diff --git a/.github/actions/docker-build/action.yml b/.github/actions/docker-build/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6916b80cc0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/docker-build/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+name: 'Docker Build'
+description: 'Build Dynamo container images'
+inputs:
+  framework:
+    description: 'Framework to build'
+    required: true
+    default: 'vllm'
+  target:
+    description: 'Target to build'
+    required: false
+    default: 'runtime'
+  image_tag:
+    description: 'Custom image tag (optional, defaults to framework:latest)'
+    required: false
+  ngc_ci_access_token:
+    description: 'NGC CI Access Token'
+    required: false
+  ci_token:
+    description: 'CI Token'
+    required: false
+  aws_default_region:
+    description: 'AWS Default Region'
+    required: false
+  sccache_s3_bucket:
+    description: 'SCCache S3 Bucket'
+    required: false
+  aws_access_key_id:
+    description: 'AWS Access Key ID'
+    required: false
+  aws_secret_access_key:
+    description: 'AWS Secret Access Key'
+    required: false
+
+outputs:
+  image_tag:
+    description: 'Image Tag'
+    value: ${{ steps.build.outputs.image_tag }}
+
+runs:
+  using: "composite"
+  steps:
+    - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+      uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+    - name: Login to NGC
+      if: github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository || github.event_name == 'push'
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        echo "${{ inputs.ngc_ci_access_token }}" | docker login nvcr.io -u '$oauthtoken' --password-stdin
+    - name: Cleanup
+      if: always()
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        docker system prune -af
+    - name: Build image
+      id: build
+      shell: bash
+      env:
+        GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ inputs.ci_token }}
+        AWS_DEFAULT_REGION: ${{ inputs.aws_default_region }}
+        SCCACHE_S3_BUCKET:  ${{ inputs.sccache_s3_bucket }}
+        AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ inputs.aws_access_key_id }}
+        AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ inputs.aws_secret_access_key }}
+      run: |
+        # Determine image tag
+        if [ -n "${{ inputs.image_tag }}" ]; then
+          IMAGE_TAG="${{ inputs.image_tag }}"
+        else
+          IMAGE_TAG="${{ inputs.framework }}:latest"
+        fi
+        echo "image_tag=$IMAGE_TAG" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+        ./container/build.sh --tag "$IMAGE_TAG" \
+          --target ${{ inputs.target }} \
+          --framework ${{ inputs.framework }} \
+          --use-sccache \
+          --sccache-bucket "$SCCACHE_S3_BUCKET" \
+          --sccache-region "$AWS_DEFAULT_REGION"
diff --git a/.github/actions/pytest/action.yml b/.github/actions/pytest/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..9ffe797d30
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/pytest/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+name: 'Pytest'
+description: 'Run pytest on pre-built container images'
+inputs:
+  pytest_marks:
+    description: 'Pytest marks'
+    required: true
+    default: 'e2e and vllm and gpu_1 and not slow'
+  image_tag:
+    description: 'Image Tag to run tests on'
+    required: true
+
+
+runs:
+  using: "composite"
+  steps:
+    - name: Run tests
+      shell: bash
+      env:
+        CONTAINER_ID: test_${{ github.run_id }}_${{ github.run_attempt }}_${{ github.job }}
+        PYTEST_XML_FILE: pytest_test_report.xml
+        HF_HOME: /runner/_work/_temp
+      run: |
+        docker run --runtime=nvidia --rm --gpus all -w /workspace \
+          --network host \
+          --name ${{ env.CONTAINER_ID }}_pytest \
+          ${{ inputs.image_tag }} \
+          bash -c "pytest -xsv --basetemp=/tmp --junitxml=${{ env.PYTEST_XML_FILE }} -m \"${{ inputs.pytest_marks }}\""
diff --git a/.github/filters.yaml b/.github/filters.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..191d71f63b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/filters.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,50 @@
+docs: &docs
+  - 'docs/**'
+  - '**/*.md'
+  - '**/*.rst'
+
+ci: &ci
+  - '.github/workflows/**'
+  - '.github/filters.yaml'
+  - '.github/actions/**'
+
+has_code_changes:
+  - *ci
+  - 'benchmarks/**'
+  - 'components/**'
+  - 'container/**'
+  - 'deploy/**'
+  - 'examples/**'
+  - 'launch/**'
+  - 'lib/**'
+  - 'recipes/**'
+  - 'tests/**'
+  - '*.toml'
+  - '*.lock'
+  - '*.py'
+  - '*.rs'
+
+vllm: &vllm
+  - 'container/Dockerfile.vllm'
+  - 'container/deps/requirements.vllm.txt'
+  - 'container/deps/vllm/**'
+  - 'components/backends/vllm/**'
+  - 'tests/serve/test_vllm.py'
+
+sglang: &sglang
+  - 'container/Dockerfile.sglang'
+  - 'container/Dockerfile.sglang-wideep'
+  - 'components/backends/sglang/**'
+  - 'container/build.sh'
+  - 'tests/serve/test_sglang.py'
+
+trtllm: &trtllm
+  - 'container/Dockerfile.trtllm'
+  - 'components/backends/trtllm/**'
+  - 'container/build.sh'
+  - 'container/build_trtllm_wheel.sh'
+  - 'container/deps/**'
+  - 'tests/serve/test_trtllm.py'
+
+sdk:
+  - 'deploy/**'
diff --git a/.github/workflows/container-validation-backends.yml b/.github/workflows/container-validation-backends.yml
index f0a0a73baf..10b9d220e7 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/container-validation-backends.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/container-validation-backends.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 # SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2024-2025 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-name: NVIDIA Dynamo Backends Github Validation
+name: Docker Build and Test
 
 on:
   push:
@@ -9,70 +9,104 @@ on:
       - main
       - "pull-request/[0-9]+"
 
+concurrency:
+    group: ${{ github.workflow }}-build-test-${{ github.ref_name || github.run_id }}
+    cancel-in-progress: ${{ github.ref != 'refs/heads/main' }}
+
 jobs:
-  build-test:
-    runs-on: gpu-l40-amd64
-    strategy:
-      fail-fast: false
-      matrix:
-        framework: [vllm, sglang, trtllm]
-        include:
-          - framework: vllm
-            target: runtime
-            pytest_marks: "e2e and vllm and gpu_1 and not slow"
-          - framework: sglang
-            target: runtime
-            pytest_marks: "e2e and sglang and gpu_1 and not slow"
-          - framework: trtllm
-            target: runtime
-            pytest_marks: "e2e and trtllm_marker and gpu_1 and not slow"
+  changed-files:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      has_code_changes: ${{ steps.filter.outputs.has_code_changes }}
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@08eba0b27e820071cde6df949e0beb9ba4906955  # v4.3.0
+      - name: Check for changes
+        uses: dorny/paths-filter@de90cc6fb38fc0963ad72b210f1f284cd68cea36  # v3.0.2
+        id: filter
+        with:
+          filters: .github/filters.yaml
 
-    # Do not cancel main branch runs
-    concurrency:
-      group: ${{ github.workflow }}-${{ matrix.framework }}-build-test-${{ github.ref_name || github.run_id }}
-      cancel-in-progress: ${{ github.ref != 'refs/heads/main' }}
+  backend-status-check:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: [vllm, sglang, trtllm]
+    if: always()
+    steps:
+      - name: "Check all dependent jobs"
+        run: |
+          echo '${{ toJson(needs) }}' | jq -e 'to_entries | map(.value.result) | all(. as $result | ["success", "skipped"] | any($result == .))'
 
-    name: Build and Test - ${{ matrix.framework }}
-    env:
-      CONTAINER_ID: test_${{ github.run_id }}_${{ github.run_attempt }}_${{ github.job }}_${{ matrix.framework }}
-      PYTEST_XML_FILE: pytest_test_report.xml
-      FRAMEWORK: ${{ matrix.framework }}
-      TARGET: ${{ matrix.target }}
-      PYTEST_MARKS: ${{ matrix.pytest_marks }}
+  vllm:
+    runs-on: gpu-l40-amd64
+    needs: changed-files
+    if: needs.changed-files.outputs.has_code_changes == 'true'
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@08eba0b27e820071cde6df949e0beb9ba4906955  # v4.3.0
+      - name: Build Container
+        id: build-image
+        uses: ./.github/actions/docker-build
+        with:
+          framework: vllm
+          target: runtime
+          ngc_ci_access_token: ${{ secrets.NGC_CI_ACCESS_TOKEN }}
+          ci_token: ${{ secrets.CI_TOKEN }}
+          aws_default_region: ${{ secrets.AWS_DEFAULT_REGION }}
+          sccache_s3_bucket: ${{ secrets.SCCACHE_S3_BUCKET }}
+          aws_access_key_id: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
+          aws_secret_access_key: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
+      - name: Run tests
+        uses: ./.github/actions/pytest
+        with:
+          image_tag: ${{ steps.build-image.outputs.image_tag }}
+          pytest_marks: "e2e and vllm and gpu_1 and not slow"
 
+  sglang:
+    runs-on: gpu-l40-amd64
+    needs: changed-files
+    if: needs.changed-files.outputs.has_code_changes == 'true'
     steps:
       - name: Checkout repository
-        uses: actions/checkout@v4
-      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
-        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
-      - name: Login to NGC
-        if: github.event.pull_request.head.repo.full_name == github.repository || github.event_name == 'push'
-        run: |
-          echo "${{ secrets.NGC_CI_ACCESS_TOKEN }}" | docker login nvcr.io -u '$oauthtoken' --password-stdin
-      - name: Cleanup
-        if: always()
-        run: |
-          docker system prune -af
-      - name: Build image
-        env:
-          GITHUB_TOKEN: ${{ secrets.CI_TOKEN }}
-          AWS_DEFAULT_REGION: ${{ secrets.AWS_DEFAULT_REGION }}
-          SCCACHE_S3_BUCKET:  ${{ secrets.SCCACHE_S3_BUCKET }}
-          AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
-          AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
-        run: |
-          ./container/build.sh --tag ${{ matrix.framework }}:latest \
-            --target ${{ matrix.target }} \
-            --framework ${{ matrix.framework }} \
-            --use-sccache \
-            --sccache-bucket "$SCCACHE_S3_BUCKET" \
-            --sccache-region "$AWS_DEFAULT_REGION"
-      - name: Run pytest
-        env:
-          HF_HOME: /runner/_work/_temp
-        run: |
-          docker run --runtime=nvidia --rm --gpus all -w /workspace \
-            --network host \
-            --name ${{ env.CONTAINER_ID }}_pytest \
-            ${{ matrix.framework }}:latest \
-            bash -c "pytest -xsv --basetemp=/tmp --junitxml=${{ env.PYTEST_XML_FILE }} -m \"${{ env.PYTEST_MARKS }}\""
+        uses: actions/checkout@08eba0b27e820071cde6df949e0beb9ba4906955  # v4.3.0
+      - name: Build Container
+        id: build-image
+        uses: ./.github/actions/docker-build
+        with:
+          framework: sglang
+          target: runtime
+          ngc_ci_access_token: ${{ secrets.NGC_CI_ACCESS_TOKEN }}
+          ci_token: ${{ secrets.CI_TOKEN }}
+          aws_default_region: ${{ secrets.AWS_DEFAULT_REGION }}
+          sccache_s3_bucket: ${{ secrets.SCCACHE_S3_BUCKET }}
+          aws_access_key_id: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
+          aws_secret_access_key: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
+      - name: Run tests
+        uses: ./.github/actions/pytest
+        with:
+          image_tag: ${{ steps.build-image.outputs.image_tag }}
+          pytest_marks: "e2e and sglang and gpu_1"
+
+  trtllm:
+    runs-on: gpu-l40-amd64
+    needs: changed-files
+    if: needs.changed-files.outputs.has_code_changes == 'true'
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@08eba0b27e820071cde6df949e0beb9ba4906955  # v4.3.0
+      - name: Build Container
+        id: build-image
+        uses: ./.github/actions/docker-build
+        with:
+          framework: trtllm
+          target: runtime
+          ngc_ci_access_token: ${{ secrets.NGC_CI_ACCESS_TOKEN }}
+          ci_token: ${{ secrets.CI_TOKEN }}
+          aws_default_region: ${{ secrets.AWS_DEFAULT_REGION }}
+          sccache_s3_bucket: ${{ secrets.SCCACHE_S3_BUCKET }}
+          aws_access_key_id: ${{ secrets.AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID }}
+          aws_secret_access_key: ${{ secrets.AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY }}
+      - name: Run tests
+        uses: ./.github/actions/pytest
+        with:
+          image_tag: ${{ steps.build-image.outputs.image_tag }}
+          pytest_marks: "e2e and trtllm_marker and gpu_1 and not slow"
diff --git a/.github/workflows/trigger_ci.yml b/.github/workflows/trigger_ci.yml
index d4b1145a00..8df9298263 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/trigger_ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/trigger_ci.yml
@@ -51,28 +51,7 @@ jobs:
       id: src_changes
       uses: dorny/paths-filter@v3
       with:
-        filters: |
-          vllm:
-            - 'container/Dockerfile.vllm'
-            - 'container/deps/requirements.vllm.txt'
-            - 'container/deps/vllm/**'
-            - 'components/backends/vllm/**'
-            - 'tests/serve/test_vllm.py'
-          trtllm:
-            - 'container/Dockerfile.trtllm'
-            - 'components/backends/trtllm/**'
-            - 'container/build.sh'
-            - 'container/build_trtllm_wheel.sh'
-            - 'container/deps/**'
-            - 'tests/serve/test_trtllm.py'
-          sdk:
-            - 'deploy/**'
-          sglang:
-            - 'container/Dockerfile.sglang'
-            - 'container/Dockerfile.sglang-deepep'
-            - 'components/backends/sglang/**'
-            - 'container/build.sh'
-            - 'tests/serve/test_sglang.py'
+        filters: .github/filters.yaml
     - name: Check if Validation Workflow has run
       id: check_workflow
       uses: actions/github-script@v6