From Touring Musician to Microsoft Software Engineer: Will Kencel's Journey with Codesmith & AI
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Five years ago, Will Kencel was trying to get to sleep at 2am on a bus used to ferry him and other touring musicians around the U.S.
It was an exciting, if not particularly stable, lifestyle—but not one Will wanted to continue indefinitely.
Today, he owns a home in Los Angeles, enjoys rock climbing trips to Mexico, and works as a Software Engineer II at Microsoft on the Xbox team, all while still playing live shows in his free time.
His journey from music to software engineering was rooted in a lifelong love for mathematics.
“My degree was in music and astrophysics, so I always lean heavily on mathematics, and both careers were a way to apply mathematics in the job field.”
In addition to his salary more than doubling after completing the Codesmith Software Engineering Immersive, Will says the most meaningful change has been in his quality of life.
“Tech has improved my work-life balance. I’m not getting home at 2am from touring or sleeping on the bus anymore.”
However, while the career transition from music to tech made sense due to a wealth of transferable skills, the shift wasn’t entirely smooth.
“I chose Codesmith because of their outcomes, but I didn’t get in the first few times I applied. I think that’s why they have strong outcomes—they get people who are really motivated to put the effort in.”
This persistence became one of Will’s strongest assets in tech, where overcoming failure and solving complex problems is part of daily life.
“When I got rejected, it didn’t stop me—it just threw fuel on the fire.”
It was never Will’s intention to work for a FAANG company after graduation. “My goal was just to get a job, like everybody,” but after graduating, he was offered a contract with Microsoft.
He credits a large part of this to the hiring program at Codesmith, which he describes as “one of the best from any educational institution I’ve been to.”
Will’s advice on negotiating software engineer salaries? “Talk to Eric Kirsten. He basically gave me a script on negotiating that’s served me well every time.”
“It’s nerve-wracking to negotiate your salary,” Will admits. He recommends practicing to feel more confident in what can often be an uncomfortable conversation.
Even if companies won’t always budge, it’s always worth trying.
After a year at Microsoft, Will realized the industry was shifting toward artificial intelligence and decided to invest in his future by focusing on AI.
“It’s never been an easier time to become a 10x engineer because of the resources available today.” While acknowledging that “there’s a lot of wishful thinking that AI will solve all problems,” he believes that AI is the best way to future-proof a tech career.
He left Microsoft to work for various AI startups, including Aurora Technologies and OpenMotionAI, and completed a Master’s in AI at the University of San Diego.
Despite gaining hands-on experience and earning a Master’s, Will returned to Codesmith for the launch of the AI & ML Technical Leadership program.
Asked why, he said he “believes it’s the best coding program out there for a broad understanding of the field” and that the flagship Software Engineering Immersive “helped me get my first role.”
After graduating from the AI + ML program, he received another contract with Microsoft—this time on the Xbox team—completing his full-circle journey.
Today, he continues to give back as a lead instructor for the AI & ML program at Codesmith, meaning residents now learn from a Microsoft engineer with deep AI industry expertise.
Despite being well-versed in artificial intelligence, Will sees the idea of replacing engineers with AI as the most overhyped trend of 2025.
“You can’t replace engineers with AI. You try to get AI to do your coding, but it’s going to do bad paradigms. Because it’s not trained on all the best code, but ALL the code.”
AI code, he explains, “is not maintainable, not reusable, and not scalable.”
Instead of replacing jobs, he believes AI will create demand for engineers who can maintain and monitor AI systems, requiring high cognitive ability.
“If you’re optimistic, it’s far more likely that outcome will happen than if you offer a pessimistic attitude of “I can’t do it, these interviews are too hard, etc”.”
Every time I failed, I didn’t see it as a failure. I thought, “this thing didn’t work” and I reiterated on my process.
“It’s not going to be one particular thing that will get you your job, it won’t be a great project you made or a great website for yourself or a good connection that you made, it’s a combination of things.”
Always keep building, he says and “don’t get discouraged off of one failure”, which leads to the next tip.
If you fail at the same thing twice, whether it’s the second technical interview or a whiteboard session, “it’s probably something specific in your approach that you need to look at differently.”
Break down your strategy, identify the weak areas, and then rework and reiterate on the process.
While today’s incredibly tough market feels like the cause of many people’s struggle to get a job, Will says it’s a current tech industry lie “that it’s impossible to get a job.”
“It’s not impossible. There are different avenues to your career,” he says, and often people don’t take all the advantages of the opportunities out there.
“I just posted about an AI event happening to some people I know on the job hunt, so if you’re looking for work and you’re not going to something like that you’re doing yourself a disservice.”
“Being unemployed is hard on the brain. You feel like you don’t have value. But you’ll get a role that gives you a sense of value and you’ll realize your self-worth.”
When Will moved into AI he went from FAANG to startups, feeling the considerable change in the sense of prestige attached to that pathway.
“That hurt my self-esteem too, but I was still the same person, so I say to people “don’t let where you’re at right now determine your value as a software engineer.”
The job search, particularly in today’s market, is much easier to navigate if positivity and determination is matched by the company you keep.
While it can feel far more intimidating and futile if those around you reinforce negative thought patterns and dampen optimism.
“For me this is the Codesmith community”, says Will, who is still close with many of his original cohort mates. “I even went to one’s wedding recently.”
Another reason it’s important, Will explains, is that it allows you to begin to understand what success means to others around you.
This clear vision of other people’s idea of success and ambitions is something that has helped him succeed at Microsoft, where expectations are high, and clarity over the “two way street” of success is imperative to harmonious working.
With tech facilitating and even epitomising the post-pandemic remote working world it has become normalized to shy away from in-person work and meetups.
But this is still the best way to network and build the real connections that lead to referrals, still the best route to a job offer in today’s market.
“Go to events. Meet people—not online. Meet people in the city you live in. And don’t restrict yourself to remote work only.
“I actually wasn’t looking for a remote job and now there’s a big move from employers for people to start working in-office again.”
Will explains that remote roles get so many applications that it’s much easier to stand out today in your city, to people who are actually there, and be willing to go into the office.
To begin your own journey into tech, check out Codesmith Software Engineering + AI and ML Immersive program and the AI & ML Technical Leadership program.
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