Cube x GitLab. Everything on a single platform for years.

Some partnerships start with a pitch, but the one between Cube and GitLab began with a problem: too many tools, not enough visibility. In 2018, we consolidated our entire development process onto a single platform. That platform was GitLab. Our entire SDLC has been running on it for years now, and it’s not just our team that works on it: our clients do too. And we’re running AI agents on it that we never thought possible back then.

Mans Booijink - Operations Manager bij Cube - Oldenzaal

Mans Operations Manager

Reading time

7 min

Acht jaar Cube x GitLab. Van toolchain naar AI agents.

One platform, everything in one place.

In 2018, we were using a collection of standalone tools. It worked—until it didn’t. Projects grew, teams grew, and the separate tools didn’t keep up. Context became scattered across multiple platforms, and no one had the full picture. The switch to GitLab changed that. Everything came together on a single self-managed instance. The number of users grew from 20 to 120, and the type of user changed along with it: no longer just developers, but also designers, marketers, project managers, security specialists, and clients who directly view and collaborate on their own projects.

From user to Channel Partner.

We’ve been using GitLab since 2018. We know the platform inside and out, including the pitfalls you might run into. We didn’t want to keep that experience to ourselves. Since 2024, we have been an official GitLab Channel Partner. That means we help other organizations implement GitLab effectively: from the first CI/CD pipeline to a full DevSecOps workflow. Not based on a sales pitch, but on daily experience. We implement what we use ourselves, and we use what we implement. That cycle makes the advice we give concrete and honest.

AI agents on GitLab.

The final step in our GitLab journey is perhaps the biggest one. In 2024, we launched GitLab Duo: Code Suggestions, Duo Chat, and merge request summaries. Handy, but still pretty standard. In early 2026, we took it further. We’re now building AI agents on the Duo Agent Platform that run directly within GitLab. We’re also connecting external AI tools like Anthropic’s Claude to GitLab, via the API and the Model Context Protocol (MCP). No matter where an agent runs, it gets its context from GitLab: issues, documentation, merge requests, pipelines, security results. That’s the power of doing everything on a single platform for years. All the data is already there. We don’t have to copy or rebuild anything. We simply connect AI to it, and it works.

"We chose GitLab in 2018 to get our toolchain in order. Years and several major shifts later, we’re running AI agents on the same instance that our 2018 version couldn’t have imagined. That’s no coincidence. That’s what a good platform does: it grows with you instead of holding you back."

Mans Operations Manager

Why GitLab?

When people ask us why we’ve stuck with GitLab all these years, the answer is simple: the platform has grown with us. From code management to CI/CD, from portfolio and project management to security scanning, and from security scanning to AI agents. Every time we wanted to take the next step, GitLab was ready for it. Or they evolved to meet our needs shortly thereafter. That’s also why we have so much confidence in them as a Channel Partner. We don’t sell a platform we only know from a distance. We sell something our entire team works with, every day.

"Cube has been on GitLab for more than eight years, and the team brings that hands-on experience to every customer engagement. They were early adopters of GitLab Duo Agent Platform, and they're already helping customers think through what AI agents can do for software delivery. That mix of hands-on depth and innovation is exactly why Cube is such a strong partner."

Alex Picker VP, Global Ecosystems at GitLab

Moving forward together.

Our partnership with GitLab continues to evolve. We speak at events (such as GitLab Transcend London) about our experience with the Duo Agent Platform and contribute to customer stories and technical blogs. We keep building: more agents, more automation, getting more value out of the platform. Not because we have to, but because it works.