This essay is based on a conversation with Michael Lane, VP of Development at Rev. The following has been edited for length and clarity. Business Insider has verified his work history and educational background.
My academic journey has been quite circuitous.
I joined the University of Toronto in 1995 as an undergraduate majoring in computer engineering. Unfortunately, I had to drop out in the third semester because I couldn’t afford the tuition fees.
I was very disappointed that I couldn’t complete the program.
After dropping out of university, I started working in sales. I worked in technical sales for several years, then went to work for a company that developed software.
Working there reignited my interest in technology and made me want to finish what I started.
I transitioned into a career in programming and enrolled in a distance learning program to earn a bachelor’s degree in computer science. Completing my undergraduate studies in 2006 meant a lot to me. It helped fill a void in my life when I left the University of Toronto.
I’ve come a long way since then. I have worked in the technology industry for over 20 years, holding positions at companies such as Logitech and Kobo. I joined voice transcription company Rev in 2024 and currently lead the engineering efforts for the company’s AI products.
Go back to school to study AI
AI is unlike anything I have seen before in my industry.
When ChatGPT was released, it was like an explosion in the technology world.
There’s actually no precedent for how a technology like AI learns. It’s new. That’s not true. it’s complicated.
If we wanted Rev to be at the forefront of AI, we knew we needed to dig deeper into this topic. If you want to build an AI product that your customers can trust, you need to understand how it works.
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Therefore, I will be pursuing a part-time master’s degree in AI at East Texas A&M University in the spring of 2026.
There are limits to what you can do with online courses.
Technology companies don’t expect directors and vice presidents to write code. I still write code every day, but I realize that’s not the value I provide to pastors.
That said, as managers, we need to listen to technical discussions and guide engineers to see the problem from a different perspective. The only way to do that is to stay up to date with the latest technology.
You can’t help your team if you don’t understand the codebase and what you’re trying to build at a fairly deep level.
Of course, you could learn more about AI through online courses and books, but most of what is available is superficial.
I’ve taken some great courses on platforms like Udemy and Coursera. Some instructors do a great job of explaining concepts. These courses are great if you just want to learn how to use AI tools in your daily work, but they lack the foundational knowledge that a master’s degree can provide.
If you want to not only use but also build AI tools, you need these foundations.
To make sense of the research paper you’re reading, you need to understand basic concepts like machine learning and neural networks.
Earning a master’s degree will allow you to have a better balance when it comes to your studies. Building a solid foundation is the best way for me to understand this field and apply it to my work in the ministry.
My advice to anyone at any level of software development is to embrace AI. Learn how to use it to reinforce your own behavior.
There is a lot of controversy surrounding whether AI is harmful or harmful. I don’t see it that way at all. Just as the iPhone did, this is a tool that has the potential to change the way we do business.
