u/InvestigatorLocal692

I started my career here as a fresher, joining as an AI/ML Intern in December 2024 and later converting to a full-time AI/ML Engineer role in June 2025.

The company is quite small, and its AI foundation was essentially built around the time I joined during my internship. Since then, I’ve independently led a team of 3 people and delivered 3 AI projects end-to-end. All of them were completed ahead of planned deadlines and achieved strong benchmark results with clear long-term potential.

However, none of these projects ever made it into production.

The main issue, in my view, is that the company lacks strong technical/business direction and is hesitant to invest in deployment or infrastructure costs. Because of this, even promising projects with business potential never generated revenue or reached real users.

At this stage, I feel professionally stuck. I’ve gained experience in ownership, project leadership, and execution very early in my career, especially as a fresher, but I still have zero real production exposure. Most of my work has stopped at the “successful prototype/demo” stage.

I’m conflicted because the role has given me responsibilities that most freshers probably don’t get this early, but I’m worried that staying longer without exposure to production systems, deployment, scalability, and real-world engineering practices may hurt my long-term growth.

Would it make more sense to stay for the leadership experience, or move to a company where I can gain stronger production and engineering exposure?

Been working for the company for 1 year, I feel no personal growth.

I started my career here as a fresher, joining as an AI/ML Intern in December 2024 and later converting to a full-time AI/ML Engineer role in June 2025.

The company is quite small, and its AI foundation was essentially built around the time I joined during my internship. Since then, I’ve independently led a team of 3 people and delivered 3 AI projects end-to-end. All of them were completed ahead of planned deadlines and achieved strong benchmark results with clear long-term potential.

However, none of these projects ever made it into production.

The main issue, in my view, is that the company lacks strong technical/business direction and is hesitant to invest in deployment or infrastructure costs. Because of this, even promising projects with business potential never generated revenue or reached real users.

At this stage, I feel professionally stuck. I’ve gained experience in ownership, project leadership, and execution very early in my career, especially as a fresher, but I still have zero real production exposure. Most of my work has stopped at the “successful prototype/demo” stage.

I’m conflicted because the role has given me responsibilities that most freshers probably don’t get this early, but I’m worried that staying longer without exposure to production systems, deployment, scalability, and real-world engineering practices may hurt my long-term growth.

Would it make more sense to stay for the leadership experience, or move to a company where I can gain stronger production and engineering exposure?

Hi everyone!

I have finished my Masters in Data Science in 2025 from a tier 2.5 college in India and have been leading projects in a small company as an AI ML Engineer for the last 1 year.

I wish to pursue my entrepreneurial goals and would be really glad to seek advice on further education abroad with two primary questions stated below.

1. I want to expand my network, thus going abroad for further education towards business studies seems more sensible to me, but do I have the required leverage to move abroad hopeful of a brighter future?

2. What further steps or preparations should I begin with to move ahead with my endeavours?

Kindly connect me with someone who could guide me appropriately.

Thanks! Have a great day!