The CNCF Platform Engineering Maturity Model defines four levels: Provisional, Operational, Scalable, and Optimizing. Each level applies to both human and AI platform consumers. The table below shows the human level (top row) and AI agent equivalent (bottom row) for each dimension.
| Dimension | Provisional | Operational | Scalable | Optimizing | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Investment | Human | Voluntary, temporary | Dedicated team | Platform as product | Enabled ecosystem |
| AI | Ad-hoc API keys, manual setup | Dedicated agent infra, budgeted tokens | Agent platform as product, ROI per task | Self-provisioning agent ecosystem | |
| Adoption | Human | Erratic | Extrinsic push | Intrinsic pull | Participatory |
| AI | Hardcoded tool lists | Tool registries, skill loading | Self-discovery, capability advertisement | Agents contribute tools back |