Technical Skill Refresh
3-4 weeksSkills You'll Build
Modern Python practicesCurrent development toolingGit workflow refreshTesting frameworksIDE and productivity tools
Engineering Manager → Senior/Staff AI Engineer
Engineering Manager to IC AI Engineer
Transition back from management to individual contributor as an AI engineer. This reverse transition is increasingly common and valuable. Leverage your leadership experience, big-picture thinking, and stakeholder skills while getting back to hands-on technical work. Your management experience makes you a more effective senior/staff IC.
3-6 months
Prerequisites
- Engineering management experience
- Prior hands-on engineering background
- Understanding of team dynamics
- Stakeholder communication skills
- Willingness to learn new technical skills
Your Learning Path
LLM Fundamentals and APIs
3-4 weeksSkills You'll Build
LLM architecture understandingOpenAI and Claude APIsPrompt engineeringToken optimizationModel selection
RAG and Vector Systems
4-5 weeksSkills You'll Build
Embeddings and vectorsRAG architectureVector databasesDocument processingRetrieval optimization
Production AI Systems
3-4 weeksSkills You'll Build
AI system design patternsDeployment strategiesMonitoring and observabilityCost optimizationError handling
Leveraging Management Experience
OngoingSkills You'll Build
Cross-team collaborationStakeholder communicationProject scoping and estimationMentoring and influenceStrategic technical thinking