Episode 2 of our 5-part "Platform Engineering 2026 Look Forward Series" examines the macro trend: platform engineering crossing the chasm to mainstream adoption. Gartner predicts 80% of software engineering organizations will have platform teams by 2026. The CNPE certification launched at KubeCon 2025. But there's a 56% talent gap and nearly half of initiatives run on under $1M annually. We address the "DevOps rebranding" debate with a 5-question litmus test:1. Do you have internal customers (developers)?2. Do you measure developer satisfaction?3. Do you have a product roadmap?4. Can developers self-serve without tickets?5. Do you deprecate platform features? Key statistics:- 55% adoption in 2025 (Google), projected 80% by 2026 (Gartner)- Average PE salary: $172k (range $143k-$201k)- 55% of platform teams are less than 2 years old- Team sizing benchmark: 3.5% to 19% of engineering headcount Platform engineering isn't just trendy - it's becoming table stakes. The question isn't IF you'll adopt it, but HOW WELL. #PlatformEngineering #DevOps #SRE #CloudNative #CNPE #InternalDeveloperPlatform #2026Predictions #Gartner