Maria Daniel Deepak

Tag: Life Notes

  • Week 41: My Job Applications: The Failure & The Fix

    Week: Oct 05 to Oct 10, 2026

    I wrote about my next career progression towards becoming an AI Engineer. Since I wanted to be part of AI Engineering roles, I prepared my resume and started applying for suitable positions.

    I almost spent a decade in my previous stint. So I know I cannot get the resume right the first time. Because, a lot has changed since then.

    Thought I spent a lot of time in coding & development, I spent considerable amount of time in the other areas — architecture & technical decisions, collaborations & leadership and in strategy and planning.

    After a week applying for 12 positions, I realized that companies choose to move forward with candidates whose experience align more closely than mine for the Product Manager roles.

    So, applying for a Product Manager role needs more credibility in my case. This in no way means that I’m a bad product manager or I don’t have the skills. Or at least that’s how I choose to see.

    So, what did I learn? Either I need more credibility or I need to look for engineering roles where I can add value with my existing full-stack experience. I chose to look for engineering positions that also demand AI skills.

    In addition, I also learnt that instead of describing the value of projects in plain text, I can also list the technologies used in the projects. Companies relate to the technologies used. At least the ATS (Applications Tracking System) do.

  • My Next Career Progression And Why?

    Most of my career, over the last 15 years, has been spent on software coding & implementation.

    To move up the career ladder, there are four areas that I need to consider:

    1. Coding & implementation
    2. Architecture & technical decisions
    3. Collaboration & leadership
    4. Strategy, planning & analysis

    My next career progression should not only involve coding & implementation but also technical decisions, leadership and strategy planning. This puts me in the Senior Product Engineering roles and I can then naturally progress in leadership directions — Engineering lead, Engineering manager & then to Head of Engineering roles.

    To make the next move more relevant and to stay ahead I must evolve in to AI frontier roles that involve the above areas. The AI frontier demands the knowledge of RAG and enterprise knowledge systems, Agentic AI and orchestration, AI evaluation and production engineering and Forward Deployed Engineering (FDE).

    The knowledge of the above systems would then allow me to look for Senior AI Product Engineer, Applied AI Engineer, AI Applications Engineer, and Forward Deployed Engineer roles in addition to the Senior Product Engineer roles.

  • Stepping Into Muay Thai: The Art Of Eight Limbs

    Muay Thai, originated from Thailand, is a descendant art of Muay Boran (means ancient boxing). Muay Boran represents traditional fighting systems while Muay Thai is a modern combat sport with standardized rules.

    Muay Thai was used in times of warfare especially when soldiers lose their weapons. Muay Thai, often referred as the art of eight limbs, mimics the weapons of the war. Hands become the sword (dagger), Elbows become the war hammers, Shins and Knees become the axe and the staff (a long cylindrical pole used for striking, blocking & sweeping)

    Why Did I Choose Muay Thai Training?

    1. This is by far the best accessible form of art in the place where I live. Had I been in the southern parts of Tamil Nadu, I would have chosen Adimuari or Kalari. From the stances of these arts, I’m starting to believe Muay Thai must have evolved from Adimuari.
    2. Muay Thai demands excellent cardio, explosiveness, balance, coordination, mobility and excellent core strength. Every sparring session can be a serious workout.
    3. Muay Thai begins with a big heart (not metaphorically but literally). Running twice every day is must. Longer runs in the morning and shorter in the evening.
    4. You can train without competing. Plenty train for fitness, skill and as a self defence art. You don’t need to fight professionally.
    5. Muay Thai forces you to learn to use your eight limbs in coordination.
  • Micro1: What & Why Should You Care?

    Micro1: What & Why Should You Care?

    In recent times, the term Micro1 is gaining traction in Reddit. I am writing this post to understand what Micro1 is and why should one care?

    Micro1, founded by Ali Ansari, is an AI powered talent and recruiting platform. Micro1 also helps AI companies to train their models by providing training data.

    Zara is the core product at Micro1 that vets candidates and conducts early-stage interviews at scale.

    At Micro1, Talent marketplace exists and connects vetted engineers, domain experts and professionals with companies.

    Why Should You Care?

    Micro1 has raised $35 million in Series A funding and the company’s gross annual run rate is $500 million.

    There are three major reasons why professionals are paying attention to Micro1.

    1. Micro1 provides the human expertise to evaluate complex model outputs at scale.
    2. The business model scales because Micro1 recruits specialists as contractors rather than permanent employees.
    3. Micro1 is constantly expanding services beyond recruitment.

    All these are strong indicators for skilled professionals to be part of Micro1.

  • Hello world!

    Hi! I’m Daniel and I intend to write about business, software engineering and some personal happenings in my life.

    I find joy documenting my life and in writing. This blog will carry my experiences so one day my kid may find the “why” behind my doings.

    This blog also helps me to reflect on my life. As a reader, I’m sure you will have something to take away from my experiences. In case you do not have a blog, I strongly encourage you to blog. Happy blogging!