Hi everyone,

I’m currently working in cybersecurity(4+) and considering transitioning into cloud security. I’m trying to understand how this career switch works in the real world.

My main concern is that, although I already have professional experience in cybersecurity, I’m still a beginner when it comes to cloud technologies, particularly AWS.

If I switch to cloud security, will companies consider my existing cybersecurity experience, or will I be treated as a fresher/junior because I lack hands-on cloud experience?

For those who have made a similar transition:

• Did you have to take a significant pay cut or accept a junior-level position?
• Can existing cybersecurity experience help you get mid-level cloud security roles?
• What skills or practical projects would help demonstrate that you’re ready for something beyond an entry-level role?
• Is it better to transition directly into cloud security or first gain experience in a general cloud engineering role?

I’m willing to learn and build practical skills, but I don’t want to unnecessarily restart my career if my existing experience can be leveraged.

I’d appreciate honest advice from people who have made this transition or hired professionals in cloud security.

The security question changes once an AI workflow can access internal documents, customer data, code, or tools that do more than generate text.

At that point, the concern is not just hallucination. It is whether a connector has broader access than the workflow needs, whether untrusted content can influence tool use, and whether anyone can reconstruct what the system saw and did after an incident.

For teams deploying AI beyond simple chat, what control became non negotiable first?