Solo.io is a leading cloud-native software company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company specializes in modernizing and reimagining infrastructure for the cloud and AI through API gateway and service mesh solutions built on open-source technologies like Envoy and Istio. Their products, including Gloo Mesh and kgateway, empower organizations to manage cloud connectivity at scale.

Nina Polshakova, a Software Engineer at Solo.io, has been with the company for over five years. She currently works on AI gateway features and played a key role in delivering the interactive product experience Solo.io showcased at KubeCon using Instruqt.

Challenge

At industry events like KubeCon, Solo.io wanted to offer a unique,  impactful and memorable way to demonstrate their products. It was challenging for their team members to provide enough technical depth to booth visitors through traditional presentations and conversations alone. They needed a scalable solution that would let developers and platform teams explore Solo.io’s powerful product and related open source project features—like mTLS in ambient mesh—at their own pace.

Solution

Solo.io partnered with Instruqt to deliver self-guided, hands-on labs at their booth. These labs featured real-world scenarios using Solo.io products such as kgateway and the multi-cluster service mesh built on Istio. With just a laptop, attendees could experiment with features like mutual TLS and API traffic routing—no whiteboards or sales pitches required.

“We have a lab station where people can come and try our software on their own. They don’t have to talk to a salesperson—it’s hands-on,” said Nina Polshakova.

To drive additional engagement, Solo.io gamified the experience. Completing a lab earned participants a token to claim a T-shirt—a fun incentive that reinforced product familiarity through learning by doing.

Results 

Solo.io saw exceptional traction with the Instruqt-powered labs. In just one day, nearly 500 engineers completed labs, each within five minutes on average.

“Having a hands-on lab experience is a great way of showing, instead of telling people how our product works,” said Polshakova. “They get to see features like adding mTLS in the cluster on their own and watch it work.”

By letting engineers explore the tech firsthand through Instruqt labs, Solo.io turned interest into insight, building authentic connections with developers and engineers while capturing valuable leads and real-world feedback.

Check out Solo.io’s hands-on labs here.