I Worked in Tech for Over 20 Years, but Am Getting a Master’s in AI

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Michael Lane, Rev’s vice president for development. The following has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified his employment and academic history.

My academic journey is pretty circuitous.

I matriculated at the University of Toronto in 1995 as an undergrad majoring in computer engineering. Sadly, I had to drop out in my third semester because I couldn’t afford the tuition.

Not being able to complete the program left me with a lot of regret.

After dropping out of college, I started my career in sales. I spent a couple of years doing tech sales, then got a job at a company that developed software.

Working there reignited my interest in tech and got me thinking, “You know what? I’d like to finish what I started.”

I switched to a programming job and enrolled in a distance-learning program to get a bachelor’s degree in computer science. Wrapping up my undergraduate studies in 2006 meant a lot to me. It helped fill up the void in my life when I left the University of Toronto.

I have come a long way since then. I have worked in tech for over 20 years and held roles at companies such as Logitech and Kobo. I joined the audio transcription company, Rev, in 2024, where I now lead the engineering efforts for their AI products.

Going back to school to study AI

AI is unlike anything I have ever seen in my industry.

When ChatGPT was released, it was like an explosion in the world of tech.

There really isn’t any precedent for how one can go about learning a technology like AI. It’s new. It’s different. It’s complicated.

I knew that if I wanted Rev to be at the forefront of AI, I needed to go deeper into the subject. If we want to build a trustworthy AI product for our customers, we need to understand how it works.

That’s why I will be pursuing a part-time master’s degree in AI at East Texas A&M University in spring 2026.

Online courses can only get you so far

Tech companies don’t expect their directors and VPs to write code. I still write code every day, but I recognize that it’s not the value I provide to Rev.

That said, as managers, we need to be able to listen to a technical discussion and guide our engineers to see problems from a different perspective. The only way I can do that is by keeping myself up to date on the latest technologies.

If I don’t understand our code base and what we are trying to build at a fairly deep level, I cannot help my team.

Of course, I could have learned more about AI through online courses and books, but most of what’s available is superficial.

I have taken some excellent courses on platforms like Udemy and Coursera. Some instructors do a fabulous job of explaining concepts. Those courses are great if you just want to learn how to use AI tools in your daily work, but they lack the foundational knowledge a master’s degree can provide.

You will need those foundations if you want to build, and not just use, AI tools.

You will still need to understand basic concepts like machine learning and neural networks in order to make sense of the research papers you are reading.

Getting a master’s degree will allow me to strike a better balance in terms of my learning. Building up a solid foundation is the best way for me to understand the field and then apply it in my work at Rev.

My advice to anybody, at any level of software development, is to embrace AI. Learn to use it to supercharge what you do.

There’s a lot of controversy surrounding AI as being detrimental and harmful. I don’t take that view at all. It’s a tool that can change how we do business, just like the iPhone did.