Abhinav Bohra, a senior applied scientist at Amazon, shares his biggest career regret: not building a reputation outside of his company. He started working at Amazon in 2019, focusing on AI recommendation systems, but realized that while he was known internally, he lacked visibility in the broader industry. This limited his professional opportunities, making it feel like he was starting from scratch when looking for roles outside Amazon. To change this, he developed rules for sharing his work without revealing any proprietary company information. He began publishing research papers and engaging in discussions, which helped him connect with others in the field and gain recognition. He also started using LinkedIn to share his ideas and research, which further enhanced his professional identity. As a result of his efforts, he gained new opportunities, including serving on an organizing committee for an international conference and mentoring startups in AI. He found that sharing his work not only helped him grow professionally but also improved the quality of his work at Amazon. However, he noted that keeping up with advancements in AI often feels like an extra job, affecting his work-life balance. He advises others in tech to establish a public presence for their work to ensure they have a visible professional record, especially in case of unexpected job changes.
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