The new prestige job for ambitious people

The new prestige job for ambitious young people might not be banking or consulting. It might be AI. For decades, the smart-person playbook was obvious: go to a top school, join a bank or consulting firm, earn well, collect the name brand, and preserve your “optionality.” I followed that path too: Ivy League college, then Morgan Stanley. But prestige shifts when a new field offers the same combination of income, status, talent density, and career acceleration. Companies like OpenAI and Anthropic increasingly check those boxes—and add something banking and consulting often struggled to provide: a sense of mission. When I visited OpenAI’s office, it felt closer to an artist’s workshop than a traditional tech company. The halls emphasized storytelling, art, design, and the stated mission of ensuring AGI benefits humanity. That doesn’t mean everyone agrees with OpenAI, Anthropic, the morality of AI, their missions, or the decisions these companies make. I don’t think working there requires uncritical agreement, either. Some of the smartest people I know inside AI companies are deeply curious about the technology while still questioning parts of the industry. My prediction is simply that AI companies are becoming the new default prestige destination for insecure overachievers—for better or worse. Curious what you think: is this directionally right, or totally off the mark? Follow me if you’re building an ambitious career beyond the linear path.