Yes, more popular than you might think, especially as a)SaaS products get more technical and b) roles like sales engineering grow. Some of the best performers in sales become thought leaders in the industry they work in. We get applicants who went through coding bootcamps, who realize their skills are best served in sales roles, merging technical knowledge with understanding/solving complex business problems.
I went the opposite route and would have loved to have had something like FlockJay at the start of my career.
Cool thing about these roles is they're a killer combo of skills - best way to understand product-mkt fit is to talk to customers and truly listen to what they want (and what they need).
Would love to chat with anyone who has gone through this transition. (Engineering -> Sales)