[adubz]

I am in a similar situation, and settled on start-up life. AI here is strong, and there are a fair number interesting companies built around it. Get into one, and you’ll have a lot of freedom to guide the tech environment. Compensation is still limited, but a decent exit can at least reduce the bleed. It’s suboptimal, but I do appreciate how teachable my coworkers are.

[ttarabula]

That makes me feel better. Joining an AI startup is exactly what I ended up doing, so it's good to have someone in a similar situation to end up with the same answer!