Kapil Thakur

Azure DevOps Engineer with 5+ years of experience building and operating enterprise CI/CD and cloud infrastructure in regulated environments. Strong hands-on expertise in Microsoft Azure, Azure DevOps, Kubernetes, Docker, Terraform/ARM, and production operations (on-call, incident and release management). Proven track record of delivering measurable automation outcomes, strengthening IT risk controls and DORA-aligned compliance, and improving observability using Azure Monitor/Log Analytics and Prometheus/Grafana.

Working knowledge of AWS (EC2, S3, IAM, CloudWatch) for selective hybrid / multi-cloud workloads.

Azure DevOps Engineer at Cognizant (2025-09 – Present)

• Owned end-to-end delivery of Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines across multiple environments; reduced manual deployment effort by ~25–30% through standardization and automation.
• Designed, deployed, and operated Azure-hosted Kubernetes clusters for containerized workloads, including routine upgrades, scaling activities, and reliability improvements.
• Provisioned Azure infrastructure using Terraform and ARM templates with version control; enabled repeatable environment builds and improved change traceability.
• Automated operational workflows using Bash and Python scripts; reduced recurring manual tasks and improved release readiness for production runs.
• Led daily coordination with Release/Change/Incident Management and provided stakeholder updates; ensured SLA-driven incident resolution and transparent delivery.

Azure DevOps Engineer at Cognizant (2025-05 – 2025-08)

• Provided on-call operational support for cloud and Kubernetes-based applications, diagnosing issues and minimizing disruptions during critical windows.
• Delivered structured daily client updates and runbook-driven troubleshooting, improving transparency and reducing repetitive follow-ups.
• Maintained release notes and deployment communication using Confluence, ensuring consistent cross-team alignment.

Azure DevOps Engineer at Cognizant (2024-01 – 2025-04)

• Built real-time RHEL health dashboards using Prometheus and Grafana with automated email alerts, improved operational visibility for support teams.
• Reviewed firewall and access configurations and replaced unsecured protocols with encrypted alternatives to strengthen security posture.
• Participated in disaster recovery drills and validation of backup/restore procedures; contributed to ~25% improvement in recovery time objectives (RTO).

Azure DevOps Engineer at Cognizant (2023-09 – 2023-12)

• Supported go-live activities for hybrid cloud deployments and ensured stable execution of production runs for multiple models.
• Enforced IT risk management controls during releases and conducted post-deployment validation and impact assessments.
• Collaborated with DevOps stakeholders to standardize operational practices and reduce recurring deployment errors.

DevOps Engineer at Cognizant (2020-12 – 2023-08)

• Built and optimized Azure DevOps CI/CD pipelines; reduced deployment time by ~20% and improved release consistency across environments.
• Automated configuration management and environment setup using Ansible for on-prem and cloud-integrated deployments.
• Managed infrastructure provisioning using ARM templates and Terraform; contributed to cost optimization through right-sizing and repeatable builds.

Bachelor of Engineering – G. H. Raisoni College of Engineering (2016-06 – 2020-07)