This article was originally published on Empathy.co Engineering Blog and has been updated with modern practices for 2025.

At modern engineering organizations, On-Call rotations remain crucial for maintaining service reliability. Following the "you build it, you own it" principle, teams maintain autonomy and ownership over their services. By 2025, this approach has evolved to incorporate AI assistance, enhanced monitoring, and improved engineer well-being practices.

Modern On-Call Foundation

Core Principles

1. Team autonomy
2. Service ownership
3. Operational readiness
4. AI-enhanced monitoring
5. Engineer well-being

Key Components (2025)

Essential Tools:

• AI-powered incident detection
• Automated root cause analysis
• Smart alert correlation
• ML-based prediction systems
• Wellness tracking integration

Enhanced Onboarding Process

Shadowing Program

• 4-day shadowing shifts
• AI-assisted learning paths
• Virtual reality incident simulations
• Automated knowledge testing

Incident Management Flow

1. Identify & Log

• AI-powered incident detection
• Automated context gathering
• Initial impact assessment
• Historical pattern matching

2. Categorize & Prioritize

Modern Implementation (2025)

Team Structure

• Independent escalation policies
• Cross-functional expertise
• AI support systems
• Wellness monitors

Schedule Management

Rotation Guidelines: One week shifts Maximum 1 week/month Automated handover AI-powered schedule optimization Wellness score tracking

Engineer Expectations

1. Primary Focus
   • Incident resolution
   • Root cause analysis
   • System improvement
2. Work Balance
   • Limited feature work
   • Mandatory rest periods
   • Wellness monitoring
3. Knowledge Sharing
   • AI-assisted documentation
   • Automated learning paths
   • Experience capture

Incident Resolution

Modern Tooling

Incident Workflow:

1. AI Detection
2. Context Gathering
3. Impact Analysis
4. Team Assembly
5. Resolution Path
6. Automated Documentation

Postmortem Evolution

• AI-generated initial drafts
• Automated pattern recognition
• Learning system integration
• Predictive recommendations

Benefits of Modern Approach

1. Enhanced Reliability
   • Faster detection
   • Smarter routing
   • Predictive maintenance
2. Engineer Well-being
   • Balanced workload
   • Better support
   • Reduced stress
3. Operational Excellence
   • Continuous learning
   • Pattern recognition
   • Automated improvements

2025 Innovations

AI Integration

• Predictive incident detection
• Automated resolution paths
• Learning from patterns
• Context-aware alerts

Wellness Focus

• Stress monitoring
• Rest enforcement
• Work-life balance
• Team health metrics

Automation Advances

• Self-healing systems
• Intelligent routing
• Documentation automation
• Knowledge capture

Resources

• SRE Workbook

About the Author

I'm a Platform Engineer Architect specializing in cloud-native technologies and engineering leadership. I focus on building reliable, sustainable engineering practices that prioritize both system reliability and engineer well-being.

Connect with me on LinkedIn or contact me for more information.