I’m a recent graduate (May 2026) with a bachelors in cybersecurity going into a F500 AI Engineer role. I want to make a pivot to IB sooner rather than later. What are the most viable paths for me to make such a pivot?
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Have you tried applying for corporation finance roles at Norton Antivirus?
No? That’s oddly specific.
I think it would make sense for you to apply to corporate finance roles at Norton. If you haven’t looked into this yet, I would get on it ASAP
Why specifically Norton? Also, do I need prior finance experience to land a corp finance role? I really don’t have any sort of background in finance other than undergrad accounting & micro+macro econ.
Would the corp finance path need to be supplemented by an MBA to then transfer into IB?
Why specifically Norton? Also, do I need prior finance experience to land a corp finance role? I really don’t have any sort of background in finance other than undergrad accounting & micro+macro econ.
Would the corp finance path need to be supplemented by an MBA to then transfer into IB?
You have a degree in a field that will be critically important in the coming years and you want to pivot to IB? Are you sure about that
I hate to sound like the AI fear monger but coming from personal experience tech is fucked. I went to a top 3 uni for cybersecurity, all coursework, labs, and research projects could be done completely with generative AI. All cybersecurity work (including offensive and defensive ops) will inevitably become automated. I’ve seen it myself, my entire career is building AI agents and automations (by leveraging AI) to create the opportunity to “make employees more efficient” aka laying off the juniors and back office. At what point does such an event happen to myself?
Also, I’m really intrigued by the bonus driven/performance based culture of IB. I’ve been competitive my whole life and tech in general is not fulfilling that drive. I’m compensated well in my current role however I’d like to be paid for how well I perform rather than being paid to complete weekly sprints.
Finally, total comp in IB (and high finance generally) is pretty grotesque from what I’ve seen and heard. I really only care about making the most amount of money and tech (unless founding) isn’t the best path for that goal.
Tech is not cooked in the doomsday sense, but yes the tech salary arbitrage opportunity is rightfully being tapered down as is the case with every technological advancement in society.
The world already has all the software it needs, it’s a saturated and extremely mature industry. Why the fuck are we still pay SWEs $300k-$400k year in cash? Thats how much we pay our fucking doctors. Especially when they’re no longer a scarce resource (‘just learn how to code’ did a number on an entire generation).
Will there be no more junior engineers and will all of cybersecurity software be built 100% autonomously in the next 10 years? No, that’s really stupid. But will there be much smaller professional class sizes of pureplay SWEs and will their salaries likely decline to be a $80-150k job like many other white collar professions (this is what happened to finance post-08, mind you)? Absolutely, and that’s fine. Roles and skills will evolve. Basic SWEs “getting automated away” are simply rebranding as “AI/MLengineers”, “Forward Deployed Engineers” etc. people adapt.
Reminder, OpenAI and Anthropic need us all to believe in the doomsday scenario (replace ALL HUMAN HEADCOUNT WITH TOKENS) because in no other case will they be able to make a return on their Capex spending! We don’t have to succumb to the same level of psychosis however. Tech people can be so dramatic sometimes…
What makes you think ib isnt also cooked at the jr level?
I’m not completely sure whether or not IB is cooked at the junior level as it’s not my field of expertise, however, my logic is that a front office/client facing (in any org/field) role can never be completely automated (unlike back office). Sure some of your day to day tasks can be automated, but the deal making and advising cannot.
Sure AI has done damage to every field at the junior level, however the worry that this carries over into the senior level is nonexistent in high finance/IB. On the other hand, senior work in tech can and will be automated.
This is basic economics - think this through before refuting items not based in reality.
The entire industry has been in decline post GFC. Sure there have been swings of increased hiring but net / net the industry has been contracting. You have got to be out of your mind to not think banks are not looking to further cut costs at the analyst / associate level. The only guys who are safe are the guys who actually own the relationships and are far more senior.
Think long and hard about what you want because you’re about to piss away a great financial runway for something that’s tough in the best of times and will likely 10x in difficulty from here.
I am not an expert on the subject but have you considered Norton Antivirus? Heard from an acquaintance they have great M&A teams
you have a few options.
In your opinion, what’s the most important candidate factor for acceptances into prestigious MBA programs?
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