diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a0c93053a2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+<!--
+  Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+  or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+  distributed with this work for additional information
+  regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+  to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+  "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+  with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+
+   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+
+  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+  software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+  "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+  KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+  specific language governing permissions and limitations
+  under the License.
+-->
+
+# Apache Polaris Changelog
+
+This changelog is used to give users and contributors condensed information about the contents of Polaris releases. 
+Entries are grouped in sections like _Highlights_ or _Upgrade notes_, the provided sections can be adjusted
+as necessary. Empty sections will not end up in the release notes. Contributors are encouraged to incorporate
+CHANGELOG updates into their PRs when appropriate. Reviewers should be mindful of the impact of PRs and
+request adding CHANGELOG notes for breaking (!) changes and possibly other sections as appropriate.   
+
+## [Unreleased]
+
+### Highlights
+
+### Upgrade notes
+
+### Breaking changes
+
+### New Features
+
+### Changes
+
+### Deprecations
+
+### Fixes
+
+### Commits
+
+## [1.0.0-incubating]
+
+- TODO: backfill 1.0.0 release notes
+
+[Unreleased]: https://github.com/apache/polaris/commits
+[1.0.0-incubating]: https://github.com/apache/polaris/releases/tag/apache-polaris-1.0.0-incubating-rc2
diff --git a/build.gradle.kts b/build.gradle.kts
index 1604778cf9..3b08d60e56 100644
--- a/build.gradle.kts
+++ b/build.gradle.kts
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ plugins {
   id("eclipse")
   id("polaris-root")
   alias(libs.plugins.rat)
+  alias(libs.plugins.jetbrains.changelog)
   // workaround for https://github.com/kordamp/jandex-gradle-plugin/issues/25
   alias(libs.plugins.jandex) apply false
 }
@@ -217,3 +218,23 @@ copiedCodeChecks {
     }
   }
 }
+
+changelog {
+  repositoryUrl.set("https://github.com/apache/polaris")
+  title.set("Apache Polaris Changelog")
+  versionPrefix.set("apache-polaris-")
+  header.set(provider { "${version.get()}" })
+  groups.set(
+    listOf(
+      "Highlights",
+      "Upgrade notes",
+      "Breaking changes",
+      "New Features",
+      "Changes",
+      "Deprecations",
+      "Fixes",
+      "Commits",
+    )
+  )
+  version.set(provider { project.version.toString() })
+}
diff --git a/gradle/libs.versions.toml b/gradle/libs.versions.toml
index 91508b6b59..e67061536d 100644
--- a/gradle/libs.versions.toml
+++ b/gradle/libs.versions.toml
@@ -102,3 +102,4 @@ jandex = { id = "org.kordamp.gradle.jandex", version = "2.1.0" }
 openapi-generator = { id = "org.openapi.generator", version = "7.12.0" }
 quarkus = { id = "io.quarkus", version.ref = "quarkus" }
 rat = { id = "org.nosphere.apache.rat", version = "0.8.1" }
+jetbrains-changelog = { id = "org.jetbrains.changelog",  version = "2.2.1"}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/site/content/release-guide.md b/site/content/release-guide.md
index 7ba9a76069..4d9968150b 100644
--- a/site/content/release-guide.md
+++ b/site/content/release-guide.md
@@ -113,6 +113,27 @@ git commit -a
 git push
 ```
 
+Update `CHANGELOG.md`:
+```
+./gradlew patchChangelog
+git commit -a
+git push
+```
+
+Note: You should submit a PR to propagate (automated) CHANGELOG updates from the release
+branch to `main`.
+
+If more changes are cherry-picked for the next RC, and those change introduce CHANGELOG entries,
+follow this update process:
+* Manually add an `-rcN` suffix to the previously generated versioned CHANGELOG section.
+* Rerun the `patchChangelog` command
+* Manually remove RC sections from the CHANGELOG
+* Submit a PR to propagate CHANGELOG updates from the release branch to `main`.
+
+Note: the CHANGELOG patch commit should probably be the last commit on the release branch when
+an RC is cut. If more changes are cherry-picked for the next RC, it is best to drop the
+CHANGELOG patch commit, apply cherry-picks, and re-run `patchChangelog`.
+
 Note: You should also submit a PR on `main` branch to bump the version in the `version.txt` file.
 
 ### Create release tag