- Vishakha Sadhwani
- Posts
- Solutions Architect vs Developer Advocate
Solutions Architect vs Developer Advocate
Both roles sit at the intersection of deep technical skill and communication, which is why they're often confused.
Vishakha Sadhwani
October 13, 2026
The simplest way to tell them apart is who they talk to:
Solutions Architect — you present solutions to customers. Developer Advocate — you explain tech to developers.
Solutions Architect
A Solutions Architect takes a customer's business problem and designs a system that solves it — one that scales, stays reliable, and doesn't blow the budget.
Skills
Cloud Architecture
Networking & Security
Infrastructure Automation
Troubleshooting
Focus On
Customer Requirements
System Design
Scalability & Reliability
Cost Optimization
Watch: What a Solutions Architect does
Example Projects
Amazon ECS Fullstack App with Terraform — a full-stack app deployed on AWS ECS with the infrastructure defined as code.
Local LLM Project — watch on my YouTube <!-- add your video link -->
Developer Advocate
A Developer Advocate is the bridge between a technology and the developers who use it. They build things, show how it works, and carry developer feedback back to the product team.
Skills
Programming & Coding
API Integration
Technical Writing
Public Speaking
Focus On
Hands-on Demos
Developer Experience
Technical Content
Community Building
Watch: What a Developer Advocate does
Example Projects
Build Your Own LLM Benchmark Tool — measure and compare LLM performance yourself.
FastAPI LLM Agent Demo — a hands-on demo of an LLM agent served through FastAPI.
Side by Side
Solutions Architect | Developer Advocate | |
|---|---|---|
Audience | Customers & decision-makers | Developers & the community |
Core question | "What should we build, and how?" | "How do I use this, and why?" |
Main output | Architecture designs, proposals | Demos, tutorials, talks, content |
Success looks like | A reliable, cost-effective system in production | Developers adopting the tech and succeeding with it |
Key skills | Cloud, networking, security, automation | Coding, APIs, writing, speaking |
TL;DR
Both roles need strong technical depth. The Solutions Architect turns customer requirements into well-designed systems; the Developer Advocate turns technology into something developers can understand, try, and love.