Ever feel like your entire career is standing on shifting sand? As a DevOps engineer watching the rapid rise of AI coding assistants, I’ve found myself questioning our ultimate relevance.
“Quick, get a new title!”
The Origin Story: Searching for a Direction#
What has my quest led me to? Where is it going?
I started out with a dream of joining the military as an Air Force Ranger. I quickly realized, however, that I am neither the right material nor do I possess any traits that could remotely benefit the army.
My reasoning for joining? I honestly thought I could get a free dog and walk around in nature. Unsurprisingly, the recruiters did not appreciate that goal. Hey, a free dog is a free dog, right?
After that reality check, I switched to graphic design—admittedly, not the best move. I vividly remember witnessing my friend getting rejected because of his “not-20/20” vision. He cried as he walked out, rejected from the role he had chosen after so much reflection.
It hasn’t been a single, straightforward path. There was a lot of running around and frantically searching for where to go. Here is the short, sweetened version of how I ended up in tech.
“Fuck you! Bricktop, it is just a fucking condiment. Yeeessh!”
The Developer Transition: Expecting a Unicorn#
After painfully training my brain to grasp front-end development, I finally landed several opportunities to grow.
However, the industry’s expectations were wild. Many companies wanted a “unicorn”—a single developer who could magically build, design, and manage everything.
It seems some companies have no clue what the title “front-end developer” actually means. They expect you to fix every broken pipe, regardless of your actual skillset, throwing random buzzwords into job listings and hoping for miracles.
Through all this frontend hustle, I noticed I was spending more time managing servers and writing Bash scripts than styling buttons. I was doing the work of a Linux sysadmin.
So, I changed paths. Again.
Fast forward to the present: I am now a DevOps engineer. Or rather, a demonic amalgamation of specialized knowledge that no one—not even myself—fully understands.
Don’t get me wrong. I am extremely grateful for where I am and for everyone who helped me get here… but…
The Prologue: Facing the Crossroads#
I think I am at a crossroads again.
- Why do I need to choose again?
- Why can’t I just stay on this path and see where it takes me?
- Why do I always ask so many questions?
- What exactly am I looking for?
Please, make it stop.
I keep having a recurring dream where I am killing myself—and everything I know—with a replacement.
“Erik, you need to get out of there, fast…”
Laugh if you will, but I get this persistent feeling that DevOps (or platform/cloud/sysadmin/insert-fancy-title-here) will no longer require a human being to execute the core tasks.
So please, Erik, read this… and remember where you once stood!
Saw Gerrera : You can stand to see the Imperial flag reign across the galaxy?
It's not a problem if you don't look up.What’s your take?#
Do you feel AI is going to make DevOps and sysadmin roles obsolete, or is it just another tool that will elevate our work? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!