KotlinConf’26 Keynote Highlights: Advances in Language Design, Tooling, AI-Driven Workflows, and Multiplatform Development

KotlinConf'26 showcased major advances across the Kotlin ecosystem on its 15th anniversary. Key announcements include Kotlin 2.4.0 with context parameters and explicit backing fields stabilized, the new Kotlin Toolchain as a unified entry point for building/testing/formatting, and the Kotlin Language Server promoted to Alpha with an official VS Code extension. AI tooling highlights include Junie coding agent with Android support, JetBrains Air for multi-agent workflows, and the stable release of Koog 1.0 — a Kotlin-native AI agent framework used in production by Mercedes-Benz. Backend updates cover Ktor, kotlinx-rpc with gRPC support, and Exposed 1.0 with vector types. Kotlin Multiplatform adoption has more than doubled, with companies like PayPal, Sony, and Duolingo using it in production. Kotlin/Native build times improved 25% with half the RAM usage, and Swift Export moves to Alpha in 2.4. The standard library will also gain an 18-month security support policy starting with Kotlin 2.4.