By Charissa Cheong
Publication Date: 2025-11-19 13:29:00
This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Sophia Sun, 29, from San Francisco. The following has been edited for length and clarity.
My first job out of college was at Microsoft, where I worked as a program manager and product manager from 2018 to 2023.
In January 2023, I left my Big Tech job to work for a creator commerce platform. There, I developed an AI product, which led to me landing a senior AI role at Microsoft in July 2024.
In the current job market, AI feels like the safest domain to be an expert in.
My playbook for breaking into AI is to find a real user problem, design a lightweight AI solution, and turn it into proof of work.
I left Microsoft and gained AI product experience at my next job
After joining Microsoft in 2018, I worked on the team of an augmented reality headset device, Microsoft HoloLens, for 2.5 years. Then I moved to an edtech team for a further two years.
Around the time I started at Microsoft, I created my own…
