This article overstates the distinction between Task MLE and Platform MLE. From my experience managing data science teams (small teams - max 20 people), I alwa

This article overstates the distinction between Task MLE and Platform MLE. From my experience managing data science teams (small teams - max 20 people), I always preferred for my Task MLE team mates to also do the Platform MLE work. I would not hire someone just to be a Platform MLE because they would be too distant from the day-to-day Task MLE needs. I like the way that Google SREs think about this - there's toil (Task MLE parts of the job) and then there's automation (Platform MLE parts of the job). Every programmer on the team should have toil and should be given enough time and freedom to address their most painful toil through automation. Distinguishing between Task MLEs and Platform MLEs so strictly is dangerous for anyone that applies this dichotomy in practice. I guess the article author never explicitly stated that they have to be different people, but I got the sense from reading the article that this was an unstated assumption on their part.