After evaluating options, GitLab CI/CD emerged as the optimal choice, reducing deployment cycle times by 50%.
In today’s fast-evolving cloud landscape, agility and speed are key for organizations aiming to stay competitive. Ajay Chava, cloud infrastructure expert at Lululemon company, has led a transformative shift from Jenkins to GitLab CI/CD, improving deployment speed, quality control, and reducing costs.
Chava recognised that the legacy Jenkins pipeline, while reliable, became a bottleneck that slowed development and required frequent manual adjustments. “To scale effectively and keep up with our growth, we needed an integrated, flexible CI/CD solution,” says Chava. After evaluating options, GitLab CI/CD emerged as the optimal choice, reducing deployment cycle times by 50%.
The transition to GitLab automated key stages in the deployment process, removing redundant tasks and allowing teams to focus on innovation. This change sped up deployments and reduced errors by 30%. “GitLab cut down on manual interventions, freeing our team to innovate while ensuring seamless deployments,” Chava shares.
Chava implemented GitOps principles within the new framework, enabling automated deployment triggers tied to Git updates. This integration aligned development and operations, creating a unified workflow that resulted in faster, error-free releases.
The switch to GitLab also optimized resource usage and reduced costs. “Centralizing our CI/CD management minimized configuration errors and saved costs from standalone tool management,” says Chava. Automated testing allowed the team to catch issues earlier, saving time and resources.
Beyond technical improvements, the transition brought a cultural shift at Lululemon. The unified GitLab platform fostered stronger collaboration between development, operations, and security teams. “It wasn’t just a technical upgrade; it was a collaboration shift. Working on a shared platform allowed our teams to drive continuous improvement,” Chava reflects.
Chava believes the real success was in the cultural change. “Moving to GitLab CI/CD wasn’t just about technology—it brought our teams closer together. Developers, operations, and security were all working on the same platform, and that unity is what drives continuous improvement,” he concludes.
In addition to transforming Lululemon, Chava has made significant contributions to the broader tech community through his Git repositories. By open-sourcing CI/CD and cloud automation tools, he has provided resources that help other companies improve their infrastructure management. His work continues to influence cloud operations globally, driving efficiency and security in development.
