Many engineering teams know the feeling: an incident hits, the response room fills up, but half the people on the call have never actually led a response before. They've read the runbooks. They've sat through the retrospectives. But when the pressure is real, theory only gets you so far.
That's the gap we set out to close. Today we're excited to announce Rootly Academy; a new incident response training program built on realistic, AI-powered simulations that teach responders by doing, not just reading.
The problem: Great tools aren't enough
Rootly's platform already helps teams manage incidents faster, with fewer people, end to end, but in conversations with engineering leaders, one theme keeps coming up: even the best tooling can't compensate when responders aren't prepared to manage an incident.
Most organizations, at best, rely on static documentation and one-off tabletop exercises to develop incident response skills. None of these approaches build the kind of muscle memory that separates a smooth, coordinated response from a disorganized scramble.
Enter Rootly Academy
Rootly Academy is incident response training designed the way engineers actually learn: by working through realistic scenarios under pressure. Powered by our partnership with Uptime Labs, the program delivers drill-based learning that develops practical skills in communication, coordination, and decision-making.
Here's what it looks like in practice:
- Real-time incident simulations – Responders work through incidents in realistic environments with AI-powered characters simulating stakeholders, customers, and dependent teams. Each drill runs 15–30 minutes and can be done solo or as a team.
- Skills-focused curriculum – The program focuses on the human side of incident response: communication under pressure, coordinating across teams, and making decisions with incomplete information.
- Two certification tracks – Incident Handler and Incident Commander certifications validate that your team members have demonstrated competence through drills, not just passed a multiple-choice test.
- Expert debriefs – After each drill, a 5–10 minute debrief from experienced incident commanders highlights what went well and where to improve.
- Skills analytics – Personalized dashboards track each responder's development over time, giving engineering leaders visibility into team readiness and areas for improvement.
Why we partnered with Uptime Labs
Rootly is where millions of incidents get managed and resolved, by some of the worlds largest fortune companies and fastest growing startups alike. We know the science behind incident management and how the best teams get them resolved fast. We chose to partner with Uptime Labs because they've spent years perfecting simulation-based incident response training, building the most realistic drill engine in the industry.
See it live at SREcon Seattle
We're officially launching Rootly Academy at SREcon North America 2026 in Seattle on March 24th. Join us for a live panel featuring engineering leaders from Rootly, Uptime Labs, Elastic, and Postman discussing the future of incident response readiness. The panel will be followed by live demos and networking.
If you're attending SREcon, come say hello at our events on March 23rd and 24th, we'd love to show you what Rootly Academy looks like in action.
Get started
Rootly Academy is available to Rootly customers today. If you're already a Rootly customer, reach out to your account team to get access. If you're not yet a customer, book a demo and we'll walk you through Rootly Academy.
Incident response is a skill. Skills need practice. Let's make your team ready for whatever comes next.
