After six years of working as a Product Manager at a Big Tech company, Teja has decided to step away from the conventional career path and explore what comes next on his own terms.
Sharing his decision on social media, Teja revealed that July 31, 2026, was his last working day. One month into unemployment, he explained why he chose to leave a stable tech career, how watching AI transform the workplace influenced his thinking and why he now wants to build a life with fewer boundaries.
'I wanted to find out what happens when I build my own'
For Teja, the decision came after six years of building someone else's vision. He said he wanted to find out what could happen if he used that experience to build something of his own. He also felt that the present moment was the right time to take the leap.
"The older I get, the more responsibility stacks up, the more this jump costs," Teja wrote. "If not now, it only gets harder."
AI changed how Teja looks at work
His experience in tech also played an important role in his decision. As a Product Manager, Teja said he had watched AI change the way work gets done in real time. That experience made him question whether the traditional career model of one employer, one career ladder and a fixed 9-to-5 schedule is still the only way to build a life. "I don't think the old script of one employer, one ladder, one 9-5, is the only way to build a life anymore," he wrote. Teja believes there are now more ways to make a living than ever before, and he wants to be part of that change rather than simply observe it. "There are more ways to make a living in 2026 than any year before it, and I'd rather be building inside that shift than watching it from outside," he wrote.
He wants a 'life without borders'
His decision is not only about work. Teja also spoke about the kind of life he wants outside his career. He said his family and friends are in India and that he loves the time he gets to spend with them. At the same time, he wants to meet new people, experience new places and build a network of his own. "But the rest of me wants a life without borders on it: new people, new places, a network I build myself, not the one I inherited," he wrote. Teja said he loves being a global citizen while maintaining close ties to his roots. He wants the freedom to go wherever he wants, stay for as long as he wants and still return home whenever he chooses.
'I am still figuring out' what's next
Despite making the decision to leave Big Tech, Teja does not have a fixed blueprint for his next move. He admitted that he is still figuring out what this next phase of his life will look like.
"I am still figuring out what shape this next step of my life takes," he wrote. For now, Teja plans to document the journey as he experiences it, taking things "one step at a time". His post offers a glimpse into how one tech professional is approaching career uncertainty differently.
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