diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
index c0c2074bb..151c8fe87 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yaml
@@ -74,3 +74,10 @@ jobs:
     with:
       tarball-suffix: -${{ inputs.tag }}
       commit-hash: ${{ inputs.commit-hash }}
+
+  run-cri-containerd-tests:
+    needs: build-kata-static-tarball-amd64
+    uses: ./.github/workflows/run-cri-containerd-tests.yaml
+    with:
+      tarball-suffix: -${{ inputs.tag }}
+      commit-hash: ${{ inputs.commit-hash }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/run-cri-containerd-tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/run-cri-containerd-tests.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4dd54fcb1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/run-cri-containerd-tests.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+name: CI | Run cri-containerd tests
+on:
+  workflow_call:
+    inputs:
+      tarball-suffix:
+        required: false
+        type: string
+      commit-hash:
+        required: false
+        type: string
+
+jobs:
+  run-cri-containerd:
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: true
+      matrix:
+        vmm: ['clh', 'qemu']
+    runs-on: garm-ubuntu-2204
+    env:
+      KATA_HYPERVSIOR: ${{ matrix.vmm }}
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v3
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ inputs.commit-hash }}
+
+      - name: get-kata-tarball
+        uses: actions/download-artifact@v3
+        with:
+          name: kata-static-tarball-amd64${{ inputs.tarball-suffix }}
+          path: kata-artifacts
+
+      - name: Install kata
+        run: bash tests/integration/cri-containerd/gha-run.sh install-kata kata-artifacts
+
+      - name: Run cri-containerd tests
+        run: bash tests/integration/cri-containerd/gha-run.sh run
diff --git a/tests/common.bash b/tests/common.bash
index 090bd7fd9..ab1ee6d47 100644
--- a/tests/common.bash
+++ b/tests/common.bash
@@ -23,23 +23,23 @@ KATA_HYPERVISOR="${KATA_HYPERVISOR:-qemu}"
 
 RUNTIME="${RUNTIME:-containerd-shim-kata-v2}"
 
-die() {
+function die() {
 	local msg="$*"
 	echo -e "[$(basename $0):${BASH_LINENO[0]}] ERROR: $msg" >&2
 	exit 1
 }
 
-warn() {
+function warn() {
 	local msg="$*"
 	echo -e "[$(basename $0):${BASH_LINENO[0]}] WARNING: $msg"
 }
 
-info() {
+function info() {
 	local msg="$*"
 	echo -e "[$(basename $0):${BASH_LINENO[0]}] INFO: $msg"
 }
 
-handle_error() {
+function handle_error() {
 	local exit_code="${?}"
 	local line_number="${1:-}"
 	echo -e "[$(basename $0):$line_number] ERROR: $(eval echo "$BASH_COMMAND")"
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ handle_error() {
 }
 trap 'handle_error $LINENO' ERR
 
-waitForProcess() {
+function waitForProcess() {
 	wait_time="$1"
 	sleep_time="$2"
 	cmd="$3"
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ waitForProcess() {
 # Kata runtime. Of course, the end user can choose any name they
 # want in reality, but this function knows the names of the default
 # and recommended Kata docker runtime install names.
-is_a_kata_runtime() {
+function is_a_kata_runtime() {
 	if [ "$1" = "containerd-shim-kata-v2" ] || [ "$1" = "io.containerd.kata.v2" ]; then
 		echo "1"
 	else
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ is_a_kata_runtime() {
 
 # Gets versions and paths of all the components
 # list in kata-env
-extract_kata_env() {
+function extract_kata_env() {
 	RUNTIME_CONFIG_PATH=$(kata-runtime kata-env --json | jq -r .Runtime.Config.Path)
 	RUNTIME_VERSION=$(kata-runtime kata-env --json | jq -r .Runtime.Version | grep Semver | cut -d'"' -f4)
 	RUNTIME_COMMIT=$(kata-runtime kata-env --json | jq -r .Runtime.Version | grep Commit | cut -d'"' -f4)
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@ extract_kata_env() {
 }
 
 # Checks that processes are not running
-check_processes() {
+function check_processes() {
 	extract_kata_env
 
 	# Only check the kata-env if we have managed to find the kata executable...
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ check_processes() {
 
 # Clean environment, this function will try to remove all
 # stopped/running containers.
-clean_env()
+function clean_env()
 {
 	# If the timeout has not been set, default it to 30s
 	# Docker has a built in 10s default timeout, so make ours
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ clean_env()
 	fi
 }
 
-clean_env_ctr()
+function clean_env_ctr()
 {
 	local count_running="$(sudo ctr c list -q | wc -l)"
 	local remaining_attempts=10
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ clean_env_ctr()
 # Outputs warnings to stdio if something has gone wrong.
 #
 # Returns 0 on success, 1 otherwise
-restart_systemd_service_with_no_burst_limit() {
+function restart_systemd_service_with_no_burst_limit() {
 	local service=$1
 	info "restart $service service"
 
@@ -224,7 +224,7 @@ restart_systemd_service_with_no_burst_limit() {
 	return 0
 }
 
-restart_containerd_service() {
+function restart_containerd_service() {
 	restart_systemd_service_with_no_burst_limit containerd || return 1
 
 	local retries=5
@@ -241,16 +241,73 @@ restart_containerd_service() {
 	return 0
 }
 
-# @path_results: path to the input metric-results folder
-# @tarball_fname: path and filename to the output tarball
-function compress_metrics_results_dir()
-{
-	local path_results="${1:-results}"
-	local tarball_fname="${2:-}"
+function create_symbolic_links() {
+	local KATA_HYPERVISOR="${1}"
 
-	[ -z "${tarball_fname}" ] && die "Missing the tarball filename or the path to save the tarball results is incorrect."
-	[ ! -d "${path_results}" ] && die "Missing path to the results folder."
+	local link_configuration_file="/opt/kata/share/defaults/kata-containers/configuration.toml"
+	local source_configuration_file="/opt/kata/share/defaults/kata-containers/configuration-${KATA_HYPERVISOR}.toml"
 
-	cd "${path_results}" && tar -czf "${tarball_fname}" *.json && cd -
-	info "tarball generated: ${tarball_fname}"
+	if [ "${KATA_HYPERVISOR}" != 'qemu' ] && [ "${KATA_HYPERVISOR}" != 'clh' ]; then
+		die "Failed to set the configuration.toml: '${KATA_HYPERVISOR}' is not recognized as a valid hypervisor name."
+	fi
+
+	sudo ln -sf "${source_configuration_file}" "${link_configuration_file}"
+}
+
+# Configures containerd
+function overwrite_containerd_config() {
+	containerd_config="/etc/containerd/config.toml"
+	sudo rm "${containerd_config}"
+	sudo tee "${containerd_config}" << EOF
+version = 2
+[plugins."io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri".containerd.runtimes.runc.options]
+  SystemdCgroup = true
+
+[plugins]
+  [plugins."io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri"]
+    [plugins."io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri".containerd]
+      default_runtime_name = "kata"
+      [plugins."io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri".containerd.runtimes]
+        [plugins."io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri".containerd.runtimes.kata]
+          runtime_type = "io.containerd.kata.v2"
+EOF
+}
+
+function install_kata() {
+	local kata_tarball="kata-static.tar.xz"
+	declare -r katadir="/opt/kata"
+	declare -r destdir="/"
+	declare -r local_bin_dir="/usr/local/bin/"
+
+	# Removing previous kata installation
+	sudo rm -rf "${katadir}"
+
+	pushd "${kata_tarball_dir}"
+	sudo tar -xvf "${kata_tarball}" -C "${destdir}"
+	popd
+
+	# create symbolic links to kata components
+	for b in "${katadir}/bin/*" ; do
+		sudo ln -sf "${b}" "${local_bin_dir}/$(basename $b)"
+	done
+
+	check_containerd_config_for_kata
+	restart_containerd_service
+	install_checkmetrics
+}
+
+function check_containerd_config_for_kata() {
+	# check containerd config
+	declare -r line1="default_runtime_name = \"kata\""
+	declare -r line2="runtime_type = \"io.containerd.kata.v2\""
+	declare -r num_lines_containerd=2
+	declare -r containerd_path="/etc/containerd/config.toml"
+	local count_matches=$(grep -ic  "$line1\|$line2" "${containerd_path}")
+
+	if [ "${count_matches}" = "${num_lines_containerd}" ]; then
+		info "containerd ok"
+	else
+		info "overwriting containerd configuration w/ a valid one"
+		overwrite_containerd_config
+	fi
 }
diff --git a/tests/integration/cri-containerd/gha-run.sh b/tests/integration/cri-containerd/gha-run.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..cf2500048
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/integration/cri-containerd/gha-run.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2023 Intel Corporation
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+#
+
+set -o errexit
+set -o nounset
+set -o pipefail
+
+kata_tarball_dir="${2:-kata-artifacts}"
+cri_containerd_dir="$(dirname "$(readlink -f "$0")")" 
+source "${cri_containerd_dir}/../../common.bash"
+
+function run() {
+	info "Running cri-containerd tests using ${KATA_HYPERVISOR} hypervisor"
+
+	create_symbolic_links ${KATA_HYPERVISOR}
+	return 0
+}
+
+function main() {
+	action="${1:-}"
+	case "${action}" in
+		install-kata) install_kata ;;
+		run) run ;;
+		*) >&2 die "Invalid argument" ;;
+	esac
+}
+
+main "$@"
diff --git a/tests/metrics/gha-run.sh b/tests/metrics/gha-run.sh
index 665acd7c9..1ea5cd19c 100755
--- a/tests/metrics/gha-run.sh
+++ b/tests/metrics/gha-run.sh
@@ -18,59 +18,6 @@ declare -r results_dir="${metrics_dir}/results"
 declare -r checkmetrics_dir="${metrics_dir}/cmd/checkmetrics"
 declare -r checkmetrics_config_dir="${checkmetrics_dir}/ci_worker"
 
-function create_symbolic_links() {
-	local link_configuration_file="/opt/kata/share/defaults/kata-containers/configuration.toml"
-	local source_configuration_file="/opt/kata/share/defaults/kata-containers/configuration-${KATA_HYPERVISOR}.toml"
-
-	if [ "${KATA_HYPERVISOR}" != 'qemu' ] && [ "${KATA_HYPERVISOR}" != 'clh' ]; then
-		die "Failed to set the configuration.toml: '${KATA_HYPERVISOR}' is not recognized as a valid hypervisor name."
-	fi
-
-	sudo ln -sf "${source_configuration_file}" "${link_configuration_file}"
-}
-
-# Configures containerd
-function overwrite_containerd_config() {
-	containerd_config="/etc/containerd/config.toml"
-	sudo rm "${containerd_config}"
-	sudo tee "${containerd_config}" << EOF
-version = 2
-[plugins."io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri".containerd.runtimes.runc.options]
-  SystemdCgroup = true
-
-[plugins]
-  [plugins."io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri"]
-    [plugins."io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri".containerd]
-      default_runtime_name = "kata"
-      [plugins."io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri".containerd.runtimes]
-        [plugins."io.containerd.grpc.v1.cri".containerd.runtimes.kata]
-          runtime_type = "io.containerd.kata.v2"
-EOF
-}
-
-function install_kata() {
-	local kata_tarball="kata-static.tar.xz"
-	declare -r katadir="/opt/kata"
-	declare -r destdir="/"
-	declare -r local_bin_dir="/usr/local/bin/"
-
-	# Removing previous kata installation
-	sudo rm -rf "${katadir}"
-
-	pushd "${kata_tarball_dir}"
-	sudo tar -xvf "${kata_tarball}" -C "${destdir}"
-	popd
-
-	# create symbolic links to kata components
-	for b in "${katadir}/bin/*" ; do
-		sudo ln -sf "${b}" "${local_bin_dir}/$(basename $b)"
-	done
-
-	check_containerd_config_for_kata
-	restart_containerd_service
-	install_checkmetrics
-}
-
 function install_checkmetrics() {
 	# Ensure we have the latest checkmetrics
 	pushd "${checkmetrics_dir}"
@@ -79,20 +26,18 @@ function install_checkmetrics() {
 	popd
 }
 
-function check_containerd_config_for_kata() {
-	# check containerd config
-	declare -r line1="default_runtime_name = \"kata\""
-	declare -r line2="runtime_type = \"io.containerd.kata.v2\""
-	declare -r num_lines_containerd=2
-	declare -r containerd_path="/etc/containerd/config.toml"
-	local count_matches=$(grep -ic  "$line1\|$line2" "${containerd_path}")
+# @path_results: path to the input metric-results folder
+# @tarball_fname: path and filename to the output tarball
+function compress_metrics_results_dir()
+{
+	local path_results="${1:-results}"
+	local tarball_fname="${2:-}"
 
-	if [ "${count_matches}" = "${num_lines_containerd}" ]; then
-		info "containerd ok"
-	else
-		info "overwriting containerd configuration w/ a valid one"
-		overwrite_containerd_config
-	fi
+	[ -z "${tarball_fname}" ] && die "Missing the tarball filename or the path to save the tarball results is incorrect."
+	[ ! -d "${path_results}" ] && die "Missing path to the results folder."
+
+	cd "${path_results}" && tar -czf "${tarball_fname}" *.json && cd -
+	info "tarball generated: ${tarball_fname}"
 }
 
 function check_metrics() {
@@ -111,21 +56,21 @@ function make_tarball_results() {
 function run_test_launchtimes() {
 	info "Running Launch Time test using ${KATA_HYPERVISOR} hypervisor"
 
-	create_symbolic_links
+	create_symbolic_links ${KATA_HYPERVISOR}
 	bash tests/metrics/time/launch_times.sh -i public.ecr.aws/ubuntu/ubuntu:latest -n 20
 }
 
 function run_test_memory_usage() {
 	info "Running memory-usage test using ${KATA_HYPERVISOR} hypervisor"
 
-	create_symbolic_links
+	create_symbolic_links ${KATA_HYPERVISOR}
 	bash tests/metrics/density/memory_usage.sh 20 5
 }
 
 function run_test_memory_usage_inside_container() {
 	info "Running memory-usage inside the container test using ${KATA_HYPERVISOR} hypervisor"
 
-	create_symbolic_links
+	create_symbolic_links ${KATA_HYPERVISOR}
 	bash tests/metrics/density/memory_usage_inside_container.sh 5
 
 	check_metrics
@@ -136,7 +81,7 @@ function run_test_blogbench() {
 
 	# ToDo: remove the exit once the metrics workflow is stable
 	exit 0
-	create_symbolic_links
+	create_symbolic_links ${KATA_HYPERVISOR}
 	bash tests/metrics/storage/blogbench.sh
 }