My Hello World

I Had a Great Job and AI Took It

No, I wasn’t laid off or fired. I was actually a valued employee, and I quit myself. Let me explain.

Job Anxiety

In January of 2025, I graduated from university with a degree in Computer Science. Being a "post-ChatGPT-3.5" graduate, there was a tangible anxiety throughout the semester; there were practically no junior job listings for us. I had to practically beg for an internship that I ended up doing for free, all while my teachers were telling everyone what a great decision it was to pursue this degree. They saw there were no jobs, but their advice was always: "Just add one more degree!" and you will be flooded with opportunity.

After I was handed my diploma, I applied to just about everything. I didn't get anywhere for three months, despite being an above-average student with work experience.

The Turning Point

It was actually my dad who unknowingly saved me. He was talking with a client at work about AI and convinced the guy he’d never even met before to interview me. It went well and later, I ended up getting a call from the CTO of the company telling me I’d got the job. Unexpectedly, he also invited me to a hackathon with him.

That hackathon was, without exaggeration, the most eye-opening 72 hours of my life. I put together a last-minute team of friends, and we had a chance meeting with the creme-of-the-crop of Hungarian IT: the organizers, mesh.

We didn’t win sh*t—our approach to the problem turned out to be flawed—but we got the real prize: the network.

My then-boss had his table in the mesh. office a week later, eventually "moving in" and sleeping on desks about four times a week. Since I didn’t have a specific project I was working on yet, I wasn't taken on immediately. I had to complete an eight-week "trial project," which netted me full membership by early summer.

The Leap of Faith

From then on came an intense period of juggling my day job with frequenting this office full of "crazy founder people." From summer to late fall, I was constantly pulling 12–13 hour workdays, getting new friends, hobbies, a new tribe.

During the winter break, I started formulating the thought of taking a leap of faith—taking the money in my pocket and following the path of so many others: quitting my job to build full-time.

It sounds trivial writing this down, but believe me, breaking away from the advice given to me by everyone—from parents to random strangers behind the counter—was anything but easy. After many sleepless nights and some arguments, I was ready to fully commit. My boss asked one last favor of me (which I felt I owed him for taking me on with no experience), and the papers were officially signed at the end of April 2026.

Final Thoughts

So, did AI really take my job? YES. And it may take yours, too—but in a good way.

We have never been so enabled to create ANYTHING. You, and only you, are responsible for your future. I’m building publicly from scratch to show precisely this: ANYONE CAN BUILD.

Follow my journey!

P.S.: If you are, or were in a similar situation, I'd love to connect and hear your thoughts!
Here is my LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/balazshimself/