The DevOps jobs market is full of unicorn hunters: companies looking for just one or two superhero engineers that can fix everything. And we engineers often aspire to fit that profile – after all, the work pays well, it’s never dull, and it’s nice to be useful.

But what happens when companies actually find these legendary people? Well, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows. It turns out they face the Curse of the Unicorn.

In this talk, I’ll examine the various ways that achieving a DevOps unicorn dream team leads to disaster. I’ll explain how attracting unicorns leads to short term, isolated success, while silently sabotaging a company’s ability to scale. And on a more cheerful note, I’ll explain what I think you should do instead.

First public audience, though related to another talk on my profile delivered at DevSecOps Days DC 2022. 30 minute slot preferred though flexible.