Dive into advanced Kubernetes concepts in this 50-minute conference talk. Explore techniques for influencing pod scheduling, including node selectors, affinity/anti-affinity rules, and taints and tolerations. Learn about admission controllers and their role in the API request lifecycle. Discover how to extend Kubernetes functionality using Custom Resource Definitions (CRDs) and custom controllers. Examine autoscaling options, including Horizontal Pod Autoscaler and virtual node public preview. Gain insights into improving service-to-service communications with service mesh implementation. Suitable for attendees with a solid understanding of basic Kubernetes concepts and constructs, this talk aims to enhance your knowledge of advanced capabilities in Kubernetes and associated platforms for optimizing your application infrastructure.