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8 Career Paths

Choose 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.

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 →

Not Sure Which Path?

Match your interests to the right career.

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

Ready to Start?

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