The apparent simplicity of the publisher/subscriber model as exposed in Reactive-Streams can be deceiving. The relatively fast release cycle for libraries in that space is not a myth, concurrency is hard. To keep out undesired side-effect, most Reactive projects have adopted a vertical approach potentially excluding developers from decision-making around execution model or sometimes language. What if we were able to leave the developer in control, positioning as a robust foundation and making the most of the now industrial standard Java 8 ? What if we hardened this foundation through open-source and research collaboration, with a direct feedback loop from Pivotal engineering ? In essence, that's what we aim to achieve with Reactor 2.5. This session is an invitation to explore how the new Reactor design, structure and features can progressively help you going Reactive and how does it play out in your today and tomorrow applications.