[jebarker]

I would caution against _just_ learning to code without also getting a reasonable grounding in an area of industry you want to work in. I am a math PhD too, I currently work in an industry research lab doing ML work. I transitioned via a decade in government R&D that was much less hands-on technical. Despite now working in close proximity to folks doing graphics research I know it would be very difficult to get a job in that without hands-on experience.

Just being good at math is too general in a competitive job market. But I would also argue that learning to code is too if you want to work in the application rather than as a SWE.

I personally find low-level software interesting too and have found stimulation in HPC. However, lots of that space these days is focused on AI and you said that doesn't interest you.