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🐧 8 Career Paths · All FOSS

$ whereis Your
Cloud Career Path

From beginner to expert — structured roadmaps with skills, certifications, and salary benchmarks for the most in-demand roles in Cloud, DevOps, AI, and Platform Engineering.

$ find All Learning Paths

Each path includes a step-by-step roadmap, recommended certifications, and links to free resources on CloudCaptain.

Beginner$100K–$180K

DevOps Engineer

Automate the entire software lifecycle with CI/CD, containers, IaC, and configuration management.

1
Linux & Networking
2
Git & Version Control
3
Docker & Containers
4
CI/CD Pipelines
5
Terraform / IaC
6
Ansible
Top Certifications
AWS DevOps Engineer ProCKATerraform Associate
View Learning Path →
Beginner$100K–$180K

Linux Systems Master

Go deep on the OS that powers every cloud server, container, and AI training node.

1
Linux Internals
2
Bash & Python
3
Networking (deep)
4
Kernel Tuning
5
Storage (LVM, ZFS)
6
Security Hardening
Top Certifications
LFCSRHCSALPIC-2
View Learning Path →
Intermediate$110K–$200K

Cloud Engineer / Architect

Design multi-region, highly available cloud architectures and optimize costs at scale.

1
One Cloud Deeply
2
Well-Architected Framework
3
Terraform Modules
4
Kubernetes
5
Serverless Patterns
6
Cost Optimization
Top Certifications
AWS Solutions ArchitectAzure AZ-305GCP Professional Cloud Architect
View Learning Path →
Intermediate$120K–$210K

SRE (Site Reliability)

Keep the internet running — define SLOs, build observability, lead incident response.

1
Linux (deep)
2
Python or Go
3
Kubernetes
4
Prometheus / Grafana
5
Incident Management
6
Chaos Engineering
Top Certifications
CKAAWS DevOps EngineerGoogle SRE Certificate
View Learning Path →
Intermediate$120K–$200K

Cloud Security / DevSecOps

Implement shift-left security, manage IAM, and ensure compliance across cloud workloads.

1
DevSecOps Practices
2
IAM & RBAC
3
OWASP Top 10
4
Supply Chain Security
5
Vault & Secrets
6
Compliance Frameworks
Top Certifications
AWS Security SpecialtyCompTIA Security+CCSP
View Learning Path →
Advanced$130K–$220K

Platform Engineer

Build Internal Developer Platforms — golden paths, self-service infra, and developer experience.

1
Kubernetes (deep)
2
Terraform Modules
3
Backstage / Port
4
ArgoCD / FluxCD
5
OPA / Kyverno
6
DORA Metrics
Top Certifications
CKA + CKADTerraform AssociateGitOps Certified
View Learning Path →
Advanced$140K–$250K+

AI/ML Infrastructure Engineer

Build and operate GPU clusters, ML training pipelines, and LLM serving infrastructure.

1
Linux (deep)
2
Kubernetes + Ray
3
GPU Orchestration
4
Kubeflow / MLflow
5
vLLM / TensorRT
6
Distributed Training
Top Certifications
CKAAWS ML SpecialtyNVIDIA DLI Certification
View Learning Path →
Specialist$100K–$170K

FinOps Practitioner

Optimize cloud spend for AI/ML workloads — reserved instances, right-sizing, and cost governance.

1
Cloud Billing Tools
2
Terraform (cost-aware)
3
K8s Resource Mgmt
4
FinOps Framework
5
Data Analysis
6
Forecasting
Top Certifications
FinOps Certified PractitionerAWS Cloud Financial MgmtAzure Cost Mgmt
View Learning Path →

$ which Path Is Right for You?

Match your interests to the right career — like piping commands to find the perfect match.

|DevOps Engineer
|Cloud Architect
|Platform Engineer
|AI Infra Engineer
|SRE
|Linux Systems Master
|Security Engineer
|FinOps Practitioner

$ exec Ready to Start?

Pick a path, dive into the resources, and build real projects. Every guide on CloudCaptain is free and open source.