The year 2025 isn’t done yet, but there’s a lot for me to look back and learn from.

2024 and 2025 were brutal for a subset of the IT industry. A lot of talented folks were axed due to various reasons, but lets stick with the term Optimization (buzz word).

I was one of those, and it was a rough start to 2025. I lost the job due to an acquisition, had personal family problems, hospital visits, and due to these it was hard to focus on job hunt.

Next the job market being tough, it was hard to find any relevant openings for my leadership profile, so had to come up with plan B to look at technical profiles. In the month of May, I landed a job at a startup, which currently is in the process is yet another acquisition. Will see how this one fans out.

AI became huge and I saw the real power of it when I started looking for a job. Bots everywhere, applying to all the applications, flooding the mailbox of the recruiters, not sure how many of these were genuine. Next competing with candidates using AI to get through the job interviews, and reducing the chances for qualified people from getting a job. Ah the list can go on, but this is the new world of AI.

My key takeaways from year 2025: – Stay healthy and positive – Family first, jobs are important too, but take care of the family first – Laugh, smile, build a network – Stay connected with you peers – Stay focussed, and believe in your strengths – Keep learning

I have no complaints to what happened in 2025, as s**t always happens, and there is a lot worse that other people go through. So stay sharp and believe in yourself.

Cheers!