Shifting gears from a field you initially pursued to something you truly enjoy takes a lot of courage. This is exactly what Anshul Gandhi did when he moved from dental school to AI engineering.
After completing his dental studies in India, he realised that the profession was not for him. Rather than sticking with a career he was not passionate about, he transitioned into the tech world. Today, he is a machine learning engineer at Apple.
Why AI engineering?
When Anshul Gandhi graduated from dental school in India in 2013, he had no idea that a role at Apple, let alone as a machine learning engineer, was within reach.
But during his final years of dental school, Gandhi realised that dentistry was not where he wanted to spend the rest of his life. “Deep down, I knew it wasn’t something I wanted to do for the rest of my life,” Gandhi told Business Insider.
He began exploring alternatives. He had taken some computer science courses in high school and felt drawn to coding languages like C++ and Java.
By his final year of dental school, he started taking programming courses, which increased his interest further. “By the time I graduated, I knew I wanted to start my career in this field,” he told Business Insider.
Why building skills mattered?
Gandhi’s transition into tech was anything but easy. He did not have formal training in computer science, and the tech job market was tough. However, his determination pushed him forward.
After graduating, Gandhi took a data analysis role in India, which gave him hands-on programming experience. He also connected with computer science engineers who helped him to create deep understanding into artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.
“A decade ago, ‘big data’ was the industry’s buzzword. AI was relatively niche,” Gandhi explained to Business Insider. But his early exposure to AI helped him carve out expertise that would become essential in the tech industry’s landscape.
In 2016, he moved to the United States to pursue a master’s degree in biomedical informatics at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
“It gave me the technical depth I was looking for, while still feeling connected to my previous experience,” he told Business Insider. After earning his degree in 2018, he worked as a data scientist before landing a machine learning role at Dell in 2021.
How did he land a job at Apple?
Though Gandhi was content with his position at Dell, he set his sights higher. He wanted to work at a company that handled large-scale systems, like Meta, Amazon, or Apple.
In August 2024, he began his job search with renewed focus, but soon realised the AI job market had become even more competitive.
“The bar for technical proficiency was higher than ever,” Gandhi told Business Insider.
To stand out, he became more active on LinkedIn, boosting his profile by connecting with others and sharing his thoughts on AI. He now has over 500 connections and 3,000 followers.
He also refined his approach to job hunting. “You have to keep engaging with their content, sharing your thoughts, and let them know that you not only exist, but are also a thought leader in your field,” he advised job seekers.
Gandhi’s strategy paid off when he landed interviews at multiple companies, including PayPal, Walmart, and eventually, Apple.
Although he did not have a referral for his Apple job, it came through a cold application. He practised LeetCode problems and did as many mock interviews as possible, and system-design drills.
He also recommends brushing up on AI concepts like agent-based AI and prompt tuning.
“I didn’t have a linear path, you can start over, even if it feels impossible,” said Gandhi to Business Insider.