Kubernetes is an open-source system for automating deployment, scaling, and management of containerized applications. It groups containers that make up an application into logical units for easy management and discovery. Key Kubernetes components include a master node that manages the cluster and worker nodes that run applications. Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) makes it easy to deploy a managed Kubernetes cluster in Microsoft Azure without having to install or manage the Kubernetes master components. The basic steps to create an AKS cluster include registering the AKS provider, creating a resource group and storage account, and deploying the AKS cluster.