At Guidewire, we have long been enthusiastic adopters of open-source technologies. They form the backbone of our platforms, enable our engineers to innovate faster, and connect us to a global network of brilliant minds.
But until recently, our role was largely that of a beneficiary. Now, we are taking deliberate steps to give back - sharing our tools, improving the projects we rely on, and engaging with the communities that have fueled our own success. We have nothing to “sell” in this space. What we bring is an engineer’s curiosity, a commitment to better the community, and a belief in the mutual value of shared innovation.
In the open-source world, contribution is as much about humility as it is about pride. Pride comes from the knowledge that you’re helping to shape technology that serves millions. Humility comes from recognizing that what you give is built on the work of countless others who came before you.
This is the start of a journey - one where our aim is not only to contribute code but also to ensure that the Guidewire name becomes associated with genuine, impactful participation in the open-source world.
Guidewire OpenCircle — A First Step in Building Connections
Our first major step was Guidewire OpenCircle, a mixer for the open-source community hosted on August 4 in Hyderabad, on the eve of the Open Source Summit India.
We chose FORGE Breu-Hous, one of Hyderabad’s most vibrant venues, for an evening designed not around presentations or pitches, but around conversation. We opened invitations to the wider open source software (OSS) community and saw an incredible 72 registrations for an event designed for 50 attendees.
On the day, Hyderabad was hit with heavy rains - but in the true spirit of open source, around 40 determined participants showed up. And they didn’t just show up; they brought with them decades of experience, diverse perspectives, and a shared passion for building in the open.
Thanks to years of personal and team involvement in OSS, we were able to welcome notable figures including:
- Saiyam Pathak – Founder - KubeSimplicy and Cloud-Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) Ambassador
- Ram Iyengar – CNCF Evangelist
- Atulpriya Sharma – CNCF Ambassador
- Kunal Das – CNCF Community Builder
- Abhimanyu Dhamija – Co-founder of Housing.com and KoalaLab
For many, this was their first direct interaction with Guidewire engineers - and it opened the door to meaningful exchanges about projects, architectures, and the communities we each support.
Our Role in the Open Source Ecosystem
OpenCircle gave us a chance to share more about our current open-source footprint, which includes:
KubeVela Leadership – We have a CNCF Maintainer for the KubeVela open-source solution and actively run its global community.
Fern Test Reporter – A Guidewire-developed open-source tool to streamline test reporting.
Contributions to GUAC – Helping advance security and provenance in the software supply chain.
Kubernetes Foundations – Our entire Guidewire Cloud Platform runs on Kubernetes, and our teams actively learn from and contribute to that ecosystem.
For us, these contributions are not an end goal - they are a starting point. The more we engage, the more we learn, and the more value we can bring back to the projects we depend on.
These are not side projects - they are foundational to how we build, scale, and deliver.
From Mixer to Main Stage — Open Source Summit India
The day after OpenCircle, on August 5th, we took our presence to the Open Source Summit India as a Gold Sponsor. Our focus was clear: use this platform to amplify the projects we support and share knowledge with as many people as possible.
Our booth was designed for interaction:
- Learn - A 10-minute interactive walkthrough of KubeVela.
- Engage - A quiz to test what participants learned, with swag as rewards.
- Deep Dive for Kubernetes Experts – A showcase of Fern, showing how it addresses real-world challenges in test reporting.
We were happy to see our approach resonated with the participants of Open Source Summit India, resulting in our booth engaging with over 600 open-source professionals, many of whom left with a new understanding of KubeVela, Fern, and Guidewire’s growing role in OSS. We also delivered a detailed session and live demo on KubeVela, which sparked discussions well beyond the event.
Extending the Conversation at KubeCon
Following Open Source Summit India, several of our colleagues stayed on for KubeCon, deepening relationships with maintainers, contributors, and community leaders. These conversations were about shared challenges, possible collaborations, and finding ways we could be of service to the ecosystem.
Why This Matters for Guidewire - and for Open Source
Being part of open source is not a one-time announcement or sponsorship - it’s a long-term commitment to show up, contribute, and collaborate. For Guidewire, the benefits are clear:
- We learn from the best in the industry.
- Our developers gain exposure to a wider range of tools and practices.
- We help shape the technologies that form the foundation of our own platforms.
But beyond these benefits, it’s about giving back. We’ve drawn so much from this community - now it’s our turn to contribute meaningfully.
Looking Ahead
OpenCircle and our Open Source Summit India participation were just the beginning. Our path forward includes:
- Expanding our contributions to the projects we depend on.
- Releasing more open-source tools that solve real-world challenges.
- Creating more spaces for collaboration between Guidewire engineers and the wider community.
But this journey isn’t something we can or want to do alone. If you’re passionate about open source, we invite you to explore our projects - from KubeVela to Fern - and join us in making them stronger. Engage with us through GitHub issues, discussions, CNCF Slack, or by contributing ideas and code.
Open source thrives when people from diverse backgrounds come together with a shared purpose. If any of our projects resonate with you, we’d love to collaborate. Because in open source, the more we build together, the further we go.