u/Interesting-Farm4082

28 with a 3-year career gap — trying to transition into AI Engineering. Need honest advice
I’m 28 with a 3-year career gap. I previously worked for 2 years at Bank of America in automation testing, and before that as a mechanical engineer.there were several personal problems broke me apart and so the gaps had to happened I’m not saying this as an excuse. I take responsibility for losing consistency and letting the gap grow.

I’ve decided to transition into AI/GenAI engineering and have been learning for around a year.

I’ve built projects around RAG and Agentic AI, and RAG is currently my strongest area. I’ve worked with:
RAG, chunking, embeddings, FAISS, Chroma, Qdrant, PGVector, BM25, hybrid search, MMR, reranking, query transformation, HyDE, LangChain, LangGraph, Agentic RAG, LangSmith, RAGAS, FastAPI, Docker.
My biggest weakness is coding. I know Python but I’m not yet at the level where I can confidently build systems from scratch without relying heavily on documentation/AI.
I’m trying to avoid endlessly jumping between frameworks and actually become employable.
For people currently working in AI/ML/GenAI:
How would you approach Python/coding proficiency?
LeetCode/DSA vs projects vs backend development?
What skills are actually essential for an AI Engineer?
What would you stop learning?
How would you structure the next 6–12 months?
And realistically, is a 28-year-old with a 3-year gap and previous automation experience still capable of breaking into this field?
I’m not looking for motivation or sympathy. I want honest criticism and a practical roadmap.

recently bought a brand-new HP OMEN 16 from Flipkart, and I’m trying to purchase the HP Care Pack with Accidental Damage Protection.

I’m getting conflicting information:

HP redeem team told me I’m not eligible to buy the HP Care Pack/Accidental Damage(don’t know for discount or the complete warranty ).since I bought my lap from Flipkart ..she just wants to get rid of me forcing me to talk to another customer care

Another HP showroom quoted it starts from ₹18,000.
Another representative quoted ₹33,000.

I’m really confused now.
Has anyone with a recently purchased HP OMEN in India faced this? Were you able to buy the HP Care Pack after purchase? If yes, how much did you pay, and any tips ?

Or I should pay around 30k?

I recently bought an HP laptop, and I’m wondering how the HP Extended Warranty works.
Is it possible to purchase the extended warranty several months after buying the laptop, for example after 8–10 months, while the original 1-year manufacturer warranty is still active?
Or do I need to buy the extended warranty within a specific time after purchase (like within the first 30 or 90 days)?
If you’ve done this, could you share your experience and which country you’re from? Thanks!

LAPTOP QUESTIONNAIRE
Country: India (possibly Dubai if it’s much cheaper)
Budget: ₹85,000 (can stretch a little)
Open to used/refurb? No
Screen size: 15.6” or 16”
Weight limit: Any
Purpose: AI Engineering, coding, and productivity
Form factor: Standard laptop
Intended usage:
Python
VS Code
Docker
FastAPI
PyTorch
CUDA
Local AI/ML experiments
Watching courses and YouTube
Very little gaming
Battery life: 4–6 hours
Priority: Performance > Reliability/Thermals > Upgradability > Battery
Info/Requirements:
NVIDIA RTX GPU
Upgradeable RAM/SSD
Should last 4–5 years
Best value for money
Questions:
Should I wait for the Great Indian Festival/Big Billion Days sale?
Is an RTX 4050 enough for AI learning, or should I stretch for an RTX 4060?
Which models around ₹85k would you recommend (LOQ, ASUS TUF, Acer Nitro, HP Victus, etc.)?