If I Wanted to Become a Cloud Engineer in 2026, This Is What I'd Do [FULL BLUEPRINT]

Six years ago, I quit my job and landed a new role as a cloud engineer in just 90 days. No computer science degree, no

90 days. No computer science degree, no pri cloud experience. And today, in 2026, the opportunity is so much bigger than it was back then. Companies are

spending almost $700 billion on AI and cloud infrastructure this year alone.

And that's after spending $320 billion in 2025. Over 1,000 cloud engineering

in 2025. Over 1,000 cloud engineering jobs are being posted in the US every single day. And yet the problem is most

single day. And yet the problem is most people trying to break in are still following outdated advice. Collect

certifications, follow YouTube tutorials, and then they're wondering why they can't get interviews. Hi, I'm

Sleman. I've been working in tech since 2015 at just 18 years old. I was earning $18,000 a year. From there, I worked my way all the way up to earning multiple six figures in tech. Today, I'm running my own businesses across cloud and AR

consulting, software, and my education company, where I've helped more than 900 IT professionals, engineers, and career switchers master cloud engineering and actually land six figure jobs, including

at companies like AWS. In this video, I'm going to give you the exact step-by-step road map to go from zero experience to hired as a cloud engineer in 90 days. I'm also going to show you a

portfolio project strategy that I gatekeep for my students inside of my academy. And nobody's talking about this

academy. And nobody's talking about this and it will genuinely separate you from every other candidate. But first, let's start with what you actually need to learn because once you understand this,

everything else is just going to click.

Now, before you even touch AWS, you need to lay the foundation. And I know this isn't the shiny new thing that you want to do. I know you want to skip ahead and

to do. I know you want to skip ahead and start deploying things and breaking things, but if you skip the fundamentals, you will struggle later down the line. It is more important than ever before because AI tools are making

it easier to build things without actually understanding them. And that's

really dangerous on the one hand, but it also means the people who actually understands what happening under the hood are becoming even more valuable.

Now, first you need to understand how the internet actually works. How does

data travel from your computer to a server on the other side of the world and then back? Once you understand that, the cloud stops being this abstract thing. From there, what is cloud

thing. From there, what is cloud computing? Why do companies even move to

computing? Why do companies even move to the cloud? What are the deployment

the cloud? What are the deployment models? Public cloud, private cloud,

models? Public cloud, private cloud, hybrid cloud, and then the service models. Infrastructure service, platform

models. Infrastructure service, platform as service, software as service. As a

cloud engineer, you are mostly operating in the infrastructure and platform as a service world. So understanding where

service world. So understanding where you sit in that stack really matters.

You also need to understand the software development life cycle, the SDLC, how software gets built, tested, deployed, and maintained. Because as a cloud

and maintained. Because as a cloud engineer, you are building the infrastructure that supports the entire process. And if you don't understand it,

process. And if you don't understand it, you won't understand why CID pipelines and infrastructures code matter later on. Then there is the five core IT

on. Then there is the five core IT areas. Networking. This probably one of

areas. Networking. This probably one of the most important IP addresses, subnets, DNS, basic routting. Everything

in the cloud runs on networking. So if

you don't understand what networking is, that you're going to be lost. Operating

systems, specifically Linux. The cloud

runs on Linux machines. So you need to get comfortable with the command line.

Virtualization. This is what makes cloud computing possible in the first place.

databases, both relational and non-reational, and security, which is not something that you bolt on at the end. 61% of companies got breached last

end. 61% of companies got breached last year. The average cost of a data breach

year. The average cost of a data breach is almost $5 million. Security has to be part of your thinking from day one.

There's plenty of resources that break these concepts down really well. I've

got a cloud engineer course on my channel, which you'll find super helpful. The goal here is to build

helpful. The goal here is to build enough understanding so that when you start learning AWS, everything just clicks into place. So once you have the fundamentals down, it's time to pick a

cloud platform. AWS, Azure, or GCP. And

cloud platform. AWS, Azure, or GCP. And

I need you to understand that this decision isn't one that you should spend too much time on. I picked AWS, and it's the one that I'm sticking with for the foreseeable future. AWS has by far the

foreseeable future. AWS has by far the most cloud services, the largest market share, which means more job opportunities for you. They've also got the most extensive free tier, so you can build projects without spending any

money. And everything that you learn on

money. And everything that you learn on AWS transfers directly and easily to GCP and Azure. It's all the same. They just

and Azure. It's all the same. They just

label things differently with different names. Now AWS has over 200 services,

names. Now AWS has over 200 services, but the fastest way for you to get a job is to narrow your focus and build a deeper expertise in the core services.

EC for compute, S3 for storage, IO for identity access management, VBC for networking. That's a core four. From

networking. That's a core four. From

there, you've got other key services that pop up in virtually every job listing or they are requirement for your work in production systems. So I'm just going to rattle these off now. ECS,

Lambda, RE53, Elastic Lad Balancer, API Gateway CloudFront Cloudatch Cloud RDS, and because it's 2026 and every single company is very much becoming an AI company right now, you also need to

learn how to leverage Amazon Bedrock.

And once you've got the services, and I know I keep hammering on about this, but it definitely works and it will help you land a six-figure job. So listen up. You

have to understand how these services connect to each other, which is just as important as knowing what each one does individually. It's called systems

individually. It's called systems thinking. Why would you choose East2

thinking. Why would you choose East2 versus Lambda? When would you choose RDS

versus Lambda? When would you choose RDS versus Dynamo DB? What are the trade-offs? What are the constraints?

trade-offs? What are the constraints?

These are the questions that come up in interviews and on real projects. You'd

be shocked by how many people cannot explain the simple concepts behind these core services. They've memorized the

core services. They've memorized the names, but they can't tell you when or why you would actually use it. And that

is the difference between someone who has learned the theoretical side of cloud engineering and someone who could actually operate in it. Now, if you're serious about getting hired as a cloud engineer in 2026 and you want my personal help, just check the link in

description below. There's a short video

description below. There's a short video that breaks down my first principles blueprint, which is the exact methodology to allow me to quit my job and land two job offers in the cloud in just 90 days. After that, you can fill in a shop application and book a call

with my team. You don't need prior experience. It does help if you're

experience. It does help if you're coming from cyber security, help desk, software engineering, systems admin, network engineering, right? But

everything is laid out for you step by step. And we, unlike others, are getting

step. And we, unlike others, are getting real results right now. Travon and Eric both landed cloud engineering roles just last week. And then Thomas Love also

last week. And then Thomas Love also landed a new role as a platform engineer this week, literally in March 2026. Now,

just because they've got jobs doesn't mean that you automatically will, right?

Obviously not. It still requires hard work, dedication, time, and showing up consistently. It's not a magic pill, but

consistently. It's not a magic pill, but if you're looking for the fastest route into the industry with the best approach that actually works right now in 2026, then click the link below or watch the short video and book a call with my

team. I'd love to help. Right, on to

team. I'd love to help. Right, on to step three. Don't get ads certified.

step three. Don't get ads certified.

Now, this is going to upset quite a few people. So, please just let me explain

people. So, please just let me explain before you start spamming in the comments that are great and you're getting jobs, right? You're not. Let's

be real. Don't get ads certified at the beginning. Save it for later. And here

beginning. Save it for later. And here

is why. I've been hiring engineers, my own AI cloud security consultancy for years, and I skip straight past the certifications and the education section on people's resume. I look at portfolio projects and prior IT experience. And

right now, hiring managers are doing the same thing. So, if you're on the path to

same thing. So, if you're on the path to get certified right now, unless you've got some real hands-on skills, stop chasing certifications because on their own, they don't get you hired. And most

people spend 6 months trying to get certified, never even end up booking their exam. So, they just waste 6 months

their exam. So, they just waste 6 months not getting any closer to landing an actual role. Now, I'm not saying to

actual role. Now, I'm not saying to never get certified. I'm saying they guide you through your journey at the start, especially when you're not sure what to learn. The problem is that people get the certification and then they think they're ready to apply for

jobs. People on the internet have been

jobs. People on the internet have been promising you that you could just go do one certification and land a six figure jobs in tech, right? That's never going to happen. Never. Right? It's just not

to happen. Never. Right? It's just not possible. Wake up. You think you can

possible. Wake up. You think you can just go learn a security plus certification, pay $100, and someone's going to give you a 200k a year job?

Wake up, man. Be so for real, right?

People spend months memorizing answers to multiple choice questions and zero time actually building anything real.

And then when they inevitably get no interviews, they spam LinkedIn and all my comments on YouTube complaining that the job market is good, I can't get hired, blah blah blah, AI taking you jobs, right? Well, yes, it's tough if

jobs, right? Well, yes, it's tough if you haven't got the right skills. You're

just throwing applications into the abyss. You can always sit the exam later

abyss. You can always sit the exam later on once you've built real projects. Then

it just complements your portfolio.

Projects first always. Now I know this isn't something that you want to hit, but you need to learn to code. Cloud

engineering revolves around automation, scaling, and managing infrastructure.

It's 100% possible to work in a cloud role with minimal coding, and I've seen this working with engineers myself. But

if you want to stand out, coding gives you a complete distinctive competitive advantage in this technology world.

First, Python. When I analyzed over 536 cloud engineering job listings, Python showed up in a huge number of them. Now

don't worry, you're not expected to be a fullblown software developer and Python is actually the most beginnerfriendly coding language. AWS has bo which is

coding language. AWS has bo which is Python's library that lets you interact with every single ads service through code. So instead of logging into the

code. So instead of logging into the console and doing something manually, you write a script and it does it for you. Secondly, bash. The cloud runs on

you. Secondly, bash. The cloud runs on Linux. You need to be able to SSH into a

Linux. You need to be able to SSH into a server, troubleshoot an issue, write a script to solve a problem, and not rely on the console for everything. Stop

clicking around, start writing code.

Third, and this is the game changer, Terraform infrastructures code is a single most in demand cloud skill right now. In real production systems, nobody,

now. In real production systems, nobody, and I mean nobody's clinging through the ads console to build infrastructure that is serving users. Don't get me wrong, it's totally okay when you are brand new and you're getting comfortable to use a

console. But as soon as you can start

console. But as soon as you can start writing your infrastructure as code, one command and it stands up exactly the same way every single time. While

everyone else is doing ClickOps, you're building with Python and Terraform that mirrors what cloud engineers actually do and it puts you in a completely different category. Okay, so just before

different category. Okay, so just before we get into step five, where I show you the untapped portfolio project strategy that I gatekeep for my students inside of my academy, you my friend have to

learn CI/CD, continuous integration and continuous deployment, right? How code

gets from a developer's laptop to running in front of real users. GitHub

actions is what you want to focus on.

It's lightweight. It lives inside of your code repository and you need to understand how pipelines connect to the infrastructure that you're managing.

Next, understanding of containers. A

lightweight portable package that bundles your application with everything that it needs to run. Docker is a tool that you use to create them. Now, you

don't need to learn Kubernetes as someone new to cloud. Right? Stop

listening to that advice because that's reserved for senior positions, my friend. Now, pay very close attention to

friend. Now, pay very close attention to this section because this is what's going to change everything for you.

Building projects is the single most important thing that you can do to get hired. A strong portfolio of cloud

hired. A strong portfolio of cloud projects, not a computer science degree, not a certification is the key to demonstrating your abilities. You have

to learn by doing. You can't build practical skills watching someone else.

You have to do it yourself. But here's

the problem. Most people are either building the wrong project or they just don't know what to build. They follow a YouTube tutorial step by step. Click

this, click that, add it to their portfolio and think that's enough. But

you didn't actually do any thinking, did you, Ann? You didn't solve a problem.

you, Ann? You didn't solve a problem.

you just copied someone else and you thought that was it. Here's three

reasons why most cloud portfolios get completely ignored. Number one, no one

completely ignored. Number one, no one can actually tell what you've built.

Number two, it's not clear what technology you've used and why. And

number three, there are no explanations of the problem that you've solved or the trade-offs that you've made. So, here is what I want you to do instead. Go to

freelancing platforms like Upwork. Look

at cloud engineering projects that companies are posting for right now.

What kind of infrastructure are they asking? What challenges are they facing?

asking? What challenges are they facing?

What projects do they want built? What's

the brief? What's the budget? What

constraints are they working with? I'm

not saying go and bid on these projects, right? I'm saying use these projects as

right? I'm saying use these projects as your own briefs. Take a real problem that a real company is facing and go and solve it. This is what I used to do

solve it. This is what I used to do before I started building my consultancy. Build the infrastructure,

consultancy. Build the infrastructure, write the terform code, set up the IT pipelines, document everything on LinkedIn. When you haven't got it

LinkedIn. When you haven't got it experience or you've worked in tech but in a non-technical role like GLC for example, you have to find a way to showcase your ability. And the best way is by solving problems that companies

are facing today. You simulate what the actual job is and get hands-on experience solving real problems. And here is what you get from that. You

learn how to think. You are no longer following tutorials with someone else showing you what to click. You can

actually reason from first principles on what the architecture should look like, what trade-offs that you've considered based on the project brief. The brief

says small team limited budget. Right?

So now you're thinking managed services versus self-hosted. Do they have the

versus self-hosted. Do they have the engineers for a very complex Kubernetes cluster? Or should you go for something

cluster? Or should you go for something simpler with manage EC2 with ECS or fully serverless? What's expected

fully serverless? What's expected traffic? Do you need autoscaling

traffic? Do you need autoscaling disaster recovery? These are real

disaster recovery? These are real decisions that cloud engineers are making every single day. And now you're practicing them before you even have the job. Now compare that to someone who

job. Now compare that to someone who followed a tutorial. They can tell you what they clicked, but not exactly why, right? They can't tell you what

right? They can't tell you what alternatives they considered or what they would change if the requirements were different. This is what separates a

were different. This is what separates a real engineer from someone who watched a few videos on YouTube. And this is exactly why my students are getting hired in 2026. Now, inside of my cloud engineering academy, the projects are

taken directly from my own consulting company. Real problems that real

company. Real problems that real companies are facing for today and they've paid me hundreds of thousands of dollars for. That's why Travon, Eric

dollars for. That's why Travon, Eric landed their roles last week. That's why

Thomas Love land his platform engineer role this week. Mac, Leticia, John, Alex, J, LD, Joey, and there's so many more at this point. I can't even remember all of them, but shout out to you guys. Now, once you built your cloud

you guys. Now, once you built your cloud portfolio projects, three things that you need to do to help you stand out.

Firstly, clear documentation. What you

built, which technology you've used, and why, and the problems that you solve.

Secondly, a video walk through using something like Loom. Talk about your architecture, trade-offs, and decision- making. Most people are completely

making. Most people are completely afraid to put themselves out there. Why

are you scared? And this way you're also going to be getting interview practice early on because hiring managers will ask you about your portfolio as well.

Thirdly, put your projects on GitHub and LinkedIn. Now listen very carefully in

LinkedIn. Now listen very carefully in 2026. It's no longer about who you know.

2026. It's no longer about who you know.

It's all about who knows you. Now one

thing on AI as an engineer, I'd highly recommend that you use AI tools while you learn. Absolutely. Claw chat.

you learn. Absolutely. Claw chat.

Although I don't trust Sam Alman with anything, so I would say go claw. will

help you break things down, explain the concepts, reason through decisions, but please do not outsource your thinking to AI. I see AI as a force multiplier and

AI. I see AI as a force multiplier and unfortunately it multiplies in both directions. If you have very solid

directions. If you have very solid fundamentals and you understand what's happening under the hood, AI makes you faster and more productive. If you're

not a great engineer with no real understanding, AI is making you worse at a much faster rate. You'll be deploying bad configurations, security vulnerabilities, broken infrastructure because you don't have the foundation to

know when AI is wrong. Now, the truth is we are in a world where everyone's chasing fast dopamine and quick results.

But this understanding of what's happening under the hood isn't something that you can pick up without real experience and go beyond the service level and peeling back the layers to

develop your knowledge. All right, so now you've got the skills, but there's absolutely no point building all of these skills in isolation, in the dark if nobody knows what you can do. It

doesn't matter how good you are, you're invisible. LinkedIn is where this

invisible. LinkedIn is where this happens. Over 90% of recruiters search

happens. Over 90% of recruiters search on LinkedIn to find and contact candidates. That means if you have the

candidates. That means if you have the right headline, the right skills on your profile, and you're posting often with a nice profile picture, recruiters will come to you instead of you chasing them.

That's exactly how I've been able to land multiple projects for my consulting company. I talk about my skills all the

company. I talk about my skills all the time. I post about what I'm building and

time. I post about what I'm building and opportunities just come to me. When I

was trying to land a job as a cloud engineer, being active on LinkedIn made my life so much easier. And now the same thing happens to my students. I even had someone reach out to me for a job at

Palunteer with an insane compensation package. I think it was almost $1

package. I think it was almost $1 million a year. So obviously this stuff works. Here is what you need. A good

works. Here is what you need. A good

professional photo. Just go have a look at mine and other people's pictures for inspiration. Your headline needs to

inspiration. Your headline needs to clearly state what you are. Put the

skills on your profile. Make it easy for recruiters to find you when they are searching. And then just start posting.

searching. And then just start posting.

Document your journey. Share what you're learning. Share your projects. Talk

learning. Share your projects. Talk

about the problems that you've solved and how you've solved them. Post your

Loom walkthroughs. Post your

architecture diagrams. Do this consistently and you will build visibility. People will start reaching

visibility. People will start reaching out to you with opportunities. Now, when

it comes to actually applying for jobs, LinkedIn jobs is where you want to be. I

would say stay away from platforms like indeed. And here is a little hack for

indeed. And here is a little hack for you. When you search for jobs on

you. When you search for jobs on LinkedIn, you will notice that it shows you cloud engineer roles, but also DevOps, software engineering, platform engineering, all sorts mixed in. To

filter it properly, put the speech mark around the exact title. So you need to type cloud engineer with the quotes and it will only show you roles with that exact phrase. Otherwise, you're wasting

exact phrase. Otherwise, you're wasting time scrolling through irrelevant listings. You can also change the URL

listings. You can also change the URL parameters on LinkedIn jobs so you can find roles with the least competition and get your application sent off as soon as a job has been listed. For your

resume, don't just have one version.

Have two versions. Have three versions.

Before you apply for each ro, look at a job description. If they specifically

job description. If they specifically mention Terraform and CI/CD pipelines, make sure that your resume highlights those exact skills with examples from your projects. Use the Google XYZ

your projects. Use the Google XYZ framework. X of what you've accomplished

framework. X of what you've accomplished as measured by Y and achieved by doing Zed. And no, don't put any extra words

Zed. And no, don't put any extra words in the background of your resume to try and get past the ATS filters. And if

you've done things properly up until now and you've got the skills, you won't need this. And then you want to start

need this. And then you want to start tracking everything. The same reason

tracking everything. The same reason people lose weight when they just get on the scales every day and just see the number. You need to track your job

number. You need to track your job applications. Create a spreadsheet. log

applications. Create a spreadsheet. log

every single role that you apply for, the hiring manager's name, when you applied, which resume version that you use, whether you got a response, follow-ups, interviews. After a couple

follow-ups, interviews. After a couple of weeks, you'll see patterns emerge, showing you which jobs or resume versions are the most successful, allowing you to then double down on those exact approaches. And then every

time that you apply, find a recruiter or the hiring manager on LinkedIn, send them a Loom video, and reference this specific role, and briefly explain what you bring. attach your resume and that's

you bring. attach your resume and that's how you stand out because you're putting yourself on top of the pile. And yes,

you need to be persistent. Go out of your way. In fact, what is stopping you

your way. In fact, what is stopping you from finding the phone numbers of these businesses and just dialing up the hiring managers or even the CEO telling them that you've applied for the roles and you want the job. Do what others

aren't willing to do. Be the person who goes the extra mile. Now, when it comes to interviews, if you've built projects the way that I describe using real briefs, reasoning from first principles, you've already been preparing without

even realizing. You know what you've

even realizing. You know what you've built better than anyone else, and that confidence shines through. But here is a few things that actually matter in the room. Firstly, energy. From the second

room. Firstly, energy. From the second you walk in a room or join a call, the interview has started. If they ask you how you are, say you're great always, right? You're not tired, you're not

right? You're not tired, you're not stressed, you're not nervous, you are great, you've got energy. Secondly, when

they ask you about your projects or your experience, you don't underell what you've done. If you've built the

you've done. If you've built the architecture, say you've built it. If

you make real trade-offs, own them.

Don't wait for someone else to give you the permission to claim your own work.

I've seen people who've done genuinely impressive work and then into interview they just downplay it for whatever reason. Thirdly, have questions at the

reason. Thirdly, have questions at the end. Ask something like, "What does

end. Ask something like, "What does success look like in the first 90 days?"

This shows that you're already thinking about how to deliver and stop overpreparing. All the learning that

overpreparing. All the learning that you've done and the projects that you've built have been preparing you for that moment at some point. It just becomes a numbers game. Apply for a thousand jobs.

numbers game. Apply for a thousand jobs.

What's stopping you from doing that if you knew you'd get hired? The answer

should be absolutely nothing. Now, I

want to have a little rant because this needs to be said. I already know there are people watching this thinking of so many reasons why this won't work for them. The market is tough. AI is taking

them. The market is tough. AI is taking jobs. I don't have a degree. I am too

jobs. I don't have a degree. I am too old. I don't have time. Now look, Travon

old. I don't have time. Now look, Travon and Eric landed cloud engineering roles last week. Thomas Lav got hired as a

last week. Thomas Lav got hired as a platform engineer this exact week that I'm filming this video. John went from zero experience, never touched the cloud, and he's now working at AWS as a cloud consultant. People are doing it

cloud consultant. People are doing it right now in 2026. The cloud computing market isn't shrinking. It's exploding

from 900 billion to over 5.4 trillion over the next decade. Big tech is investing $700 billion on AI and cloud infrastructure in 2026 alone. So, the

notion that jobs aren't available or AI is replacing everyone, those are just excuses. And hey, if you want to live

excuses. And hey, if you want to live your life that way, that's totally fine.

You could just wait and say, "Yo, I'm going to continue to not live the life that I want until I die." And everyone will be like, "Yeah, fair enough. He had

an excuse." That's it. That's your

legacy. Is that what you really want?

Because let me tell you what excuses really are. They are a permission slip

really are. They are a permission slip for mediocrity. You want the respect

for mediocrity. You want the respect without the outcome. You want to be a special snowflake. And the thing is,

special snowflake. And the thing is, some of those excuses might be valid.

You might have real disadvantages.

Things might genuinely be harder for you. And it's not your fault that they

you. And it's not your fault that they are there, but it's still your problem.

It's still your responsibility to succeed despite them. Because what is the alternative? Everyone around you

the alternative? Everyone around you might not a lot. Your family will tell you that it's okay. You can't be blamed.

It's not your fault. But deep down, they don't believe it. And most importantly, you won't believe it either. When was

the last time that you took someone else's excuse seriously for not getting something done? Exactly. Nobody takes

something done? Exactly. Nobody takes

excuses seriously, not even the people making them. And when I realized this,

making them. And when I realized this, it changed everything. For 99% of you watching this, your goals are achievable. You can become a cloud

achievable. You can become a cloud engineer without a degree, without experience. I see it inside of my

experience. I see it inside of my academy all of the time. The only thing stopping you isn't the market. It's not

AI. It's not even your background. It's

that you're either not trying or you're focusing on the wrong things. So, wake

up, get after it, and if you want my help to learn a six-fig cloud job, then click the first link in description and book a call with my team. As always, I'm rooting for you.