I switched from a corporate career to launching an AI-native company with no tech background. I knew the time was now.

"Last year, I went from working at the no. 1 company on the Fortune 500 list, Walmart, to being the only employee at my AI-native startup. I've always been an early adopter of consumer technology, but never a builder of that technology. I also live in San Francisco, so when AI emerged, I began spending my evenings at meetups to see how people were building with generative AI."

"Like many people my age, I was told growing up that one of the safest career choices was to go work for a large company, and now there are mass layoffs that I can set my clock to. When I saw the impact that AI was having, I realized starting my company now was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. People tell me that this is a huge risk, but I think it's the least risky thing I could do."

"I didn't grow up with the resources to bet on myself early on, but I focused on finding jobs that would pay me to learn the skill sets I needed to build and grow a business. My career started at The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones, where I focused on business growth. I moved to Barnes and Noble for a while, and then I went to Walmart, where I spent seven years and most recently served as a senior director, working in business strategy and membership experience."

Tim DeSoto left Walmart to become the sole employee of an AI-native startup after a long corporate career. He built skills in business growth at The Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones, Barnes and Noble, and Walmart, where he served as a senior director focused on business strategy and membership experience. He has been an early adopter of consumer technology, attended generative AI meetups in San Francisco, and engaged with AI and ChatGPT when they first appeared. He intentionally took roles that paid him to learn the skills needed to build and grow a business and sees AI as a unique opportunity.

Read at Business Insider