Leland+ for Break Into AI Careers

Introduction to the AI Company Landscape & Assignment

This will introduce the AI jobs landscape and also share reading to help you dive deeper to understand the entire AI market. There is an assignment to research three companies of interest to better understand what companies in this space do.

Which AI job is the right fit for me?

Reading to understand roles and impact on things like work-life balance, focus time vs. meetings, and more. Includes a research assignment and table laying out different aspects of each job.

Finally Use AI for Something Useful: Build AI Literacy That Moves Your Career Forward

AI is everywhere—but understanding how to use it effectively for your career can feel overwhelming. In this session, AI expert Matthew W. (Stanford, Meta) will guide you through practical ways to build AI literacy and leverage AI tools to enhance your work, decision-making, and professional growth. ​You’ll learn how to identify meaningful applications of AI in your role, avoid common pitfalls, and use AI strategically to save time, boost productivity, and strengthen your skillset. By the end, you’ll walk away with actionable strategies to move your career forward with confidence in an AI-driven world.

Navigating an AI Career: from Google to Microsoft to AI startups

Curious what it’s really like to build a career in AI—and how to stand out in one of tech’s fastest-growing fields? In this session, Michael A., who previously worked at McKinsey, Google, and Microsoft, and who now works with AI startups, will share insights from his own journey across big tech and emerging companies. You’ll learn how to identify the right roles in AI, what skills and experiences matter most to hiring teams, and how to position yourself for long-term success in this evolving space.

How to Become an AI Leader At Your Company

AI leadership isn’t just about technical expertise—it’s about influence, strategy, and execution. In this session, expert Leland coach and AI Program Director at Fabletics Logan K. will break down how to position yourself as a trusted AI leader within your organization, regardless of your formal role. You’ll learn how to identify high-impact opportunities, communicate AI value to stakeholders, and drive adoption responsibly and effectively.

The 2026 AI Strategy Playbook

A strategy session for ambitious professionals who want to stand out so clearly in the AI era that leadership can’t ignore them.

AI Monthly News Update - January 2026

This is the first of a series of monthly news updates related to advancements in AI. This update covers AI tools and LLMs, global AI and infrastructure, robotics and gadgets, and the impact of these advancements on daily life and business. Work with Solomon or join his upcoming bootcamp (AI Mastery - March 2026) at this link: https://www.joinleland.com/bootcamps/ai-mastery-bootcamp

How to Land a Job in the New Frontier: AI Careers

AI is reshaping every industry, and landing a role in this fast-moving space requires more than just technical interest. This session breaks down the AI job landscape, the roles companies are hiring for, and how candidates from technical and non-technical backgrounds can position themselves competitively. You’ll learn how to build relevant skills, craft a compelling narrative, and navigate recruiting for AI-focused roles across tech, startups, and traditional companies.

The AI Career Edge: Positioning Yourself for the Future of Work

AI is reshaping how companies hire, what skills matter, and how careers evolve. The candidates who stand out aren’t just using AI tools—they know how to position themselves strategically for a rapidly changing job market. In The AI Career Edge: Positioning Yourself for the Future of Work, you’ll hear from experienced coaches who regularly work 1:1 with candidates navigating career transitions in an AI-driven landscape. This panel offers rare access to the same frameworks used in coaching sessions to help professionals adapt, stay competitive, and communicate their value effectively.

Career Pathways in Trust and AI Safety

Trust and AI safety roles are growing quickly, but the paths into them are often unclear and highly interdisciplinary. This session is for students and professionals who want to understand how to break into this space and what backgrounds actually translate. You’ll learn how to map your current experience to relevant roles, identify the core skills and knowledge areas that matter, and position your interest in AI safety in a credible, differentiated way.

OpenClaw for Beginners: Build AI Agents from Scratch (Free)

A complete beginner-friendly course on building and running AI agents using OpenClaw Architecture — 100% free to set up. In this course, you'll learn how to: • Install and configure OpenClaw on a DigitalOcean droplet (cloud server) • Connect your preferred language model (OpenAI, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Qwen, and more) • Understand the core anatomy of an AI agent: soul, identity, skills, memory, heartbeat, and cron jobs • Add Perplexity-powered search capability to your agent • Troubleshoot terminal errors in real time using a "fail fast" methodology • Manage costs and token usage to keep your monthly spend under $50 • Think like a builder: define your success outcome before writing a single line of config This course is built for non-technical beginners and power users alike. You'll watch a live, detailed setup — including real errors and how to fix them — so you know exactly what to expect when building your own agent infrastructure. By the end, you'll have a self-hosted AI agent running autonomously in the background, capable of handling research, sales outreach, content, and more — amplified across everything you do.

How to Transition Into AI from Any Background

Many professionals are interested in working in AI but aren’t sure how to translate their current skills into opportunities in the field. This session is designed for candidates from technical and non-technical backgrounds who want a realistic path to entering the AI ecosystem. You’ll learn how to identify transferable skills, position your experience for AI-related roles, and prioritize the tools, projects, or learning paths that hiring managers actually value.

Walk through of AI Company Landscape with Live Examples

In this live guided walkthrough, we'll walk through Bessemer's AI market map to understand the entire landscape of how these AI companies operate together, and talk about different considerations in taking jobs in different parts of the AI stack.

From Applicant to AI Marketer: Your Blueprint for Landing a Dream Job

Landing your dream job at the intersection of AI and marketing demands more than just a sharp resume—it requires strategic positioning, domain fluency, and an ability to tell your story through data. Join Arthur B., seasoned product marketing leader with experience at Meta, TikTok, Adobe, and now Google AI, to get the inside scoop on what it really takes to break into the AI marketing world. ​Arthur will walk you through how to identify and build the right skills, tailor your narrative for AI-driven roles, and structure your application to land attention in a crowded field. ​Whether you’re pivoting from a traditional marketing role or entering the AI space for the first time, this session will give you a clear blueprint to differentiate yourself and move confidently toward your ideal role.

October Series Session 7: Negotiating Confidently

This session teaches you to treat salary negotiation as a normal business conversation about your value.

Introduction to Roles in AI — How It Differs from Traditional Tech

This reading introduces you to key roles like research engineer, forward deployed engineers, and different GTM jobs at AI companies. It includes an assignment designed to teach you how to better understand these roles.

Forward-Deployed Engineers & AI Services-Led Growth

Explores the FDE role in detail: client-facing integration, technical implementation, rapid prototyping, and serving as a bridge between engineering and GTM, supported by insights from a16z and industry examples. Assignment encourages role research and personal reflection.

Understanding AI Compensation Data 2025

Provides updated, accurate AI salary ranges across roles such as AI researcher, MLE, and FDE, based on Glassdoor, Levels.fyi, and recent industry reports including the NYT's superstar compensation story. Includes assignment to benchmark target roles against market pay.

AI Job Market Noise, Networking Strategies & Referrals

Examines challenges posed by imprecise AI job listings and teaches targeted networking practices, referral system insights, and rapport-building with insiders, plus an assignment to initiate connections and refine messaging.

Inside the Forward-Deployed Engineer Role

Interactive session dissecting the FDE role with real-world examples, skill mapping, and discussion on how FDEs accelerate AI adoption in enterprise environments.