Skip to content

15 - Done - the next 12 months

What this session is

You finished the roadmap. You shipped, applied, interviewed, hopefully landed something. This page is what comes next. Year 2.

What "done" actually means

Done with this roadmap = you have:

  • A working understanding of AI engineering as a field.
  • A specialization picked.
  • A 3-project portfolio.
  • An OSS contribution profile.
  • Either a job, or interviews in progress.

Done does not mean: you understand AI. The field is too big and moving too fast for that. Done means: you can keep going under your own power.

The year-2 shift

Year 1 was about getting in. Year 2 is about getting good.

The difference:

  • Year 1: breadth. Learn a lot of things shallowly.
  • Year 2: depth. Pick 2-3 things and learn them well.
  • Year 1: imitation. Build things others have built.
  • Year 2: judgment. Build things you decide are worth building.
  • Year 1: get hired.
  • Year 2: become indispensable.

What to focus on in year 2

1. Get deeper in your specialization

Pick the 2-3 deepest sub-topics in your area. Spend a year on each.

For applied LLM: evals, agents, retrieval optimization. For serving: kernel-level optimization, multi-model serving, batching strategies. For fine-tuning: data curation, preference algorithms, evaluation design. For MLOps: experiment tracking at scale, model registry, feature stores. For safety: specific risk categories, interpretability.

2. Build one ambitious thing

Year 1's projects were portfolio pieces - small, demonstrative. Year 2 can sustain something bigger:

  • An open-source library that fills a gap you noticed at work.
  • A real product (could be a side project that becomes income).
  • A research-grade exploration of a problem nobody's solved.

Six-month projects, not six-week ones.

3. Develop teaching capacity

Teaching is the fastest way to deepen. Pick a format:

  • Mentor 1-2 newer engineers.
  • Write a sustained blog series.
  • Speak at a meetup or conference.
  • Run a workshop at your company.

If you can teach a thing clearly, you understand it.

4. Build your network deliberately

In year 1, your network was incidental. In year 2, build it on purpose:

  • Maintain relationships with people from your interview loops, even where you got rejected.
  • Stay in touch with the maintainers of projects you contributed to.
  • Find 3-5 peers at your level in your specialization. Trade notes monthly.
  • Pick 1-2 senior people to learn from. Buy their coffee. Ask specific questions.

Network compounds. People who didn't matter in year 1 become job referrals in year 3.

5. Pick your second specialization

By end of year 2, start exploring an adjacent specialization. Examples:

  • Applied LLM → serving.
  • Serving → kernel-level / hardware.
  • Fine-tuning → research engineer.
  • MLOps → infra at scale.

This is the "T-shape" - deep in one, learning a second. Year-2 dabbling, year-3 contribution.

What to expect: the rough patches

Year 2 has its own slumps.

  • The 6-month plateau. You've learned the easy parts of your job. The hard parts are slow. You'll feel stuck. You aren't - depth always feels slower than breadth.
  • The first major mistake. Production incident, bad PR review, missed deadline. Recover by owning it cleanly.
  • The first time a peer outpaces you. Someone hired the same time as you gets promoted first. Don't make it about you. Their promotion isn't your story.
  • The compensation re-evaluation. A year in, you'll know what the market pays for you. If you're underpaid, address it. With data.

Year 3+ trajectory

Past year 2, paths diverge widely:

  • Stay technical (IC): mid → senior → staff → principal engineer. Several years per step.
  • Move into management: tech lead → engineering manager → director. Different skill set; not a promotion in disguise.
  • Move toward research: harder without a PhD; possible via published applied work + the right team.
  • Build something: founder, indie hacker, independent consultant.
  • Specialize hard: become the person for a specific narrow thing.

You don't have to decide year 2. Notice what you naturally lean toward.

What stays the same

Some things don't change between year 1, year 5, year 15:

  • The field moves fast. You'll always feel behind.
  • The fundamentals always pay off. Linear algebra, probability, systems thinking. The hot frameworks change; the math doesn't.
  • The people who keep showing up keep winning. Consistency over brilliance.
  • Honest writing is rare and respected. Keep writing.

What this site can keep doing for you

The senior reference paths on this site stay relevant for years:

Each is a 24-week reference. Open them when you need depth on a specific topic.

A final note

The honest reality of this career: it's hard, it's slow at points, and most people who start don't finish. If you got through this roadmap, you're in a small minority.

Whatever you build from here - products, papers, infrastructure, teams - the discipline that got you to this page is the same discipline that takes you to wherever you're going. Keep showing up.

Where to from here

If you finished and are still in year 1: re-read Picking a specialization and Your portfolio. Pick one and execute.

If you finished and have a job: re-read First 90 days every quarter for the first year. The advice ages well.

If you finished and are between jobs: re-read Building in public and Open source as resume. The job market punishes silence.

You've got the map. Now go.

Comments