This as-told-to essay is based on a transcribed conversation with 28-year-old Mostofa Adib Shakib, a software engineer from Iowa, about pivoting his career to focus on building AI skills. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
My goal has always been to be like Elon Musk and bet on myself.
I grew up in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and I moved to the US in 2017 for my undergrad. After graduating, I worked as a software engineer, first at Snap Inc. and then at ZipRecruiter.
When ChatGPT came out, I realized the world was shifting, and I wanted to upskill in AI. So, in 2024, I left traditional software engineering to focus on building AI skills. Now, I work as a contractor for an AI-driven company and have more free time to build this skillset.
To stay relevant, people should be lifelong learners and not scared of what’s happening in the world. We should embrace change and try to upskill.
Starting my career at Snap Inc. was a phenomenal experience
During my four years of study at Texas Tech, I completed two bachelor’s degrees, in computer science and mathematics, with a minor in electrical engineering. I graduated in 2021.
Then, I landed my first full-time software engineering job at Snap Inc., starting in June 2021. My base salary was $125,000, and I also got paid in bonuses and stock. I worked on Snapchat’s messaging team, which was a core part of the business. Everyone I knew there was really smart and kind. There were great perks at that time, such as a meal card to buy food every week.
In December 2022, I started a new job at ZipRecruiter, earning $145,000 in base salary plus a bonus and stock options. I wanted experience at a smaller team where I had more zero-to-one opportunities — a chance to build things completely from scratch.
I left traditional software engineering and started earning much more money in AI
When ChatGPT first came out in November 2022, I knew the world was going to shift toward AI.
My goals have always been to maximize learning and build skills I can leverage later on. I felt getting more AI skills would be a good strategy for my future, because agentic AI skills are more niche and emerging compared to mobile application work.
My visa situation was the biggest obstacle to pivoting my career focus. I worked at Snapchat and ZipRecruiter on a type of student work authorization called Optional Practical Training, but it expired in July 2024, so I had to stop working at ZipRecruiter.
With help from lawyers, I applied for a flexible type of visa, an agent-based O-1 for “extraordinary” talent. Rather than being tied to an employer, like I would be on the alternative H-1B employment visa, lawyers arranged for a company to act as my “agent,” sponsoring my application in such a way that I could work for multiple companies or become an entrepreneur.
I received the O-1 in September. Without the same visa concerns I had before, I decided now was the right time to focus on building AI skills, instead of working for another tech company.
I had a strong foundation in AI knowledge. I’d done a lot of AI research in the past, and my mathematics classes at college were AI-related. But I lacked deep knowledge of how LLMs are built and their limitations. I learned more using books, videos, and research papers. I decided to build software projects to help me develop agentic AI skills, such as a tool that uses AI to help Bangladeshi professionals optimize their résumés.
I’m not necessarily relying on these projects for income. My income these days mostly comes from consulting and a contractor role I started in February with Mercor, an AI-driven recruitment startup.
I’m contracted with them full-time as a software engineer working on their AI products. I’d been earning $6,200 a week since February, but was recently given a raise to $6,400 a week. It’s more than I was earning weekly at ZipRecruiter. It feels good to be making more, but money was never really my goal. I’m more excited about the company and working with extremely talented people.
I don’t see myself working for a company right now
Being a full-time employee at a company is stable and offers nice benefits, but in my contractor role, I can spread out my hours as I please.
If I were still employed at a company in a non-AI role, I could build up agentic AI skills on weekends, but I’d only be putting in 10 to 20 hours a week of learning. In theory, I could have tried to join an AI company next, but I’d still have the same skillset, focused on mobile development. I wanted to upskill and get where I wanted to be, to increase my leverage in the future.
I genuinely think AI is the future. It’s similar to big shifts like the introduction of the PC and the internet, but we’re in the early phase of that shift, so a lot of opportunities are up for grabs. I think I’m making the right bet to focus on these opportunities before the market gets really crowded.
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