diff --git a/driver-kafka/pom.xml b/driver-kafka/pom.xml
index 016af05f3..08f53869f 100644
--- a/driver-kafka/pom.xml
+++ b/driver-kafka/pom.xml
@@ -27,6 +27,20 @@
             <version>2.0.0</version>
         </dependency>
 
+        <!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/org.apache.avro/avro -->
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>org.apache.avro</groupId>
+            <artifactId>avro</artifactId>
+            <version>1.10.0</version>
+        </dependency>
+
+        <!-- https://mvnrepository.com/artifact/io.confluent/kafka-avro-serializer -->
+        <dependency>
+            <groupId>io.confluent</groupId>
+            <artifactId>kafka-avro-serializer</artifactId>
+            <version>5.5.1</version>
+        </dependency>
+
         <dependency>
             <groupId>io.nosqlbench</groupId>
             <artifactId>engine-api</artifactId>
@@ -46,7 +60,17 @@
         </dependency>
 
     </dependencies>
-
+    <repositories>
+        <repository>
+            <id>confluent</id>
+            <name>Confluent Maven Repo</name>
+            <layout>default</layout>
+            <url>https://packages.confluent.io/maven/</url>
+            <snapshots>
+                <enabled>false</enabled>
+            </snapshots>
+        </repository>
+    </repositories>
 <!--    <profiles>-->
 <!--        <profile>-->
 <!--            <id>shade</id>-->
diff --git a/driver-kafka/src/main/java/com/datastax/ebdrivers/kafkaproducer/KafkaAction.java b/driver-kafka/src/main/java/com/datastax/ebdrivers/kafkaproducer/KafkaAction.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f01b3e82b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/driver-kafka/src/main/java/com/datastax/ebdrivers/kafkaproducer/KafkaAction.java
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+package com.datastax.ebdrivers.kafkaproducer;
+
+import io.nosqlbench.engine.api.activityapi.core.SyncAction;
+import io.nosqlbench.engine.api.activityapi.planning.OpSequence;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+
+public class KafkaAction implements SyncAction {
+
+    private final static Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(KafkaAction.class);
+
+    private final KafkaProducerActivity activity;
+    private final int slot;
+
+    private OpSequence<KafkaStatement> sequencer;
+
+    public KafkaAction(KafkaProducerActivity activity, int slot) {
+        this.activity = activity;
+        this.slot = slot;
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void init() {
+        this.sequencer = activity.getOpSequencer();
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public int runCycle(long cycleValue) {
+        sequencer.get(cycleValue).write(cycleValue);
+        return 1;
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/driver-kafka/src/main/java/com/datastax/ebdrivers/kafkaproducer/KafkaProducerActivity.java b/driver-kafka/src/main/java/com/datastax/ebdrivers/kafkaproducer/KafkaProducerActivity.java
index 907fa786a..30189c531 100644
--- a/driver-kafka/src/main/java/com/datastax/ebdrivers/kafkaproducer/KafkaProducerActivity.java
+++ b/driver-kafka/src/main/java/com/datastax/ebdrivers/kafkaproducer/KafkaProducerActivity.java
@@ -1,68 +1,108 @@
 package com.datastax.ebdrivers.kafkaproducer;
 
-import io.nosqlbench.activitytype.stdout.StdoutActivity;
+import com.codahale.metrics.Timer;
+import io.nosqlbench.engine.api.activityapi.planning.OpSequence;
+import io.nosqlbench.engine.api.activityapi.planning.SequencePlanner;
+import io.nosqlbench.engine.api.activityapi.planning.SequencerType;
+import io.nosqlbench.engine.api.activityconfig.ParsedStmt;
+import io.nosqlbench.engine.api.activityconfig.StatementsLoader;
+import io.nosqlbench.engine.api.activityconfig.yaml.OpTemplate;
+import io.nosqlbench.engine.api.activityconfig.yaml.StmtsDocList;
 import io.nosqlbench.engine.api.activityimpl.ActivityDef;
+import io.nosqlbench.engine.api.activityimpl.SimpleActivity;
+import io.nosqlbench.engine.api.metrics.ActivityMetrics;
+import io.nosqlbench.engine.api.templating.StrInterpolator;
+import io.nosqlbench.virtdata.core.bindings.BindingsTemplate;
+import io.nosqlbench.virtdata.core.templates.StringBindings;
+import io.nosqlbench.virtdata.core.templates.StringBindingsTemplate;
 import org.apache.kafka.clients.producer.*;
-import org.apache.kafka.common.serialization.LongSerializer;
 import org.apache.kafka.common.serialization.StringSerializer;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
-import java.util.Arrays;
-import java.util.Properties;
+import java.util.*;
 import java.util.concurrent.Future;
+import java.util.function.Function;
+import java.util.regex.Pattern;
 import java.util.stream.Collectors;
 
-public class KafkaProducerActivity extends StdoutActivity {
+public class KafkaProducerActivity extends SimpleActivity {
     private final static Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(KafkaProducerActivity.class);
-    private Producer<Long,String> producer = null;
-    private String topic;
+    private String yamlLoc;
+    private String clientId;
+    private String servers;
+    private OpSequence<KafkaStatement> opSequence;
+    private String schemaRegistryUrl;
+    Timer resultTimer;
+    Timer resultSuccessTimer;
+
 
     public KafkaProducerActivity(ActivityDef activityDef) {
         super(activityDef);
     }
 
-    public synchronized Producer<Long,String> getKafkaProducer() {
-        if (producer!=null) {
-            return producer;
-        }
-        Properties props = new Properties();
-        String servers = Arrays.stream(activityDef.getParams().getOptionalString("host","hosts")
-                .orElse("localhost" + ":9092")
-                .split(","))
-                .map(x ->  x.indexOf(':') == -1 ? x + ":9092" : x)
-                .collect(Collectors.joining(","));
-        String clientId = activityDef.getParams().getOptionalString("clientid","client.id","client_id")
-                .orElse("TestProducerClientId");
-        String key_serializer =
-                activityDef.getParams().getOptionalString("key_serializer").orElse(LongSerializer.class.getName());
-        String value_serializer =
-                activityDef.getParams().getOptionalString("value_serializer").orElse(StringSerializer.class.getName());
-
-        props.put(ProducerConfig.BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS_CONFIG,  servers);
-        props.put(ProducerConfig.CLIENT_ID_CONFIG, clientId);
-        props.put(ProducerConfig.KEY_SERIALIZER_CLASS_CONFIG, key_serializer);
-        props.put(ProducerConfig.VALUE_SERIALIZER_CLASS_CONFIG, value_serializer);
-
-        producer = new KafkaProducer<>(props);
-        return producer;
-    }
-
     @Override
-    public synchronized void write(String statement) {
-        Producer<Long, String> kafkaProducer = getKafkaProducer();
-        ProducerRecord<Long, String> record = new ProducerRecord<>(topic, statement);
-        Future<RecordMetadata> send = kafkaProducer.send(record);
-        try {
-            RecordMetadata result = send.get();
-        } catch (Exception e) {
-            throw new RuntimeException(e);
-        }
-    }
-
-    @Override
-    public void onActivityDefUpdate(ActivityDef activityDef) {
-        this.topic = activityDef.getParams().getOptionalString("topic").orElse("default-topic");
+    public synchronized void onActivityDefUpdate(ActivityDef activityDef) {
         super.onActivityDefUpdate(activityDef);
+
+        // sanity check
+        yamlLoc = activityDef.getParams().getOptionalString("yaml", "workload")
+            .orElseThrow(() -> new IllegalArgumentException("yaml is not defined"));
+        servers = Arrays.stream(activityDef.getParams().getOptionalString("host","hosts")
+            .orElse("localhost" + ":9092")
+            .split(","))
+            .map(x ->  x.indexOf(':') == -1 ? x + ":9092" : x)
+            .collect(Collectors.joining(","));
+        clientId = activityDef.getParams().getOptionalString("clientid","client.id","client_id")
+            .orElse("TestProducerClientId");
+        schemaRegistryUrl = activityDef.getParams()
+            .getOptionalString("schema_registry_url", "schema.registry.url")
+            .orElse("http://localhost:8081");
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public void initActivity() {
+        logger.debug("initializing activity: " + this.activityDef.getAlias());
+        onActivityDefUpdate(activityDef);
+
+        opSequence = initOpSequencer();
+        setDefaultsFromOpSequence(opSequence);
+
+        resultTimer = ActivityMetrics.timer(activityDef, "result");
+        resultSuccessTimer = ActivityMetrics.timer(activityDef, "result-success");
+    }
+
+    private OpSequence<KafkaStatement> initOpSequencer() {
+        SequencerType sequencerType = SequencerType.valueOf(
+            getParams().getOptionalString("seq").orElse("bucket")
+        );
+        SequencePlanner<KafkaStatement> sequencer = new SequencePlanner<>(sequencerType);
+
+        String tagFilter = activityDef.getParams().getOptionalString("tags").orElse("");
+        StmtsDocList stmtsDocList = StatementsLoader.loadPath(logger, yamlLoc, new StrInterpolator(activityDef),
+            "activities");
+        List<OpTemplate> statements = stmtsDocList.getStmts(tagFilter);
+
+        String format = getParams().getOptionalString("format").orElse(null);
+
+        if (statements.size() > 0) {
+            for (OpTemplate statement : statements) {
+                sequencer.addOp(
+                    new KafkaStatement(statement,
+                                       servers,
+                                       clientId,
+                                       schemaRegistryUrl),
+                    statement.getParamOrDefault("ratio", 1)
+                );
+            }
+        } else {
+            logger.error("Unable to create a Kafka statement if you have no active statements.");
+        }
+
+        return sequencer.resolve();
+    }
+
+    protected OpSequence<KafkaStatement> getOpSequencer() {
+        return opSequence;
     }
 }
diff --git a/driver-kafka/src/main/java/com/datastax/ebdrivers/kafkaproducer/KafkaProducerActivityType.java b/driver-kafka/src/main/java/com/datastax/ebdrivers/kafkaproducer/KafkaProducerActivityType.java
index ad62a29a4..b7a6a12bc 100644
--- a/driver-kafka/src/main/java/com/datastax/ebdrivers/kafkaproducer/KafkaProducerActivityType.java
+++ b/driver-kafka/src/main/java/com/datastax/ebdrivers/kafkaproducer/KafkaProducerActivityType.java
@@ -1,7 +1,5 @@
 package com.datastax.ebdrivers.kafkaproducer;
 
-import io.nosqlbench.activitytype.stdout.StdoutAction;
-import io.nosqlbench.activitytype.stdout.StdoutActivity;
 import io.nosqlbench.engine.api.activityapi.core.Action;
 import io.nosqlbench.engine.api.activityapi.core.ActionDispenser;
 import io.nosqlbench.engine.api.activityapi.core.ActivityType;
@@ -21,15 +19,15 @@ public class KafkaProducerActivityType implements ActivityType<KafkaProducerActi
     }
 
     private static class Dispenser implements ActionDispenser {
-        private StdoutActivity activity;
+        private KafkaProducerActivity activity;
 
-        private Dispenser(StdoutActivity activity) {
+        private Dispenser(KafkaProducerActivity activity) {
             this.activity = activity;
         }
 
         @Override
         public Action getAction(int slot) {
-            return new StdoutAction(slot,this.activity);
+            return new KafkaAction(this.activity, slot);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/driver-kafka/src/main/java/com/datastax/ebdrivers/kafkaproducer/KafkaStatement.java b/driver-kafka/src/main/java/com/datastax/ebdrivers/kafkaproducer/KafkaStatement.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e0323248c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/driver-kafka/src/main/java/com/datastax/ebdrivers/kafkaproducer/KafkaStatement.java
@@ -0,0 +1,141 @@
+package com.datastax.ebdrivers.kafkaproducer;
+
+import io.confluent.kafka.schemaregistry.avro.AvroSchema;
+import io.confluent.kafka.schemaregistry.avro.AvroSchemaUtils;
+import io.nosqlbench.engine.api.activityconfig.yaml.OpTemplate;
+import io.nosqlbench.virtdata.core.bindings.BindingsTemplate;
+import io.nosqlbench.virtdata.core.templates.ParsedTemplate;
+import io.nosqlbench.virtdata.core.templates.StringBindings;
+import io.nosqlbench.virtdata.core.templates.StringBindingsTemplate;
+import org.apache.kafka.clients.producer.*;
+import org.apache.kafka.common.serialization.StringSerializer;
+import org.slf4j.Logger;
+import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
+
+import java.io.IOException;
+import java.nio.file.Files;
+import java.nio.file.Path;
+import java.util.Optional;
+import java.util.Properties;
+import java.util.concurrent.Future;
+
+public class KafkaStatement {
+    private final static Logger logger = LoggerFactory.getLogger(KafkaStatement.class);
+
+    private Producer<Object,Object> producer = null;
+    private final StringBindings bindings;
+    private final String topic;
+    private final String keySerializerClass;
+    private final String valueSerializerClass;
+    private AvroSchema keySerializerSchema = null;
+    private AvroSchema valueSerializerSchema = null;
+    private final String key;
+
+    public KafkaStatement(OpTemplate stmtDef, String servers, String clientId, String schemaRegistryUrl) {
+        ParsedTemplate paramTemplate = new ParsedTemplate(stmtDef.getStmt(), stmtDef.getBindings());
+        BindingsTemplate paramBindings = new BindingsTemplate(paramTemplate.getBindPoints());
+        StringBindingsTemplate template = new StringBindingsTemplate(stmtDef.getStmt(), paramBindings);
+
+        this.bindings = template.resolve();
+
+        // Process key serializer class and schema, if any
+        this.keySerializerClass =
+            stmtDef.getOptionalStringParam("key_serializer_class")
+                .orElse(StringSerializer.class.getName());
+
+        Optional<String> keySerializerSchemaFile =
+            stmtDef.getOptionalStringParam("key_serializer_schema_file");
+
+        if (keySerializerClass.equals("io.confluent.kafka.serializers.KafkaAvroSerializer")
+            && keySerializerSchemaFile.isEmpty() ) {
+            throw new RuntimeException("KafkaAvroSerializer requires key_serializer_schema_file");
+        }
+
+        if (keySerializerSchemaFile.isPresent()) {
+            Path schemaFilePath = Path.of(keySerializerSchemaFile.get());
+            try {
+                this.keySerializerSchema = new AvroSchema(Files.readString(schemaFilePath));
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                throw new RuntimeException("Error reading key schema file: " + keySerializerSchemaFile, e);
+            }
+        }
+
+        // Process value serializer class and schema, if any
+        this.valueSerializerClass =
+            stmtDef.getOptionalStringParam("value_serializer_class")
+                .orElse(StringSerializer.class.getName());
+
+        Optional<String> valueSerializerSchemaFile =
+            stmtDef.getOptionalStringParam("value_serializer_schema_file");
+
+        if (valueSerializerClass.equals("io.confluent.kafka.serializers.KafkaAvroSerializer")
+            && valueSerializerSchemaFile.isEmpty() ) {
+            throw new RuntimeException("KafkaAvroSerializer requires value_serializer_schema_file");
+        }
+
+        if (valueSerializerSchemaFile.isPresent()) {
+            Path schemaFilePath = Path.of(valueSerializerSchemaFile.get());
+            try {
+                this.valueSerializerSchema = new AvroSchema(Files.readString(schemaFilePath));
+            } catch (IOException e) {
+                throw new RuntimeException("Error reading value schema file: " + valueSerializerSchemaFile, e);
+            }
+        }
+
+        this.topic = stmtDef.getParamOrDefault("topic","default-topic");
+        this.key = stmtDef.getOptionalStringParam("key").orElse("key");
+
+        Properties props = new Properties();
+        props.put(ProducerConfig.BOOTSTRAP_SERVERS_CONFIG,  servers);
+        props.put(ProducerConfig.CLIENT_ID_CONFIG, clientId);
+        props.put(ProducerConfig.KEY_SERIALIZER_CLASS_CONFIG, keySerializerClass);
+        props.put(ProducerConfig.VALUE_SERIALIZER_CLASS_CONFIG, valueSerializerClass);
+        props.put("schema.registry.url", schemaRegistryUrl);
+
+        try {
+            producer = new KafkaProducer<>(props);
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            logger.error("Error constructing kafka producer", e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    private Object bindKey(long cycle) {
+        Object statement = key;
+        if (keySerializerClass != null &&
+            keySerializerClass.equals("io.confluent.kafka.serializers.KafkaAvroSerializer")) {
+            try {
+                statement = AvroSchemaUtils.toObject((String)statement, keySerializerSchema);
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                throw new RuntimeException(e);
+            }
+        }
+
+        return statement;
+    }
+
+    private Object bindValue(long cycle) {
+        Object statement = bindings.bind(cycle);
+        if (valueSerializerClass != null &&
+            valueSerializerClass.equals("io.confluent.kafka.serializers.KafkaAvroSerializer")) {
+            try {
+                statement = AvroSchemaUtils.toObject((String)statement, valueSerializerSchema);
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                throw new RuntimeException(e);
+            }
+        }
+
+        return statement;
+    }
+
+    public void write(long cycle) {
+        Object key = bindKey(cycle);
+        Object value = bindValue(cycle);
+        try {
+            ProducerRecord<Object, Object> record = new ProducerRecord<>(topic, key, value);
+            Future<RecordMetadata> send = producer.send(record);
+            RecordMetadata result = send.get();
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException(e);
+        }
+    }
+}