Ask HN: Looking for an AI Research Mentor

Hi HN,

I’m a senior software developer with 20 years of experience in architecture, backend systems, and product development. Over the last few years, I’ve become deeply interested in AI and machine learning — not just building with existing tools, but understanding and contributing to AI research itself.

I’m looking for a mentor (ideally a researcher, academic, or industry professional) who can guide me in:

Understanding current AI research trends and literature.

Choosing a research focus area (NLP, computer vision, reinforcement learning, etc.).

Developing a study plan to build the mathematical and theoretical foundation.

Navigating from applied engineering into original research contributions.

I’m happy to pay for your time and structure this as regular 1:1 sessions (remote is fine). My goal is to transition from being a senior software architect into someone who can meaningfully contribute to AI research over the next few years.

If you’re interested, please DM me (arvind.kapse@gmail.com)

Thanks!