Kubernetes is one way to deploy containers. Configuration systems like Ansible/Salt/Puppet/Chef/etc are another way to deploy containers.

Kubernetes also makes it possible to dynamically scale your workload. But so does Auto Scaling Groups (AWS terminology) and GCP/Azure equivalents.

The reality is that 99% of users don't actually need Kubernetes. It introduces a huge amount of complexity, overhead, and instability for no benefit in most cases. The tech industry is highly trend driven. There is a lot of cargo culting. People want to build their resumes. They like novelty. Many people incorrectly believe that Kubernetes is the way to deploy containers.

And they (and their employers) suffer for it. Most users would be far better off using boring statically deployed containers from a configuration management system. Auto-scaled when required. This can also be entirely infrastructure-as-code compliant.

Containers are the real magic. But somehow people confused Kubernetes as a replacement for Docker containers, when it was actually a replacement for Docker's orchestration framework: Docker Swarm.

In fact, Kubernetes is a very dangerous chainsaw that most people are using to whittle in their laps.