Q) Is it worth sacrificing 1 year and $100,000+ investment in a Tech MBA from a top school.
Atul Jose (Admissions Consultant, F1GMAT): This is a very relevant question now when AI is disrupting jobs across industries. This trend would be more prevalent in industries with high costs of labor. And technology is one such industry where management has been trying to automate functions since 2017. The current demand for technology workforce will go down not just with the hype around generative AI but management has been working on tools that streamline code generation or debugging for over 5 years.
Your Unique Value
The first thing that you must evaluate is your unique value to your employer and your client. If you are known for a skillset or knowledge that is tied to a technology or a product, then the risk of you losing value in the market is extremely high. As you age, there are younger and cheaper talents who can easily do the same thing that you do now. Maybe it would take them a couple of days or 3-4 days extra. Employers must find a balance in skillset, experience, and cost. If your contributions go beyond technology and into managing teams and solutions where you have a unique perspective and problem-solving skills, then the risks are lower.
Industries You Served & Evergreen Industries
The second thing that you must consider is the industries where your employer or your skillsets have been applied over your career. There are evergreen industries like the Government, Green Technology, Healthcare, Infrastructure, and Insurance. These industries need Technologists to digitize, integrate and automate functions. If you are not from this industry, it makes sense to acquire a general management perspective, even if it is through a 1-year Tech MBA. More importantly, it is about the networks you build. You need access to such peers or Alumni when the time comes to transition to an adjacent industry.
Recently I had a conversation with a reader who specialized in the Oil & Gas industry in an extremely innovative function. But now, the person’s skill set in creating infrastructure is valuable for Wind Energy. This is an extremely lucky coincidence, and the person is the top 1% performer. He found an adjacent industry.
Such lucky transitions rarely happen for most without deliberate planning.
