Breaking Into SA role From Tech Enablement - realistic path or too far away?
Hi! I'm looking for some honest advice from people who transitioned into Solutions Architect roles internally at AWS (or externally from similar backgrounds).
I’ve been in a technical enablement/PM role at AWS for about 4 years. My work is pretty SA-adjacent in some ways for example building technical enablement programs, workshops, demos, and training content for both technical roles (SAs, TAMs, ProServe, etc.) and non-technical/customer-facing roles (AMs, CSMs, sales teams, etc.). A big part of the job is translating complex technical concepts into business/customer language, partnering with SMEs/SAs, and basically acting like a PM coordinating technical programs and field enablement initiatives.
Background-wise:
- Engineering bachelor’s degree (non-CS engineering)
- Passed Cloud Practitioner, AI Practitioner, and SAA
- Some old programming background in Python/Java from undergrad, but honestly rusty at this point, not nearly as close or savvy as someone who is a DE or a SDE
- Have some decent communication/presentation/storytelling skills from my 4-year exp at AWS
A few questions:
- For someone targeting SA, would you prioritize more certs (Developer Associate / SAP) or focus almost entirely on hands-on labs/projects at this point?
- What’s the best way to get actual SA-style experience internally if your current role doesn’t directly interact with customers? Would you suggest I get a SA mentor?
- How technical do internal AWS SAs realistically need to be coding-wise? I don’t want to underestimate the bar.
- Is this transition realistically achievable from enablement, or should I think about intermediary roles first (Engagement Manager, Tech PMM)?
Would really appreciate honest feedback from anyone who made a similar transition. Sometimes I feel like I’m closer than I think, and other times I feel wildly underqualified compared to people with hardcore engineering backgrounds.