

Platform Pulse: Serverless, Big Data, and the Evolution of Identity

This edition covers the new N4A VMs, no-build Cloud Run deployments, and Okta's AI security initiatives. Plus, critical updates on Auth0's JA4 signals, BigQuery conversational analytics, and the ShinyHunters threat campaign.

ServerlessModernisationIAMSecurityOktaAuth0BigQuery
Feb 1, 2026Brief #2

Platform Pulse: Sub-100ms Serverless Cold Starts, SQL-Native AI, and the Bangkok Region Launch

This edition covers a breakthrough in Cloud Run cold start performance, the integration of open models directly into BigQuery SQL, and the official launch of the new asia-southeast3 region. Plus, critical updates on Firebase relational support and Service Mesh patching.

ServerlessCloud RunBigQuerySecurityBangkokGKE
Jan 18, 2026Brief #1

Platform Pulse: Navigating the Latest in Cloud Native and Core Services

This week's brief highlights critical updates across Google Cloud's serverless, container, and core platform services, emphasising security, performance, and operational efficiency.

Cloud RunGKELegacy ModernisationGoogle CloudSecurityPlatform Engineering

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