Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) is a managed Kubernetes service on Google Cloud Platform (GCP). It comes in two modes: Standard and Autopilot. GKE allows cluster operators to focus on running containerized applications without the overhead of managing the Kubernetes control plane. Monitoring Kubernetes-based environments requires gathering metrics, logs, distributed traces, and other data from across the cluster. Datadog provides components for monitoring GKE with its Agent and Cluster Agent. Deploying these agents enables deep visibility into GKE clusters, including dashboards, visualizations, and application-level insights.