About Me

Hi folks! I’m David Sargent (aka Sarg3), a DevOps engineer and software craftsman with over a decade of experience spanning full-stack development, systems engineering, and cloud-native infrastructure. I’m passionate about building reliable systems, empowering engineers, and constantly learning.

For many years, I worked as a full-stack web developer at Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories (SEL), leading a team responsible for a suite of customer-facing applications. This included our corporate website, online ordering platform, product configuration tools, and RMA system. I primarily worked in ASP.NET MVC / .NET Core, Angular, and a wide array of JavaScript, CSS, and API integrations, all deployed in a secure and performant environment.

In 2018, I was honored when our VP of Information Services asked me to lead the company’s transition toward DevOps culture and practices. That opportunity opened a new chapter in my career. I dove deep—studying, training, and eventually teaching DevOps principles to hundreds of engineers and managers. I discovered that DevOps, much like the Toyota Production System or World Class Manufacturing, is fundamentally about empowering teams through flow, feedback, and continuous improvement. At SEL, where world-class manufacturing is part of the DNA, that message resonated.

From training came tooling. I designed and deployed SEL’s first and second-generation on-prem Kubernetes clusters, building secure and resilient platforms that are now critical to many parts of our business—including manufacturing operations. I created automated CI/CD pipelines using Jenkins, deployed via GitOps inside Kubernetes. Yes—we even have Jenkins deploying Jenkins. It’s a fun thing to watch when it upgrades itself.

More recently, I’ve been leading the architecture and development of our third-generation Kubernetes platform. We’re shifting to per-team, immutable micro-clusters, deployed through Python, Terraform (OpenTofu), and an opinionated stack that includes Grafana, ArgoCD, Cert Manager, Kyverno, Headlamp, and more—all designed for security, observability, and developer productivity.

I’ve also spent a great deal of time writing documentation, mentoring engineers, and speaking to teams about the “why” behind the tools—not just the “how.”

All of that is to say: I’ve learned a lot about infrastructure, cloud-native tooling, and the human side of engineering. But I also know that there’s always more to learn. That’s what this blog is about—sharing insights, opening up conversations, and continuing to grow with this amazing community.

Thanks for being here. I hope you enjoy the content, and I’d love to hear from you!

– David (Sarg3) Sargent