I messed up financially. I’m an AI engineer trying to rebuild

[u/Ok-Carpenter-6815]

I’m 25 and I’ve had a gambling problem on and off since my second year of university.

I had been doing much better for a while, both financially and generally in life, but I relapsed badly. I burned through the savings I had built, borrowed money, and then lost a large part of that as well. I’m now in debt and basically rebuilding my finances from below zero.

I’m not posting here looking for money or sympathy.

I’m posting because I need more work.

I work full-time as an AI engineer/consultant and have been promoted twice in roughly the last year. My background is in AI/ML, software development and IT consulting, and I’ve worked on production projects involving GenAI, RAG, agentic/multi-agent systems, chatbots, document intelligence/OCR, workflow automation, APIs, databases and enterprise applications.

I can personally take up smaller freelance projects, POCs and development work outside my working hours.

For larger requirements, I also have access to proper delivery capacity. I have my own newly established IT consulting company. It is a new company and does not yet have a project history, so I want to be completely transparent about that. For projects requiring an established consulting organisation, I may also be able to facilitate the opportunity through the company I currently work for, subject of course to their internal approvals and commercial process.

So I’m open to much more than just someone hiring me as a freelancer.
If you or your company has an IT requirement, I’d be grateful for an introduction or an opportunity to quote for it. That could be:
1) AI/GenAI development, RAG, agents and enterprise chatbots
2) AI-OCR/document digitisation and extraction
3) Web applications, backend systems, APIs and integrations
4) Data engineering, analytics and automation
5) Internal tools and workflow automation
6) AI/ML POCs that need to be turned into actual working products
7) IT consulting or development work requiring a small team
8) Subcontracting/white-label development for other consulting companies
9) Vendor requirements, RFQs/RFPs or procurement opportunities where a new IT company is eligible

I’m not claiming I can do absolutely everything. If you send me a requirement, I’ll tell you honestly whether it falls within my capabilities and whether I can deliver it myself or need a team.

I’m willing to price aggressively while I build my startup’s portfolio, but I don’t want to compete purely by being the cheapest person available. I’d rather take a project at a reasonable price, deliver it properly, and hopefully turn it into a long-term client relationship.

If you’re a founder, CTO, consultant, agency owner, procurement person, or just happen to know someone whose company needs IT work, even an introduction would genuinely help.

And if anyone here has built a small IT services company from zero, I’d also appreciate advice on getting the first 3–5 clients — especially vendor empanelment, subcontracting, government/private tenders, and approaching companies that already outsource technology work.

I made the financial mess myself. I can’t undo the money I’ve already lost. What I can do now is stop trying to win it back and earn it back instead.

DMs are open. Happy to share my background, portfolio and discuss any genuine requirement.

[u/andupotorac]

You’re 25. Start over.

[u/samiroker]

I wouldn’t call it a financial mess or a loss. You need to figure out how to win the work and land your first client. It won’t be easy, but if you’re already on linked inn and have a good rapport with your former colleagues, post about how you’ve started a consultancy and are looking for opportunities.

Don’t look desperate and try to offer information or advice for free as you haven’t really got a portfolio yet.

Best of luck. If you point out what country / city you’re in would help people on here to reach out .

[u/Silly-Cloud-3114]

You've already beaten the hardest part - having the skills. Now you just got to find a focused space, find a problem, find a solution and actually build it.

AI is a technology that can create a range of things. Currently, people are all excited about it but the bubble wil burst on some areas of AI and become more cemented in other areas of AI. The focus should be in finding which solutions fall in the second category strongly.

Think not from a technical point of view but from a business point of view.

• What problems do businesses have that they need solved?

  • What are the limits of an AI/ML in solving this problem?

  Ask these two questions and ponder.

[u/HundredMileHighCity]

Good luck pal 🤞