Three Major Risks I Have Taken in My Life

First Risk: Leaving Dubai for India

I started Networkers Home 18 years ago after leaving a high-paying job in Dubai. At that time, leaving a stable dollar salary and coming back to India without any safety net was a big risk. But I believed India needed serious, hands-on networking and security training, not just theory.

Second Risk: Two CCIE Lab Exams

I decided to attempt two CCIE Lab exams when the CCIE was at its peak. Those days, people were scared to even pay ₹1 lakh for a single-day Cisco lab exam. The exam itself was 8 hours of extreme pressure inside the Cisco office. I cleared CCIE Security and CCIE R&S lab exams within a gap of just two months. That phase demanded discipline, sacrifice, and complete focus.

Third and Biggest Risk: Going All-In on AI

In December 2025, after deeply studying Gartner reports on AI and its impact on jobs, I realised something very clear: AI is not just another tool. It is going to change every job, especially in network security, cloud security, and cyber security.

From that point, I went all in.

For the last four months, I have been coding and studying almost 20 hours a day, sleeping barely 4 hours. Along with four engineering students as interns, we built 27 production-ready AI tools for an AI startup factory. No big team. No shortcuts.

But the truth is—no hard work was wasted.

We learned more in that one month than many teams learn in years. We built our own tools instead of depending on Google, OpenAI, or Claude. Our team included one NIT student and four students from top Bangalore engineering colleges, all working day and night. Even if some tools do not make money, the learning we documented is priceless.

AI Can Turn Anyone Into a Programmer

During this journey, we realised something very powerful: AI can turn a non-programmer into a programmer in one day—if the mentor knows how to guide.

Last week, students from Christ Institute, a partner institute of Networkers Home for the last three years, joined us as interns. On Day 1, I asked them a simple question: "Have you done any real hands-on work in Python, React, frontend, backend, or databases?" The answer was no.

I gave them two hours and asked them to build a Python-based web scraping tool to collect engineering college data across India, including email IDs and phone numbers. By evening, every intern submitted a working prototype.

How AI Is Changing IT and Security Careers

AI is changing IT services and every domain at a speed never seen before. Tools change every few months now. Google alone launched around 35 products this year, something impossible earlier when they launched only 3–5 products annually. Today, almost 90% of new code is written by AI.

The same shift is happening across vendors. Cisco, Palo Alto, Fortinet, AWS—everyone is integrating AI deeply into their platforms. Enterprises are moving away from physical infrastructure and investing more in cloud and AI-driven security.

What Comes Next

In the next six months, around 50 new AI-driven job roles will emerge, replacing many traditional IT roles. Engineers with these skills will earn at the same level that CCIE professionals earned 15–18 years ago. Back then, some students touched ₹1 crore packages and today sit as directors and leaders in top companies.

We have spent enormous time building a new curriculum, not to create average engineers, but to create engineers who understand AI deeply and can apply it in networking, cloud security, and cyber security.

I strongly believe that engineers who commit seriously can reach ₹30–80 lakhs per year, depending on their qualification, communication skills, and hunger to learn.

Network Engineering & Networking Roles (Entry Level)

Network Security Roles

Cyber Security Roles

Cloud Engineering Roles

Cloud Security & AI-Driven Security Roles

Important Reality Check (No Marketing Talk)