diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci2.yml b/.github/workflows/ci2.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..8ae4bfbbce9d9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci2.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,72 @@
+name: CI v2
+
+permissions:
+  contents: read
+
+on:
+  merge_group:
+  pull_request:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - release-*
+
+env:
+  CARGO_TERM_COLOR: always
+  CARGO_INCREMENTAL: 0
+  CARGO_PROFILE_TEST_DEBUG: 0
+  CARGO_PROFILE_DEV_DEBUG: 0
+  # If nightly is breaking CI, modify this variable to target a specific nightly version.
+  NIGHTLY_TOOLCHAIN: nightly
+  RUSTFLAGS: "-D warnings"
+
+jobs:
+  # job to list the jobs to run on rust stable
+  stable-prepare:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 30
+    outputs:
+      jobs: ${{ steps.prepare.outputs.jobs }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
+      - name: Prepare CI jobs
+        id: prepare
+        run: |
+          echo "jobs=`cargo run -p ci -- what-to-run --trigger ${{ github.event_name }} --head ${{ github.head_ref }} --rust-version stable`" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
+
+  # run all the jobs on stable
+  stable-run:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    timeout-minutes: 30
+    needs: [stable-prepare]
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        job: ${{ fromJson(needs.stable-prepare.outputs.jobs) }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - uses: actions/cache/restore@v4
+        with:
+          key: ${{ runner.os }}-ci-runner--${{ hashFiles('tools/ci/Cargo.toml') }}
+          restore-keys: |
+            ${{ runner.os }}-ci-runner--${{ hashFiles('tools/ci/Cargo.toml') }}
+          path: |
+            ~/.cargo/bin/
+            ~/.cargo/registry/index/
+            ~/.cargo/registry/cache/
+            ~/.cargo/git/db/
+            target/
+      - name: Install Linux dependencies
+        uses: ./.github/actions/install-linux-deps
+      - uses: dtolnay/rust-toolchain@stable
+      - name: Run CI job
+        run: |
+          ${{ matrix.job }}
+
+  # single job to report status, usable in branch protection rules
+  stable-status:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: [stable-run]
+    if: always()
+    steps:
+      - run: ${{!contains(needs.*.result, 'failure')}}
diff --git a/tools/ci/src/ci.rs b/tools/ci/src/ci.rs
index 8b8556d90ac05..8d958330cb0c6 100644
--- a/tools/ci/src/ci.rs
+++ b/tools/ci/src/ci.rs
@@ -119,6 +119,8 @@ enum Commands {
     CompileFail(commands::CompileFailCommand),
     BenchCheck(commands::BenchCheckCommand),
     ExampleCheck(commands::ExampleCheckCommand),
+    // Controller (list commands that needs to run)
+    WhatToRun(commands::WhatToRunCommand),
 }
 
 impl Prepare for Commands {
@@ -141,6 +143,10 @@ impl Prepare for Commands {
             Commands::CompileFail(subcommand) => subcommand.prepare(sh, args),
             Commands::BenchCheck(subcommand) => subcommand.prepare(sh, args),
             Commands::ExampleCheck(subcommand) => subcommand.prepare(sh, args),
+            Commands::WhatToRun(subcommand) => {
+                subcommand.run(sh, args);
+                vec![]
+            }
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/tools/ci/src/commands/mod.rs b/tools/ci/src/commands/mod.rs
index 9247ab201627b..abdd0387dbcbb 100644
--- a/tools/ci/src/commands/mod.rs
+++ b/tools/ci/src/commands/mod.rs
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ pub use integration_test_clean::*;
 pub use lints::*;
 pub use test::*;
 pub use test_check::*;
+pub use what_to_run::*;
 
 mod bench_check;
 mod clippy;
@@ -31,3 +32,4 @@ mod integration_test_clean;
 mod lints;
 mod test;
 mod test_check;
+mod what_to_run;
diff --git a/tools/ci/src/commands/what_to_run.rs b/tools/ci/src/commands/what_to_run.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c5528fdc9603b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tools/ci/src/commands/what_to_run.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+use argh::{FromArgValue, FromArgs};
+use xshell::Shell;
+
+use crate::args::Args;
+
+/// Decides which jobs to run
+#[derive(FromArgs)]
+#[argh(subcommand, name = "what-to-run")]
+pub struct WhatToRunCommand {
+    /// which event triggered this run
+    #[argh(option)]
+    trigger: Trigger,
+
+    /// which branch to diff against
+    #[argh(option)]
+    head: String,
+
+    /// select tasks for a specific version of rust
+    #[argh(option)]
+    #[expect(dead_code, reason = "todo")]
+    rust_version: RustVersion,
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
+enum RustVersion {
+    Stable,
+    Beta,
+    Nightly,
+}
+
+impl FromArgValue for RustVersion {
+    fn from_arg_value(value: &str) -> Result<Self, String> {
+        match value {
+            "stable" => Ok(RustVersion::Stable),
+            "beta" => Ok(RustVersion::Beta),
+            "nightly" => Ok(RustVersion::Nightly),
+            _ => Err(format!("Unknown rust version: {}", value)),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq)]
+enum Trigger {
+    Schedule,
+    MergeQueue,
+    ChangeRequest,
+    PushToBranch,
+}
+
+impl FromArgValue for Trigger {
+    fn from_arg_value(value: &str) -> Result<Self, String> {
+        match value {
+            "schedule" => Ok(Trigger::Schedule),
+            "merge_group" => Ok(Trigger::MergeQueue),
+            "pull_request" => Ok(Trigger::ChangeRequest),
+            "push" => Ok(Trigger::PushToBranch),
+            _ => Err(format!("Unknown trigger: {}", value)),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl WhatToRunCommand {
+    #[expect(clippy::print_stdout, reason = "goal is to print jobs to stdout")]
+    #[expect(
+        clippy::vec_init_then_push,
+        reason = "temp, will be better after the todo"
+    )]
+    pub fn run(&self, _sh: &Shell, _args: Args) {
+        let _diff = match self.trigger {
+            Trigger::Schedule | Trigger::PushToBranch => vec![],
+            Trigger::ChangeRequest | Trigger::MergeQueue => get_diff(&self.head),
+        };
+
+        // TODO: filter jobs to run based on diff, trigger and rust version
+        let mut jobs = Vec::new();
+        jobs.push(r#""cargo run -p ci -- test""#);
+        jobs.push(r#""cargo run -p ci -- lints""#);
+
+        println!("[{}]", jobs.join(", "));
+    }
+}
+
+fn get_diff(_head: &str) -> Vec<String> {
+    // TODO: Implement diff logic between local state and head branch
+    vec![]
+}