Platform engineering is a strategy to overcome infrastructure challenges and risks in DevOps teams. Despite the proliferation of infrastructure automation tools, many teams struggle with cumbersome access requirements or clunky integrations. Platform engineering bridges this gap by creating purpose-built internal systems that let developers engage directly with available tools. It enables speed and control by providing self-service access to preconfigured tools and processes, centralizing governance controls, and promoting tighter integration between tools. By implementing an internal developer platform, teams can optimize for both speed and control, reducing operational overheads, inter-team siloing, and risks associated with infrastructure automation. Platform engineering's ability to solve the speed-cost paradox provides a crucial advantage for DevOps teams pursuing advanced infrastructure automation at scale.