From Hostel Owner to AI Beginner

I’m 30 years old, and for the past ten years I managed a 100-bed youth hostel in Italy. We generated around €600,000 a year with a 30% margin and a team of 15 people.

In February my contract expired, the property was reclaimed, and I had to shut everything down.Right now, I don’t have a job and I’m trying to figure out what my next step should be.

Starting another hostel would require finding someone willing to invest at least €500,000, and good locations are extremely hard to find nowadays.That’s why I’m seriously considering a complete change.

Over the last months I’ve been diving into artificial intelligence. I’m following YouTube channels, communities, and creators who talk about AI implementation agencies, and it feels like this might be the biggest opportunity right now — helping businesses integrate AI into their operations.

At the same time, I’m honestly scared. I keep hearing that AI will replace a lot of jobs, and many people say: “Either you implement it, or you’ll be overtaken by it.”Sometimes I even feel like maybe the hostel closing was a kind of sign — a way to push me toward a new path I had been ignoring.

I genuinely like this field, and I want to study it more deeply. So I’d love your advice:If you were in my position, what would you do? What would you suggest to someone starting completely from scratch and wanting to build a career in AI?

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