February 6, 2026
Is it sales or salvation?
I spent 5 years in DevOps – Solutions engineering gave me what I was missing
From dashboard dread to people puzzles — fans cheer, purists cry “title theft”
TLDR: A DevOps engineer left a ticket-heavy routine for a people-facing Solutions Engineer role at a startup, saying variety and human connection were missing. Comments split between “dream move” and “sales hijacked the title,” with a side of anxiety about losing technical chops—spotlighting a bigger identity clash in tech careers.
One engineer ditched five years of security‑flavored DevOps (building and running the back‑end plumbing) for a Solutions Engineer gig at Infisical (a technical partner who helps customers and the sales team), and the internet lit up. The author says they craved people, variety, and constant learning; now they talk to teams from fintech to aerospace, even meeting customers face‑to‑face.
But the comments stole the show. Career‑switchers cheered: one veteran confessed, “I had a negative connotation about sales… turns out I really love it,” describing the daily variety like a puzzle. Skeptics hit back on titles, accusing sales of hijacking “Solutions Engineer” from post‑sales support—cue HR drama and arguments over who’s “really” technical. Fence‑sitters drooled over cross‑industry learning but admitted a fear of losing their hands‑on edge.
The thread went full meme: “from YAML to yappin’,” “ticket queue to talk show,” and the old “SE = Slide Engineer?” jab. Supporters claimed SEs stay hands‑on and become trusted advisors; purists rolled eyes at title inflation and glossy demos. Beneath the jokes, a real split emerged: glow‑up from burnout, or selling with extra steps? Either way, it hit a nerve—tech is rethinking growth when the problem isn’t the code, it’s the solitude.
Key Points
- •The author spent five years as a DevSecOps engineer at two large financial services companies.
- •They experienced repetition, stagnation, and isolation in their previous role after mastering core tools.
- •They transitioned to a Solutions Engineer role at Infisical, a competitor to HashiCorp Vault.
- •The new role remains technical while being sales-adjacent, emphasizing customer interaction and problem-solving.
- •Work now spans diverse industries and tasks, including discovery calls, demos, Kubernetes troubleshooting, and workshops.