I’ve spent roughly 8 months gaining deeper knowledge in AI Infra, starting from zero. My initial interest came from an opportunity I saw while I was on the trading floor, and it fits my taste - horizontal layer technology expanding globally, smart people, and revenue growth. I blogged about it, worked hard, read everything, cold-called, learn new information, updated my beliefs, hustled at conferences and learned more. This industry is far more opaque than I thought.
Earlier in Jan, I eventually connected with a researcher at a leading AI lab who saw something in me. I told him I absolutely have no talent in pioneering new models, who then asked me what I’m interested in. I eventually landed an interview in late Feb with their AI infra team.
I learned new information during the interview, realised that this particular person is very different from researchers - they are looking for an industry insider rather than high potential, culture fit, values and aptitude. I started thinking about this amazing, young, energetic researcher I met in NeurIPS called Chris and really wanted to be closer to the fulcrum of scientific rigour. Given that I’ve been kamikaze-ing for 8 months, I took a break by reading literature and philosophy and changed my mind about what’s next.
My fundamental passion is the people I surround myself with - abstract creative thinkers who think about the possibilities they can weave with their technical prowess. It’s time for me to move on from AI Infra and read heavily about open-source LLMs.
I suppose that's the tough part of being a student again - ultimately, "what" is important is a knowledge held by insider experts, and all you can do is showcase how you think and why, how you think is valuable.