> what really interests me is more "pure" tech work instead - coding and designing, plus the problem to solve is an interesting tech problem rather than a business one.
Businesses pay people to solve business problems, not "pure tech" problems. What you call "pure tech" fits into either the academic field of computer science or expanding your own skills in a direction not necessarily valuable to your employer.
Core infrastructure and important libraries must have value to the business and solve business problems, at a level removed far enough to look like "pure tech," but the business likely wouldn't invest in those efforts for the sake of doing pure research, so maybe you just romanticize that work because it has less contact with customer concerns, marketing, or management.
Businesses pay people to solve business problems, not "pure tech" problems. What you call "pure tech" fits into either the academic field of computer science or expanding your own skills in a direction not necessarily valuable to your employer.
Core infrastructure and important libraries must have value to the business and solve business problems, at a level removed far enough to look like "pure tech," but the business likely wouldn't invest in those efforts for the sake of doing pure research, so maybe you just romanticize that work because it has less contact with customer concerns, marketing, or management.