Q: What do AI startup founders like Fei-Fei Li look for in candidates compared to college degrees? A: Fei-Fei Li and other founders prioritize a candidate’s experience with AI tools, speed in shipping working projects, and a growth mindset rather than formal degrees. They value tool fluency, good judgment on safety and edge cases, and measurable evidence of building and measuring real systems. Q: How can I land AI jobs without college degree in 90 days? A: A focused 90-day plan from the article recommends Weeks 1–2 to set up core tools (Python or JavaScript, Git, Copilot/LLMs) and build daily learning habits, Weeks 3–6 to ship two small apps with clear READMEs and demo videos, and Weeks 7–12 to build a small product used by real people and polish a three-project portfolio. Following that plan and applying daily (5–10 roles plus targeted outreach) can help you land AI jobs without college degree by showing measurable impact instead of a diploma. Q: What specific projects will make a strong portfolio for AI roles? A: High-impact portfolio projects suggested include a RAG helpdesk with retrieval, citations, and guardrails, a sales email coach that logs outcomes, a support triage system, a data QA bot, and a batch summarization workflow. Each project should include tests, monitoring, a short demo, and measurable metrics such as accuracy, latency, cost per 1,000 requests, or time saved. Q: Which job titles can someone target without a degree? A: The article lists roles such as junior LLM app developer, AI support engineer, QA for AI features, data annotation/labeling lead, AI product analyst, and automation engineer. These titles frequently appear at startups and small teams that are more likely to hire based on demonstrable projects and impact rather than a college credential. Q: What should I demonstrate in interviews for AI-heavy teams? A: Explain how you use AI in your workflow (for example, drafting with Copilot then writing tests and benchmarks), think aloud about trade-offs and costs, and bring logs or screenshots of latency and errors. Be honest about gaps and explain how you would find answers quickly, since interviewers want evidence of both speed and care. Q: How should I apply and reach out to hiring managers to get noticed? A: Apply consistently—about 5–10 roles daily—and send a few targeted cold emails that include a live demo link, GitHub code, and a concise metric in the subject line. The article’s outreach template recommends a one-paragraph pitch, a demo + code link, and an offer of a short low-risk pilot to demonstrate immediate value. Q: What common mistakes block offers when applying for AI jobs without college degree? A: Common mistakes include only talking about ideas instead of shipping demos, lacking tests and guardrails, copy-pasting AI code without review, and using generic resumes; the fixes are to ship working demos, add unit tests and monitoring, refactor code, and lead with three project wins. Avoiding those mistakes and showing measured outcomes is the signal hiring managers are looking for when considering candidates for AI jobs without college degree. Q: Why does Fei-Fei Li say she wouldn’t hire engineers who refuse AI collaboration tools? A: Li says willingness to use AI collaboration tools signals adaptability and a growth mindset rather than faith that the tools are flawless. She believes tool fluency shows a candidate can move fast while maintaining checks for safety, accuracy, and cost, which is essential for teams building AI products.