diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example05_InlineFunctionDefinition.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example05_InlineFunctionDefinition.cs
index e48b3249e114..08c36c1f31eb 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example05_InlineFunctionDefinition.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example05_InlineFunctionDefinition.cs
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
          *          function inline if you like.
          */
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 modelId: openAIModelId,
                 apiKey: openAIApiKey)
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example06_TemplateLanguage.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example06_TemplateLanguage.cs
index 515766f98834..499c4cb145c2 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example06_TemplateLanguage.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example06_TemplateLanguage.cs
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
             return;
         }
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 modelId: openAIModelId,
                 apiKey: openAIApiKey)
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example07_BingAndGooglePlugins.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example07_BingAndGooglePlugins.cs
index f9259b0cf450..74814827c15d 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example07_BingAndGooglePlugins.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example07_BingAndGooglePlugins.cs
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
             return;
         }
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 modelId: openAIModelId,
                 apiKey: openAIApiKey)
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example08_RetryHandler.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example08_RetryHandler.cs
index 1c3ff52672c6..5f3389b18783 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example08_RetryHandler.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example08_RetryHandler.cs
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ public static class Example08_RetryHandler
     public static async Task RunAsync()
     {
         // Create a Kernel with the HttpClient
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddLogging(c => c.AddConsole().SetMinimumLevel(LogLevel.Information));
         builder.Services.ConfigureHttpClientDefaults(c =>
         {
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example09_FunctionTypes.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example09_FunctionTypes.cs
index d7f3d0a3f569..f38992e80987 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example09_FunctionTypes.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example09_FunctionTypes.cs
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
     {
         Console.WriteLine("======== Method Function types ========");
 
-        var kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        var kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ChatModelId, TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ApiKey)
             .Build();
 
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example10_DescribeAllPluginsAndFunctions.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example10_DescribeAllPluginsAndFunctions.cs
index e63a06d82795..519959a8aaa3 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example10_DescribeAllPluginsAndFunctions.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example10_DescribeAllPluginsAndFunctions.cs
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ public static Task RunAsync()
     {
         Console.WriteLine("======== Describe all plugins and functions ========");
 
-        var kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        var kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 modelId: TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ChatModelId,
                 apiKey: TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ApiKey)
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example13_ConversationSummaryPlugin.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example13_ConversationSummaryPlugin.cs
index 8206548ea76a..591115289268 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example13_ConversationSummaryPlugin.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example13_ConversationSummaryPlugin.cs
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ private static async Task GetConversationTopicsAsync()
 
     private static Kernel InitializeKernel()
     {
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.ChatDeploymentName,
                 TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.ChatModelId,
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example15_TextMemoryPlugin.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example15_TextMemoryPlugin.cs
index 2c33070153e3..48a121f9e710 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example15_TextMemoryPlugin.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example15_TextMemoryPlugin.cs
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ private static IMemoryStore CreateSampleKustoMemoryStore()
 
     private static async Task RunWithStoreAsync(IMemoryStore memoryStore, CancellationToken cancellationToken)
     {
-        var kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        var kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ChatModelId, TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ApiKey)
             .AddOpenAITextEmbeddingGeneration(TestConfiguration.OpenAI.EmbeddingModelId, TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ApiKey)
             .Build();
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example16_CustomLLM.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example16_CustomLLM.cs
index 49ef09a685d0..cc99ea628d30 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example16_CustomLLM.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example16_CustomLLM.cs
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ private static async Task CustomTextGenerationWithSKFunctionAsync()
     {
         Console.WriteLine("======== Custom LLM - Text Completion - SKFunction ========");
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddSingleton(ConsoleLogger.LoggerFactory);
         // Add your text generation service as a singleton instance
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<ITextGenerationService>("myService1", new MyTextGenerationService());
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example18_DallE.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example18_DallE.cs
index 5f0fef22a644..8692290dc735 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example18_DallE.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example18_DallE.cs
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ private static async Task OpenAIDallEAsync()
     {
         Console.WriteLine("======== OpenAI Dall-E 2 Text To Image ========");
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             // Add your text to image service
             .AddOpenAITextToImage(TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ApiKey)
             // Add your chat completion service 
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ public static async Task AzureOpenAIDallEAsync()
     {
         Console.WriteLine("========Azure OpenAI Dall-E 2 Text To Image ========");
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             // Add your text to image service
             .AddAzureOpenAITextToImage(TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.Endpoint, TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.ImageModelId, TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.ApiKey)
             // Add your chat completion service
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example20_HuggingFace.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example20_HuggingFace.cs
index a5fd31b6b030..b6d9b73bb86e 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example20_HuggingFace.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example20_HuggingFace.cs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ private static async Task RunInferenceApiExampleAsync()
     {
         Console.WriteLine("\n======== HuggingFace Inference API example ========\n");
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddHuggingFaceTextGeneration(
                 model: TestConfiguration.HuggingFace.ModelId,
                 apiKey: TestConfiguration.HuggingFace.ApiKey)
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ private static async Task RunLlamaExampleAsync()
         // HuggingFace local HTTP server endpoint
         const string Endpoint = "http://localhost:5000/completions";
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddHuggingFaceTextGeneration(
                 model: Model,
                 endpoint: Endpoint,
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example26_AADAuth.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example26_AADAuth.cs
index 106bf8d98c9a..80020891a77d 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example26_AADAuth.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example26_AADAuth.cs
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
             ExcludeAzurePowerShellCredential = true
         };
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             // Add Azure OpenAI chat completion service using DefaultAzureCredential AAD auth
             .AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.ChatDeploymentName,
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example27_PromptFunctionsUsingChatGPT.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example27_PromptFunctionsUsingChatGPT.cs
index d5342c5d46d2..b237ef95ad23 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example27_PromptFunctionsUsingChatGPT.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example27_PromptFunctionsUsingChatGPT.cs
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
     {
         Console.WriteLine("======== Using Chat GPT model for text generation ========");
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.ChatDeploymentName, TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.ChatModelId, TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.Endpoint, TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.ApiKey)
             .Build();
 
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example30_ChatWithPrompts.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example30_ChatWithPrompts.cs
index 79aa810df929..d5eab99da63d 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example30_ChatWithPrompts.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example30_ChatWithPrompts.cs
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
         var selectedText = EmbeddedResource.Read("30-user-context.txt");
         var userPromptTemplate = EmbeddedResource.Read("30-user-prompt.txt");
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ChatModelId, TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ApiKey, serviceId: "chat")
             .Build();
 
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example41_HttpClientUsage.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example41_HttpClientUsage.cs
index 80d10f821295..9cbdad84bf2e 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example41_HttpClientUsage.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example41_HttpClientUsage.cs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ public static Task RunAsync()
     /// </summary>
     private static void UseDefaultHttpClient()
     {
-        var kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        var kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 modelId: TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ChatModelId,
                 apiKey: TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ApiKey) // If you need to use the default HttpClient from the SK SDK, simply omit the argument for the httpMessageInvoker parameter.
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ private static void UseCustomHttpClient()
         using var httpClient = new HttpClient();
 
         // If you need to use a custom HttpClient, simply pass it as an argument for the httpClient parameter.
-        var kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        var kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 modelId: TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ModelId,
                 apiKey: TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ApiKey,
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ private static void UseBasicRegistrationWithHttpClientFactory()
         {
             var factory = sp.GetRequiredService<IHttpClientFactory>();
 
-            return new KernelBuilder()
+            return Kernel.CreateBuilder()
                 .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(
                     modelId: TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ChatModelId,
                     apiKey: TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ApiKey,
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ private static void UseNamedRegistrationWitHttpClientFactory()
         {
             var factory = sp.GetRequiredService<IHttpClientFactory>();
 
-            return new KernelBuilder()
+            return Kernel.CreateBuilder()
                 .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(
                     modelId: TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ChatModelId,
                     apiKey: TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ApiKey,
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example42_KernelBuilder.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example42_KernelBuilder.cs
index 23bc99d7903d..626669508980 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example42_KernelBuilder.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example42_KernelBuilder.cs
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 // ==========================================================================================================
 // The easier way to instantiate the Semantic Kernel is to use KernelBuilder.
-// You can access the builder using new KernelBuilder().
+// You can access the builder using Kernel.CreateBuilder().
 
 #pragma warning disable CA1852
 
@@ -26,26 +26,26 @@ public static Task RunAsync()
 
         // KernelBuilder provides a simple way to configure a Kernel. This constructs a kernel
         // with logging and an Azure OpenAI chat completion service configured.
-        Kernel kernel1 = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel1 = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(azureOpenAIChatDeploymentName, azureOpenAIChatModelId, azureOpenAIEndpoint, azureOpenAIKey)
             .Build();
 
         // For greater flexibility and to incorporate arbitrary services, KernelBuilder.Services
         // provides direct access to an underlying IServiceCollection.
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddLogging(c => c.AddConsole().SetMinimumLevel(LogLevel.Information))
                         .AddHttpClient()
                         .AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(azureOpenAIChatDeploymentName, azureOpenAIChatModelId, azureOpenAIEndpoint, azureOpenAIKey);
         Kernel kernel2 = builder.Build();
 
         // Plugins may also be configured via the corresponding Plugins property.
-        builder = new KernelBuilder();
+        builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Plugins.AddFromType<HttpPlugin>();
         Kernel kernel3 = builder.Build();
 
         // Every call to KernelBuilder.Build creates a new Kernel instance, with a new service provider
         // and a new plugin collection.
-        builder = new KernelBuilder();
+        builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         Debug.Assert(!ReferenceEquals(builder.Build(), builder.Build()));
 
         // KernelBuilder provides a convenient API for creating Kernel instances. However, it is just a
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example43_GetModelResult.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example43_GetModelResult.cs
index 192ce8160bd1..5147f244c2e4 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example43_GetModelResult.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example43_GetModelResult.cs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
     {
         Console.WriteLine("======== Inline Function Definition + Result ========");
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 modelId: TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ChatModelId,
                 apiKey: TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ApiKey)
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
         Console.WriteLine();
 
         // Getting the error details
-        kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ChatModelId, "Invalid Key")
             .Build();
         var errorFunction = kernel.CreateFunctionFromPrompt(FunctionDefinition);
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example48_GroundednessChecks.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example48_GroundednessChecks.cs
index 7ae40fe2eda7..9eb265d13577 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example48_GroundednessChecks.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example48_GroundednessChecks.cs
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
     public static async Task GroundednessCheckingAsync()
     {
         Console.WriteLine("\n======== Groundedness Checks ========");
-        var kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        var kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.ChatDeploymentName,
                 TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.ChatModelId,
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ which are not grounded in the original.
 
         Console.WriteLine("\n======== Planning - Groundedness Checks ========");
 
-        var kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        var kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.ChatDeploymentName,
                 TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.ChatModelId,
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example52_ApimAuth.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example52_ApimAuth.cs
index 32d08d82650f..31c80aadc476 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example52_ApimAuth.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example52_ApimAuth.cs
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
         };
         var openAIClient = new OpenAIClient(apimUri, new BearerTokenCredential(accessToken), clientOptions);
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddLogging(c => c.SetMinimumLevel(LogLevel.Warning).AddConsole());
         builder.AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.ChatDeploymentName, TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.ChatModelId, openAIClient);
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example54_AzureChatCompletionWithData.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example54_AzureChatCompletionWithData.cs
index 305803232912..30478af29e81 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example54_AzureChatCompletionWithData.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example54_AzureChatCompletionWithData.cs
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ private static async Task ExampleWithKernelAsync()
 
         var completionWithDataConfig = GetCompletionWithDataConfig();
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(config: completionWithDataConfig)
             .Build();
 
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example56_TemplateMethodFunctionsWithMultipleArguments.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example56_TemplateMethodFunctionsWithMultipleArguments.cs
index 79ff2c2397ef..8d913992900b 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example56_TemplateMethodFunctionsWithMultipleArguments.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example56_TemplateMethodFunctionsWithMultipleArguments.cs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
             return;
         }
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddLogging(c => c.AddConsole());
         builder.AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
             deploymentName: deploymentName,
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example57_KernelHooks.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example57_KernelHooks.cs
index 560815bd4417..0c3c733f3086 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example57_KernelHooks.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example57_KernelHooks.cs
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ private static async Task GetUsageAsync()
     {
         Console.WriteLine("\n======== Get Usage Data ========\n");
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 modelId: s_openAIModelId!,
                 apiKey: s_openAIApiKey!)
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ private static async Task GetRenderedPromptAsync()
     {
         Console.WriteLine("\n======== Get Rendered Prompt ========\n");
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 modelId: s_openAIModelId!,
                 apiKey: s_openAIApiKey!)
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ private static async Task ChangingResultAsync()
     {
         Console.WriteLine("\n======== Changing/Filtering Function Result ========\n");
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(
                modelId: s_openAIModelId!,
                apiKey: s_openAIApiKey!)
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ private static async Task BeforeInvokeCancellationAsync()
     {
         Console.WriteLine("\n======== Cancelling Pipeline Execution - Invoking event ========\n");
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(
                modelId: s_openAIModelId!,
                apiKey: s_openAIApiKey!)
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ private static async Task AfterInvokeCancellationAsync()
     {
         Console.WriteLine("\n======== Cancelling Pipeline Execution - Invoked event ========\n");
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(
                modelId: s_openAIModelId!,
                apiKey: s_openAIApiKey!)
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example58_ConfigureExecutionSettings.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example58_ConfigureExecutionSettings.cs
index 2905fd9cddb3..5bcf2f802dbf 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example58_ConfigureExecutionSettings.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example58_ConfigureExecutionSettings.cs
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
             return;
         }
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 deploymentName: chatDeploymentName,
                 modelId: chatModelId,
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example59_OpenAIFunctionCalling.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example59_OpenAIFunctionCalling.cs
index 1b279e4b4701..32d6266638b6 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example59_OpenAIFunctionCalling.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example59_OpenAIFunctionCalling.cs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ public static class Example59_OpenAIFunctionCalling
     public static async Task RunAsync()
     {
         // Create kernel with chat completions service and plugins
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Plugins.AddFromType<TimePlugin>();
         builder.Plugins.AddFromType<WidgetPlugin>();
         builder.AddOpenAIChatCompletion(TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ChatModelId, TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ApiKey);
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example61_MultipleLLMs.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example61_MultipleLLMs.cs
index 07e5dec83c87..70ac07222866 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example61_MultipleLLMs.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example61_MultipleLLMs.cs
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
             return;
         }
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 deploymentName: azureDeploymentName,
                 endpoint: azureEndpoint,
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example62_CustomAIServiceSelector.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example62_CustomAIServiceSelector.cs
index 30b15d562a6d..775ab14c51e4 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example62_CustomAIServiceSelector.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example62_CustomAIServiceSelector.cs
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
         }
 
         // Build a kernel with multiple chat completion services
-        var builder = new KernelBuilder()
+        var builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 deploymentName: azureDeploymentName,
                 endpoint: azureEndpoint,
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example63_ChatCompletionPrompts.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example63_ChatCompletionPrompts.cs
index 4663a1255f1d..13117521c548 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example63_ChatCompletionPrompts.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example63_ChatCompletionPrompts.cs
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
             <message role=""system"">Respond with JSON.</message>
         ";
 
-        var kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        var kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 modelId: TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ChatModelId,
                 apiKey: TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ApiKey)
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example63_FlowOrchestrator.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example63_FlowOrchestrator.cs
index 93bdf1c9628a..8b9543c8efb5 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example63_FlowOrchestrator.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example63_FlowOrchestrator.cs
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ private static FlowOrchestratorConfig GetOrchestratorConfig()
 
     private static KernelBuilder GetKernelBuilder(ILoggerFactory loggerFactory)
     {
-        var builder = new KernelBuilder();
+        var builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
 
         return builder
             .WithAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example64_MultiplePromptTemplates.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example64_MultiplePromptTemplates.cs
index c2a2beffa6de..9bb11fe454d7 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example64_MultiplePromptTemplates.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example64_MultiplePromptTemplates.cs
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
             return;
         }
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 deploymentName: chatDeploymentName,
                 modelId: chatModelId,
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example65_HandlebarsPlanner.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example65_HandlebarsPlanner.cs
index 0084e04def5e..fa13a14e9753 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example65_HandlebarsPlanner.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example65_HandlebarsPlanner.cs
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ private static async Task RunSampleAsync(string goal, bool shouldPrintPrompt = f
             return;
         }
 
-        var kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        var kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 deploymentName: chatDeploymentName,
                 modelId: chatModelId,
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example66_FunctionCallingStepwisePlanner.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example66_FunctionCallingStepwisePlanner.cs
index 0af398ca7282..ba16b06e838a 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example66_FunctionCallingStepwisePlanner.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example66_FunctionCallingStepwisePlanner.cs
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
     /// <returns>A kernel instance</returns>
     private static Kernel InitializeKernel()
     {
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.ChatDeploymentName,
                 TestConfiguration.AzureOpenAI.ChatModelId,
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example72_KernelStreaming.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example72_KernelStreaming.cs
index 8a90377f5c00..c0ec80fd6178 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example72_KernelStreaming.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example72_KernelStreaming.cs
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
             return;
         }
 
-        var kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        var kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 deploymentName: chatDeploymentName,
                 modelId: chatModelId,
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example74_Pipelining.cs b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example74_Pipelining.cs
index de640b9d28a9..75afaf88e4d3 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example74_Pipelining.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/KernelSyntaxExamples/Example74_Pipelining.cs
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ public static async Task RunAsync()
         });
         KernelFunction pipeline = KernelFunctionCombinators.Pipe(new[] { parseInt32, multiplyByN, truncate, humanize }, "pipeline");
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.AddOpenAIChatCompletion(
             TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ChatModelId,
             TestConfiguration.OpenAI.ApiKey);
diff --git a/dotnet/samples/TelemetryExample/Program.cs b/dotnet/samples/TelemetryExample/Program.cs
index d2c2b647481a..d9929d3bf949 100644
--- a/dotnet/samples/TelemetryExample/Program.cs
+++ b/dotnet/samples/TelemetryExample/Program.cs
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ private static Kernel GetKernel(ILoggerFactory loggerFactory)
         var bingConnector = new BingConnector(Env.Var("Bing__ApiKey"));
         var webSearchEnginePlugin = new WebSearchEnginePlugin(bingConnector);
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
 
         builder.Services.AddSingleton(loggerFactory);
         builder.AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
diff --git a/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.HuggingFace/HuggingFaceKernelBuilderExtensions.cs b/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.HuggingFace/HuggingFaceKernelBuilderExtensions.cs
index 873dedab551a..cc6fccec7706 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.HuggingFace/HuggingFaceKernelBuilderExtensions.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.HuggingFace/HuggingFaceKernelBuilderExtensions.cs
@@ -9,14 +9,14 @@
 namespace Microsoft.SemanticKernel;
 
 /// <summary>
-/// Provides extension methods for the <see cref="KernelBuilder"/> class to configure Hugging Face connectors.
+/// Provides extension methods for the <see cref="IKernelBuilder"/> class to configure Hugging Face connectors.
 /// </summary>
 public static class HuggingFaceKernelBuilderExtensions
 {
     /// <summary>
     /// Adds an Hugging Face text generation service with the specified configuration.
     /// </summary>
-    /// <param name="builder">The <see cref="KernelBuilder"/> instance to augment.</param>
+    /// <param name="builder">The <see cref="IKernelBuilder"/> instance to augment.</param>
     /// <param name="model">The name of the Hugging Face model.</param>
     /// <param name="apiKey">The API key required for accessing the Hugging Face service.</param>
     /// <param name="endpoint">The endpoint URL for the text generation service.</param>
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ public static IServiceCollection AddHuggingFaceTextGeneration(
     /// <summary>
     /// Adds an Hugging Face text embedding generation service with the specified configuration.
     /// </summary>
-    /// <param name="builder">The <see cref="KernelBuilder"/> instance to augment.</param>
+    /// <param name="builder">The <see cref="IKernelBuilder"/> instance to augment.</param>
     /// <param name="model">The name of the Hugging Face model.</param>
     /// <param name="endpoint">The endpoint for the text embedding generation service.</param>
     /// <param name="serviceId">A local identifier for the given AI service.</param>
diff --git a/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.OpenAI/OpenAIServiceCollectionExtensions.cs b/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.OpenAI/OpenAIServiceCollectionExtensions.cs
index 704541b4e135..cb0836c6bb5a 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.OpenAI/OpenAIServiceCollectionExtensions.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.OpenAI/OpenAIServiceCollectionExtensions.cs
@@ -893,7 +893,7 @@ public static IServiceCollection AddAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
     /// <summary>
     /// Adds the Azure OpenAI chat completion with data service to the list.
     /// </summary>
-    /// <param name="builder">The <see cref="KernelBuilder"/> instance.</param>
+    /// <param name="builder">The <see cref="IKernelBuilder"/> instance.</param>
     /// <param name="config">Required configuration for Azure OpenAI chat completion with data.</param>
     /// <param name="serviceId">A local identifier for the given AI service.</param>
     /// <returns>The same instance as <paramref name="builder"/>.</returns>
diff --git a/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.UnitTests/OpenAI/AIServicesOpenAIExtensionsTests.cs b/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.UnitTests/OpenAI/AIServicesOpenAIExtensionsTests.cs
index 78e7c3457be3..a265b1327e9c 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.UnitTests/OpenAI/AIServicesOpenAIExtensionsTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/Connectors/Connectors.UnitTests/OpenAI/AIServicesOpenAIExtensionsTests.cs
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ public class AIServicesOpenAIExtensionsTests
     [Fact]
     public void ItSucceedsWhenAddingDifferentServiceTypeWithSameId()
     {
-        Kernel targetKernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel targetKernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddAzureOpenAITextGeneration("depl", "model", "https://url", "key", "azure")
             .AddAzureOpenAITextEmbeddingGeneration("depl2", "model2", "https://url", "key", "azure")
             .Build();
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ public void ItSucceedsWhenAddingDifferentServiceTypeWithSameId()
     [Fact]
     public void ItTellsIfAServiceIsAvailable()
     {
-        Kernel targetKernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel targetKernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddAzureOpenAITextGeneration("depl", "model", "https://url", "key", serviceId: "azure")
             .AddOpenAITextGeneration("model", "apikey", serviceId: "oai")
             .AddAzureOpenAITextEmbeddingGeneration("depl2", "model2", "https://url2", "key", serviceId: "azure")
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ public void ItCanOverwriteServices()
     {
         // Arrange
         // Act - Assert no exception occurs
-        var builder = new KernelBuilder();
+        var builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
 
         builder.Services.AddAzureOpenAITextGeneration("dep", "model", "https://localhost", "key", serviceId: "one");
         builder.Services.AddAzureOpenAITextGeneration("dep", "model", "https://localhost", "key", serviceId: "one");
diff --git a/dotnet/src/Experimental/Assistants/Internal/Assistant.cs b/dotnet/src/Experimental/Assistants/Internal/Assistant.cs
index 66d7f9ef9744..a37e4a2f1ae3 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/Experimental/Assistants/Internal/Assistant.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/Experimental/Assistants/Internal/Assistant.cs
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ internal Assistant(
         this._model = model;
         this._restContext = restContext;
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.AddOpenAIChatCompletion(this._model.Model, this._restContext.ApiKey);
         this.Kernel = builder.Build();
 
diff --git a/dotnet/src/Experimental/Orchestration.Flow.IntegrationTests/FlowOrchestratorTests.cs b/dotnet/src/Experimental/Orchestration.Flow.IntegrationTests/FlowOrchestratorTests.cs
index 308844be2a54..7427d4eddc61 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/Experimental/Orchestration.Flow.IntegrationTests/FlowOrchestratorTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/Experimental/Orchestration.Flow.IntegrationTests/FlowOrchestratorTests.cs
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ public FlowOrchestratorTests(ITestOutputHelper output)
     public async Task CanExecuteFlowAsync()
     {
         // Arrange
-        KernelBuilder builder = this.InitializeKernelBuilder();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = this.InitializeKernelBuilder();
         var bingConnector = new BingConnector(this._bingApiKey);
         var webSearchEnginePlugin = new WebSearchEnginePlugin(bingConnector);
         var sessionId = Guid.NewGuid().ToString();
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ private KernelBuilder InitializeKernelBuilder()
         AzureOpenAIConfiguration? azureOpenAIConfiguration = this._configuration.GetSection("AzureOpenAI").Get<AzureOpenAIConfiguration>();
         Assert.NotNull(azureOpenAIConfiguration);
 
-        return new KernelBuilder()
+        return Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .WithAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 deploymentName: azureOpenAIConfiguration.ChatDeploymentName!,
                 endpoint: azureOpenAIConfiguration.Endpoint,
diff --git a/dotnet/src/Experimental/Orchestration.Flow/Execution/FlowExecutor.cs b/dotnet/src/Experimental/Orchestration.Flow/Execution/FlowExecutor.cs
index baf815649ad4..290e0a224d2d 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/Experimental/Orchestration.Flow/Execution/FlowExecutor.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/Experimental/Orchestration.Flow/Execution/FlowExecutor.cs
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ internal class FlowExecutor : IFlowExecutor
     /// <summary>
     /// The kernel builder
     /// </summary>
-    private readonly KernelBuilder _kernelBuilder;
+    private readonly IKernelBuilder _kernelBuilder;
 
     /// <summary>
     /// The logger
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ internal class FlowExecutor : IFlowExecutor
     /// </summary>
     private readonly KernelFunction _checkStartStepFunction;
 
-    internal FlowExecutor(KernelBuilder kernelBuilder, IFlowStatusProvider statusProvider, Dictionary<object, string?> globalPluginCollection, FlowOrchestratorConfig? config = null)
+    internal FlowExecutor(IKernelBuilder kernelBuilder, IFlowStatusProvider statusProvider, Dictionary<object, string?> globalPluginCollection, FlowOrchestratorConfig? config = null)
     {
         this._kernelBuilder = kernelBuilder;
         this._systemKernel = kernelBuilder.Build();
diff --git a/dotnet/src/Experimental/Orchestration.Flow/FlowOrchestrator.cs b/dotnet/src/Experimental/Orchestration.Flow/FlowOrchestrator.cs
index 77e50e28aec8..1fe0b2a1d39c 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/Experimental/Orchestration.Flow/FlowOrchestrator.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/Experimental/Orchestration.Flow/FlowOrchestrator.cs
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ namespace Microsoft.SemanticKernel.Experimental.Orchestration;
 /// </summary>
 public class FlowOrchestrator
 {
-    private readonly KernelBuilder _kernelBuilder;
+    private readonly IKernelBuilder _kernelBuilder;
 
     private readonly IFlowStatusProvider _flowStatusProvider;
 
diff --git a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Connectors/OpenAI/OpenAICompletionTests.cs b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Connectors/OpenAI/OpenAICompletionTests.cs
index fe8697c7ef95..2a17ae3048ed 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Connectors/OpenAI/OpenAICompletionTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Connectors/OpenAI/OpenAICompletionTests.cs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ namespace SemanticKernel.IntegrationTests.Connectors.OpenAI;
 
 public sealed class OpenAICompletionTests : IDisposable
 {
-    private readonly KernelBuilder _kernelBuilder;
+    private readonly IKernelBuilder _kernelBuilder;
     private readonly IConfigurationRoot _configuration;
 
     public OpenAICompletionTests(ITestOutputHelper output)
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public OpenAICompletionTests(ITestOutputHelper output)
             .AddUserSecrets<OpenAICompletionTests>()
             .Build();
 
-        this._kernelBuilder = new KernelBuilder();
+        this._kernelBuilder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
     }
 
     [Theory(Skip = "OpenAI will often throttle requests. This test is for manual verification.")]
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ public async Task OpenAIChatAsTextTestAsync(string prompt, string expectedAnswer
     {
         // Arrange
         this._kernelBuilder.Services.AddSingleton<ILoggerFactory>(this._logger);
-        KernelBuilder builder = this._kernelBuilder;
+        IKernelBuilder builder = this._kernelBuilder;
 
         this.ConfigureChatOpenAI(builder);
 
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ public async Task CanUseOpenAiChatForTextGenerationAsync()
     {
         // Note: we use OpenAI Chat Completion and GPT 3.5 Turbo
         this._kernelBuilder.Services.AddSingleton<ILoggerFactory>(this._logger);
-        KernelBuilder builder = this._kernelBuilder;
+        IKernelBuilder builder = this._kernelBuilder;
         this.ConfigureChatOpenAI(builder);
 
         Kernel target = builder.Build();
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ public async Task OpenAIHttpRetryPolicyTestAsync(string prompt, string expectedO
     public async Task AzureOpenAIHttpRetryPolicyTestAsync(string prompt, string expectedOutput)
     {
         this._kernelBuilder.Services.AddSingleton<ILoggerFactory>(this._testOutputHelper);
-        KernelBuilder builder = this._kernelBuilder;
+        IKernelBuilder builder = this._kernelBuilder;
 
         var azureOpenAIConfiguration = this._configuration.GetSection("AzureOpenAI").Get<AzureOpenAIConfiguration>();
         Assert.NotNull(azureOpenAIConfiguration);
@@ -483,7 +483,7 @@ private void Dispose(bool disposing)
         }
     }
 
-    private void ConfigureChatOpenAI(KernelBuilder kernelBuilder)
+    private void ConfigureChatOpenAI(IKernelBuilder kernelBuilder)
     {
         var openAIConfiguration = this._configuration.GetSection("OpenAI").Get<OpenAIConfiguration>();
 
@@ -498,7 +498,7 @@ private void ConfigureChatOpenAI(KernelBuilder kernelBuilder)
             serviceId: openAIConfiguration.ServiceId);
     }
 
-    private void ConfigureAzureOpenAI(KernelBuilder kernelBuilder)
+    private void ConfigureAzureOpenAI(IKernelBuilder kernelBuilder)
     {
         var azureOpenAIConfiguration = this._configuration.GetSection("AzureOpenAI").Get<AzureOpenAIConfiguration>();
 
@@ -515,7 +515,7 @@ private void ConfigureAzureOpenAI(KernelBuilder kernelBuilder)
             apiKey: azureOpenAIConfiguration.ApiKey,
             serviceId: azureOpenAIConfiguration.ServiceId);
     }
-    private void ConfigureInvalidAzureOpenAI(KernelBuilder kernelBuilder)
+    private void ConfigureInvalidAzureOpenAI(IKernelBuilder kernelBuilder)
     {
         var azureOpenAIConfiguration = this._configuration.GetSection("AzureOpenAI").Get<AzureOpenAIConfiguration>();
 
@@ -531,7 +531,7 @@ private void ConfigureInvalidAzureOpenAI(KernelBuilder kernelBuilder)
             serviceId: $"invalid-{azureOpenAIConfiguration.ServiceId}");
     }
 
-    private void ConfigureAzureOpenAIChatAsText(KernelBuilder kernelBuilder)
+    private void ConfigureAzureOpenAIChatAsText(IKernelBuilder kernelBuilder)
     {
         var azureOpenAIConfiguration = this._configuration.GetSection("AzureOpenAI").Get<AzureOpenAIConfiguration>();
 
diff --git a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Extensions/KernelFunctionExtensionsTests.cs b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Extensions/KernelFunctionExtensionsTests.cs
index b04dc38f23f8..0957fd2cb4f3 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Extensions/KernelFunctionExtensionsTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Extensions/KernelFunctionExtensionsTests.cs
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ public KernelFunctionExtensionsTests(ITestOutputHelper output)
     [Fact]
     public async Task ItSupportsFunctionCallsAsync()
     {
-        var builder = new KernelBuilder();
+        var builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddSingleton<ILoggerFactory>(this._logger);
         builder.Services.AddSingleton<ITextGenerationService>(new RedirectTextGenerationService());
         builder.Plugins.AddFromType<EmailPluginFake>();
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ public async Task ItSupportsFunctionCallsAsync()
     [Fact]
     public async Task ItSupportsFunctionCallsWithInputAsync()
     {
-        var builder = new KernelBuilder();
+        var builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddSingleton<ILoggerFactory>(this._logger);
         builder.Services.AddSingleton<ITextGenerationService>(new RedirectTextGenerationService());
         builder.Plugins.AddFromType<EmailPluginFake>();
diff --git a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/Handlebars/HandlebarsPlannerTests.cs b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/Handlebars/HandlebarsPlannerTests.cs
index 257079194372..1d46d95998b9 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/Handlebars/HandlebarsPlannerTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/Handlebars/HandlebarsPlannerTests.cs
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ private Kernel InitializeKernel(bool useEmbeddings = false, bool useChatModel =
         AzureOpenAIConfiguration? azureOpenAIEmbeddingsConfiguration = this._configuration.GetSection("AzureOpenAIEmbeddings").Get<AzureOpenAIConfiguration>();
         Assert.NotNull(azureOpenAIEmbeddingsConfiguration);
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
 
         if (useChatModel)
         {
diff --git a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/PlanTests.cs b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/PlanTests.cs
index 23a909fcd235..df329d068085 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/PlanTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/PlanTests.cs
@@ -562,7 +562,7 @@ private Kernel InitializeKernel(bool useEmbeddings = false, bool useChatModel =
         AzureOpenAIConfiguration? azureOpenAIEmbeddingsConfiguration = this._configuration.GetSection("AzureOpenAIEmbeddings").Get<AzureOpenAIConfiguration>();
         Assert.NotNull(azureOpenAIEmbeddingsConfiguration);
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
 
         if (useChatModel)
         {
diff --git a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/SequentialPlanner/SequentialPlanParserTests.cs b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/SequentialPlanner/SequentialPlanParserTests.cs
index 791de0f9f750..da15ecf935ee 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/SequentialPlanner/SequentialPlanParserTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/SequentialPlanner/SequentialPlanParserTests.cs
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ public void CanCallToPlanFromXml()
         AzureOpenAIConfiguration? azureOpenAIConfiguration = this._configuration.GetSection("AzureOpenAI").Get<AzureOpenAIConfiguration>();
         Assert.NotNull(azureOpenAIConfiguration);
 
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .WithAzureOpenAITextGeneration(
                 deploymentName: azureOpenAIConfiguration.DeploymentName,
                 endpoint: azureOpenAIConfiguration.Endpoint,
diff --git a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/SequentialPlanner/SequentialPlannerTests.cs b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/SequentialPlanner/SequentialPlannerTests.cs
index b102aff9e960..7eef3864cf8c 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/SequentialPlanner/SequentialPlannerTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/SequentialPlanner/SequentialPlannerTests.cs
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ private Kernel InitializeKernel(bool useEmbeddings = false, bool useChatModel =
         AzureOpenAIConfiguration? azureOpenAIEmbeddingsConfiguration = this._configuration.GetSection("AzureOpenAIEmbeddings").Get<AzureOpenAIConfiguration>();
         Assert.NotNull(azureOpenAIEmbeddingsConfiguration);
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
 
         if (useChatModel)
         {
diff --git a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/StepwisePlanner/FunctionCallingStepwisePlannerTests.cs b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/StepwisePlanner/FunctionCallingStepwisePlannerTests.cs
index 520cbd76f323..f4e743fdb989 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/StepwisePlanner/FunctionCallingStepwisePlannerTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/StepwisePlanner/FunctionCallingStepwisePlannerTests.cs
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ private Kernel InitializeKernel(bool useEmbeddings = false)
         AzureOpenAIConfiguration? azureOpenAIEmbeddingsConfiguration = this._configuration.GetSection("AzureOpenAIEmbeddings").Get<AzureOpenAIConfiguration>();
         Assert.NotNull(azureOpenAIEmbeddingsConfiguration);
 
-        var builder = new KernelBuilder()
+        var builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .WithAzureOpenAIChatCompletion(
                 deploymentName: azureOpenAIConfiguration.ChatDeploymentName!,
                 endpoint: azureOpenAIConfiguration.Endpoint,
diff --git a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/StepwisePlanner/StepwisePlannerTests.cs b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/StepwisePlanner/StepwisePlannerTests.cs
index ec4d6f33172e..62556eb21670 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/StepwisePlanner/StepwisePlannerTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/Planners/StepwisePlanner/StepwisePlannerTests.cs
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ private Kernel InitializeKernel(bool useEmbeddings = false, bool useChatModel =
         AzureOpenAIConfiguration? azureOpenAIEmbeddingsConfiguration = this._configuration.GetSection("AzureOpenAIEmbeddings").Get<AzureOpenAIConfiguration>();
         Assert.NotNull(azureOpenAIEmbeddingsConfiguration);
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
 
         if (useChatModel)
         {
diff --git a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/PromptTests.cs b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/PromptTests.cs
index a806683a5b06..2dcff295ae8f 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/PromptTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/IntegrationTests/PromptTests.cs
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ public PromptTests(ITestOutputHelper output)
             .AddUserSecrets<OpenAICompletionTests>()
             .Build();
 
-        this._kernelBuilder = new KernelBuilder();
+        this._kernelBuilder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         this._kernelBuilder.Services.AddSingleton<ILoggerFactory>(this._logger);
     }
 
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ public async Task GenerateStoryTestAsync(string resourceName, bool isHandlebars)
 
     #region private methods
 
-    private readonly KernelBuilder _kernelBuilder;
+    private readonly IKernelBuilder _kernelBuilder;
     private readonly IConfigurationRoot _configuration;
     private readonly XunitLogger<Kernel> _logger;
     private readonly RedirectOutput _testOutputHelper;
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ private void Dispose(bool disposing)
         }
     }
 
-    private void ConfigureAzureOpenAI(KernelBuilder kernelBuilder)
+    private void ConfigureAzureOpenAI(IKernelBuilder kernelBuilder)
     {
         var azureOpenAIConfiguration = this._configuration.GetSection("AzureOpenAI").Get<AzureOpenAIConfiguration>();
 
diff --git a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/IKernelBuilder.cs b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/IKernelBuilder.cs
index 6a356916b2d7..4e9fffd1aab6 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/IKernelBuilder.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/IKernelBuilder.cs
@@ -12,14 +12,6 @@ public interface IKernelBuilder
 
     /// <summary>Gets a builder for adding collections as singletons to <see cref="Services"/>.</summary>
     IKernelBuilderPlugins Plugins { get; }
-
-    /// <summary>Constructs a new instance of <see cref="Kernel"/> using all of the settings configured on the builder.</summary>
-    /// <returns>The new <see cref="Kernel"/> instance.</returns>
-    /// <remarks>
-    /// Every call to <see cref="Build"/> produces a new <see cref="Kernel"/> instance. The resulting <see cref="Kernel"/>
-    /// instances will not share the same plugins collection or services provider (unless there are no services).
-    /// </remarks>
-    Kernel Build();
 }
 
 /// <summary>Provides a builder for adding plugins as singletons to a service collection.</summary>
diff --git a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/Kernel.cs b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/Kernel.cs
index 818d4be2bc83..7ffba9e27dab 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/Kernel.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/Kernel.cs
@@ -70,6 +70,10 @@ public Kernel(
         }
     }
 
+    /// <summary>Creates a builder for constructing <see cref="Kernel"/> instances.</summary>
+    /// <returns>A new <see cref="IKernelBuilder"/> instance.</returns>
+    public static IKernelBuilder CreateBuilder() => new KernelBuilder();
+
     /// <summary>
     /// Clone the <see cref="Kernel"/> object to create a new instance that may be mutated without affecting the current instance.
     /// </summary>
diff --git a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/KernelBuilder.cs b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/KernelBuilder.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..a792944bab82
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/KernelBuilder.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft. All rights reserved.
+
+using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
+
+namespace Microsoft.SemanticKernel;
+
+/// <summary>Provides a builder for constructing instances of <see cref="Kernel"/>.</summary>
+internal sealed class KernelBuilder : IKernelBuilder, IKernelBuilderPlugins
+{
+    /// <summary>The collection of services to be available through the <see cref="Kernel"/>.</summary>
+    private IServiceCollection? _services;
+
+    /// <summary>Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="KernelBuilder"/>.</summary>
+    public KernelBuilder()
+    {
+        this.AllowBuild = true;
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="KernelBuilder"/>.</summary>
+    /// <param name="services">
+    /// The <see cref="IServiceCollection"/> to wrap and use for building the <see cref="Kernel"/>.
+    /// </param>
+    public KernelBuilder(IServiceCollection services)
+    {
+        Verify.NotNull(services);
+
+        this._services = services;
+    }
+
+    /// <summary>Whether to allow a call to Build.</summary>
+    /// <remarks>As a minor aid to help avoid misuse, we try to prevent Build from being called on instances returned from AddKernel.</remarks>
+    internal bool AllowBuild { get; }
+
+    /// <summary>Gets the collection of services to be built into the <see cref="Kernel"/>.</summary>
+    public IServiceCollection Services => this._services ??= new ServiceCollection();
+
+    /// <summary>Gets a builder for plugins to be built as services into the <see cref="Kernel"/>.</summary>
+    public IKernelBuilderPlugins Plugins => this;
+}
diff --git a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/Services/KernelServiceCollectionExtensions.cs b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/Services/KernelServiceCollectionExtensions.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..79a6f6116e9a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Abstractions/Services/KernelServiceCollectionExtensions.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+// Copyright (c) Microsoft. All rights reserved.
+
+using Microsoft.SemanticKernel;
+
+namespace Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
+
+/// <summary>Extension methods for interacting with <see cref="Kernel"/>.</summary>
+public static class KernelServiceCollectionExtensions
+{
+    /// <summary>Adds a <see cref="KernelPluginCollection"/> and <see cref="Kernel"/> services to the services collection.</summary>
+    /// <param name="services">The service collection.</param>
+    /// <returns>
+    /// A <see cref="IKernelBuilder"/> that can be used to add additional services to the same <see cref="IServiceCollection"/>.
+    /// </returns>
+    /// <remarks>
+    /// Both services are registered as transient, as both objects are mutable.
+    /// </remarks>
+    public static IKernelBuilder AddKernel(this IServiceCollection services)
+    {
+        Verify.NotNull(services);
+
+        // Register a KernelPluginCollection to be populated with any IKernelPlugins that have been
+        // directly registered in DI. It's transient because the Kernel will store the collection
+        // directly, and we don't want two Kernel instances to hold on to the same mutable collection.
+        services.AddTransient<KernelPluginCollection>();
+
+        // Register the Kernel as transient. It's mutable and expected to be mutated by consumers,
+        // such as via adding event handlers, adding plugins, storing state in its Data collection, etc.
+        services.AddTransient<Kernel>();
+
+        // Create and return a builder that can be used for adding services and plugins
+        // to the IServiceCollection.
+        return new KernelBuilder(services);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Core/KernelBuilder.cs b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Core/KernelBuilder.cs
deleted file mode 100644
index 4d6002d2b834..000000000000
--- a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Core/KernelBuilder.cs
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,100 +0,0 @@
-// Copyright (c) Microsoft. All rights reserved.
-
-using System;
-using System.Collections.Generic;
-using Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection;
-
-namespace Microsoft.SemanticKernel;
-
-/// <summary>Provides a builder for constructing instances of <see cref="Kernel"/>.</summary>
-public sealed class KernelBuilder : IKernelBuilder
-{
-    /// <summary>Whether to allow <see cref="Build"/>.</summary>
-    /// <remarks>
-    /// When the <see cref="KernelBuilder"/> is directly created by the user, this is true.
-    /// When it's created by <see cref="KernelExtensions.AddKernel"/> over an existing
-    /// <see cref="IServiceCollection"/>, we currently don't want to allow <see cref="Build"/>
-    /// to call BuildServiceProvider, as that can lead to confusion around how other services
-    /// registered in that service collection behave.
-    /// </remarks>
-    private readonly bool _supportsBuild = true;
-    /// <summary>The collection of services to be available through the <see cref="Kernel"/>.</summary>
-    private IServiceCollection? _services;
-    /// <summary>A facade on top of <see cref="_services"/> for adding plugins to the services collection.</summary>
-    private KernelBuilderPlugins? _plugins;
-
-    /// <summary>Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="KernelBuilder"/>.</summary>
-    public KernelBuilder() { }
-
-    /// <summary>Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="KernelBuilder"/>.</summary>
-    /// <param name="services">
-    /// The <see cref="IServiceCollection"/> to wrap and use for building the <see cref="Kernel"/>.
-    /// </param>
-    /// <remarks>
-    /// As the service collection is externally provided, <see cref="Build"/> is disabled
-    /// to avoid unexpected confusion with multiple builds of the same service collection.
-    /// </remarks>
-    internal KernelBuilder(IServiceCollection services)
-    {
-        Verify.NotNull(services);
-
-        this._services = services;
-        this._supportsBuild = false;
-    }
-
-    /// <summary>Gets the collection of services to be built into the <see cref="Kernel"/>.</summary>
-    public IServiceCollection Services => this._services ??= new ServiceCollection();
-
-    /// <summary>Gets a builder for plugins to be built as services into the <see cref="Kernel"/>.</summary>
-    public IKernelBuilderPlugins Plugins => this._plugins ??= new(this.Services);
-
-    /// <summary>Constructs a new instance of <see cref="Kernel"/> using all of the settings configured on the builder.</summary>
-    /// <returns>The new <see cref="Kernel"/> instance.</returns>
-    /// <remarks>
-    /// Every call to <see cref="Build"/> produces a new <see cref="Kernel"/> instance. The resulting <see cref="Kernel"/>
-    /// instances will not share the same plugins collection or services provider (unless there are no services).
-    /// </remarks>
-    public Kernel Build()
-    {
-        if (!this._supportsBuild)
-        {
-            throw new InvalidOperationException("Build is not supported on this instance. Use BuildServiceProvider on the original IServiceCollection.");
-        }
-
-        IServiceProvider serviceProvider = EmptyServiceProvider.Instance;
-        if (this._services is { Count: > 0 } services)
-        {
-            // This is a workaround for Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection's GetKeyedServices not currently supporting
-            // enumerating all services for a given type regardless of key.
-            // https://github.com/dotnet/runtime/issues/91466
-            // We need this support to, for example, allow IServiceSelector to pick from multiple named instances of an AI
-            // service based on their characteristics. Until that is addressed, we work around it by injecting as a service all
-            // of the keys used for a given type, such that Kernel can then query for this dictionary and enumerate it. This means
-            // that such functionality will work when KernelBuilder is used to build the kernel but not when the IServiceProvider
-            // is created via other means, such as if Kernel is directly created by DI. However, it allows us to create the APIs
-            // the way we want them for the longer term and then subsequently fix the implementation when M.E.DI is fixed.
-            Dictionary<Type, HashSet<object?>> typeToKeyMappings = new();
-            foreach (ServiceDescriptor serviceDescriptor in services)
-            {
-                if (!typeToKeyMappings.TryGetValue(serviceDescriptor.ServiceType, out HashSet<object?>? keys))
-                {
-                    typeToKeyMappings[serviceDescriptor.ServiceType] = keys = new();
-                }
-
-                keys.Add(serviceDescriptor.ServiceKey);
-            }
-            services.AddKeyedSingleton(Kernel.KernelServiceTypeToKeyMappings, typeToKeyMappings);
-
-            serviceProvider = services.BuildServiceProvider();
-        }
-
-        return new Kernel(serviceProvider);
-    }
-
-    private sealed class KernelBuilderPlugins : IKernelBuilderPlugins
-    {
-        public KernelBuilderPlugins(IServiceCollection services) => this.Services = services;
-
-        public IServiceCollection Services { get; }
-    }
-}
diff --git a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Core/KernelExtensions.cs b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Core/KernelExtensions.cs
index 972bbd3e0155..8d507227e12e 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Core/KernelExtensions.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.Core/KernelExtensions.cs
@@ -575,34 +575,52 @@ public static IAsyncEnumerable<StreamingContentBase> InvokePromptStreamingAsync(
     }
     #endregion
 
-    #region AddKernel for IServiceCollection
-    /// <summary>Adds a <see cref="KernelPluginCollection"/> and <see cref="Kernel"/> services to the services collection.</summary>
-    /// <param name="services">The service collection.</param>
-    /// <returns>
-    /// A <see cref="IKernelBuilder"/> that can be used to add additional services to the same <see cref="IServiceCollection"/>.
-    /// </returns>
+    #region Build for IKernelBuilder
+    /// <summary>Constructs a new instance of <see cref="Kernel"/> using all of the settings configured on the builder.</summary>
+    /// <returns>The new <see cref="Kernel"/> instance.</returns>
     /// <remarks>
-    /// Both services are registered as transient, as both objects are mutable.
-    /// The builder returned from this method may be used to add additional plugins and services,
-    /// but it may not be used for <see cref="IKernelBuilder.Build"/>: doing so would build the
-    /// entire service provider from <paramref name="services"/>.
+    /// Every call to <see cref="Build"/> produces a new <see cref="Kernel"/> instance. The resulting <see cref="Kernel"/>
+    /// instances will not share the same plugins collection or services provider (unless there are no services).
     /// </remarks>
-    public static IKernelBuilder AddKernel(this IServiceCollection services)
+    public static Kernel Build(this IKernelBuilder builder)
     {
-        Verify.NotNull(services);
+        Verify.NotNull(builder);
 
-        // Register a KernelPluginCollection to be populated with any IKernelPlugins that have been
-        // directly registered in DI. It's transient because the Kernel will store the collection
-        // directly, and we don't want two Kernel instances to hold on to the same mutable collection.
-        services.AddTransient<KernelPluginCollection>();
+        if (builder is KernelBuilder kb && !kb.AllowBuild)
+        {
+            throw new InvalidOperationException(
+                "Build is not permitted on instances returned from AddKernel. " +
+                "Resolve the Kernel from the service provider.");
+        }
+
+        IServiceProvider serviceProvider = EmptyServiceProvider.Instance;
+        if (builder.Services is { Count: > 0 } services)
+        {
+            // This is a workaround for Microsoft.Extensions.DependencyInjection's GetKeyedServices not currently supporting
+            // enumerating all services for a given type regardless of key.
+            // https://github.com/dotnet/runtime/issues/91466
+            // We need this support to, for example, allow IServiceSelector to pick from multiple named instances of an AI
+            // service based on their characteristics. Until that is addressed, we work around it by injecting as a service all
+            // of the keys used for a given type, such that Kernel can then query for this dictionary and enumerate it. This means
+            // that such functionality will work when KernelBuilder is used to build the kernel but not when the IServiceProvider
+            // is created via other means, such as if Kernel is directly created by DI. However, it allows us to create the APIs
+            // the way we want them for the longer term and then subsequently fix the implementation when M.E.DI is fixed.
+            Dictionary<Type, HashSet<object?>> typeToKeyMappings = new();
+            foreach (ServiceDescriptor serviceDescriptor in services)
+            {
+                if (!typeToKeyMappings.TryGetValue(serviceDescriptor.ServiceType, out HashSet<object?>? keys))
+                {
+                    typeToKeyMappings[serviceDescriptor.ServiceType] = keys = new();
+                }
+
+                keys.Add(serviceDescriptor.ServiceKey);
+            }
+            services.AddKeyedSingleton(Kernel.KernelServiceTypeToKeyMappings, typeToKeyMappings);
 
-        // Register the Kernel as transient. It's mutable and expected to be mutated by consumers,
-        // such as via adding event handlers, adding plugins, storing state in its Data collection, etc.
-        services.AddTransient<Kernel>();
+            serviceProvider = services.BuildServiceProvider();
+        }
 
-        // Create and return a builder that can be used for adding services and plugins
-        // to the IServiceCollection.
-        return new KernelBuilder(services);
+        return new Kernel(serviceProvider);
     }
     #endregion
 }
diff --git a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/Functions/KernelBuilderTests.cs b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/Functions/KernelBuilderTests.cs
index 2be81334fc89..f17ccd29f5d8 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/Functions/KernelBuilderTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/Functions/KernelBuilderTests.cs
@@ -18,14 +18,14 @@ public class KernelBuilderTests
     [Fact]
     public void ItCreatesNewKernelsOnEachBuild()
     {
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         Assert.NotSame(builder.Build(), builder.Build());
     }
 
     [Fact]
     public void ItHasIdempotentServicesAndPlugins()
     {
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
 
         Assert.NotNull(builder.Services);
         Assert.NotNull(builder.Plugins);
@@ -44,14 +44,14 @@ public void ItHasIdempotentServicesAndPlugins()
     [Fact]
     public void ItDefaultsDataToAnEmptyDictionary()
     {
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder().Build();
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder().Build();
         Assert.Empty(kernel.Data);
     }
 
     [Fact]
     public void ItDefaultsServiceSelectorToSingleton()
     {
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder().Build();
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder().Build();
         Assert.Null(kernel.Services.GetService<IAIServiceSelector>());
         Assert.NotNull(kernel.ServiceSelector);
         Assert.Same(kernel.ServiceSelector, kernel.ServiceSelector);
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ public void ItDefaultsServiceSelectorToSingleton()
 
         NopServiceSelector selector = new();
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddSingleton<IAIServiceSelector>(selector);
         kernel = builder.Build();
         Assert.Same(selector, kernel.Services.GetService<IAIServiceSelector>());
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ public void ItPropagatesPluginsToBuiltKernel()
         KernelPlugin plugin1 = KernelPluginFactory.CreateFromFunctions("plugin1");
         KernelPlugin plugin2 = KernelPluginFactory.CreateFromFunctions("plugin2");
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Plugins.Add(plugin1);
         builder.Plugins.Add(plugin2);
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
@@ -100,14 +100,14 @@ public void ItPropagatesPluginsToBuiltKernel()
     [Fact]
     public void ItSuppliesServicesCollectionToPluginsBuilder()
     {
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         Assert.Same(builder.Services, builder.Plugins.Services);
     }
 
     [Fact]
     public void ItBuildsServicesIntoKernel()
     {
-        var builder = new KernelBuilder()
+        var builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(modelId: "abcd", apiKey: "efg", serviceId: "openai")
             .AddAzureOpenAITextGeneration(deploymentName: "hijk", modelId: "qrs", endpoint: "https://lmnop", apiKey: "tuv", serviceId: "azureopenai");
 
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ public void ItBuildsServicesIntoKernel()
     [Fact]
     public void ItSupportsMultipleEqualNamedServices()
     {
-        Kernel kernel = new KernelBuilder()
+        Kernel kernel = Kernel.CreateBuilder()
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(modelId: "abcd", apiKey: "efg", serviceId: "openai")
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(modelId: "abcd", apiKey: "efg", serviceId: "openai")
             .AddOpenAIChatCompletion(modelId: "abcd", apiKey: "efg", serviceId: "openai")
@@ -197,10 +197,10 @@ public void ItFindsAllPluginsToPopulatePluginsCollection()
         KernelPlugin plugin2 = KernelPluginFactory.CreateFromFunctions("plugin2");
         KernelPlugin plugin3 = KernelPluginFactory.CreateFromFunctions("plugin3");
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
-        builder.Services.AddSingleton<KernelPlugin>(plugin1);
-        builder.Services.AddSingleton<KernelPlugin>(plugin2);
-        builder.Services.AddSingleton<KernelPlugin>(plugin3);
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
+        builder.Services.AddSingleton(plugin1);
+        builder.Services.AddSingleton(plugin2);
+        builder.Services.AddSingleton(plugin3);
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
 
         Assert.Equal(3, kernel.Plugins.Count);
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ public void ItFindsPluginCollectionToUse()
         KernelPlugin plugin2 = KernelPluginFactory.CreateFromFunctions("plugin2");
         KernelPlugin plugin3 = KernelPluginFactory.CreateFromFunctions("plugin3");
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddTransient<KernelPluginCollection>(_ => new(new[] { plugin1, plugin2, plugin3 }));
 
         Kernel kernel1 = builder.Build();
@@ -224,4 +224,22 @@ public void ItFindsPluginCollectionToUse()
 
         Assert.NotSame(kernel1.Plugins, kernel2.Plugins);
     }
+
+    [Fact]
+    public void ItAddsTheRightTypesInAddKernel()
+    {
+        IServiceCollection sc = new ServiceCollection();
+
+        IKernelBuilder builder = sc.AddKernel();
+        Assert.NotNull(builder);
+        Assert.Throws<InvalidOperationException>(() => builder.Build());
+
+        builder.Services.AddSingleton<Dictionary<string, string>>(new Dictionary<string, string>());
+
+        IServiceProvider provider = sc.BuildServiceProvider();
+
+        Assert.NotNull(provider.GetService<Dictionary<string, string>>());
+        Assert.NotNull(provider.GetService<KernelPluginCollection>());
+        Assert.NotNull(provider.GetService<Kernel>());
+    }
 }
diff --git a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/Functions/KernelFunctionFromPromptTests.cs b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/Functions/KernelFunctionFromPromptTests.cs
index 2fc28b1e2457..ee1587700bd7 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/Functions/KernelFunctionFromPromptTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/Functions/KernelFunctionFromPromptTests.cs
@@ -24,7 +24,7 @@ public void ItProvidesAccessToFunctionsViaFunctionCollection()
     {
         // Arrange
         var factory = new Mock<Func<IServiceProvider, ITextGenerationService>>();
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddSingleton(factory.Object);
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
 
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ public async Task ItUsesChatSystemPromptWhenProvidedAsync(string providedSystemC
 
         mockTextGeneration.Setup(c => c.GetTextContentsAsync(It.IsAny<string>(), It.IsAny<PromptExecutionSettings>(), It.IsAny<Kernel>(), It.IsAny<CancellationToken>())).ReturnsAsync(new[] { fakeTextContent });
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton("x", mockTextGeneration.Object);
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
 
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ public async Task ItUsesServiceIdWhenProvidedAsync()
         mockTextGeneration1.Setup(c => c.GetTextContentsAsync(It.IsAny<string>(), It.IsAny<PromptExecutionSettings>(), It.IsAny<Kernel>(), It.IsAny<CancellationToken>())).ReturnsAsync(new[] { fakeTextContent });
         mockTextGeneration2.Setup(c => c.GetTextContentsAsync(It.IsAny<string>(), It.IsAny<PromptExecutionSettings>(), It.IsAny<Kernel>(), It.IsAny<CancellationToken>())).ReturnsAsync(new[] { fakeTextContent });
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton("service1", mockTextGeneration1.Object);
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton("service2", mockTextGeneration2.Object);
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ public async Task ItFailsIfInvalidServiceIdIsProvidedAsync()
         var mockTextGeneration1 = new Mock<ITextGenerationService>();
         var mockTextGeneration2 = new Mock<ITextGenerationService>();
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton("service1", mockTextGeneration1.Object);
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton("service2", mockTextGeneration2.Object);
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ public async Task ItFailsIfInvalidServiceIdIsProvidedAsync()
     public async Task ItParsesStandardizedPromptWhenServiceIsChatCompletionAsync()
     {
         var fakeService = new FakeChatAsTextService();
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddTransient<ITextGenerationService>((sp) => fakeService);
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
 
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ public async Task ItParsesStandardizedPromptWhenServiceIsChatCompletionAsync()
     public async Task ItParsesStandardizedPromptWhenServiceIsStreamingChatCompletionAsync()
     {
         var fakeService = new FakeChatAsTextService();
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddTransient<ITextGenerationService>((sp) => fakeService);
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
 
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ public async Task ItNotParsesStandardizedPromptWhenServiceIsOnlyTextCompletionAs
         var mockResult = mockService.Setup(s => s.GetTextContentsAsync(It.IsAny<string>(), It.IsAny<PromptExecutionSettings>(), It.IsAny<Kernel>(), It.IsAny<CancellationToken>()))
             .ReturnsAsync(new List<TextContent>() { new("something") });
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddTransient<ITextGenerationService>((sp) => mockService.Object);
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
 
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ public async Task ItNotParsesStandardizedPromptWhenStreamingWhenServiceIsOnlyTex
         var mockResult = mockService.Setup(s => s.GetStreamingTextContentsAsync(It.IsAny<string>(), It.IsAny<PromptExecutionSettings>(), It.IsAny<Kernel>(), It.IsAny<CancellationToken>()))
             .Returns(this.ToAsyncEnumerable<StreamingTextContent>(new List<StreamingTextContent>() { new("something") }));
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddTransient<ITextGenerationService>((sp) => mockService.Object);
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
 
diff --git a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/Functions/MultipleModelTests.cs b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/Functions/MultipleModelTests.cs
index 25b8eec8c8f8..28073e99ae4a 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/Functions/MultipleModelTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/Functions/MultipleModelTests.cs
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ public async Task ItUsesServiceIdWhenProvidedAsync()
         mockTextGeneration1.Setup(c => c.GetTextContentsAsync(It.IsAny<string>(), It.IsAny<PromptExecutionSettings>(), It.IsAny<Kernel>(), It.IsAny<CancellationToken>())).ReturnsAsync(new[] { fakeTextContent });
         mockTextGeneration2.Setup(c => c.GetTextContentsAsync(It.IsAny<string>(), It.IsAny<PromptExecutionSettings>(), It.IsAny<Kernel>(), It.IsAny<CancellationToken>())).ReturnsAsync(new[] { fakeTextContent });
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton("service1", mockTextGeneration1.Object);
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton("service2", mockTextGeneration2.Object);
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ public async Task ItFailsIfInvalidServiceIdIsProvidedAsync()
         var mockTextGeneration1 = new Mock<ITextGenerationService>();
         var mockTextGeneration2 = new Mock<ITextGenerationService>();
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton("service1", mockTextGeneration1.Object);
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton("service2", mockTextGeneration2.Object);
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
@@ -80,7 +80,7 @@ public async Task ItUsesServiceIdByOrderAsync(string[] serviceIds, int[] callCou
         mockTextGeneration2.Setup(c => c.GetTextContentsAsync(It.IsAny<string>(), It.IsAny<PromptExecutionSettings>(), It.IsAny<Kernel>(), It.IsAny<CancellationToken>())).ReturnsAsync(new[] { fakeTextContent });
         mockTextGeneration3.Setup(c => c.GetTextContentsAsync(It.IsAny<string>(), It.IsAny<PromptExecutionSettings>(), It.IsAny<Kernel>(), It.IsAny<CancellationToken>())).ReturnsAsync(new[] { fakeTextContent });
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton("service1", mockTextGeneration1.Object);
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton("service2", mockTextGeneration2.Object);
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton("service3", mockTextGeneration3.Object);
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ public async Task ItUsesServiceIdWithJsonPromptTemplateConfigAsync()
         mockTextGeneration2.Setup(c => c.GetTextContentsAsync(It.IsAny<string>(), It.IsAny<PromptExecutionSettings>(), It.IsAny<Kernel>(), It.IsAny<CancellationToken>())).ReturnsAsync(new[] { fakeTextContent });
         mockTextGeneration3.Setup(c => c.GetTextContentsAsync(It.IsAny<string>(), It.IsAny<PromptExecutionSettings>(), It.IsAny<Kernel>(), It.IsAny<CancellationToken>())).ReturnsAsync(new[] { fakeTextContent });
 
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton("service1", mockTextGeneration1.Object);
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton("service2", mockTextGeneration2.Object);
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton("service3", mockTextGeneration3.Object);
diff --git a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/Functions/OrderedAIServiceConfigurationProviderTests.cs b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/Functions/OrderedAIServiceConfigurationProviderTests.cs
index 127975575d4d..73e852882d72 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/Functions/OrderedAIServiceConfigurationProviderTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/Functions/OrderedAIServiceConfigurationProviderTests.cs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ public void ItThrowsAnSKExceptionForNoServices()
     public void ItGetsAIServiceConfigurationForSingleAIService()
     {
         // Arrange
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<IAIService>("service1", new AIService());
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
 
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public void ItGetsAIServiceConfigurationForSingleAIService()
     public void ItGetsAIServiceConfigurationForSingleTextGeneration()
     {
         // Arrange
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<ITextGenerationService>("service1", new TextGenerationService("model_id_1"));
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
 
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ public void ItGetsAIServiceConfigurationForSingleTextGeneration()
     public void ItGetsAIServiceConfigurationForTextGenerationByServiceId()
     {
         // Arrange
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<ITextGenerationService>("service1", new TextGenerationService("model_id_1"));
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<ITextGenerationService>("service2", new TextGenerationService("model_id_2"));
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ public void ItGetsAIServiceConfigurationForTextGenerationByServiceId()
     public void ItThrowsAnSKExceptionForNotFoundService()
     {
         // Arrange
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<ITextGenerationService>("service1", new TextGenerationService("model_id_1"));
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<ITextGenerationService>("service2", new TextGenerationService("model_id_2"));
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ public void ItThrowsAnSKExceptionForNotFoundService()
     public void ItUsesDefaultServiceForNoExecutionSettings()
     {
         // Arrange
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<ITextGenerationService>("service1", new TextGenerationService("model_id_1"));
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<ITextGenerationService>("service2", new TextGenerationService("model_id_2"));
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ public void ItUsesDefaultServiceForNoExecutionSettings()
     public void ItUsesDefaultServiceAndSettingsForDefaultExecutionSettings()
     {
         // Arrange
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<ITextGenerationService>("service1", new TextGenerationService("model_id_1"));
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<ITextGenerationService>("service2", new TextGenerationService("model_id_2"));
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ public void ItUsesDefaultServiceAndSettingsForDefaultExecutionSettings()
     public void ItUsesDefaultServiceAndSettingsEmptyServiceId()
     {
         // Arrange
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<ITextGenerationService>("service1", new TextGenerationService("model_id_1"));
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<ITextGenerationService>("service2", new TextGenerationService("model_id_2"));
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ public void ItUsesDefaultServiceAndSettingsEmptyServiceId()
     public void ItGetsAIServiceConfigurationByOrder(string[] serviceIds, string expectedServiceId)
     {
         // Arrange
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<ITextGenerationService>("service1", new TextGenerationService("model_id_1"));
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<ITextGenerationService>("service2", new TextGenerationService("model_id_2"));
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<ITextGenerationService>("service3", new TextGenerationService("model_id_3"));
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ public void ItGetsAIServiceConfigurationByOrder(string[] serviceIds, string expe
     public void ItGetsAIServiceConfigurationForTextGenerationByModelId()
     {
         // Arrange
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<ITextGenerationService>(null, new TextGenerationService("model1"));
         builder.Services.AddKeyedSingleton<ITextGenerationService>(null, new TextGenerationService("model2"));
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
diff --git a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/KernelTests.cs b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/KernelTests.cs
index b14bf0b55ecb..7c00e124b090 100644
--- a/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/KernelTests.cs
+++ b/dotnet/src/SemanticKernel.UnitTests/KernelTests.cs
@@ -320,7 +320,7 @@ public async Task InvokeAsyncHandlesPostInvocationWithServicesAsync()
     {
         // Arrange
         var (mockTextResult, mockTextCompletion) = this.SetupMocks();
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddSingleton<ITextGenerationService>(mockTextCompletion.Object);
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
 
@@ -617,7 +617,7 @@ public async Task InvokeStreamingAsyncCallsConnectorStreamingApiAsync()
         var mockTextCompletion = this.SetupStreamingMocks(
             new StreamingTextContent("chunk1"),
             new StreamingTextContent("chunk2"));
-        KernelBuilder builder = new();
+        IKernelBuilder builder = Kernel.CreateBuilder();
         builder.Services.AddSingleton<ITextGenerationService>(mockTextCompletion.Object);
         Kernel kernel = builder.Build();
         var prompt = "Write a simple phrase about UnitTests {{$input}}";