Puteri Irene: Reinvention Is Real – How TalentCorp’s Women-Industry Network (WIN) Helped Her Turn a 20-Year Career Pause into a New Life in AI

By Natasha Isabel Saravanan

Yet Puteri Irene Alia Abdul Hadi’s story proves that a career break does not have to define the rest of one’s working life. After leaving the corporate world nearly two decades ago, she returned with an entirely new skill set, carving out a career in one of today’s fastest-growing industries: artificial intelligence (AI). Her journey is not simply one of returning to work, but of reinventing herself through continuous learning, resilience and the courage to begin again.

“When my husband received an offer to work in Abu Dhabi, we had just welcomed our first child,” Puteri Irene recalled. Rather than allowing her husband to move abroad alone, she made the difficult decision to accompany him, initially believing she would only be away from work temporarily. However, plans changed when Telekom Malaysia could not extend her unpaid leave, leaving her with no choice but to resign from the engineering career she had built after graduating in 2002.

“I didn’t plan to leave my career for that long,” she said. “But life happened, and I had to choose my family.”

Moving to a foreign country meant rebuilding life from scratch. While her husband worked, Puteri Irene devoted herself to raising their young children. Although motherhood became her primary responsibility, she soon realised she also needed an outlet that allowed her to stay connected with the outside world.

“I needed something for myself too,” she shared. “Something that kept my mind active.”

At a time when social media and e-commerce were only beginning to gain traction, she spotted an opportunity. She began sourcing scarves from Abu Dhabi and selling them online to former colleagues in Malaysia. What started as a modest side business gradually expanded to include fabrics, handbags and shoes, eventually growing into a thriving entrepreneurial venture.

“I didn’t think of it as a business at first,” she said. “It was just something I enjoyed doing.” Selling products became more than just earning an income. It gave her purpose during her years overseas and allowed her to continue learning while balancing family life.

When the family eventually returned to Malaysia, however, maintaining the business became increasingly difficult. Access to suppliers became more complicated, and the retail landscape changed dramatically following the COVID-19 pandemic. Determined to keep going, she launched another online clothing business using products sourced from Bangkok.

For a while, business was encouraging. But as online marketplaces became saturated and competition from overseas sellers intensified, she found it increasingly difficult to compete on price. After two years, she made the difficult decision to close the business. Rather than viewing the closure as failure, Puteri Irene chose to treat it as an opportunity for reflection.

“I asked myself what I did wrong,” she said. “I realised I wasn’t collecting customer data properly or making predictions about what customers wanted. That was what led me towards data science.” That moment of clarity became a turning point. “I didn’t want to repeat the same mistakes,” she added. “I wanted to understand things properly this time.” Instead of dwelling on disappointment, she turned curiosity into action.

Rediscovering Confidence One Step at a Time

After closing her business, Puteri Irene searched for her next chapter. Although she explored other entrepreneurial ideas, including opening a kindergarten, none felt quite right. Then she discovered TalentCorp’s Career Comeback Programme (CCP), a programme designed to support professionals returning to the workforce after career breaks.

At 43 years old, she admitted she wondered whether it was already too late to start again. “I thought, maybe I can try. You don’t know if you don’t try,” she said. Signing up for the programme became the first of many small but significant steps. Through TalentCorp, she enrolled in several HRD Corp-sponsored courses, including Google Cloud training. As she progressed through the programme, something clicked.

The technical concepts felt surprisingly familiar. They reminded her of the networking and product development work she had once done as an engineer. “That was when I realised I wasn’t starting from zero,” she said. “I was just rebuilding from experience I already had.” That discovery reignited her confidence. She continued building on that momentum by joining LinkedIn’s Career Comeback Programme, where she found herself surrounded by women facing similar challenges.

“Knowing there were other women who also wanted to return to work made me realise I wasn’t alone,” she said. “The programme helped us gain confidence and opened doors for us.”

Equally important were the mentors she met throughout the programme. One mentor helped her map out a practical learning pathway, advising her to build data science projects within specific industries such as finance, healthcare and retail. Another focused on emotional intelligence, encouraging her to visualise success before every interview and examination. “Before every interview, I would tell myself: I am ready,” she said. Instead of allowing rejection to define her, she learned to see each opportunity as preparation for the next.

“I started to see rejection differently,” she reflected. “It wasn’t failure. It was feedback.” That shift in mindset transformed not only her confidence but also the way she approached every challenge ahead.

Learning to Embrace Rejection and Reinvention 

When Amazon Web Services (AWS) invited Puteri Irene for an interview, it felt like a breakthrough. She had spent months teaching herself Python, statistics, machine learning and AI through online courses, YouTube tutorials and countless hours of independent research. Passing AWS’ technical assessments was proof that her efforts had not gone unnoticed. Although she did not secure the role, the interview became one of the most defining moments of her journey.

“They told me I had the skills, but I needed more industry experience,” she recalled. “They also told me they didn’t mind my age. As long as I could prove I was capable, they would be willing to hire me in the future.” Instead of viewing the outcome as another rejection, Puteri Irene saw it as validation that she was on the right path. “I didn’t take the rejection as something that brought me down,” she said. “I treated it as a learning point.”

Motivated by the encouragement she received, she continued expanding her knowledge. She earned additional AI certifications, including one of AWS’ demanding machine learning qualifications. Soon afterwards, she received another surprise — she was selected as one of only 14 AWS Community Builders in Malaysia, and among only two women in the cohort at the time. “I was shocked,” she admitted. “I wasn’t even working yet, but they still selected me.”

Her persistence soon opened the doors she had been working towards. In June 2026, she returned to the corporate world, joining Pos Malaysia Berhad’s AI Accelerator division before preparing to begin her next chapter in AI governance with DRB-HICOM.

Looking back, that first job offer represented far more than employment. “It made me realise that reinvention is real,” she said. “Nothing I learned was wasted.” For Puteri Irene, stepping back into the workplace was not about proving herself to others. It was about finally seeing years of perseverance come together in a meaningful way.

Finding Strength in Every Chapter

Living overseas, raising children and running her own business may have taken her away from corporate life, but Puteri Irene believed those experiences equipped her with strengths she could never have gained inside an office. Looking after her family in a foreign country required her to make important decisions independently, often without the support systems she once had in Malaysia.

“I had to research everything myself and make decisions quickly,” she said. “Over time, you learn how to weigh the consequences and choose the best path forward.” Running an online business also exposed her to every stage of entrepreneurship. From sourcing products and marketing them online to handling customer service, logistics and deliveries, she gained an understanding of how businesses operate from end to end.

Those experiences taught her to listen carefully to customers, solve problems creatively and adapt quickly whenever circumstances changed. Rather than seeing her career break as lost time, she now viewed it as a period that strengthened her decision-making, resilience and ability to learn independently.

When reflecting on professionals who worry that taking time away from work may permanently limit their careers, her advice was both practical and reassuring. “Don’t just think about your worries,” she said. “Do something about them.” For Puteri Irene, that “something” was continuous upskilling.

She believed knowledge naturally reduced fear. The more she understood about a subject, the more confident she became discussing it, applying it and eventually building a career around it. “You need to prepare yourself,” she said. “When you know more, your worries become smaller.”

Why Lifelong Learning Is No Longer Optional

Winning an AI hackathon was never part of Puteri Irene’s original plan. Curious to learn more about the rapidly evolving field, she joined AI communities, attended workshops and participated in technical events. During one small hackathon organised through the community, her team emerged as winners. “That made me even more excited about AI,” she said. “I wanted to keep learning.” It reinforced what had already become the guiding principle of her career: learning never truly ends.

In today’s workplace, she believed continuous learning is no longer simply an advantage—it is a necessity. “Learning, unlearning and relearning are important,” she said. “What you learned last month may not be applicable today.” The rapid development of AI has transformed industries faster than many professionals anticipated. Rather than resisting those changes, Puteri Irene encouraged people to embrace them.

She believed AI would create entirely new career opportunities, particularly for professionals looking to reinvent themselves after career breaks or career transitions. “Many future jobs don’t even exist today,” she said. “Because AI is still new, everyone is learning together.” For returnees especially, she saw this as a rare opportunity to begin on relatively equal footing with others entering the field. Her own experience proved exactly that.

Starting from scratch in AI at the age of 43 eventually led her into an industry where curiosity, adaptability and determination mattered just as much as previous experience. Looking ahead, she hoped to continue helping organisations adopt AI responsibly while strengthening governance, productivity and security through practical AI solutions.

One Small Step Can Change Everything 

There was a time when Puteri Irene questioned whether anyone would hire a 43-year-old woman returning to work after nearly two decades away from the corporate world. Today, she has become living proof that a career pause does not have to become a full stop. Reflecting on the role TalentCorp’s Career Comeback Programme played in her transformation, she believed its greatest impact was not simply helping her secure employment, but giving her the confidence to believe returning was possible.

“It helped me rediscover my confidence,” she said. “A career break is a pause, not a full stop.” That first decision to register with the programme eventually led to new mentors, professional communities, technical certifications, interviews, industry recognition and, ultimately, a fulfilling new career in AI.

Looking back on her journey, Puteri Irene hoped her experience would encourage other women—and anyone who has stepped away from the workforce—to believe their careers can begin again. “Take one small step at a time and celebrate every small win,” she said. “Everything led me to this journey. It’s not impossible for you too.” Her story is ultimately not about returning to where she left off. It is about moving forward with renewed purpose, stronger skills, and the confidence to embrace opportunities that didn’t even exist when she first left the corporate world.

In an age where careers are becoming increasingly non-linear, Puteri Irene’s journey serves as a powerful reminder that reinvention is always possible for those willing to keep learning, remain curious and take that all-important first step.