Internal platforms don’t just accelerate shipping — they reshape how engineers work. By removing low-value toil and standardizing the fundamentals, platforms free teams to focus on meaningful problems, improving engagement, retention, and long-term innovation capacity.
Removing operational toil gives engineers more time to focus on real problem-solving. It doesn’t necessarily change how they approach it, but it frees them up to spend more time on the work that matters.
Marcel de Vries, global MD and CTO for Microsoft Services at Xebia, explains that toil, compliance, hierarchy, and rigid team structures often block people from doing their best work.
“When you remove those barriers, engineers can collaborate more effectively and focus on delivering value,” he says. “It’s not just about tools, it’s about creating the right environment for people to thrive.”
He points out that trust doesn’t come from platforms or tools, but rather from people working well together, with internal platforms helping by creating consistency and giving teams a shared way of working.
“If the platform team struggles, it can even bring other teams closer together since they have a common challenge to work through,” he says. “But real trust is built through the way teams collaborate and how the organization is structured.”
Catherine Edelveis, developer advocate at BellSoft, says teams must accept a dependency on a foundation they didn’t build, and learn to trust it.
“That’s a psychological shift, not just a technical one,” she says. “For teams used to full autonomy, it’s a difficult transition even when the benefits are obvious.”
Pasha Finkelshteyn, developer advocate at BellSoft, adds that clearly defined roles boost trust naturally.
“When responsibilities are clear, people understand their scope and can confidently hand off work that falls outside it,” he says. “But this separation needs thoughtful management.”
If people end up unhappy in their new roles, performance drops, thus trust drops with it–not the other way around.
Hiring, Onboarding, Retention
Platform engineering can also affect hiring, onboarding, and retention of senior engineers, with de Vries noting it mostly affects what skills you’re hiring for.
“Focusing on engineering culture has a bigger impact overall,” he says. “We don’t just hire for skills. We hire people who know how to listen, learn, communicate, and work well with others.” Platform engineering doesn’t change that approach, but it can make onboarding easier and the day-to-day work smoother. Senior engineers want to solve problems, grow others, and be part of high-performing teams.
“If your culture supports that, retention improves,” de Vries says. “The platform helps, but culture is what matters most.”
Donnie Page, senior solutions engineer for Itential, says hiring can be focused on cultural fit and background vs specific product knowledge.
“The presence of a strong platform experience can attract senior engineers who are looking to make an impact and not just focus on troubleshooting,” he says. “A strong platform can reduce cognitive load on engineers and reduce burnout as well.”
In addition, a strong platform is typically more flexible and easily adaptable to new tools, which can entice engineers to learn new technologies or attract new engineers with new skill sets.
Mitigating Engineer Burnout
Page points out that a solid platform approach can reduce cognitive load, which can decrease burnout.
“It typically shows up first in ‘operational silence’ providing more free time to be strategic,” he explains.
Engineers are no longer constantly interrupted with questions, and context switching is greatly reduced, which can lead to less burnout.
Finkelshteyn says separating responsibilities lets people focus on work they enjoy, which naturally reduces burnout, but adds that corporate culture matters just as much.
“Even when developers willingly work 12-hour days because they love what they do, it’s harmful over time,” he says. “That’s scientifically proven. When managers actively discourage overwork, and developers stay satisfied with their jobs, burnout risk drops significantly.”