It certainly did exist when I started my career a decade earlier than this guy. It was called the integration team, which was responsible for coordination of the release. In the 80ies.
It was also responsible for the build servers, the SCM, and checking and prioritizing all the different parts and fixes of the various dev teams, and checking back with the PM and testers. Only hackers did cowboy coding, companies preferred processes and best practices. That's it was called "Software Engineering" and not hacking.
I heard Margaret Hamilton coined that term in the 60ies for the Apollo project, which she managed.
It was also responsible for the build servers, the SCM, and checking and prioritizing all the different parts and fixes of the various dev teams, and checking back with the PM and testers. Only hackers did cowboy coding, companies preferred processes and best practices. That's it was called "Software Engineering" and not hacking. I heard Margaret Hamilton coined that term in the 60ies for the Apollo project, which she managed.