I worked for big tech out of undergrad (mostly frontend/mobile for a few years) moved on to work at a few startups where I naturally switched to do more backend/cloud infrastructure work. I never got a 'formal' education in terms of masters or any kind of certs. Would it be worth it for me to start getting some Certs (like AWS solutions architect - associate/professional) if I want to switch my career towards more solutions design/consultation? I don't know many people personally that went this path. I guess I'm looking to work for reputable agencies or consultancies and get assigned to different clients/projects instead of the usual big tech route of IC for a particular team of a particular company until that company decides to reorg you to another team.

Obviously not all Certs have the same value. I think AWS Solutions Architect - Associate would be the most adjacent 'bridge' for me, is there any other ones that I should be seriously considering? Seems like theres a new one every week nowadays with AI (which I've dabbled with before in some prior projects but nothing deep or extensive).