AWS certification masquerades as an engineering skill. Instead, it's a sales tool to encroach your employer in a moat. AWS complexity is to sell you on more.

Ibrahim Diallo

AWS certifications teach you how to navigate Amazon's platform rather than transferable engineering skills, effectively turning certified developers into advocates for AWS adoption. The platform's deliberate complexity and confusing pricing create a moat that makes simpler, cheaper alternatives like DigitalOcean or Linode seem inferior — even though most developers don't need the majority of AWS features. Running reliable web services on a VPS is far simpler and more affordable than AWS's ecosystem suggests.

Your AWS Certificate Makes You an AWS Salesman