Robert Strijdom

Robert Strijdom is an IT professional pivoting into cloud security and engineering after 23 years as a music teacher. Holding an AWS Certified Solutions Architect Associate credential and CompTIA Security+, he has spent the past two years building hands-on cloud and security skills - beginning self-study in 2024 alongside his teaching role, then resigning from full-time teaching in December 2024 to pursue it further.

Since January 2025, he has worked as an independent cloud security and IT consultant, including a subcontract engagement designing Google Cloud Firestore security rules for an enterprise application built for Sasol, and an ongoing project building a multi-account AWS environment with SAML SSO integration.

Robert's path into tech has been a deliberate, self-directed one: alongside two decades in education, he taught himself programming and systems administration, eventually formalizing that interest through certification and applied projects. He brings the same discipline to cloud security that he has applied throughout his life to mastering complex skills, including over 15000 hours of piano practice, developed purely out of personal commitment to the craft.

He is currently based in Pretoria, South Africa, and looking to bring his technical curiosity, reliability, and self-taught depth to a cloud security or cloud engineering team.