Kubernetes, when viewed as the OS for the data center, controls, manages, and allocates a pool of shared resources. When I install and run an application on my laptop, there are a ton of details I don't care about that just happen magically. Kubernetes maps this idea onto the resources and applications of the cloud.
Again, Kubernetes is far more than just deploying, running, mad scaling an application. It allows so many problems to be solved at the system level, outside of an application and developers awareness.
Take for example restricting base images at your organization. With Kubernetes, SecOps can install an application which scans all incoming jobs and either rejects them, or in more sophisticated setups, hot swaps the base image