INTERVIEW | Make Money by Building a Career That AI Can't Define for You with Abhijit Bhaduri
Abhijit Bhaduri is a talent and learning expert who has spent more than two decades helping organizations develop people and navigate a rapidly changing world of work. As Microsoft's former global head of learning and development, he helped shape talent strategy for 230,000 employees, and he previously served as Wipro's first chief learning officer. A prolific writer and author of books including Dreamers and Unicorns and Career 3.0, Abhijit's latest book, A Identity, explores how AI is changing our work identity and what it takes to build a fulfilling career in an AI-driven world.
On this episode we talk about:
How Abhijit learned to make money as a teenager through radio, writing, and competitions
Why having a personal "board of directors" can be more valuable than relying on a single mentor
How to attract great mentors by doing your research and coming prepared with specific questions
Abhijit's experience leading learning and development at Microsoft during the rise of AI
Why your career needs more than money, including meaning, belonging, mastery, predictability, and status
Top 3 Takeaways
Build a board of mentors. Instead of relying on one person for every type of advice, develop relationships with several people who bring different expertise and perspectives to your career.
Make mentorship valuable for both sides. The best mentees do their research, arrive prepared, and have a specific question or problem they want help solving. A mentor can then help reframe the problem rather than simply telling you what decision to make.
Don't treat work like a vending machine. Money matters, but a fulfilling career also provides meaning, belonging, mastery, predictability, and status. Without those elements, financial success alone can still lead to burnout.
Notable Quotes
"I like to describe it like a board of directors."
"Most of the times I look for people who come prepared for it because they get more out of it."
"Work is about how you make money. Yes, that's a very important part of it, and nobody's gonna work for free. However, there are five other factors that we think about."
Connect with Abhijit Bhaduri:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/abhijitbhaduri/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abhijitbhaduri/
Other: AIdentity — Abhijit's latest book
A Word from Our Sponsors:
- The most successful business owners don't do it all themselves — they delegate. Upwork lets you build a team of highly skilled specialists for every function your business needs, so you can focus on what you do best and let experts handle the rest. Visit Upwork.com right now and post your job for free!
- Scribe captures workflows as work happens and automatically generates step-by-step guides with screenshots and instructions, so no one has to sit down and write documentation from scratch. Learn more at scribe.how/tmm and mention Travis Makes Money for your first month of Scribe Capture free on select plans.
- When you need a legal hand, visit LegalZoom. Go to LegalZoom.com to get started!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices