Tables Have Turned: Becoming a Mentor in the AI Squad Program

A few years ago, I was the one who rewrote an email three times before sending it and sat quietly in the back row at opening events. I was afraid to ask questions – what if it turns out I don't know enough?

At the AI Squad Spring '26 opening, though, I was sitting on the other side of the chair. I became a mentor of four teams in the Óbuda University AI Campus program, and at the first in-person meeting, a strange feeling came over me: talented, bright students were looking at me exactly the way I used to look at my own mentors not so long ago.

Tables Have Turned

Not because I know so much more. But because I had a few years to experience things, make mistakes, and learn something nobody teaches: when to ask, when to stay quiet, and that a lack of confidence is often not a lack of knowledge.

My engineering degree taught me to think in systems. The Business Development MSc taught me that a system is worthless on its own if you don't understand the people who use it. Mentoring teaches what neither could: sometimes the best thing you can do isn't the answer – it's the question.

That Moment

After the first week, one of my teams stopped asking for advice and started initiating professional debates instead. That's the moment that makes it worth doing: when you see someone outgrowing the same fear you know so well.

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Thank you to the Talent Development Office at Óbuda University and the AI Squad organizers for the opportunity. And thank you to my mentors: mentoring isn't about giving the answer. You don't give the fish – you give the rod.