This told essay is based on conversations with Candice Bryant, who worked as an internal communications manager at Google until October of last year. She left to focus on independent consulting and building AI-related products. Before joining Google, Bryant spent about 16 years at the Central Intelligence Agency, where his last role was in communications. She is in her early 40s and lives in the Washington, DC area.
My career so far has been a series of “Okay, let’s give it a try,” and it all started with an opportunity I almost missed.
More than 20 years ago, when I was pursuing a political science degree at Towson University in Maryland, there was a career fair and I almost didn’t attend because I didn’t have professional clothes. I grew up in Baltimore and never felt poor, but since then I’ve realized that maybe I’m underprivileged.
My roommate convinced me to go to the career fair anyway. They told me to wear a coat and nice pants. It was winter and no one would be able to tell the difference, they thought.
During the event, I stopped by the Central Intelligence Agency table. I was looking for an internship and a recruiter encouraged me to apply for a job. I applied for a full-time job as a political analyst and, after graduating in December 2004, joined the CIA the following month at age 21.
That chance encounter started a career that would eventually take me from the CIA to Google and then to entrepreneurship. One of the biggest things I’ve learned throughout my career is to always try to say yes when an opportunity comes along.
I spent about 16 years at the CIA
One of the biggest lessons I learned during my time at the CIA was how fragile the world is and how often decision-makers must act quickly with incomplete information. My job as an analyst was to help fill that gap.
In 2018, after more than 10 years in various analyst roles, I was approached about moving into a communications role at the agency. I was drawn to the challenge of working in communications for an organization known for its secrecy and the opportunity to tell the stories of the men and women who dedicate their lives to service, especially those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.
Looking back, one of the biggest takeaways from this job was that the way I thought about crises and bad days was very different from what I would later experience in the private sector.
Leap to Google
There were no pushing factors that forced me out of the CIA. I believed in the agency’s mission and continued to advance my career there. But I believe it’s possible to have a mission-driven career in both the public and private sectors. original time A colleague approached me about the opportunity to move to Google and I said yes.
I joined Google in September 2021 as an Internal Communications Manager. Early on, much of my work was related to the company’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, including vaccine policy and return-to-office efforts.
After that job finished, I was asked to move to Google’s search organization, where I focused on executive and internal communications. I joined the team at the beginning of the generative AI boom, after the launch of ChatGPT and before Gemini was released.
I was excited about the move. I got to work with some great engineers and help translate their great work in a way that everyone can understand.
Read more about people at corporate crossroads
Why I left Google
When I first saw Google’s AI tools available online, I was fascinated by the technology. I remember seeing things like NotebookLM’s ability to turn notes into podcasts and thinking, “This is going to change everything.”
While recognizing the potential of these tools, I realized that very few people around me were still using AI.
Candice Bryant spent nearly two decades at the CIA before working at Google during the rise of generative AI. candice bryant
I realized that powerful technology that no one understands or uses won’t change anything. I have come to believe that the real gap is not between Silicon Valley and policymakers, but between Silicon Valley and everyone else. Increasingly, I felt like we could have a bigger impact by helping people understand AI from outside of Google, rather than from within.
That’s why I ultimately decided to leave Google and pursue that mission independently.
Become an entrepreneur in your 40s
In October 2025, I left Google and began focusing full-time on my own business. I wasn’t scared to leave Google because I already had the confidence to make the transition. I think working at places like the CIA and Google has shaped me into the type of person who can succeed in those organizations and beyond.
Currently, my work includes advisory projects, angel investing, publishing a weekly AI newsletter, and building AI-related products. I think of my new business as a solar system with multiple parts orbiting around the same mission: to make technology more accessible to everyday people. I spent more than a decade at the CIA clarifying complex matters for presidents, and now I’m doing it for everyone else.
Earlier this year, I launched an app called Cello. The app provides daily prompts to help users consider practical uses for AI. We’re already planning a second app.
I’ve learned a lot so far. One is that building from within an established brand is easier than building it yourself, but what you build is yours. Your successes and failures are unique to you.
For those interested in entrepreneurship, I recommend building your business in public rather than waiting until everything is perfect. If everything was perfect at launch, you may have waited too long to share about it.
I have followed opportunities rather than a set career path.
I’ve come to believe that people shouldn’t feel pressured to follow a single career path or timeline. I joined the CIA in my 20s, Google in my 30s, and became an entrepreneur in my 40s.
Entrepreneurship seems like the right decision to me now, but it wouldn’t have necessarily been the case 10 years ago when I was in the CIA.
I don’t think people should feel pressured to become entrepreneurs. There’s nothing wrong with working for a company, and even if you’re interested in entrepreneurship, it may only make sense at certain times in your life. Many successful entrepreneurs start their businesses in their 40s.
I’ve been working toward this moment for a while, probably around 2010, when my husband and I started investing in real estate to give ourselves more freedom in the future. The idea of entrepreneurship was not new to me, but it took different forms over time.
Just because something doesn’t make sense to you now doesn’t mean it won’t make sense later.
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