Leave Tech and Do Farming? Let’s Do the Math

Summary

The video advises tech workers worried about AI-driven job disruption to act proactively but avoid quitting impulsively. Test alternative careers or business ideas alongside current work, gather real-world evidence, and make a transition only when the new path appears viable. The speaker emphasizes that AI is changing work but also creating opportunities—and that strong communication, initiative, and business judgment can help people remain valuable in tech.

Career Alternatives and Business Realities

Farming

• Potential benefits include self-sufficiency, a more satisfying lifestyle, and distance from corporate work.
• The work can be demanding and unpredictable. Soil and nutrient management, pests, weather, organic growing methods, and labor availability all create operational challenges.
• The speaker’s family has 2.5 bighas in Gujarat, valued at more than ₹1 crore, yielding about ₹50,000 per year plus some grain and seasonal vegetables. He contrasts this with a hypothetical 6% deposit return of about ₹6 lakh per year on ₹1 crore, while noting that farming also provides food.
• An organic-farming friend with about 30 bighas enjoys the work but struggles to find labor, as workers may prefer factory jobs—especially in heat reaching 45°C.
• Farming may suit people who are genuinely passionate about it, but the speaker recommends assessing the economics, workload, and labor needs before committing. Renting land or exploring higher-value crops, organic methods, or agrotechnology may be options.
• Try it: Grow microgreens or small vegetables at home, and speak with at least three farmers about income, challenges, and lifestyle.

Food and Restaurant Businesses

• Food demand can make the sector appear resilient, but restaurants involve long hours, staffing risks, and a high failure rate. The speaker describes a successful friend who operates five bagel shops, but says it took 15 years of hard work to reach that point.
• One of the speaker’s family restaurants initially did well, then closed after its head chef left. Other acquaintances also closed restaurants while balancing them with technical work.
• Try it: Make a prospective menu item and sell it to neighbors, friends, or a WhatsApp group. Track costs, effort, and revenue as a basic profit-and-loss test. Also interview at least two restaurant or cloud-kitchen operators.

Plumbing and Electrical Trades

• The speaker says skilled tradespeople can earn well in the US, citing an electrician charging over $100 per hour and a job costing $1,000 for 8–9 hours. He gives a broad range of roughly $50–$150 per hour, potentially up to $200.
• He contrasts this with India, where the labor supply is larger. Citing Urban Company data, he reports service partners earning around ₹28,000 per month and independent plumbers or platform workers averaging about ₹17,600 per month.
• Running an agency could be an option, but it would introduce staffing and workforce-management challenges.
• Try it: Safely attempt a small household repair rather than automatically outsourcing it, and speak with a visiting plumber about their workday, earnings, training, and required skills. The speaker cautions against unsafe electrical work.

Staying in Technology

• Jobs remain, though the market is changing. The speaker reports that Microsoft had about 2,400 openings in AI, software engineering, and data centers despite offering early exits to employees. He argues that layoffs do not mean all tech work is disappearing.
• Human review and accountability remain important. Companies are not yet comfortable relying on fully autonomous AI workflows for coding and deployment; they still need people to verify AI-generated output. The speaker also points to unresolved reliability and coordination issues in AI-agent systems.
• Roles may combine technical and business responsibilities. Customer interaction and physical-world work are presented as areas where people may retain an advantage. The speaker describes forward-deployed engineering as roughly 80% AI engineering and 20% AI product management, and cites full-stack roles that span UX, software engineering, and product work.
• Develop a broader skill set. Technical expertise remains necessary, but communication, customer understanding, ownership, and the ability to connect technical work to business outcomes are increasingly valuable.
• Try it at work:
  1. Identify an unassigned team problem—such as a repetitive process—and build an automation or useful report.
  2. Volunteer for a customer, requirements, feasibility, or business-stakeholder meeting to build communication and discovery skills.

Building a Business or Product with AI

• The speaker recommends exploring entrepreneurship while still employed, rather than treating a tech job and a business as mutually exclusive.
• AI can lower barriers to creating software, digital-marketing services, creative work, and physical products. The speaker describes prototyping two physical-product concepts—a fan-equipped helmet for hot weather and a phone case intended to reduce distractions—and developing 3D models in Blender.
• Prototype-validation playbook:
  1. Pick one small, specific problem.
  2. Build a simple prototype, such as a small application or 3D model.
  3. Show it to 10 people, including potential customers, and ask whether they would pay for it.
  4. Use feedback to decide whether to refine or expand the idea; use AI as an assistant throughout.
• The broader recommendation is to run small experiments, learn from weak or negative results, and avoid investing heavily before testing demand.

General Recommendations

• Keep current employment while testing alternative careers or business ideas. Consider leaving only after the new path has stabilized.
• Reduce personal expenses where possible. A minimalist lifestyle can provide more flexibility during layoffs or other uncertainty.
• Treat the future as uncertain, but avoid passive inaction: small, low-cost experiments can clarify options and build useful skills.

Metrics and Figures Cited

Area Figure cited Microsoft early-exit program About 60,000 employees Microsoft job openings checked by speaker About 2,400 Family farmland in Gujarat 2.5 bighas; more than ₹1 crore in estimated value Family farm income About ₹50,000/year, plus some food Hypothetical deposit return used for comparison ₹6 lakh/year at 6% on ₹1 crore Organic-farming friend’s land About 30 bighas US electrician example Over $100/hour; $1,000 for an 8–9-hour job US trades earning range stated About $50–$150/hour, possibly up to $200 India service-worker figures cited About ₹28,000/month via Urban Company; ₹17,600/month for independent/platform workers Restaurant example Five bagel shops after 15 years of work Product-market feedback test Show a prototype to 10 people

These are figures and examples cited in the video; some are personal anecdotes or estimates rather than independently verified benchmarks.

Presenters and Sources Mentioned

• Presenter: Dhaval, speaking from his experience in technology, consulting, teaching, and agriculture.
• People and organizations referenced: Umesh (organic farmer); Kartik (Google engineer who farms alongside his job); Siddhant Pandey (AI engineer on the speaker’s team); Microsoft; Urban Company; Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, via Nikhil Kamath’s podcast; and technology leaders or engineers at MakeMyTrip, Swiggy, and Google.