Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has shared advice for young professionals trying to steer a career path during the fast-changing AI era. In a nutshell, Huang appealed to those forging their careers to “Dedicate yourself to learning all the time and doing the best possible work you can” and said that he's loved every job he's worked — including cleaning bathrooms. He also talked about the far-from-obvious benefits of not having a wristwatch. The advice came during a very good-humored Q&A session at the Chinese American Semiconductor Professional Association (CASPA).
An exec from Cadence Design Systems asked Huang what advice he could give young professionals hoping to secure a career in the fast-changing AI era. Ahead of addressing the question, the Nvidia CEO quipped that Dr. Anirudh Devgan (Cadence CEO) was an “excellent CEO.” Becoming more serious, Huang referenced the doctor’s computational science and artificial intelligence (AI) backgrounds – which will be very important for Cadence going forward.
To answer the question about career paths, Huang began by recounting his own career history. He reminded listeners of his early days at Denny’s, moving on to AMD, then LSI Logic – before his defining founding of nVidia.
Throughout his career, Huang asserts he has loved every role. “What I mean to say is this. I loved every job that I had, including washing dishes, including cleaning the bathrooms.” Moreover, he reckons he was the best at all those jobs. “Nobody cleaned bathrooms better than I did,” he earnestly stated.
Another point raised by Huang was that he doesn’t wear wristwatches. “Now is the most important time. Just dedicate yourself to now,” he told the CASPA crowd. Living in the present, “I’m rarely chasing things… I’m focused on now,” insisted the billionaire founder. “I’m enjoying my job.”
Zen gardening
The Nvidia CEO decided to embroider his point about time in an anecdote about meeting a gardener at a lovingly cared-for temple in Kyoto, Japan. As a youth, Huang visited the ancient yet perfectly kept mossy Zen garden on an “insanely hot” summer day. He noticed an old gardener crouched down with a tiny bamboo tweezer, with just two or three pieces of dead moss in his small basket. His question to the gardener contrasted the size of the garden with the scale of his tools and how he could do his job. The gardener answered in perfect English, saying, “I have plenty of time.” This is Huang’s central point, and he underlined it by asserting, “That’s the best career advice I can give you.” However, he provided a more practical framework for those looking for success: "Dedicate yourself to learning all the time and doing the best possible work you can.”
After his anecdote's deep and perhaps philosophical path, Huang returned to being lighthearted by joking that he is now “largely unemployable.”
