diff --git a/.buildkite/bk.integration-fips.pipeline.yml b/.buildkite/bk.integration-fips.pipeline.yml
index 5e84b150189..32c902ea934 100644
--- a/.buildkite/bk.integration-fips.pipeline.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/bk.integration-fips.pipeline.yml
@@ -7,6 +7,15 @@ env:
   IMAGE_UBUNTU_X86_64_FIPS: "platform-ingest-elastic-agent-ubuntu-2204-fips-1749862860"
   IMAGE_UBUNTU_ARM64_FIPS: "platform-ingest-elastic-agent-ubuntu-2204-fips-aarch64-1749862860"
 
+# This section is used to define the plugins that will be used in the pipeline.
+# See https://buildkite.com/docs/pipelines/integrations/plugins/using#using-yaml-anchors-with-plugins
+common:
+  - vault_ec_key_prod: &vault_ec_key_prod
+      elastic/vault-secrets#v0.1.0:
+        path: "kv/ci-shared/platform-ingest/platform-ingest-ec-prod"
+        field: "apiKey"
+        env_var: "EC_API_KEY"
+
 steps:
   - label: Build and push custom elastic-agent image
     depends_on:
@@ -46,6 +55,8 @@ steps:
     agents:
       image: "docker.elastic.co/ci-agent-images/platform-ingest/buildkite-agent-beats-ci-with-hooks:0.5"
       useCustomGlobalHooks: true
+    plugins:
+      - *vault_ec_key_prod  
 
   - group: "fips:Stateful:Ubuntu"
     key: integration-tests-ubuntu-fips
@@ -73,6 +84,8 @@ steps:
           provider: "aws"
           image: "${IMAGE_UBUNTU_X86_64_FIPS}"
           instanceType: "m5.2xlarge"
+        plugins:
+          - *vault_ec_key_prod  
         matrix:
           setup:
             sudo:
@@ -102,6 +115,8 @@ steps:
           provider: "aws"
           image: "${IMAGE_UBUNTU_ARM64_FIPS}"
           instanceType: "m6g.2xlarge"
+        plugins:
+          - *vault_ec_key_prod  
         matrix:
           setup:
             sudo:
@@ -121,6 +136,8 @@ steps:
     agents:
       image: "docker.elastic.co/ci-agent-images/platform-ingest/buildkite-agent-beats-ci-with-hooks:0.5"
       useCustomGlobalHooks: true
+    plugins:
+      - *vault_ec_key_prod  
 
   - label: Aggregate test reports
     depends_on:
diff --git a/.buildkite/bk.integration.pipeline.yml b/.buildkite/bk.integration.pipeline.yml
index 7f457df3e8e..923fa00c22d 100644
--- a/.buildkite/bk.integration.pipeline.yml
+++ b/.buildkite/bk.integration.pipeline.yml
@@ -37,6 +37,11 @@ common:
           KIBANA_HOST: ea-serverless-it-kibana-hostname
           KIBANA_USERNAME: ea-serverless-it-kibana-username
           KIBANA_PASSWORD: ea-serverless-it-kibana-password
+  - vault_ec_key_prod: &vault_ec_key_prod
+      elastic/vault-secrets#v0.1.0:
+        path: "kv/ci-shared/platform-ingest/platform-ingest-ec-prod"
+        field: "apiKey"
+        env_var: "EC_API_KEY"  
 
 steps:
   - label: Start ESS stack for integration tests
@@ -56,6 +61,8 @@ steps:
     agents:
       image: "docker.elastic.co/ci-agent-images/platform-ingest/buildkite-agent-beats-ci-with-hooks:0.5"
       useCustomGlobalHooks: true
+    plugins:
+      - *vault_ec_key_prod
 
   - group: "Extended runtime leak tests"
     key: extended-integration-tests
@@ -83,6 +90,9 @@ steps:
         retry:
           automatic:
             limit: 1
+        plugins:
+          - *vault_ec_key_prod
+
       - label: "Windows:2025:amd64:sudo"
         depends_on:
           - packaging-windows
@@ -101,6 +111,9 @@ steps:
           provider: "gcp"
           machineType: "n2-standard-8"
           image: "${IMAGE_WIN_2025}"
+        plugins:
+          - *vault_ec_key_prod
+  
       - label: "Ubuntu:2404:amd64:sudo"
         depends_on: packaging-ubuntu-x86-64
         env:
@@ -118,6 +131,8 @@ steps:
           provider: "gcp"
           machineType: "n2-standard-8"
           image: "${IMAGE_UBUNTU_2404_X86_64}"
+        plugins:
+          - *vault_ec_key_prod
 
   - group: "Stateful: Windows"
     key: integration-tests-win
@@ -143,6 +158,8 @@ steps:
         retry:
           automatic:
             limit: 1
+        plugins:
+          - *vault_ec_key_prod
         matrix:
           - default
           - fleet
@@ -169,6 +186,8 @@ steps:
         retry:
           automatic:
             limit: 1
+        plugins:
+          - *vault_ec_key_prod
         matrix:
           - default
 
@@ -188,6 +207,8 @@ steps:
         retry:
           automatic:
             limit: 1
+        plugins:
+          - *vault_ec_key_prod
         matrix:
           - default
           - fleet
@@ -214,6 +235,8 @@ steps:
           provider: "gcp"
           machineType: "n2-standard-8"
           image: "${IMAGE_WIN_2025}"
+        plugins:
+          - *vault_ec_key_prod
         matrix:
           - default
 
@@ -240,6 +263,8 @@ steps:
           provider: "gcp"
           machineType: "n2-standard-8"
           image: "${IMAGE_UBUNTU_2404_X86_64}"
+        plugins:
+          - *vault_ec_key_prod
         matrix:
           - default
 
@@ -260,6 +285,8 @@ steps:
           provider: "gcp"
           machineType: "n2-standard-8"
           image: "${IMAGE_UBUNTU_2404_X86_64}"
+        plugins:
+          - *vault_ec_key_prod  
         matrix:
           - default
           - upgrade
@@ -292,6 +319,8 @@ steps:
         retry:
           automatic:
             limit: 1
+        plugins:
+          - *vault_ec_key_prod
         matrix:
           - default
           - upgrade
@@ -326,6 +355,8 @@ steps:
           provider: "aws"
           image: "${IMAGE_UBUNTU_2404_ARM_64}"
           instanceType: "m6g.xlarge"
+        plugins:
+          - *vault_ec_key_prod
         matrix:
           - default
 
@@ -352,6 +383,8 @@ steps:
           provider: "gcp"
           machineType: "n2-standard-8"
           image: "${IMAGE_DEBIAN_12}"
+        plugins:
+          - *vault_ec_key_prod
         matrix:
           - default
 
@@ -372,6 +405,8 @@ steps:
           provider: "gcp"
           machineType: "n2-standard-8"
           image: "${IMAGE_DEBIAN_12}"
+        plugins:
+          - *vault_ec_key_prod
         matrix:
           - default
           - upgrade
@@ -409,6 +444,8 @@ steps:
         retry:
           automatic:
             limit: 1
+        plugins:
+          - *vault_ec_key_prod
         agents:
           provider: "gcp"
           machineType: "n2-standard-8"
@@ -444,6 +481,8 @@ steps:
           machineType: "n2-standard-4"
           image: "${IMAGE_UBUNTU_2404_X86_64}"
           diskSizeGb: 80
+        plugins:
+          - *vault_ec_key_prod
         matrix:
           setup:
             variants:
@@ -547,7 +586,8 @@ steps:
     agents:
       image: "docker.elastic.co/ci-agent-images/platform-ingest/buildkite-agent-beats-ci-with-hooks:0.5"
       useCustomGlobalHooks: true
-
+    plugins:
+      - *vault_ec_key_prod
   - label: Aggregate test reports
     # Warning: The key has a hook in pre-command
     key: aggregate-reports
diff --git a/.buildkite/hooks/pre-command b/.buildkite/hooks/pre-command
index a1aaafe0d88..f11f9f6b2cc 100755
--- a/.buildkite/hooks/pre-command
+++ b/.buildkite/hooks/pre-command
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ fi
 
 CI_DRA_ROLE_PATH="kv/ci-shared/release/dra-role"
 CI_GCP_OBS_PATH="kv/ci-shared/observability-ingest/cloud/gcp"
+# This key exists for backward compatibility with OGC framework
+# see https://github.com/elastic/elastic-agent/issues/8536
 CI_ESS_PATH="kv/ci-shared/platform-ingest/platform-ingest-ec-prod"
 CI_DRA_ROLE_PATH="kv/ci-shared/release/dra-role"
 
diff --git a/.buildkite/scripts/steps/ess.ps1 b/.buildkite/scripts/steps/ess.ps1
index 0a11a49fb9e..b1920fca9db 100644
--- a/.buildkite/scripts/steps/ess.ps1
+++ b/.buildkite/scripts/steps/ess.ps1
@@ -13,16 +13,7 @@ function ess_up {
       Write-Error "Error: Specify stack version: ess_up [stack_version]"
       return 1
   }
-
-  $Env:EC_API_KEY = Retry-Command -ScriptBlock {  
-    vault kv get -field=apiKey kv/ci-shared/platform-ingest/platform-ingest-ec-prod
-  }
-
-  if (-not $Env:EC_API_KEY) {
-      Write-Error "Error: Failed to get EC API key from vault"
-      exit 1
-  }
-
+  
   $BuildkiteBuildCreator = if ($Env:BUILDKITE_BUILD_CREATOR) { $Env:BUILDKITE_BUILD_CREATOR } else { get_git_user_email }
   $BuildkiteBuildNumber = if ($Env:BUILDKITE_BUILD_NUMBER) { $Env:BUILDKITE_BUILD_NUMBER } else { "0" }
   $BuildkitePipelineSlug = if ($Env:BUILDKITE_PIPELINE_SLUG) { $Env:BUILDKITE_PIPELINE_SLUG } else { "elastic-agent-integration-tests" }
@@ -56,10 +47,7 @@ function ess_down {
     return 0
   }
   Write-Output "~~~ Tearing down the ESS Stack(created for this step)"
-  try {  
-    $Env:EC_API_KEY = Retry-Command -ScriptBlock {  
-      vault kv get -field=apiKey kv/ci-shared/platform-ingest/platform-ingest-ec-prod
-    }
+  try {
     Push-Location -Path $TfDir
     & terraform init
     & terraform destroy -auto-approve
diff --git a/.buildkite/scripts/steps/ess.sh b/.buildkite/scripts/steps/ess.sh
index d1792a8bb29..cdc479b8e59 100755
--- a/.buildkite/scripts/steps/ess.sh
+++ b/.buildkite/scripts/steps/ess.sh
@@ -13,13 +13,6 @@ function ess_up() {
     return 1
   fi
 
-  export EC_API_KEY=$(retry -t 5 -- vault kv get -field=apiKey kv/ci-shared/platform-ingest/platform-ingest-ec-prod)
-  
-  if [[ -z "${EC_API_KEY}" ]]; then
-    echo "Error: Failed to get EC API key from vault" >&2
-    exit 1
-  fi
-
   BUILDKITE_BUILD_CREATOR="${BUILDKITE_BUILD_CREATOR:-"$(get_git_user_email)"}"
   BUILDKITE_BUILD_NUMBER="${BUILDKITE_BUILD_NUMBER:-"0"}"
   BUILDKITE_PIPELINE_SLUG="${BUILDKITE_PIPELINE_SLUG:-"elastic-agent-integration-tests"}"
@@ -48,9 +41,6 @@ function ess_down() {
   echo "~~~ Tearing down the ESS Stack"  
   local WORKSPACE=$(git rev-parse --show-toplevel)
   local TF_DIR="${WORKSPACE}/test_infra/ess/"
-  if [ -z "${EC_API_KEY:-}" ]; then
-    export EC_API_KEY=$(retry -t 5 -- vault kv get -field=apiKey kv/ci-shared/platform-ingest/platform-ingest-ec-prod)    
-  fi
   
   pushd "${TF_DIR}"
   terraform init