When it comes to highly-scalable system architecture, monolith & microservices are not mutually exclusive options. Embracing an architecture that leverages the strengths of both can help reduce the risk, while realizing the benefits that come from adopting a loosely-coupled architecture. This has been Quizlet’s thesis in rethinking the architecture of our systems to deal with exponential growth. This talk will discuss a pragmatic approach using modern infrastructure management principles & tools to transform the monolith, while incrementally adopting a microservices architecture.