Explore the complexities of Container Network Interface (CNI) plugins and service meshes in this informative conference talk. Delve into the challenges of running multiple CNI plugins simultaneously, including potential race conditions and configuration conflicts. Learn how to detect and resolve these issues, and discover best practices for ensuring compatibility between different CNI plugins. Examine the role of service meshes like Linkerd and Istio in utilizing CNI plugins for traffic interception. Gain insights into potential improvements to the CNI plugin specification that could address structural problems. Understand the importance of validating routing on pod startup and the concept of validator pods. Conclude with an overview of additional resources, including the Service Mesh Academy and fully managed Linkerd reviews.