shaved beard – Israel Garcia says his beard—nearly all gray—started to feel like the wrong signal during AI and tech interviews, especially when hiring managers were often half his age. After years advising companies on digital and AI transformation, he chose to shave to bet
When Israel Garcia walked into AI interviews, the first thing he noticed wasn’t a technical question or a job description.
It was his own face. His beard had gone almost completely gray, and as he reviewed photographs of himself from before he shaved, the image looked—at least to him—like it belonged to someone older than the role he was chasing.
After years working in technology and AI consulting, he wasn’t worried about age in the abstract. He was worried about what employers might read before he said a word.
Garcia. the principal consultant on digital and AI transformation at Cambridge Experts. a UK-based consultancy company that focuses on tech product strategy. made an unexpected career move: he shaved off his beard. The change wasn’t about trying to hide anything for its own sake. It was about matching the impression he felt he needed to carry in one of the world’s fastest-moving industries.
In his telling, the interviews began long before the conversation started.
“Every interview starts before you say a word,” he said, describing how presentation can shape expectations. A suit and tie at a highly technical role. he said. might prompt assumptions that someone doesn’t fit the culture. Sneakers and a T-shirt for a CEO position, he said, could lead to doubt about leadership readiness.
The same logic, he argued, applies to age. “It is not about how old I am,” he said. What mattered to him was whether his appearance looked outdated or out of touch compared with what he wanted employers to understand about him.
Before shaving. Garcia said he saw a long beard with gray hair everywhere—an image he felt might clash with the message he wanted hiring managers to take from him. He was interviewing for roles in AI and tech. and he kept running into the same uncomfortable contrast: the hiring managers he met were often half his age. On paper, he believed his experience was strong. In the room, though, he couldn’t ignore what his appearance might be signaling.
He also described a belief he used to hold—that looking older could help him seem more experienced, more credible, and more like leadership material. Over time, he shifted. The problem, in his view, was perception rather than age itself.
The tension he points to isn’t just personal. It’s built into the way tech companies talk about talent.
Garcia said AI companies want experience and adaptability, and that balance is hard. Companies, he said, look for people who can move quickly as technology changes, while also wanting the weight that comes from years of experience.
He has seen how those expectations can collide. He said he has worked with people less than half his age. and because he looks more senior. people often assume he has credibility before he speaks. But the same appearance can carry a second assumption—one he fears more experienced workers may struggle to shake: that older workers might be less flexible or less able to adapt.
That’s part of why he believes laid-off professionals from large tech companies may face extra friction when they move into newer AI startups. In his view, the culture can feel different, and there can be pressure to prove you’re still adaptable and aligned with where the industry is heading.
Younger workers, he said, face a different problem. They may match the image companies want, he argued, but they don’t yet have the experience employers are asking for.
In many ways, Garcia said, companies want everything at once—experience, flexibility, cultural fit, and long-term commitment.
His advice to job seekers draws directly from that reality. He urged people not to obsess over looking younger, but to think carefully about the message they want to communicate. In his framework, appearance isn’t the only signal; it works alongside language and how someone presents themselves. The goal is alignment: deep experience, technical expertise, energy, leadership—whatever the message is, your presentation should support it.
For Garcia, shaving his beard wasn’t about erasing age. It was about making sure the image he carried matched who he felt he was today and where he wanted to go next in AI.
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